Landover Gateway Sector Plan/SMA

Planning Board Statement

 

 

 

On behalf of the Prince George’s County Planning Board, I would first like to take a moment to recognize you, the residents and community advocates, for your work on the Landover Gateway Sector Plan. We commend you for doing such a great job! Thanks to all your hard work and dedication, the Landover Gateway Sector Plan has come a long way since its initial inception and together we will work to make it even better.

 

Over the last year, I have attended meetings and observed your passion and dedication to see real change in the Landover area. You not only embraced a vision for change in this part of Prince George’s County but you also showed us that you were committed to making this area a centerpiece of the County.

 

Please know that your dedication and commitment to improving your community is recognized. You have spent countless hours attending meetings, advocating for your community and working side-by-side with Planning Department staff to prepare the Preliminary Landover Gateway Sector Plan. And through all your hard work, we now have the framework from which to begin building a plan that will ultimately go from a vision to reality.

 

As part of the Joint Public Hearing with the County Council, held earlier this year, we heard testimony and received letters of support from many of you.  We also received letters from area property owners and representatives from state and local agencies, highlighting their concerns about a number of issues that they believed needed to be addressed in greater detail before moving forward to adopt the plan. One of those critical issues is road capacity and whether the transportation infrastructure in this area can adequately handle the number of people that will live, work and recreate under the future Landover Gateway Sector plan. While staff has been aware of this issue and has attempted to address it appropriately without altering your vision for the plan, it has been somewhat of a challenge.

 

So, while the draft plan addressed many of your initial concerns and desires for this area, these letters highlighted other significant issues that the Planning Board realized needed to be addressed. It especially highlighted the need to work more closely with the appropriate agencies to develop a plan for creating a system that can support major transportation considerations such as a Metro alignment along the Capital Beltway and Light Rail along Brightseat Road.

 

Therefore, last month, the Planning Board made the decision not to adopt the Proposed Preliminary Landover Gateway Sector Plan. Though the decision not to adopt was not an easy one for the Board, after much thought and deliberation, we all agreed that it would be in the best interest of all stakeholders to continue to refine and strengthen this plan. We are committed to working with all stakeholders to make sure that we address and resolve the overshadowing concerns associated with road capacity and the lack of future transit needs.

 

In making the decision to re-initiate this plan, we strongly believe this will give us an opportunity to collaborate more closely with all of the key stakeholders to create a plan that will go from inception to implementation. We want to make sure that this plan has all the key elements that developers are looking for when they decide to invest in a particular area.  And just as important, we want to see a great product come out of all the hard work that has been done so far. We’re committed to making this a success and we’re counting on you to continue with this momentum!

 

Again, we commend you for all your hard work and dedication, and for lending so much of your time to advocate for your community. Please continue to support and show interest in the Landover Gateway Sector Plan as it moves into its next phase. We strongly believe that this effort to strengthen our plan will set the foundation for creating a first-class downtown for Prince George’s County.

 

 

Thank you.