Moving on... please join me on the Riverdale Park Wiki

I've enjoyed writing about some of the issues that interest me -- and, in some case, others as well -- about our lovely town, and posting them to this blog. And I've certainly enjoyed hearing from many of you that you've read some of it, and thought it was worthwhile -- the positive feedback has been great. But increasingly I've felt that a "blog" was much too personal to accomplish what I was actually interested in doing... I believe that what we need is a good wiki for all things Riverdale Parkian. So that is where I'm going to be putting my energy now, not this blog.

I assume you've read something on Wikipedia, the free, on-line encyclopedia, at least once or twice? A wiki is a cooperative, all-hands-on-deck website that is constantly under construction. And unlike in the Outer Limits, where they are in control, in the Wiki World, we are in control. Read something and know it to be incorrect or incomplete, or out of date? Don't mutter to yourself -- change it! Edit! Rewrite! Add a paragraph, or a whole new page! Find some information on recycling that you think everyone in the town could benefit from? By all means, post it to TownTalk. But -- and this is what led me to the wiki idea -- TownTalk (or any email list) is so ephemeral. Read it today, forget it by tomorrow! So, instead -- or in addition -- put it on the wiki, and it's there for good, for you or anyone else to return to at any time.

I see the Riverdale Park Community Wiki as a combination bulletin board, Welcome Wagon, soap box, scratch pad, photo album, scrap book, file cabinet, encyclopedia, yellow pages, Rolodex, 'Whole Earth Catalog,' entertainment guide and community center. This is not, "Build it and they will come." This is "Build it -- and let's use it!"

(Have you seen the Hyattsville wiki? They've done some great things over there -- much good information that is useful to anyone, certainly anyone in our area.)

So, see you over on the RP Community Wiki? --Dwight

I love my MARC

One of the many factors that weighed in on our decision to buy our home in Riverdale Park, was the convenience that the MARC service offered in terms of my getting to work, and leaving the car at home!

These stats about the DC Metro area come from the AAA and were published in today's Washington Post (9/4/07), Metro section, p. B2:

3.3 million vehicles in the area
1.7 million people who drive to work alone every day
900,000 people headed to school every day (schools and colleges)
700,000 people riding Metro (is that actually people? or trips?)
446,000 people riding Metro's buses
70,000 people riding trains into Union Station (MARC, VRE, Amtrak)

Only 70,000?!? Wow. Obviously the MARC trains aren't convenient for everyone - but for a town like Riverdale Park, I have to think that the MARC is a very underutilized resource.

From our lovely MARC station in Town Center, it is a 10 minute ride to Union Station - for me it's then another 15 minutes by Metro to Farragut North. All told, half an hour or 35 minutes door to door, from my home on Riverdale Rd to my office in NW. I nominally pay $100 for a monthly MARC ticket and $2.70 per day (roundtrip, Union Station to Farragut North) on the Metro -- but due to Uncle Sam's penchant for providing perks to the middle class, I save a quarter of that by purchasing the tickets with pre-tax dollars through my employer. If I go to the office 20 days a month on average, that's effectively $3.60 per day for the MARC + $3.89 per day for Metro = $7.49 per day total -- and the car stays in the driveway. If I drove to work I'd pay more than that just for the parking downtown -- never mind the gas, wear and tear on the car, and increased insurance premium. And if I drove to the Metro, I'd save the $3.60 for the MARC everyday -- and use it to pay $3.50 for parking! (Plus it would cost me additional for the longer ride on Metro).

I believe that in my one year of riding MARC to work, I was unable to get a seat just one time. And I can take my coffee on board and savor it all the way to Union Station if I want to (unlike Metro). And then there's the comraderie with all the other MARC regulars... All in all, I love my MARC!

Is it just me? Or did the CSX fix of our RxR crossing not fix anything?

Does anyone think that our Queensbury Rd RxR crossing is any smoother now than it was prior to the CSX repair job in June? To me, it seems just as jarring as ever.

Meanwhile, I'm still wondering when the new crossing gates will be installed. While setting up at the Farmers' Market last week, around 2:30, I witnessed a pretty close call as someone weaved their car through the gates that were already in their down position. Fortunately, the train was moving at a moderate speed...

Anyone got a Cafritz update?

We were unable, unfortunately, to attend either of the Cafritz meetings this past week... And I see their website has yet to be updated (presumably, they'll be filling in the "goals" section). Would anyone care to give us an update of what was said by presenters and those attending from our community?

A golden opportunity to build momentum for hiker-biker issues in Riverdale Park

There is an extraordinary opportunity for Riverdalians interested in promoting hiker/biker trails to meet with our county's Bicycle and Trails Advisory Group (BTAG) along with the Hyattsville Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Committee at a convenient local, evening meeting
(Tuesday, July 17, 7 pm, Hyattsville City Hall, 4310 Gallatin Street. South on Route 1, pass Franklin's Restaurant, turn right onto Gallatin St, it's on the right, directly across.the street from the post office.)

Anne Villeacres of the Hyattsville committee invited us and she feels this meeting is a good opportunity for us to make contacts, learn about and create local energy for improving trails in RP.

Below is the email from BTAG announcing the meeting. I definitely plan to attend (as does Rob Oppenheim) and we would love to have you join us.

Much work has already gone into the Trolley Line bike trail project. Personally, I'd like to help in any way I can, to build on that foundation, and see Riverdale Park continue to become a greener,
friendlier and safer place for pedestrians and bikers.

About BTAG...

The County Executive's office created BTAG to coordinate, advise and set bike trail development priorities and plans. BTAG meetings are normally held during office hours in Upper Marlboro,
so this is a rare chance for interested citizens to attend a local, evening meeting. It's my understanding that this evening meeting is, at least in part, in recognition of the dedicated, energetic and successful efforts of the Hyattsville Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Committee.

Regular participants in BTAG meetings include the County Executive's Office, the Planning Department, the Parks Department, the Department of Environmental Resources, the State Highway Administration, the Department of Public Works and Transportation, the National Park
Service (NPS), several Bicycle and Trail Clubs, municipalities and civic associations.

More info about BTAG is available on their web page:
http://www.mncppc.org/Btag/BTAGmain.html

More info about the Hyattsville Bike an Pedestrian committee is available here:
http://www.hyattsvillewiki.com/page/Bike+and+Pedestrian+Safety+Committee


Here's the email announcing the meeting from Fred Shaffer of BTAG:

---------- Forwarded message ----------

"Shaffer, Fred" <Fred.Shaffer@ppd.mncppc.org> wrote:
Subject: BTAG Quarterly Meeting
Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2007 13:43:22 -0400
From: "Shaffer, Fred" <Fred.Shaffer@ppd.mncppc.org>

The next quarterly meeting of the Prince George's County Bicycle and Trails Advisory Group (BTAG) is scheduled for:
Tuesday, July 17th
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Hyattsville City Hall
4310 Gallatin Street
Hyattsville

Please note the Tuesday meeting date and evening meeting time. This change from our usual meeting time was done to better coordinate with the Hyattsville Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Committee.

Light refreshments will be served.

Issues on the agenda include:

Sidewalk retrofit/pedestrian safety needs in Hyattsville
Possible mountain bike skills park in Hyattsville
Master Plan of Transportation (Trails Element) – re-initiation and
upcoming fall workshops
South County Master Plan "Listening" Sessions with Trail User Groups
Paint Branch Trail Extension
Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail crossing of Paint Branch Parkway
BTAG letter to National Harbor

It will also be my pleasure to introduce Dan Janousek, a new planner in the Transportation Section at M-NCPPC. Dan will be spending approximately 50% of his time working on bicycle, trail, and pedestrian issues, and will be a big help ensuring that all of the trail projects, area master plans, and inter-jurisdictional coordination get the time and attention that they warrant. In addition to working with BTAG, he will begin by working on some subdivision review applications and the Subregion V Master Plan update. We will also be working together to bring the Trails GIS Layer up-to-date. Dan has previously worked on bicycle and trail issues in Montgomery County. Please forward to me additional agenda items. I can be reached via e-mail or at (301) 952-3661 for questions or comments.

Cafritz Web Site Up & Running

Well, the long-anticipated Cafritz Property web site is now up and running -- here, I've lifted the "Events/News" page, which describes the upcoming meetings on their calendar. The URL is http://www.cafritzpop.com/

Community Meeting
Thursday, July 26th from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm Riverdale Elementary School

Meeting Overview: Develop the Design Plan

Presentation and discussion of draft design principles for the Cafritz project area.
We will develop draft design principles for each of the nine categories that we have used to solicit community ideas, input and concerns. We will use those principles, modified to include the input from our July sessions, to guide the development of a conceptual plan for the Cafritz site. This meeting will be replicated in its entirety on July 28th.

Community Meeting
Saturday, July 28th from 10:00 am to noon Riverdale Elementary School

Meeting Overview: Develop the Design Plans
The subject matter of this presentation will be identical to that of the July 26 meeting.

Community Meeting
Thursday, September 15th from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm Riverdale Elementary School

Meeting Overview: Refine the Design Plans

The concept plan will be discussed and will include information on the following: building heights, land uses and locations, the developmentprogram, street network and circulation patterns, parking locations,open spaces, neighborhood bike and sidewalk connections, publicamenities, sustainability features and storm water retention.
This meeting will be replicated in its entirety on Sept. 18th.

Community Meeting
Saturday, September 18th from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm Riverdale Elementary School

Meeting Overview: Refine the Design Plans
The subject matter of this presentation will be identical to that of the Sept. 15 meeting.

• Download Press Release
June 20, 2007

• Community Summary Session
June 14th, 2007


• Community Workshop
June 2nd & 7th, 2007

Live from Riversdale: The Blues

This announcement is stolen wholesale from the RP Muse blog:

M.S.G. The Acoustic Blues Trio: Free Concert @ Riversdale Mansion June 27, 7pm


Riversdale Mansion hosts a series of free outdoor concerts during the summer and the next one features M.S.G. The Acoustic Blues Trio. M.S.G. perform Piedmont style blues. The trio consists of Jackie Merritt (Hampton, VA) on harmonica, Miles Spicer (Riverdale Park, MD) on guitar, and Resa Gibbs (Hampton, VA) singing. This is one talented group. Come join the fun next Wednesday (7pm, 4811 Riverdale Rd., Riverdale Park, MD 20737)!

"Four-quadrant safety gate" -- where are you?

On my way to the MARC this morning, I noticed that the portable warning signs are gone; the detour signs are down; the heavy equipment is gone; it's as if CSX is done with the upgrade work at our RxR crossing -- and the "four-quadrant safety gate" is nowhere to be seen. Inquiring minds do need to know...

UPDATE: Mayor Archer has today provided new information to TownTalk, namely that the installation of the new gates will be carried out in a separate phase of the work, dates TBA.

"Four-quadrant Safety Gate" countdown continues...

You know you live in a quiet town when the closing of a RxR crossing brings out legions of curious onlookers. The area around our MARC station was a popular destination this weekend, as CSX began its reconstruction of our RxR crossing on Queensbury Rd. one week later than originally announced.

The road is open again as of this morning, but my observation last night and this morning indicates that while the grade work appears to be done, there is as yet no visible progress on replacing the old crossing gates with the new "four-quadrant safety gate". Presumably they will continue the work next weekend?

Some photos taken around the crossing and Town Center over the weekend are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/dwightrholmes/TownCenterQueensburyRdRxRCrossing

Brentwood Wants to Be More Like Us? (Tax hikes in Brentwood & Cheverly)

On the subject of taxes... With our new property tax bill due to arrive shortly, I presume, there have been two recent articles in The Gazette that caught my eye. One, "Town taxes to nearly double in Brentwood", reports that Brentwood has voted itself a tax increase in order to buy into Mt. Rainier's police force protection. Raising their rates from 24.8c per $100 of assessment to 47.6 -- nearly double -- is a pretty dramatic statement that they want the additional security that comes with having a hometown police force, and are willing to pay for it. I guess they want to be more like us! Time will tell if this partial buy-in gets them what they want.

Cheverly is also raising its taxes, according to the article "Cheverly gets second tax increase in two years", but only by 3c (from 45 to 48c per $100) this year after a 5c raise last year. Reportedly, the town is battling a continuing budget deficit.

Cafritz summation -- from Rethink College Park and both local papers, The Gazette and The Sentinel

Still waiting for the Cafritz team to post its findings from the series of "community workshops" to its website, as promised... Meanwhile, we have three articles reporting on what was said, from Rethinking College Park, The Gazette, and The Sentinel.

Rethink College Park's Chris Ellepola has posted his writeup for us , summarizing the community input offered at the Riverdale Elementary meetings.

http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2007/425/

I won't quote from Chris' article here, because the entire thing is well worth the read. I will point out that the most crucial item in his writeup is the observation that the Cafritz team's "report out" on June 14th omitted one entire range of views that had been expressed by some area residents at the meetings: Namely, their preference that the property NOT be rezoned at all, and instead be developed as a single family residence neighborhood -- if at all. (I would venture to say that most of the people arguing for no development at all, or at least no rezoning hail from either University Park or the section of College Park just north of Cafritz. But Hyattsville Councilman Chris Currie argued eloquently for the same in his screed which can be read on the Route 1 Growth blog.)

The Ellepola article also includes the announced schedule of further, upcoming Cafritz meetings, also to be held at Riverdale Elementary, which is as follows:

THURSDAY, July 26TH (7-9pm) & SATURDAY, July 28th (10am-12pm)
Two identical meetings, to share the team's "design principles."

SATURDAY, September 15th (10am-12pm) -TUESDAY, September 18th (7-9pm)
Two identical meetings to share their "concept plan."

Earliest possible groundbreaking: Fall 2009 (assumes successful rezoning -- see Dineen O'Connor quote from The Gazette, below).

The Gazette article, by Maya T. Prabhu, "Waiting for the details on Riverdale project: Owners of Cafritz property to seek rezoning to allow retail on undeveloped tract near Route 1," is available at:
http://www.gazette.net/stories/062107/hyatnew202417_32379.shtml

The most interesting items in this article are the quotes from University Park Mayor Tabori and from Dineen O'Connor, the responsible representative for our area on the Planning Commission.

Mayor Tabori summarized input from several UP residents at the meetings:

‘‘An important issue for us is where the entrance and exit are going to be. Is it going to be right on Route 1 and across from us?”

(To which I would respond, "Of course it's going to be on Route 1!" How could it not be? I would think the question is 'what additional access routes will there be, besides Route 1?')

O'Connor shed some light on what's involved assuming the Cafritz team proceeds and applies for the zoning change (to change the property's zoning from single family residences to multiuse zoning):

"The developer has to either prove there was a mistake in the original zoning...or prove that there has been a change in the character of the area to warrant a re-examination of the property,” she said.

O’Connor said it typically takes the Planning Board a year to decide.

Our town is represented in the article by Ward 2 representative Kate Sharpe, who (rightfully) is quoted as commenting that "It’s hard to make a decision one way or the other when we’re so early in the process."

There's also an article inThe Sentinel, "Developers seek feedback on Cafritz property," by Raechal Leone. It features quotes from Mayor Tabori and another UP resident, along with a College Park resident -- and none from any Riverdale Parkies. The gem from this article is the line "[University Park] Town officials are already making contact with state highway administrators and politicians." I bet they are.

Snapshots in time...

The photo labeled "Cafritz Property, 1965" (which has now been moved to near the bottom of this page) was taken in 1965, showing the Cafritz property at the top, and Riverdale Park Town Center at the bottom -- and no East-West Highway.

I grabbed this and some other overhead photos of the Cafritz area from the M-NCPPC website www.pgatlas.com.

Four images cropped and scaled identically from 1938, 1965, 1993, and 2000 are available via this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/dwightrholmes/CafritzPropertyAndTheParksFromAboveOverTime

Of note:
In the 1965 shot, you can clearly see the scars of the WWII manufacturing town that occupied the site; you can also see the clear line of the Trolley Line, which had at that time been recently abandoned. Also, I see that there was a street that occupied what is now the route of East-West Highway from west of the tracks to Route 1 and on over to Queens Chapel - Adelphi. Does anybody remember what the name of that street was? I'm guessing it was Rittenhouse?

In the 1938 shot, notice that much of what was to become the WWII manufacturing site, as well as what was to become the ERCO factory on the east side of the tracks, is essentially barren land, at least that's how it appears in the photo. Plenty of trees to the north in what is now Calvert Heights, but most of what is now the wooded Cafritz property was anything but at this time. Interesting.

Speaking of the ERCO factory (and adjacent airport), which spanned what is now River Rd., there are some good photos and history of the place here: http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MD/Airfields_MD_PG_C.html#erco
Thanks to Stuart Eisenberg for the link!

Comparing the 1993 and 2000 views, focussing on our Town Center, it's perhaps telling (or, more likely, just coincidental) that in 1993, there are only a few cars backed up on East-West Highway at Rt. 1, heading west, and the Town Center parking lot is jammed. Seven years later, it looks like all the cars have moved out onto East-West Highway, causing gridlock, and the Town Center parking lot is nearly empty.

"This too will pass."

We're hard wired for the farmers' market!

"Consumers have 10 times as many conversations at farmers' markets as they do at supermarkets — an order of magnitude difference. By itself, that's hardly life-changing, but it points at something that could be: living in an economy where you are participant as well as consumer, where you have a sense of who's in your universe and how it fits together. At the same time, some studies show local agriculture using less energy (also by an order of magnitude) than the "it's always summer somewhere" system we operate on now. Those are big numbers, and it's worth thinking about what they suggest—especially since, between peak oil and climate change, there's no longer really a question that we'll have to wean ourselves of the current model." [emphasis added]

Bill Mckibben, "Reversal of Fortune: The formula for human well-being used to be simple: Make money, get happy. So why is the old axiom suddenly turning on us?" Mother Jones, March/April 2007

available at: http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/03/reversal_of_fortune.html

Brian's post to TownTalk (where he talks about the oil running out, gas reaching $10 a gallon, and a time when we're all walking to do our errands, out of necessity, and won't it then be nice to have some mixed use density around us...) reminded me of this article in a recent issue of Mother Jones (rest her soul -- she died not so far from here, you know).



It's a very interesting article on "happiness", and what a new and growing school of thought in economics has to say about it. One "finding" is that a lot of what we treat as "morality" seems to be hard wired into us genetically! "Indeed, we seem to be genetically wired for community."

And the particular section from which I pulled the above quote seems to me to say that what we are about here in Riverdale Park is the right thing -- and we should just keep doing more of it!

Reactions to the first Cafritz Property "community workshop"

Am I the only one who can't wait til Thursday to hear what the Cafritz development team tells us they gleaned of the two community workshops they held? And how they see themselves proceeding from here? (I only wish I could be there on time, but a conflict will prevent that)

I would love to hear what other people are thinking, and what they foresee as obstacles... Does this seem like just one more proposal that will likely disappoint or even just peter out in the end? Or is it really something refreshingly different? Other than save some of us a bunch on gas money and driving time, how would it change our community to have something like a Whole Foods store in town? What are the plusses? and minuses? And do we need a reality check before we start planning our errand list around having a local Whole Foods!?!? And what about Councilman Olson's proposal that the residential aspect of the project be an Over-55 community to prevent any negative impact on our area's schools?

There's been little (no?) discussion of or reaction to the Cafritz meetings on TownTalk. Perhaps we're all waiting to hear what the Cafritz team has to say at the third and final meeting on Thursday, June 14. My own reaction continues to be conflicted: While I'm sincerely enthusiastic about the promise, I don't want to let myself get carried away -- so I remain cautious. For one, as we all know, there are a bazillion hoops to go through before the first shovel can be pushed into the ground. Moreover, it's usually healthy to be at least a bit skeptical; after all, doesn't this sound too good to be true? The Cafritz family have brought in -- along with themselves -- *seven* different professional firms or agencies (along with donuts, lunch, and a violinist) - what do they want from me? Surely, it's more than my opinion?!? (And is it more than my support for a zoning variance?)

Of course, this is a classic case of damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't. Had they proceeded headstrong with a proposal, they'd be criticized for not soliciting community input -- and deservedly so. Instead, they've gone to great lengths to approach our elected officials, and then to arrange this series of meetings to find out what our interests and concerns are. For this they should receive credit -- and I believe they are. I certainly applaud them for their approach thus far. Nonetheless, some degree of skepticism (or cynicism) seems unavoidable, if not advisable: I guess I'll just fall back on the famous words of Ronald Reagan: "Trust, but verify." :)


One thing I've started to wonder: Why don't the Cafritz family buy up the Riverdale Park Industrial Park and merge that in with their current holdings? Or even the USPS parcel (ahem... no pun...)? (anybody know who owns that property?) When you look at the overhead views or maps, the USPS and Industrial Park properties really stand out as vestiges of the old, and obstacles to the new (at least to what appears to be the future direction of the area).

Meanwhile, there are at least three writeups of the Cafritz development and/or the workshop from last Saturday (June 2nd), published on the following blogs, Rethinking College Park, Route 1 Growth, and Life in Riverdale Park:

from Rethinking College Park (By Chris Ellepola):

"The Business and Retail arm of the resource team stated that Whole Foods Mid-Atlantic President Ken Meyer has seen the Cafritz Property and said he would like to put a store there. The company is waiting on plans for the development in order to move forward. Fall is a reasonable time to expect a more definitive position from Whole Foods as to whether or not it will place a grocery store on the Cafritz Property."

http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2007/409/

from Route 1 Growth:

"My overall impressions were positive and I felt that the development team was interested in engaging the public in this discussion. County Council member Eric Olson termed the outreach unique and important. Although no development plans have yet been filed, one must keep in mind that the development group does have a vision for the property. Certainly the selected team members, the stated values and the workstation topics lead me to believe that this project will tend towards high-density development. The very point of having the community input meetings is to modify the original single family zoning."

http://route1growth.wordpress.com/2007/06/04/summary-of-june-2nd-cafritz-community-input-meeting/

from a new local blog, Life in Riverdale Park: http://lifeinriverdalepark.blogspot.com/2007/06/cafritz-property.html

"My wife and I have shopped at the Whole Foods in Silver Spring, and it is a huge store. Their food selection appears superior in terms of quality and health conscious options to a standard Giant, Safeway, Shoppers, etc. However, the prices are high, and I know some residents would be turned off by this. I still think that there would be enough interest though to justify a store. I would really hope that environmental concerns are taken seriously with a development so close to the Anacostia River. I've read a lot about how the vast amount of impervious surface at PG Plaza has really hurt the local tributaries of the Anacostia. A garage would be ideal in order to keep as much green space as possible."

Cafritz Property & Riverdale Park - Aerial shots

I wasn't able to get to Thursday's Cafritz "Community workshop" but am looking forward to next week's "summary" meeting. It's exciting to ponder the possibilities of what could be a very positive change for our town and the larger community.

I grabbed a few aerial photos off of WindowsLive -- for the slide show, scroll way down, down near the bottom of the page. Here's one still shot:



The above aerial shot, facing south, shows the Trolley Line trail (proposed hiker-biker trail route) cutting across the Cafritz property towards Riverdale Park Town Center, with the USPS facility to the west and the CSX tracks to the east.

You may click on the photo to see an enlarged version.

For more of these aerial photos of the Cafritz - WMATA area plus adjoining areas of Riverdale Park go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/dwightrholmes

and choose the Cafritz album.

Cafritz' high-powered starting lineup

I found these links via Google: Collectively, these represent all of the firms or agencies that were present at Saturday's Cafritz program, and listed on the back of the brochure distributed there, I think.

[The role(s) of each group on the "resource team" is in brackets]

The one I'm not entirely certain about is this one:
MV+A ARCHITECTS ["Placemaking"]
http://www.mva-arch.com/
In the brochure they're listed as MV&A Architects -- but that would not be the only typo on the brochure, to wit, the representative of MV&A is listed as Jim Volzke; on MV+A Architects' website the name Voelzke is in the banner along with others. I'm willing to wager this is one and the same group, but can't be certain...

Here are the others:

The first one, HO&C, is intriguing: Did anyone at the meeting hear or see the term "affordable housing" anywhere?

HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES & CONCEPTS: THE EXPERTS IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING ["Livability"]
http://www.hocmc.org/AboutHOC/Documents/HOC-Concepts-Brochure.pdf

LOIEDERMAN SOLTESZ ASSOCIATES ["Environmental Sustainability"]
http://www.lsassociates.net/

BENNETT FRANK MCCARTHY ARCHITECTS ["Open Spaces & Connections"; "WMATA"]
http://www.bfmarch.com/

H & R RETAIL ["Business & Retail"]
http://www.hrretail.com/

THE TRAFFIC GROUP ["Transportation"]
http://www.trafficgroup.com/

EHRENKRANTZ ECKSTUT & KUHN ARCHITECTS ["Moderator"; "Graphic Design"]
http://www.eekarchitects.com/

How many Whole Foods can you fit in a VW Bug? or in the Cafritz Property?

I had a whole host of reactions (ranging from the very positive to the highly cynical) while attending the Cafritz Property extravaganza on Saturday (complete with solo violinist, snacks and lunch, and a high-powered team of consultants and salespersons!)

I don't have time to write up all of my reactions & subsequent questions, but I'll throw out a few here in hopes of stirring up some discussion among others who attended...

Clearly, they have their hearts (and wallets?) set on landing a Whole Foods. And in an interesting sort of conflict-of-interest, the marketing/business location guy that they had there happens to work for a firm that is employed by Whole Foods to help find new viable locations. Hmmm... I asked him if he could tell me how big the property is where the Silver Spring Whole Foods sits. He could not. So I did a little back-of-the-google map calculation myself:

NOTE: All 3 photos are at same scale (and you can click on each one to see a larger image)

PHOTO #1: Aerial shot of the Silver Spring Whole Foods complex (incl the other stores and parking lot)

PHOTO #2: I copied my outline (red line) from Silver Spring onto an aerial shot of the Cafritz Property (white, dotted line).

PHOTO #3: I multiplied that red outline (and rotated one of them) to determine that approx 5 of them would fit on the Cafritz Property. So the Whole Foods complex is roughly 5 - 6 acres, I reckon.

This question of 'how big is a Whole Foods in relation to this property?' came to mind as I was seeing and hearing an ever-expanding "wish list" develop at the meeting. Included: many competing priorities. Housing, amenities, greenspace, Whole Foods, hardware store, ethnic restaurants, minimize environmental impact, hiker-biker trail, playgrounds, etc... Since shopping centers come with big parking lots, how much of your 36 acres are you willing to give up to asphalt? (BTW, I asked if they'd considered putting the parking underground and on the roof, as at the P St. Whole Foods -- "We haven't gotten that far, yet.")

Overall, I left with an image of the magical Arabian tent from childhood cartoons -- tiny from the outside, seemingly infinitely large on the inside. So what of these many, desirable ideas will give way as the project takes shape?

P.S. Here's one more: PHOTO #4 (below). On this view of the Cafritz property I've overlaid the outlines of three different Whole Foods from the Metro area: Silver Spring, P St. (near 14th St NW), and Falls Church. The Silver Spring and Falls Church stores are similar in that both have other stores in the same shopping center, and a large parking lot. Location-wise these two are most like our Riverdale Park situation. The P St. store is, of course, urban and not suburban, and is a standalone store (though surrounded by a variety of other retail, office and residential properties). It is noteworthy for having its parking on the roof and underground. (As a frequent shopper at this store, I can attest to the fact that parking is often difficult to find!)

Obviously, with its biker-ped-friendly "hidden parking" and overall smaller "footprint" a store along the lines of the P St. Whole Foods would take up much less acreage, greatly reduce the runoff from a sprawling parking lot and leave much more land for other purposes -- including greenspace. (However, it should be reiterated that the P St. store is a standalone Whole Foods -- adding additional stores and businesses would certainly increase the footprint.)

The Coffee House is "Virtual" for now...

I added the word "virtual" to the welcome message at the top of the page. One earnest reader was confused, and wrote to ask me where the new coffee house is! Don't we wish... BTW, when I first heard about Busboys & Poets coming to EYA, I figured that might also serve to satisfy our coffee house needs somewhat. But i don't see the word coffee even mentioned on their website, let alone in their menus. So maybe I'm wrong. Would still love to hear from someone who's been to the one at 14th & Columbia NW.

Cafritz Property

The map to the left shows the outlines of the Cafritz Property (thin red line) nestled between:

NORTH: WMATA property which lies between Albion Rd. /College Park-Riverdale Park town line and the Cafritz Property;
WEST: Rt. 1, and University Park;
EAST: CSX RxR tracks;
SOUTHWEST: USPS facility;
SOUTHEAST: RP Industrial Park.

Town Center connects to the property via the route of the old trolley tracks, current well-worn pedestrian path, and hoped-for future Trolley Line Hiker-Biker Trail (shown by thick blue line). You can click on the map to see it in full size.

Route1 Growth blog has some thoughts on the future of the Cafritz property:
http://route1growth.wordpress.com/

I guess we'll get a hint, perhaps, of what the developers have in mind tomorrow at 10 a.m...

Pizza & a Novel?

EYA East lands Busboys & Poets Restaurant and Bookstore

EYA developers (the new developments along Rt 1 in Hyattsville AND Riverdale Park) announced an agreement with Busboys & Poets to be the "anchor restaurant" in EYA East. This is EYA Phase II, which lies partially in our town, and which will help build and abut on the Hyattsville portion of the Trolley Line Hiker-Biker Trail. I've never been to Busboys & Poets, though we've often talked about going -- they've got quite a bit of press in the Post and elsewhere. But it seems like an excellent fit with the concept of a Route 1 "Arts Community" while also fulfilling some of the need for more local choices in places to eat and places to hang out.

Has anyone been to Busboys & Poets downtown? I'd love to hear what you think of it.

They've got a nice website, with menus, etc.

http://www.busboysandpoets.com/

Running errands, leaving the car at home!

I am really looking forward to the day when we can get on our bikes, leave the car at home, and pedal down the Trolley Line Hiker-Biker Trail to Franklin's, or the new Busboy's & Poets at EYA... or up the other direction to Smile Herb Shop and Berwyn Café, and even on up (using the Rhode Island Ave bike lane -- imagine, an actual bike lane!) to MOM's and REI... I would also have mentioned heading over from the trail to grab a latté at Starbucks in downtown College Park -- but hopefully by that time you'll be able to get your java fix right here in Town Center!!

I post this here now in conjunction with Rob's announcement that the Hiker-Biker trail project has been added to the docket of the Maryland National Capital Park & Planning Commission. This is great news, indeed!

In case you missed the event back on February 3rd, and haven't seen the video, I've posted the video here of the Riverdale Park Trolley Line Hiker-Biker Trail meeting that took place at S&J's and Town Center. The video includes footage of the actual trolley train that plied this route before it was taken out of action in the 1960s. (the video was taken and posted to YouTube by the Hyattsville H4X guys)

for more on this the Trolley Line Hiker-Biker Trail, see:
http://www.hyattsvilleh4x.com/index.php?post_id=178334&comments=on

also see my Google map which shows the entire route (roughly 3.8 miles from Ch. Armentrout Rd/Northwest Trail (Hyattsville) to the south to Greenbelt Rd. (College Park) to the north).

Map of Riverdale Park MD Trolley Hiker-Biker Trail and Cafritz Property
http://tinyurl.com/2wsfql

Good news all around: Trails & Crossings...

Thanks to Rob Oppenheim and everyone who worked to make the new RxR crossing gate a reality -- (We assume!! Rob announced that the installation date has been moved up to the weekend of June 8-10).

Thanks to Roland Walker for the photo of what the new RxR crossing gate will look like (above).

Presumably this means an end to the kind of crazy, reckless shenanigans captured in this video which was posted by one of the Riverdale Railfans to YouTube -- and which I've added to this page (immediately below)

Hopefully, no more of these close calls!

One of our Riverdale Railfans caught this video of a near miss at our RxR crossing and posted it to YouTube

Our piece of the pie

Here's how our 2006 property tax bill brokedown: 41% to the county, 33% to the Town of Riverdale Park, and the rest to various other taxing agencies, the largest portion of which went to Park & Planning.

RP Town Budget: Did you know?

I looked at the property tax rates set by some of our neighboring towns. Our 2006 rate of .641 was exceeded by Mt Rainier (.790), Greenbelt, and Bladensburg. Our rate exceeded those of Hyattsville (just under ours at .630), University Park, New Carrollton, Edmonston, Cheverly (.450), and finally, College Park (.299) and Brentwood (.248).

The first chart shows all of these towns and their 2006 rate (green column) along with their "Constant Yield Rate" for 2007 (blue column) as calculated by the state. This, as I understand it, is the tax rate that would result in raising the same amount of revenue as last year's rate, given the increase in assessments that everyone has experienced.
The second chart leads to my first "Did you know?" question -- I was quite surprised by this fact. I took the "Constant Yield Rate" information from the state (Ward 1 representative-elect Alice Ewen Walker had posted the URL for this to TownTalk: http://www.dat.state.md.us/sdatweb/stats/cytr.htm ) and did a few calculations... Comparing the total "assessment base" for each of the towns in 2006 and 2007, it turns out that RP has the second greatest increase of all these towns in our area that I've listed. Mt. Rainier saw the greatest increase (18.7%) and we are right behind at 18.2%. Hyattsville and Brentwood follow next (17.8% and 16.6%, respectively) and the others are in a somewhat lower category ranging from New Carrollton's 12.9% down to University Park's 10.2%.
Something else that has me curious -- and I'd love to hear from everyone who knows anything about the whys and wherefores of all this -- is the rather dramatic variation in town tax rates vs the PG County tax rates in those towns. As I understand it, the more services a town provides, the greater the "discount" given by the county. So whereas PG Co. residents who don't live in any incorporated town or city pay a county rate of .960, here in Riverdale Park we only pay county taxes at a rate of .798, in recognition of the fact that PG Co. doesn't have to provide our police services or pick up our trash (among other things). In short, the higher we tax ourselves and provide services in the town, the lower our county rate. But I did notice two things, which can be seen in the third chart: One is that no town/city resident pays taxes as low as all the PG Co. residents who are not in any incorporated jurisdiction. In other words, no combination of town-plus-county rate comes close to being as low as the .960 rate that county residents pay. (PG Co. taxes are represented by the far-right column in the chart). This isn't particularly surprising, but is interesting nonetheless. More surprising to me is the wide variation in town rates: From Mt. Rainier's .790 down to Brentwood's .248! And although, as a result of the services it provides, Mt. Rainier pays a lower PG Co. rate than Brentwood, it's not *that* much lower (.803 vs .937). The chart shows, for each town, the town rate (left/green column), its county rate (middle/blue column), and finally the total of the two added together (right/gray column). (You can doubleclick on these graphs to see them in larger format)

You may notice I stuck Takoma Park in this graph as well, just for comparison's sake. (Montgomery Co. has so few incorporated jurisdictions, it's difficult to make comparisons.)

As you can see, RP still ranks 4th among these area towns: 4th in town tax rate, and 4th in total town+county tax rate. (These are the 2006 rates of course).

Towns are L-to-R: Mt. Rainier, Greenbelt, Bladensburg, Riverdale Park, Hyattsville, University Park, New Carrollton, Edmonston, Cheverly, Takoma Park, College Park, Brentwood, and PG County (not in town or city).

One question I have for our mayor and town council is this: Given that RP has seen a higher increase in its assessment base than any of our neighboring towns other than Mt. Rainier, and given that Hyattsville, College Park and University Park have either already decided to hold their rates at last year's level or appear headed in that direction... why does RP need to raise its rates? (Does anyone know about the other towns? A quick search at gazette.com didn't turn up any tax or budget news from any of our other neighbors).

Let me also add that I know the Mayor and others have, in fact, addressed this question to some extent. But I feel that the case for a rate increase has not been made in a way that allows us to clearly evaluate the proposal. As I suggested at the town meeting on May 21st, I believe what is needed is a three-column format for the budget proposal:

Column 1: 2006 budget
Column 2: 2007 budget to provide the exact same level of services (taking into account step increases, increases in workman's comp and health care costs, increase in fuel prices, etc.)
Column 3: 2007 budget proposal complete with proposed additional (or reduced) services

With such a presentation, we would be in a position, I believe, to meaningfully debate what we want our town to do, and to provide, fully informed about the cost of each item.

Back to my question I asked above: Please understand, I'm asking this in the most literal sense. Why, given the spike in everyone's assessments and the 'windfall' increase in revenues that will thus flow to the town even if we keep the same rate as last year, is it necessary this year to raise our rates? I'm all in favor of improving our town. And I firmly believe that the quality of services and amenities are commensurate with taxes. We'd all love to have the best schools, beautiful and spacious parks and greenspaces, good roads with no potholes, wide sidewalks, well-stocked and staffed libraries and a whole host of other public services -- and no taxes. But of course it just isn't possible. So we all do or at least should expect to pay taxes in order to maintain our town and state and nation as the kind of places we are happy and proud to live in.

I hope everyone will chime in. I look forward to meaningful discussion of these issues on line as well as at town meetings.

Who wants to talk about the town budget?

In my day job I have to work with tax and economic development policy issues in conjunction with funding for schools. The standard line we use is that 'you can't talk about taxes without people's eyes glazing over...'

I can readily understand how people become apathetic and/or cynical about politics on the national scene. I fight the impulse myself from time to time, and I've been a political junkie since the Kennedy-Nixon campaign of 1960.

But here in our town we have ward elections that can be won with as few as 20 votes, no? And our elected officials have authority to set the town's portion of our property taxes. If I figured it right, in 2006 the Riverdale Park portion was exactly 33% of our total property tax bill. In short, every citizen who resides in RP has real power to affect decisions that involve real money -- your money! Hopefully, too, we have real power over how the money is spent -- not just how much is raised.

I'm a new resident of RP. And although I've lived in PG County (Hyattsville before moving to RP) for about 7 years, I haven't previously paid as much attention to the tax and budget issues as I am now. I never thought of Hyattsville as a large town -- but I think I can truly say that the smallness of RP makes me feel like I just have to inform myself of what's going on, decide if I have something I want to say and say it. But first I have tons of questions. The more I look at the data, the more questions I have. I didn't want to bog down the official TownTalk email list with my thoughts, and that's part of why I poked around and thought I'd try this "blog" and see if it would work as a forum for discussion. I don't really like that it's *my* blog. So I'm not wedded to this format, and am hopeful that this might evolve into something better. I'd like it to be what I titled it -- a local coffee house, the one that oughta be up there on the corner by the tracks, where we could savor a nice cuppa and talk these things over in a community setting. I'm thinking there is probably a better way to do this, and I'm sure open to that if anyone has a suggestion and shares an interest in getting it started.

In the next post I'll throw out a couple of questions re our tax rate and budget. Please chime in. I know there's tons here I don't understand.

The Face of Our Town

There's something ironic here: The "Adopt a Highway" signs only add to the ugliness of the Rt 1 & 410 intersection -- and it would appear the volunteers aren't keeping up with what they signed on to do.

This is a tough intersection, given the long-vacant corner site which may someday be a Wachovia Bank. If it's the SHA's job to maintain, though, the fact that the property is vacant wouldn't seem to me to relieve them of their job to keep the edges of the streets and sidewalks looking nice.

Contrast our Town Center with our more public face on 410

Unfortunately, most people don't see our attractive Town Center. The Riverdale Park most people know is what they see while cruising through on MD-201 (Kenilworth) MD-410 (Riverdale Rd/East West Highway) and U.S. 1 (Baltimore Ave). While I'm assuming the primary responsibility for maintaining the look of those highways rests with the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA), I think it is clear that not all towns and cities in our area put the same kind of face on that we do! I am posting a few pictures here and will post more in the days to come...

As discussed recently on TownTalk, the face our town puts on is critically important to enticing new businesses to locate here. It's not just the empty storefronts that would scare them off. Frankly the impression one gets of Riverdale Park by driving Rt 1, 410 and 201 isn't very pretty. The town does a wonderful job of maintaining the landscaping around Town Center -- what can be done to improve our look on the state and federal highways that traverse Riverdale Park?

The median on 410 as you drive across between U.S. 1 and Kenilworth is often unkempt and unsightly... These photos were taken on 410 @ 49th Ave.

I've got some more streetscape photos from the area posted here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dwightrholmes.

RE the future of our town

While I appreciate and enjoy our official town email list (TownTalk) I've been feeling the need for a broader way to discuss some of the ideas that come up on the list. Also, the need to post some photos and charts in conjunction with ideas I'd like to toss out. Perhaps a blog such as this is one way to go... I'm going to try it and see how it works. Please bear with me while I figure out the very basics of how to do things here!

"Stay tuned"

--Dwight Holmes
Riverdale Rd.


Do you know about the upcoming meetings hosted by the developers of the Cafritz Property (the large swath of land on the east side of Rt.1. between the post office and College Park). "Community workshops" are scheduled at Riverdale Elementary School "to discuss the development of the Cafritz Property."

Here's their link: http://www.cafritzpop.com/

• Saturday, June 2, 2007: 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Community Workshop 1 (come by any time!)
• Thursday, June 7, 2007: 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. Community Workshop 2 (identical to Workshop 1)
• Thursday, June 14, 2007: 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. Workshop Summary Session

Here's our County Council Rep. Eric Olson's letter on the subject: http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/Olson_Cafritz%20meetings.pdf

And here's my rendering of the outlines of the property along with some other new developments and other relevant info on a map of our area:

Map of Riverdale Park MD Trolley Hiker-Biker Trail and Cafritz Property
http://tinyurl.com/2wsfql

And if you're a Nats fan, please check out my season log:
Tracking the Washington Nationals' 2007 season (will they catch the '62 Mets?):
http://tinyurl.com/2m6f43