City Council Round-Up: Mar. 14

The Greenbelt City Council met at 8 p.m. Monday night to discuss the Greenbelt West Sector Plan and to honor Mayor J. Davis.

The meeting kicked off with Bowie Councilman and Prince George's County Municipal Association President Dennis Brady's presentation of the Longevity Award toMayor Davis. The award recognizes individuals that have served the city for 16 years. Brady thanked the mayor for her service and even corrected himself because it took him a year to get her the award and she has now served the city of Greenbelt for 17 years.

The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Project Manager Chad Williams gave a presentation of the latest developments with the . He outlined some of the main points of the plan including the importance of maintaining parkland and creating recreational trails as well as the possible relocation of the Greenbelt Fire Department from its current location on Crescent Road. They are also discussing plans for a mixed-use facility for shopping, offices and some residential developments.

The plan also aims to make Greenbelt Road multi-modal, allowing cars, busses and bikes to coexist on the same roadway. Williams also noted some challenges, like increasing access to the Greenbelt Metro Station from the interchange and also looking at Cherrywood Lane, which is a two-lane roadway through the city, but the county master plan has listed as a four-lane roadway.  Expect more on this project as it develops.

Included in the night’s agenda was a letter from Berwyn Heights to council about the Sector Plan. The City of Berwyn Heights would like to see the area along Ballew and 55th Avenue, currently zoned Light Industry, included with the Greenbelt Metro Area Sector Plan. After a bit of discussion, council agreed to send a letter back to Berwyn Heights in support of the request.

The Greenbelt City Council supported several pieces of state legislation at the meeting. One bill, HB 1179/SB 862, they supported would help the renovate their bathrooms. The bills calls for the state to give the Arts Center $25,000, that they then have to match. The Arts Center has already collected $19,000 toward their cause. The other main bill, SB 602/HB 1034, they supported was the Statewide Plastic Bag tax, which would place a five cent fee on all plastic bags. This is different than an earlier bill council supported for a as it would just allow stores to impose a fee if they wanted to.