Advisory Planning Commission

CITY OF COLLEGE PARK ADVISORY PLANNING COMMISSION 7401 BALTIMORE AVENUE, COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND 20740 TELEPHONE: (240) 487-3538 ADVISORY PLANNING COMMISSION Approved Minutes of Meeting October 6, 2022 Members Present Absent Stephanie Stullich, Chair x Santosh Chelliah, Vice-Chair x Daejauna Donahue x Vernae Martin x Kiersten Johnson x Malaika Nji-Kerber x Michael Meadow x Also Present: Planning Staff – Terry Schum, Miriam Bader and Theresheia Williams I. Call to Order and Amendments to Agenda: Santosh Chelliah, Vice Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:45 p.m. II. Approval of the Agenda: Michael Meadow moved to approve the agenda as posted. Kiersten Johnson seconded. Motion carried 6-0-0. III. Approval of Minutes: Michael Meadow moved to approve the September 1, 2022 minutes as amended, after spelling corrections. Vernae Martin seconded. Motion carried 6-0-0. IV. Public Remarks on Non-Agenda Items: There were no Public Remarks on Non- Agenda Items. V. Review and Approval of comments on the Draft College Park Age-Friendly Action Plan At the last APC meeting, College Park Senior Committee members Robert Thurston, Mary Ann Hakes and Bonnie McClellan attended to discuss the PowerPoint presentation associated with the draft Age-Friendly Action Plan. The presentation detailed the visions, goals, objectives, and recommended actions for the plan. The Action Plan has not been made public yet because it is being finalized by M-NCPPC. The Seniors Committee will be meeting with Civic Associations and neighborhood groups to collect feedback. They will then decide what comments they want to include in the report and ask the City Council to adopt the plan. Stephanie and Terry organized their notes from the last meeting to compile a draft of the comments and recommendations related to the domains for APC review and approval as follows: Advisory Planning Commission Minutes October 6, 2022 – Page 2 Housing • Establish a “Bulletin Board” to match graduate students with seniors in exchange for low-cost rent. • Install a community-based system to identify and check on seniors who live alone. Conduct welfare checks and reach out to neighbors who live adjacent to seniors who live alone. Health Services and Community Support • Establish health services and clinics that are specifically for seniors. • Conduct an inventory of city health facilities and professionals to determine the availability of such services. • Establish a physical fitness program to help seniors maintain a quality of life. Communications and Information • Clarify and distribute the city survey directly to seniors. • Underwrite a program for seniors that are interested in receiving UMD alerts. • Make digital assistance available to seniors through a device give-away program (Alexa, google, etc). • Include in the College Park survey a check box for seniors to indicate if they require meals on wheels delivered or transportation assistance. • Compile a list of seniors that live alone. Social Participation • Expand senior transportation to include evening events such as Friday Night Live. • Construct a senior community center for classes, ballroom dancing and art. Transportation • Expand senior transportation to include evening events such as Friday Night Live. Michael Meadow moved to approve the draft Age-friendly action plan comments and recommendations as amended during the discussion by APC members. Vernae Martin seconded. Motion carried 5-0-0. VI. Update on Development Activity – Terry Schum reported on the following: RFP solicited by PG County at College Park Metro – Located at Campus Drive and Corporal Frank Scott Drive, this property was previously approved for a Residence Inn Hotel by Marriott, but the developer did not complete the process. The County selected a new developer and a proposed mixed-use project for the surface parking lot. This project includes a partnership with the Terrapin Development Company, private sector partners and Charles Castle, who owns property in the area. Advisory Planning Commission Minutes October 6, 2022 – Page 3 At this time, not a lot is known about the project. It will go through the whole process of entitlement. Staff will update as the project progresses. BP Gas Station – located on Rt. 1 and Cherry Hill Road. The owner would like to redevelop the site to build a small 3-story multi-family housing project with up to 25 units. State Highway Administration will have comments about this proposal because they control the access to Rt. 1. Nothing has been filed yet. Hillel - The proposal is to construct a Jewish community center at the end of Yale Avenue. It will be a land swap between the University of Maryland and Hillel, which is now located on Mowatt Lane. A plan was approved and is now being revised. Stephanie Stullich stated that the owner came before the Local Advisory Committee (LAC) of the Historic Preservation Commission and there was a positive response from the members. The local community felt it would be an improvement over the original design. The City Council previously supported this project, but it will have to come before them again. VII. Other Business: There was no other business. VIII. Adjourn: There being no further business, Stephanie Stullich moved to adjourn the meeting. Michael Meadow seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Minutes prepared by Theresheia Williams