Cafritz Talks New Ideas in Riverdale Park, Residents Voice Concerns

Cafritz developers came with some new information Thursday night when they presented to Riverdale Park residents.

The first piece of information was that they had spoken to the State Highway Administration about changes that will need to be made to the East-West Highway and Route 1 intersection to resolve some of the traffic congestion that could be created by the proposed development of the on the .

SHA has asked the developers to work on a signal timing study and although they are asking for a signal at .

Chip Reed, attorney for property owner Jane Cafritz, said that they have gone back to CSX to discuss the vehicular crossing and paid an additional $15,000 for their engineer to review the plans.

Reed said CSX doesn’t seem opposed to the vehicular crossing, however it could take the company two years to review their plans. This could be after the developer’s hopes to re-zone the property are voted on by the District Council.

Calls to CSX were not returned in time for this article.

Architect Jim Voelzke discussed the property’s design including parking, which he said 65 percent of it would be behind the Whole Foods. Voelzke also said the majority of the housing would be in the northeast portion of the property, so it would be closer to the College Park Metro.

Out of the 995 units, there would be 100 townhomes, a 120-room hotel, 225 senior housing units, and 20 to 30 units used for scholar housing. The apartments would be rentals, not condos and around four to six stories high.

Although the design for the residential units was not revealed, Reed said they could present a more detailed design within the next two weeks.

Reed reiterated the amount of jobs created for the construction of the project— 1,880— as well as how many full-time jobs would remain after construction was completed —435.

As for stormwater management, the developers discussed a possible “Nine Ponds East”— or a self-sufficient stormwater management system onsite, mimics after the Nine Ponds project in Hyattsville.

They discussed how they would use several stormwater management systems on-site, like permeable paving, structured tree pits, micro pools and constructed trails and wetlands, to store water during large storms and release it at a desired rate.

However, all the water will still flow into the Anacostia River, according to developers, through three drainage areas.

More than a dozen residents asked both the developers and Riverdale Park’s council questions about the proposed project and voiced concerns about traffic, soil quality, trees removal and the creation of green space.

Former Mayor Michael Herman discussed how the development of the Cafritz property could help revitalize Riverdale Park’s town center.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to get several 100 car movements a day,” Herman said, hoping council and developers would discuss the option of opening up Maryland Avenue.

“Don’t be afraid of the traffic. If we create more access points, if we can bring some of those car movements, going towards Washington, we can get a coffee shop, bakery shop, dry cleaners, some of the things we have envisioned from our community, especially for some of us that live in walking distance can use.”

Resident Kate Kelly questioned the developer’s work at Fort Totten, where after grading the property, the project has seemed to stall in 2009.

Voelzke said that project is different because they have issues that don’t exist in Riverdale Park, like relocating former residents on that property and although the project is more urban, they don’t have an anchor store in place. Kelly retorted asking developers what would happen if the project doesn’t move along as they have planned, would the property be graded and abandoned?

Developers said that because Whole Foods has signed a lease, it’s a bigger drive to get the project moving, however, they understand that there can be complications and there is a point where a leasee could walk. However, if the incremental deadlines are met, any leasee understands that there may be delays and because they also commit money to the project they have a reason to stay.

Riverdale Park Mayor Vernon Archer encouraged residents to continue to send in their thoughts about the project and .

Archer asked that Reed present a detailed plan concerning the residences soon.

Riverdale Park’s council will meet Monday, Sept. 26 for a work session.

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