After more than eight years of negotiation, members of the College Park City Council gave their support last week to design plans for Greenbelt Station, a new multi-million dollar construction complex that will add more residential, retail and office buildings to the community.
The new complex, which will be built between Greenbelt Road and Cherry Lane, will take up about 100 acres near Indian Creek in North College Park.
To prevent any negative impacts the development might cause, Metroland Developers LLC, the project’s builder, also agreed to pay the city $2.5 million, District 1 Councilman John Krouse said.
The additional money will go into the city’s budget and be used to improve landscaping and intersections.
“Much of the $2.5 million will go to the community,” Krouse said. “It will help make improvements to roads, landscapes and to the enhancement of our athletic facilities.”
According to the plan, Greenbelt Station will also add numerous highrises and high-profile shops, possibly including Nordstrom and Macy’s department stores.
Despite the addition, residents in northern College Park have expressed concerns the new development will create massive traffic problems and cause high volumes of noise during construction.
“Residents aren’t too happy about the idea of getting stuck in traffic,” said Mark Schroder, president of the North College Park Citizens Association. “When I drive I won’t enjoy it.”
Residents are also concerned the development could cause high levels of flooding in their homes, because all of College Park drains into Indian Creek.
During the 1980s, many residents noticed high levels of flooding after construction started on the Greenbelt Metro station, located next to the development site.
Metroland said it will compensate by creating drainage plains in other areas. According to the agreement with the county, the developers are required to provide evidence of mitigating drainage problems.
“I have faith the state will do the right thing and make sure the environment is protected,” Krouse said.
Through a tax break, the city will also receive a new $1.25 million pedestrian walkway to help connect citizens to the city, Krouse said. The walkway will go underneath the railroad track that runs parallel to the Metro station.
Construction for the new development is not planned to begin for at least another several years, Krouse said, because the developers still need to work out a detailed site plan and get approval from the state to continue.
Contact reporter Sara Blumberg at blumbergdbk@umd.edu
