Town Crier for September 2003
Mixed-Use Town Center Development Plan and Design Standards Public Hearing Scheduled
A joint hearing of the Prince George's County Council and Planning Board is scheduled for September 29,2003 in the Council Hearing Room of the County Administration Building in Upper Marlboro on the preliminary Riverdale Park Mixed-Use Town Center Development Plan. The joint public hearing is your opportunity to comment on this plan. Flyers with more details on the public hearings and copies of the preliminary development plan will be available at the Riverdale Park Town Office and at the County's Parks and Recreation Department's Administration Building at 6600 Kenilworth A venue on the afternoon of Friday, August 29, 2003.
The Riverdale Park Mixed-Use Town Center (M-U-TC) Development Plan and Design Standards is a broad-ranging and comprehensive guide for design and development to be implemented over time through public, private, and nonprofit initiatives. The design principles are the foundation of the Riverdale Park M-U-TC Zone design standards. These principles are the backbone of a human-scale town center and are inherent in the development of pedestrian-oriented town centers and describe what the more prescriptive design standards strive toward. The design standards were created with the help of community representatives to ensure that future development will comply with the identity, character and vision of the town.
The plan is a culmination of a process that began in 2000 with a request from the Riverdale Park Mayor and Council to apply the M-U-TC Zone to create town centers area following recommendations in the Planning Area 68 Master Plan. The M-U-TC Zone was created in 1994 in conjunction with the master plan to promote reinvestment and redevelopment in the county's older, more established mixed-use areas. The M-U-TC Zone utilizes a local development plan to create an overall concept plan and specific design standards to manage future development in designated town center areas.
The M-U-TC Zone stipulates that regulations concerning the location, size and other provisions for all buildings and structures in the zone, incorporated into design standards, are provided in an approved town center development plan. The Town of Riverdale Park has designated two town centers: one along the US 1 corridor and the other along the B&O Railroad line. Different design standards have been created for parts of these centers because of theircommon characteristics and different opportunities for development. Along the US 1 and in the older industrial area north of the town's historic core, larger scale redevelopment projects are recommended. Design standards for new development for these parts of the town center will promote pedestrian-scale development by requiring, in part, an enhanced streetscape and improved architectural design. In the historic core, standards emphasize compatibility with the existing historic character and promote preserving existing buildings and/or smaller scale infill projects.
For more information about this project, please contact the Planning Department's project manager, Teri Bond, at 301- 952-3574 or web site at http://www.mncppc.org/cpd/riverdalepark.htm.
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