Terrapin Station developers say the city has been uncooperative since 2003.
An ongoing dispute between the city of College Park and developers of the Terrapin Station shopping complex about parking fees has brought store owners to file a harrasement suit.
Greenhill Capital Corporation, the developers of the complex, said the city has been irresponsible and continually uncooperative since construction on Terrapin Station began in 2003, when the dispute about parking fees also began.
“The city is making it hard to get things done,” said Greenhill CEO Leonard Greenberg. “The lawsuit speaks for itself.”
According to the city’s revitalization plan, developers who want to build in the city either have to provide enough parking for their projects or pay a fee to waive the parking requirement.
“Terrapin Station would normally need to produce 64 spaces, but because of the kind of zone we are in, they were allowed an exemption,” said City Attorney Suellen Ferguson.
Tensions began to mount when Greenhill applied for the waiver and the planning board decided they would have to pay $1,500 for each of the 64 spaces — a price the city council thought was too low.
“With certain developments, structures need to add a number of parking [spaces] to accommodate to the stores,” District 1 Councilman John Krouse said.
City officials believe the cost for each space should be at least $5,700, according to their research.
“In other municipalities, $1,500 is pretty cheap to charge for a fee,” said Krouse. “If we let them pay this much per spot, that means the city has to front the bill, and we can’t afford it.”
The College Park City Council is currently on its second appeal to get the county board’s ruling reversed.
Ferguson said she had no idea the developers were going to file a lawsuit and maintains the city was not misleading the developers in any way.
“We aren’t harassing anyone,” she said. “The council is doing what’s in the best interest of the city and just [wants] the spaces properly paid for.”
Greenhill lawyers could not be reached to discuss the premise of the lawsuit, but a secretary did confirm the motion was filed last week.
Greenberg said the main reason he decided to sue was because of everything he’s been through in opening Terrapin Station.
“Sometimes I wonder who’s running the city; is it [College Park Mayor Stephen] Brayman, or Ferguson? They seem to always be in court,” Greenberg said.
For the past three years, the ongoing legal battles have forced Terrapin Station, located on the corner of Route 1 and Hartwick Road, to delay its opening twice and lose some of its tenants.
Money from the fees will help fund more parking in the high-traffic downtown area, including a new parking garage slated to be built on the same property as city hall.
Despite the legal tensions between both parties, the addition of Terrapin Station has added three new eateries to the community as well as a new cell phone shop and hair salon.
