As currently drafted, the Prince George’s County Council's Adelphi Road-UMGC-UMD Purple Line Station Area Sector Plan is entirely out of step with today’s climate crisis and with 21st-century principles of sustainable development. It fails to appropriately integrate environmental preservation with transit-associated development. In particular, the Sector Plan is a direct threat to the future of Guilford Woods, an environmentally sensitive ecosystem that is part of the Anacostia watershed.
Up to now, the planning process for the Adelphi Road Sector Plan has failed to effectively engage key stakeholders and take community input into account. We are asking the Prince George's County Council to pause the planning process for one year to allow for a truly stakeholder-engaged approach.
Why is this important?
The current draft is discordant with Prince George’s County's Climate Action Plan. It preserves only 4 out of 102 acres as reserved open space. At a time when it is critically important to preserve and expand our urban forests to help adapt to ongoing climate change, the Sector Plan greenlights zoning changes that could result in the future destruction of Guilford Woods (>1,000 trees)
The current plan does not adequately acknowledge the Guilford Run watershed as part of the countywide Green Infrastructure Network.
The current plan ignores the recent University of Maryland “pause” of the Western Gateway Project (which would have destroyed Guilford Woods). This project was paused due to an outpouring of community opposition that highlighted the environmental and human health benefits of this urban forest as well as related stream and wildlife habitat.
The draft Adelphi Road Sector Plan drastically increases the zoning density of the entire area without regard to the preservation of Guilford Woods. A far more reasonable plan would be to up-zone only the parcels of land along Adelphi Road and Campus Drive up to the Domain apartment complex (at the corner of Campus Drive and Mowatt Lane). This would protect Guilford Woods and Guilford Run stream while still allowing for a significant amount of additional higher-density housing proximate to the Purple Line Station.
The poor planning behind the current draft is reflected in the fact that it omits areas north of Campus Drive (including the University of Maryland Global Campus and UMD Lot 1), even though development of both sides of a street is fundamental to good planning.
Given the urgency of the climate crisis, we need genuinely sustainably development and smart growth in our county that prioritizes the preservation of our existing forested areas. Let's pause the planning process to make sure that community voices are heard.
