For a list of current Development Sites across Bowie click here
Melford Development Testimony 2/6/17 - Fiona Moodie
“We cannot think about this property as an independent project - we must take into consideration the whole picture - developments coming down the pipeline AND those recently passed.”
I would like to start my remarks by noting that by making a decision this evening, prior to the decision of the pending litigation, the City of Bowie is taking premature action. The only appropriate course of action is to wait to hear the decision of the court.
According to PG2035, and the council's testimony this evening, town centers are to have 10-16 units per acre. At almost 14 units per acre, this is at the upper end of the units per acre allowance - and is far too dense to be appropriate for this area.
One of my biggest concerns about this project is traffic. Traffic on nearby Belair Drive, which links up to Melford, averages 8,454 daily trips - while Bowie City Traffic Guidelines is 5,190 daily trips. Belair Drive is already almost 40 percent over Bowie City guidelines. With an average of 2 cars per unit, the addition of 1,793 units will bring an additional three and a half thousand daily trips onto the surrounding roads. 3,500 trips ONLY takes into account the residential traffic - businesses will add countless more cars.
Bowie City Council Code discourages the use of private no roads and streets to serve new developments. This point, as well as the increase in traffic and the pressure that places on the single point of entry needs to be taken into account before moving forward with the preliminary plan.
Though some surrounding streets may be within the "technical" traffic limits - we have to think about the reality of the situation and what this increase in traffic will inflict on Bowie residents. The traffic in this area is becoming unbearable. What we are looking at is implementing "traffic calming measures" - AKA placing speed bumps onto Belair Drive - punishing current Bowie residents in order to alleviate St. John's'. problems.
We cannot think about this property as an independent project - we must take into consideration the whole picture - developments coming down the pipeline AND those recently passed.
As council for St. John's stated - we are here to discuss the streets, natural elements, what current exists on the property, and how this relates to what is proposed in the preliminary plan of subdivision. As such, preserving the integrity of the Melford House, the surrounding property and the Duckett and Hardesty Family Cemetery should be of utmost concern to the city council this evening.
For those of you who have not walked this property for the last 15 years, as I have, the Melford House is a historic plantation house located on the property. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings - and is of great significance to the history of Bowie and the United States of America. In the front of Melford House sits a circle drive. If you stand on the front steps of the home and look to 9 o'clock - currently you will see a tree lined drive that leads from the home, up to the family cemetery. It is where Judge Allen Bowie Duckett - a Maryland and United States federal judge - who was nominated to the United States Circuit Court by President Thomas Jefferson - is buried. He lived in that home, when his 6 year old granddaughter, Sally, passed away - he walked that tree lined drive to the cemetery to bury her.
Judge Allen Bowie Duckett continued to serve the residents of Prince George's County till his death in 1806, his casket taken down that tree lined drive from his home - the Melford House - to the cemetery - his final resting place.
Simply put - the Preliminary Plan of Subdivision, as submitted this evening, is NOT sympathetic to the historic nature of the property. Judge Allen Bowie Duckett served the Prince George's County community throughout his life. Now this plan wants to turn part of his front yard into a parking lot. The beautiful view from his final resting place will now look out to a high rise building, apartments and a parking lot.
We must serve Judge Duckett's memory well, we must serve the community that exists in Bowie. This plan benefits no one in Bowie and allowing Saint John's Property to proceed with the plan as submitted is ill-advised.
Notes to the M-NCPPC Prince George's County Planning Board - Larry Swank
Notes to the M-NCPPC Prince George's County Planning Board for inclusion in the record for the meeting of 1/26/17 Conceptional Site Plan, Preliminary Plan #4-16028, and Detailed Site Plan for the proposed residential component of the Marketplace.
Comments from Laurence C Swank, 12506 Scarlet Lane, Bowie, MD 20715 – 1/9/17
The 2006 Bowie and Vicinity Master Plan envisions a mixed-use activity center which includes the Marketplace. The plan sets forth a policy that “…development of Bowie Main Street not adversely impact the character of the existing residential neighborhood.” A key strategy of the plan is to “…transition in building density and intensity from more intense uses located at the core of Bowie Main Street along MD 450 to less intense uses along the edge, adjacent to residential neighborhoods.” The developer agreed in writing with the city to “… redevelop the Marketplace in accordance with the concepts contained in the Master Plan.” The developer elected to ignore key components of the Plan in development of the commercial component of the Marketplace and plans to do the same for the residential elements.
On 15 November, 2016 the Bowie Planning Department recommended Disapproval of the Conceptional Site Plan, Preliminary Plan #4-16028, and Detailed Site Plan for the proposed residential component of the Marketplace. The Bowie Advisory Planning Board voted unanimously to recommend DENIAL for the residential housing proposal. The Bowie Planning Department findings were well thought out and identified:
1) Excessive density for both the available space on-site and the proximity to the adjacent residential neighborhood
2) Excessive vehicle traffic on city streets that do not meet current City and County maximum service volume, and
3) Excessive scale, mass and bulk of the proposed building being incompatible with both the existing detached residential homes and the new Marketplace retail buildings, which will adversely impact the character of existing neighborhoods
Those findings are attached in the 38-page land use petition, Bowie Advisory Planning Board # 16-02, which can also be found athttp://www.cityofbowie.org/DocumentCenter/View/4754
In addition to Bowie Planning Department and Bowie Advisory Planning Board opposition to the Berman Enterprises (a.k.a. BE Bowie, LLC) apartment project plans there is significant citizen opposition. A total of 922 bowie residents have signed the attached Petition in Opposition to Market Place (Marketplace) Apartments Complex. If needed I can provide a pdf version of the petition pages. The citizen objections align with Bowie Planning Department staff observations that the building will be entirely out of place in the community and will introduce unacceptable traffic congestion on streets. Traffic volume that exceed Section 26-56 of the City Code for Level of Service “C” Average Daily Trips (ADT). With the addition of Marketplace planned business and residential components the traffic would exceed Level of Service “D” (ADT).
At the Bowie City Council meeting on January 3, 2017, the Council voted to support construction of a downsized 225-unit apartment building at Bowie Marketplace. This approval included conditions of approval outlined under Section VI Summery Recommendations, B Preliminary Plan #4-16028, recommendations 1 thru 2f. Please see page marked 38 at the end of the attached Land Use Petition. The City Council also set limits on building height to limit the structure to 3 levels near the adjacent residential neighborhood and no more than 4 levels high near the commercial buildings on-site.
Request M-NCPPC staff examine the attached documents for supporting further reductions in building size beyond the 225-unit limit imposed by the Bowie City Council. Citizen and Bowie Planning Staff recommendations include the following design changes:
1) Establishing a limit of 100 units, or 5 dwellings per acre on the 20-acre site that would:
a. follow Bowie Planning department recommendations to stay in line with other development projects in Bowie (see page marked 13 of the Land Use Petition),
b. conform with the 2006 Bowie and Vicinity Master Plan guidance to transition in building density and intensity from more intense uses located at the core of Bowie Main Street along MD 450 to less intense uses along the edge, adjacent to residential neighborhoods, and
c. help reduce additional traffic on adjacent streets that are already over maximum level of service limits.
2) Require a reduction in the scale, mass and bulk of the proposed building to make it compatible with both the existing detached residential homes and the new Marketplace retail buildings. See Section V Required Findings and Analysis, D, 10, (e) & (f) on pages marked 35 and 36 of the Land Use Petition.
3) Eliminate apartment balconies facing adjacent residential homes.
4) Reduce the footprint of the planned apartment building to one that would:
a. Allow for both (1) a promised tall vegetation buffer between the apartment and the adjacent residential homes and (2) an access path that would accommodate emergency vehicle access to the south side of the apartment complex.
b. Ensure adequate parking for all residents and guests of the apartment development to ensure that parking will not overflow unto adjacent park and residential streets – no exceptions to county guidelines on required parking spaces for apartment units
c. Provide adequate space for service vehicles and customer parking for the businesses alongside the apartment building; e.g. Chaney Automotive, Harris Teeter, etc.
Please call with any questions.
Larry Swank – 301.892.0855
Bowie Marketplace Testimony - 3 Jan 17 - Fiona Moodie
“Keep Bowie a COMMUNITY, where people stay for a lifetime, not a 12 month lease.”
Marketplace Testimony 3/Jan/2017
Bowie is my home, this is an emotional issue for me because I have lived here all my life - 25 years.
When I think of Bowie, I know it as an established, multi-generation community where young couples move to raise their children - attracted by the quiet, established neighborhoods - and end up staying for a lifetime.
The area surrounding Marketplace is referred to as "Bowie Main Street" - the area through which we welcome visitors and residents to the haven that we call home - Bowie, Maryland.
This proposed development of 288 apartments will destroy the integrity of our community - permanently.
Residents in the surrounding area will be subject to their new apartment neighbors looking out from balconies, into their back yards, watching their children play. At night, the lights from the parking lot, balconies and apartments will disturb sleep - causing many homeowners to already purchase blackout curtains.
Bowie has already seen an increase in traffic, with the opening of Harris Teeter, making the area difficult to navigate during after-work hours. Adding these apartments will only lead to more congestion, frustration and accidents.
Property values will decrease, senior citizens relying on the equity of their homes to support them through retirement and young couples with newly purchased homes will see their property values plummet - shackling them financially. I have heard multiple times, that these apartments will lease for 3,000 dollars a month. I do not believe this to be true.
A cape-cod home, on Savoy, in Bowie, about a mile from the development - has been for lease for two months. The owners cannot find new tenants for a 1,700 sqft, four bedrooms 2 baths home for $2,100/ month. Simply put, these 2-3 bedroom apartments will not lease for 3k a month, this city cannot sustain that price point.
Property values of the current residents, will absolutely suffer, irreparably destroying homeowners finances. The increase in supply leads to a decrease in price - this is Economics 101.
For the aforementioned reasons I encourage you to vote against the proposed apartments.
We have one chance here to either maintain or destroy the unique character of Bowie.
Marketplace is NOT an appropriate location for apartments in Bowie. The heart of Bowie is single family housing in a beautiful, wooded community. We cannot do this to Bowie residents. We must protect the integrity of our community. Keep Bowie a COMMUNITY, where people stay for a lifetime, not a 12 month lease.
City Council Meeting 1-3-17 - Larry Swank
City Council Meeting 1-3-17
I am Larry Swank, a 40-year resident of Scarlet Lane and back-fence neighbor with the Marketplace
I talked with you on the night the Council received the 1st Berman Enterprises presentation on the Marketplace development effort. I mentioned:
(1) citizen expressions of astonishment at the size and density of the proposed apartment complex,
(2) the fact that the apartment complex would increase residential units in the S-Section by over a third with no road improvements possible for our overcrowded streets, and
(3) the fact that this project will impact more than the skyline of your neighborhood, it will change forever the low-density makeup of Levitt Bowie north of Rt. 50.
The Bowie citizens I talked with presumed a residential component at the Marketplace. However, they foresaw one with townhouses or condominiums in keeping with the prevailing character the neighborhood.
The Burman presentation tonight is much like that first presentation to the Council. They want to maximize the number of residential units with no concern for: dumping more traffic on our overcrowded streets; departing from the Bowie Master Plan (Bowie Main Street); or, meeting a written agreement with the city that the Marketplace development would not adversely impact the character of existing neighborhoods.
It has been stated that a large residential component at the Marketplace is critical to attracting business tenants and filling the commercial space at the center. The fear is that the Marketplace cannot reach its full potential, including tax revenue to the city, without this huge residential component.
In fact, the Marketplace is already located in the center of 23,400 potential customers, age 19-75. They live in the 8545 residences stretching from Rt. 50 to Rustic Hill Drive, along and east of Rt. 197. The 600 or so tenants the developer plans to add on the Marketplace site would increase his potential customer base by a mere 2.56% (two and a half %). This small increase in potential customers would hardly be the determining factor in attracting new business tenants. However, adding an over-sized apartment complex would surly anger most of the 23,400 impacted citizens who are the true target customer base.
I recommend, of course, that the Council support the citizens of Bowie, the Planning Department, and the Public Works Department in rejecting the proposals before you this evening.
However, I could envision a right-sized residential component of the Marketplace: a plan in line with low density construction called for in our Master Plans; one that matched the character of existing neighborhoods; and, one that would keep additional traffic to an absolute minimum. The developer should be given an upper limit of units that is in keeping with Planning Department guidelines. Citizens should be given the opportunity to comment on all future residential component plans.
Thank you for time and your service to the citizens of Bowie
January 3rd - City Council Approves Marketplace Apartments
AGENDA
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2017
COUNCIL CHAMBERS - 8 p.m.
AMENDED, JANUARY 3, 2017 4:30 P.M.
I.
CALL MEETING TO ORDER
II.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
III.
QUORUM
IV.
AGENDA ADDITIONS/DELETIONS/AMENDMENTS
V.
CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
VI.
PRESENTATIONS
VII.
CITY BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
VIII.
COUNCIL ANNOUNCEMENTS
IX.
CITY MANAGER'S REPORT
X.
CONSENT AGENDA
A.
Approval of December 5 Meeting MinutesDocuments:
B.
Approval of Resolution R-1-17
Supporting the Prince George’s County Municipal Collaboration FY 2017 MEA Empower LMI Communities Grant Application and DHCD Sustainable Communities Community Legacy Grant Applications
Documents:
C.
Approval of Resolution R-2-17
Approving Departure BD-3-16, a Request by BE Harmony, LLC for Departures From the Prince George’s County Zoning Ordinance, Section 27-618(a)(1)(A)(i) to Allow a Temporary Real Estate Advertising Sign With an Area of 200 Sq. Ft. and From Section 27-618(c)(1)(C) to Allow Five Permanent Real Estate Identification Signs be Placed at 14909 Health Center Drive, Bowie, Maryland
Documents:
D.
Approval of Resolution R-3-17
Approving a Contract With Constellation New Energy – Gas Division, LLC to Purchase Natural Gas for the City of Bowie Through the Baltimore Regional Cooperative Purchasing Committee
Documents:
E.
Approval of Consent Agreement re: U.S. EPA Violation FindingsDocuments:
XI.
OLD BUSINESS
XII.
NEW BUSINESS
A.
Bowie Marketplace Residential Proposal
BE Bowie, LLC is proposing a Conceptual Site Plan, Preliminary Plan of subdivision and Detailed Site Plan for 288 multi-family apartments in a 4-5-story building including a 475-space parking garage. The property is located on the west side of Superior Lane, approximately 700 feet south of MD 450, and is zoned C-S-C (Commercial Shopping Center) – Public Hearing/Eligible for Action
Documents:
XIII.
ADJOURNMENT AND MOVE TO CLOSE SESSION
Statutory Authority to Close Session, General Provisions Article §3-305(b)(1): To discuss the appointment, employment, assingment, promotion, discipline, demotion, compensation, removal, resignation, or performance evaluation of appointees, employees, or officials over whom this public body has jurisdiction; or any other personnel matter that affects one or more specific individuals; and §3-305(b)(7): To consult with counsel to obtain legal advice on a legal matter.
XIV.
NOTE
The Ethics Commission has advised that under certain circumstances, members of the public may qualify as lobbyists when they testify before the City Council. If so, the Bowie Ethics Ordinance requires that certain information be filed with the Ethics Commission. Please review the information about lobbying that is provided with the City Clerk. If you have any questions about lobbying, please contact the Ethics Commission or the Assistant City Manager.
This meeting will be televised live on Verizon Channel 10 and Comcast Channel 71 and 996, repeated on January 4, 2017 and January 7, 2017 at 7 p.m., and web-streamed live
NEXT REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOWIE CITY COUNCIL - TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2017 - COUNCIL CHAMBERS - 8 p.m.
Important Neighborhood Alert - Flyer
Important Neighborhood Alert
The Bowie City Council holds the final public hearing for the Marketplace Apartments project this Tuesday, January 3rd at 7:00 PM. The meeting will be in the Council Chambers Room in Bowie City Hall at 15901 Excalibur Road. Please help us stop this oversized, ill-conceived development.
If you wish to speak at this key hearing just come early and sign in, email mbaird@cityofbowie.org, or call the Department of Planning & Economic Development office at 301-809-3047 to be added to the speakers list. Time is limited to 3 minutes per speaker. You do not need to speak to make an impact. Your attendance alone will be a great help to our effort. If you attend the meeting you will get an overview of the developer’s current plans for a 4 and 5 story, multi-family unit apartment building of almost 300 units on the small open area at the back of the updated Marketplace Shopping Center.
The developer is set on maximizing profits, which he should as a good business man. So, he shows little concern about: dumping more traffic on our overcrowded streets; departing at will from the 2006 Bowie Master Plan (Bowie Main Street); or meeting a written agreement with the city that Marketplace development will not adversely impact the character of existing neighborhoods.
Local
Postal Customer
The 2006 Bowie and Vicinity Master Plan envisions a mixed-use activity center which includes the Marketplace. The plan paints an attractive picture with active commercial and residential components. It also sets forth a policy that “…development of Bowie Main Street not adversely impact the character of the existing residential neighborhood.” A key strategy of the plan is to “…transition in building density and intensity from more intense uses located at the core of Bowie Main Street along MD 450 to less intense uses along the edge, adjacent to residential neighborhoods. Well they had 10 years to get it right, they got it wrong, and the developer plans to make it worse.
We only have one or two chances in a century to impact real change on a site like the Marketplace. So far we have lost out on the appealing Bowie Main Street vision of an upscale destination with “unique character and sense of place.”
The developer agreed in writing with the city to “… redevelop the Marketplace in accordance with … concepts contained in the Master Plan.” The developer elected to ignore key components of the Plan in development of the commercial component of the Marketplace and plans to do the same for the residential elements.
The Bowie Planning Department will come to the City Council with recommendations to disapprove the Conceptional Site Plan, Preliminary Plan, and Detailed Site Plan for the proposed residential component of the Marketplace. It is well thought out and comes up with correct decisions involving:
1) Excessive density for both the available space on-site and the proximity to the adjacent residential neighborhood
2) Excessive vehicle traffic on city streets that do not meet current City and County maximum service volume, and
3) Excessive scale, mass and bulk of the proposed building being incompatible with both the existing detached residential homes and the new Market Place retail buildings, which will adversely impact the character of existing neighborhoods
You can provide the crucial citizens input needed to stop this unacceptable development – please support your City Planning Department and your neighbors – Thank you!
Our Facebook page is located at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/615073421999497
The City webpage is at:
Advisory Planning Board Meeting – 11/15/2016 - Larry Swank
“WE HAD 10 YEARS TO GET IT RIGHT - WE GOT IT WRONG - AND Berman Enterprises PLANS TO MAKE IT WORSE”
Advisory Planning Board Meeting – 11/15/2016
I am Larry Swank, a 40-year resident on Scarlet Lane, which is on the southwest boarder of the city-planned Bowie Main Street. I have talked with many impacted neighbors who are concerned about preserving the character our original section of Levitt Bowie.
The 2006 Bowie and Vicinity Master Plan envisions a mixed-use activity center which includes the Marketplace. The plan paints an attractive picture with active commercial and residential components. It also sets forth a policy that “…development of Bowie Main Street not adversely impact the character of the existing residential neighborhood.” A key strategy of the plan is to “…transition in building density and intensity from more intense uses located at the core of Bowie Main Street along MD 450 to less intense uses along the “edge”, adjacent to residential neighborhoods. Well …
WE HAD 10 YEARS TO GET IT RIGHT - WE GOT IT WRONG - AND BermaN Enterprises PLANS TO MAKE IT WORSE
We only have one or two chances in a century to impact real change on a site like the Marketplace. We have lost out on the appealing Bowie Main Street vision of an upscale destination with “unique character and sense of place.” In my opinion, we now have just another nice suburban strip mall. I believe this misfortune was the result of not involving the community early in the project planning.
The developer agreed in writing with the city to “… redevelop the Marketplace in accordance with … concepts contained in the Master Plan.” The developer has elected to ignore key components of Plan, and other guiding documents, in development of the commercial component of the Marketplace.
The Planning Department now comes to you with recommendations to disapprove the Conceptional Site Plan, Preliminary Plan, and Detailed Site Plan for the proposed residential component of the Marketplace. It is well thought out and come up with correct decisions involving:
1) Excessive density for both the available space on-site and the proximity to the adjacent residential neighborhood (about 5 dwelling units per acre may be approvable – not the proposed 57 units per acre)
2) Excessive vehicle traffic on city streets that do not meet current City and County maximum service volume, and
3) Excessive scale, mass and bulk of the proposed building being incompatible with both the existing detached residential homes and the new Market Place retail buildings, which will adversely impact the character of existing neighborhood
I recommend disapproval of all plans; however, If the Preliminary Plan application is approved by either the Advisory Planning Board or the City Council I am requesting that the following condition be added to ensure compliance with City/County policies, strategies and citizen input at any future DSP review:
· Add to page 38, Section VI, B, 2, an item (g) that reads – (g) Provide a plan that conforms to all the Zoning Ordinance site design guidelines.
This would ensure that policies from PG Zoning Ordinances such as:
o limiting trash collection hours, noise levels from music, and a ban outdoor dining and other outdoor activity within 200 feet of a detached dwelling
o exterior lighting guidelines, which are being violated by the current Marketplace configuration, and a
o ban on balconies for units overlooking adjacent single family residences
November 2016 - Tameeka Washington
“We have circulated a petition with over 900 signatures and a Facebook page titled “No to Bowie Marketplace Apartments” which now has over 1300 members”
Good evening planning board. My name is Tameeka Washington and I live at 12502 Scarlet Lane.
Thank you for letting me share the community’s concerns about the proposed apartment building to be constructed behind the Market Place Shopping Center.
PETITION AND FACEBOOK PAGE - As you may know we have been circulating a petition and we now have more than 700 signatures from residents in Section A to Section Y; though the vast majority of the signatures are from the S Section as you may have guessed.
Another resident started a Facebook page titled “No to the Bowie Marketplace Apartments”, which now has almost 1300 members.
I’m sure you’ve seen the signs around Bowie that say no the to the Bowie Marketplace Apartments. So it’s clear that we as a community do not want this apartment building. •
I want to discuss two issues this evening:
1. Not enough parking (almost 200 spaces short): • In a letter to the city the developer says the parking issue won’t be a concern because most Bowie residents will either walk to the shopping center or take public transportation leaving spaces for the apartment dwellers to park in the shopping center parking lot. Of course that’s not true. Most Bowie residents are driving to the shopping center, and with Harris Teeter being open 24 hours, that means the spaces that they think will be available for apartment dwellers to use at the shopping center won’t be available after all. In the letter it also says that there are no neighborhoods close enough for the apartment dwellers to use as overflow parking. Also not true. The apartment building is in the middle of a neighborhood, which will then essentially become overflow parking. I don’t know what will happen when we have snowstorms and no one is allowed to park on the street •
In response to this lack of parking, the developers have proposed making the parking spaces smaller. Smaller parking spaces in a neighborhood filled with families that drive minivans and small business owners that drive SUVs and pickup trucks just doesn’t work. It will make the parking lot more difficult to maneuver in; and statistics show it will result in more accidents. A 2015 study showed because bigger cars were trying to fit into smaller spaces; the number of cars being damaged in parking lots went up 32 percent. And even after making the parking spaces smaller, they still won’t have enough parking. This is simply unacceptable.
1. There is also the perception that the parcel is zoned for mixed use so a residential component is inevitable. This is simply not true. That parcel is still zoned for commercial use. The County Council passed a bill last year circumnavigating the normal process (CB60-2015) that allows this commercially zoned property to be used as mixed use. However, the rezoning has not taken place and will not take place for several more years. I’m saying this because I don’t want the city council or the Bowie residents to feel like we MUST put some residential component back there because that’s simply not the case. With that being said, we will say that we are not opposed to any residential component back there. We are just against any medium density or high density units. We spoke to the developer about instead putting in low density units such as town homes. The town homes would bring additional income to the developer and homeowners into the community vice renters, which fits more within the character of Bowie. It should be no more than 10-12 town homes, with a maximum of two stories, and 100 feet from the back of the property lines on Scarlet Lane. The developer rejected this reasonable compromise because his only concern is his bottom line and not the impact this will have on our beloved neighborhood. The residents of Bowie do not support the proposed 285 unit apartment building. We ask that that you reject this proposal.
August 2016 - Tameeka Washington
Tameeka Washington, August 2016
“[...] we will say that we are not opposed to any residential component back there. We are just against any medium density or high density units.”
Statement Good evening. My name is Tameeka Washington and I live in the S Section of Bowie. I would like to speak with you about two issues of great concern to Bowie residents.
The first is the proposed apartment building to be constructed behind the Market Place Shopping Center. The community understands that the formal proposal will not be submitted until approximately September, but we wanted to let the Council know now how we feel about this proposal. As you know we have been circulating a petition and we now have more than 400 signatures from residents in Section A to Section Y; though the vast majority of the signatures are from the S Section as you may have guessed. When speaking to one resident in the S Section after he signed the petition, he said the apartment building was the reason his family was considering moving.
Many other residents just thanked us for taking their concerns to the council. One resident started a Facebook page titled “No to the Bowie Marketplace Apartments”, which has almost 700 members. We will keep canvassing and listening to the concerns of our neighbors until the public hearing is scheduled. One of the main concerns is the impact that this transient community will have our neighborhood. The S section of Bowie is largely made up of single family homes, with most residents staying anywhere from 10 to 40 years. Dumping such a large transient community into the middle of our neighborhood will irreparably alter the character of this stable community. There is also the perception that the parcel is zoned for mixed use so a residential component is inevitable.
This is simply not true. That parcel is still zoned for commercial use.
The County Council passed a bill last year (CB60-2015) that allows this commercially zoned property to be used as mixed use. However, the rezoning has not taken place and will not take place for several more years. I’m saying this because I don’t want the city council or the Bowie residents to feel like we MUST put some residential component back there because that’s simply not the case.
With that being said, we will say that we are not opposed to any residential component back there. We are just against any medium density or high density units. We spoke to the developer about instead putting in low density units such as town homes. The town homes would bring additional income to the developer and homeowners into the community vice renters, which fits more within the character of Bowie. It should be no more than 10 town homes, with a maximum of two stories, and 100 feet from the back of the property lines on Scarlet Lane. The developer rejected this reasonable compromise because his only concern is his bottom line and not the impact this will have on our beloved neighborhood. The residents of Bowie do not support the proposed 285 unit apartment building.
As our representatives, we ask that when this proposal comes before you, that you immediately reject it. The second issue is the proposed 440 homes and townhouses to be built on both sides of Annapolis Road near Sacred Heart church. The additional cars on 450 will cause traffic to grind to a halt. As you all know, we need a police officer to direct traffic every Sunday because the roads can’t handle the current traffic. Imagine once Market Place opens and then you plop 440 homes and townhouses in that area. This would be a traffic disaster.
We know this is not on City property yet, but Bowie would have to annex the property so it can link to our water and sewer lines. The city could probably reasonable accommodate 20 additional homes on that section of 450. Anything more and Annapolis Road would essentially become a parking lot.
We ask that when this second proposal comes before you, that you reject this one as well.
Thank you for your time.