Planning Assistance to Municipalities & Communities

Project Planner

Project Description

Approximately one-third of the Town of Capitol Heights was platted prior to the establishment of the County’s Zoning Ordinance, and many of these lots do not meet the minimum lot size required for improvements. A historic prevalence of vacant properties, combined with dwelling demolitions over the years, have resulted in over 700 empty lots (17 percent of total lots) within the town’s corporate boundaries. The abundance of vacant lots means lower tax revenue and greater costs for the municipality. In addition, they give an appearance of blight that can lower the value of adjacent and nearby properties. They can make people feel less safe and create opportunities for criminal activity.

The privately owned vacant lots require continual monitoring by the town’s Property Standards Authority to ensure the lots are maintained and not overgrown. When an owner fails to maintain a property, town public works staff are deployed for grass cutting and cleanup, and the town cites the owner for failure to maintain the lot. The town then bills the owner for the cost of the cleanup. If the owner does not pay the invoice, the cost is added as a lien against the property for collection in tax sale. The enforcement and administrative process for monitoring privately owned lots costs the town significant material resources (mowing equipment use and gasoline) and staff time that could be put to better uses.

The Vacant Lot Strategy will be critical to determining the town’s next steps in managing its vacant lots and reducing the time and money spent on their maintenance. The project is composed of the following elements: 

• Background research and case studies
• Vacant Lot Inventory Consolidation and Reconciliation
• Analysis of vacant lots and development of lot typologies
• Development of strategies and recommendations
• Preparation and presentation of the final report

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Project Planner

Project Description

In 2018, the Berwyn Heights Town Council created a Quality-of-Life Commission to address community concerns that the town’s appeal as a place to live was diminishing. The Quality-of-Life Commission made a set of recommendations, a portion of which focus on improving bicyclist and pedestrian safety. The town council then established a Walkable Bikeable Berwyn Heights Task Force to work toward ensuring safe, walkable neighborhoods. (The task force’s recommendations are found in the February 2020 report: “Walkable Bikeable Berwyn Heights.”)

Municipal staff then prioritized the recommendations with the town’s elected officials. They determined that some recommendations (such as speed limit changes and new signs) were within the town’s capacity to implement but that at least four of the recommendations require analysis by qualified transportation planners/engineers to determine whether they can or should be implemented, or if there are better solutions.  

This PAMC project will analyze recommendations developed by the Walkable Bikeable Berwyn Heights Task Force and prepare an action plan to create a more safely walkable-bikeable community. The project shall comprise the following major work products:

View/download July 17, 2023  Presentation of Findings

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Project Planner

Project Description

With the Strategic Wayfinding Plan, the City of Greenbelt seeks to orient, direct, and inform visitors and residents to both well-known and less well-known attractions within historic Greenbelt and the city as a whole. The plan will be developed with input from the City of Greenbelt’s Advisory Planning Board, Arts Advisory Board, residents, and city council. 

The wayfinding plan will facilitate travel to key sites by driving, walking, bicycling, or using transit by providing clear directions along safe and convenient routes. Specific attention will be given to directing residents and visitors to and around Roosevelt Center, the historic retail and cultural core of the community. Although the project is intended to comprehensively address wayfinding throughout the city, land owned and maintained by the National Park Service (for example, Greenbelt Park) is excluded from the project area. 

This project shall comprise the following elements:

• Inventory of existing wayfinding features: type, location, condition
• Identification of key sites and wayfinding gaps or deficiencies
• Development of sign design concepts
• Recommendations addressing new sign locations and replacement and removal/consolidation of signage
• Preparation and presentation of the final report

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Project Planner

Project Description

We’d like to hear from you. Take the Youth Wellness Survey online.

The Youth Wellness and Opportunities Assessment project aims to shed light on community-identified problems and provide solutions that will help reduce incidences of crime, violence, mental illness, and addiction and improve health and educational training. The assessment areas are the unincorporated areas of Boulevard Heights, Oakland-Ridgeway-Pennsylvania Avenue, and Walker Mill Road South. The purpose of the youth-centered community assessment is to:

• Explore the current landscape of youth-serving programs and services available, including the robust offerings provided by M-NCPPC’s Department of Parks and Recreation, the Prince George’s County Health Department, and Prince George’s County Public Schools; 
• Provide a community-built portrait of the strengths, weaknesses, problems, issues, assets, gaps, and opportunities experienced by youth; and 
• Present action-oriented findings and recommendations to inform the Walker Mill CDC and other shared initiatives; identify possibilities to leverage assets, address needs, and create more opportunities for youth. 
  
  The youth-centered community assessment will engage residents, especially those aged 24 and under. A mixed-method approach consisting of a review of secondary data, a service inventory, focus groups, interviews, and a community survey with a Youth Action Committee shall be used to gather responses. Outreach will be conducted to young people, parents, residents, leaders, and business and property owners to gain their perspectives on problems and solutions. The final work product will be a written wellness and opportunity assessment report with recommendations.

Project Boundary

1. Boulevard Heights
2. Oakland-Ridgeway Penn Place
3. Walker Mill Road South
4. Youth Wellness Survey Communities Jurisdictions

Project Planner

Project Description

This project is a feasibility and design study for a segment of the planned hard-surface Chesapeake Beach Rail Trail starting at MD 725 (Marlboro Pike) and potentially linking a portion of the planned Western Branch Trail to the Show Place Arena. The primary goal of this study is to provide the Town of Upper Marlboro with cost estimates, facility design options, funding sources, and additional information needed to apply for grant funding to construct this trail segment. 

The purpose of the project is to: 

• Explore and document the current conditions of the site in relation to the proposed construction of a shared-use path, including environmental, community, and development parameters; 
• Determine the logistical and financial requirements; 
• Explore and enumerate trail options, including the incorporation of an equestrian trail with the shared-use path and connections to residential streets; generate construction cost estimates based on a conceptual site and construction plan; and
• Determine the feasibility of developing a shared-use path as described while ensuring all aspects of feasibility are accounted for.

The project will be developed using County data, contributions from community residents and property owners, field surveys, and analysis and interpretation by the consultant. The consultant will conduct outreach with town staff, community members, and property owners to gain their perspectives on the proposed facility. The final work product will be a feasibility and design study that explores potential improvement concepts and their costs.

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Project Planner

Project Description

With this new management plan, the Town of Riverdale Park seeks to maintain, expand, and protect the town’s tree population and canopy; create fully treelined streets through annual tree planting, make data-driven funding and tree maintenance decisions, and educate and engage residents.

This project will assess the condition of trees in public rights-of-way within the municipal boundary and provide town staff with the tools and data to make informed decisions on protecting, maintaining, and expanding the town’s street tree inventory. Tree inventory data will be collected pursuant to the Maryland Roadway Tree Law and conducted by a Maryland Licensed Tree Expert (LTE) or equal (International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist). Data collected will be entered into the Prince George’s County Department of Public Works and Transportation’s (DPW&T) PlanIt Geo TreePlotter software to generate graphic and spatial representations of existing conditions that reveal needs and opportunities to decision-makers, funders, and community members. The findings of the tree inventory and condition assessment will directly inform the tree management plan that is developed.

The project comprises the following major work products:

• Tree Inventory
• Tree Condition Assessment
• Tree Management Plan
• Preparation and presentation of the final report

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Project Planner

Project Description

State of Place will be analyzing a portion of the Plan 2035 Bowie Local Town Center and two Bowie-Mitchellville and Vicinity Master Plan focus areas: Old Town Bowie and the MD 450 Corridor, the latter of which includes the Superior Lane Boulevard Concept and Free State Shopping Center/Bowie Marketplace Concept Plan. State of Place is an evidence-based, data-driven, technology-enabled approach that will assist the City of Bowie to: 

1. Identify and prioritize improvements to the built environment that will improve the quality of life and maximize the economic development potential of the city’s core commercial centers.
2. Quantify the value of investing in better urban design to streamline the buy-in, approvals, and funding required to deliver proposed projects.

State of Place will collect block-level data on over 125 urban design features using visual machine learning and upload it into the State of Place software, where the city can access the data to objectively diagnose built-environment assets and needs and create and test project scenarios.

State of Place will collect both built environment and economic development data for a broader geographical area outside of the City of Bowie and within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region to create an updated forecast model that quantifies the economic value of urban design. This statistical analysis of the relationship between the built environment and economic indicators will be translated into evidence-based urban design recommendations to boost the economic development value of the Bowie project areas and estimations of increased economic value tied to implementing such improvements. 

This project builds on the 2022 Approved Bowie and Vicinity Master Plan. It is a similar process to the General Plan’s Centers’ evaluation, with block-by-block detail and specific recommendations to improve walkability and sense of place.

Project Boundary Maps

Bowie State of Place Bowie Local Center

Bowie State of Place MD 450 Corridor

Bowie State of Place Old Town Bowie

Bowie State of Place Overview

Project Planners

Project Description

This project will explore the feasibility of constructing and operating a small community center on two lots adjacent to the town hall. The function of the community center would be to host community meetings and for limited indoor recreation. The purpose of the feasibility study is to:

• Explore and document the current conditions of the selected site in relation to the proposed program, including environmental and development parameters; 
• Determine and document the town’s programmatic needs and potential users of the proposed facility; 
• Develop conceptual site plans, conceptual floor plans, and conceptual renderings that accommodate the programmatic needs and environmental and development parameters, and 
• Provide cost estimates for construction and operation. 

The project will be developed using County data, contributions from town elected officials, town administrative staff, community residents, and property owners, field surveys, and analysis and interpretation by the consultant. The final product will take the form of a report.

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Related Documents

• Brochure
• Logo
• Branding Plan

Project Planner

Project Description

Located within the Anacostia Watershed along the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia River, approximately 164 acres, or 66 percent, of improved properties in the Town of Brentwood and 70 acres, or virtually 100 percent, of those in the Town of North Brentwood are located in a FEMA-designated flood zone, which does not account for climate change events. Although some work has been undertaken to identify which properties are prone to flooding and what causes it, and to mitigate it through infrastructure improvements, the towns lack a comprehensive understanding of current conditions and future predictions. Residents regularly experience flooding with extreme rain events, sometimes creating or exacerbating financial hardships and health problems. 

The purpose of the project is to provide the towns with data and tools to assess key current and possible hydrometeorological hazards, as well as their vulnerability and options for risk reduction and mitigation, and:

• Identify all private and municipal properties, infrastructure, and natural resources with flooding and/or stormwater hazard
• Identify the causes of those risks
• Categorize properties and infrastructure by flooding and/or stormwater risk
• Identify potential mitigation measures for each category
• Identify areawide infrastructure-related potential mitigation actions and analyze the regulatory structure required to implement such actions; and 
• Provide an analysis report and data that can be incorporated into the Brentwood Climate Action Plan, and used as a standalone document by both towns, working independently and together to reduce or eliminate flooding and stormwater as hazards.

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Project Planner

Project Description

Sustainable Brentwood will be a climate action plan that adapts and uses, as necessary and appropriate, the recommendations of the 2022 Prince George’s County Draft Climate Action Plan. The plan will set sustainability and climate action goals for the town to meet, organize, and prioritize action steps to achieve the goals, and galvanize and unify key stakeholders in shared sustainability practices. The Brentwood Climate Action Plan (CAP) will help the town advance environmental justice, transition to a state of readiness for and adaptation to climate change, and identify where the town can contribute toward achieving County CAP goals, given the municipality’s unique population and circumstances.

The planning process will engage key community stakeholders (residents, businesses, and community groups), allowing community responses to shape the plan guidance and describe what steps need to be taken for the town to achieve climate resilience and mitigate climate disasters such as drought, heat, storms, and flooding. The plan will consider recent federal, state, and County legislation to incentivize sustainability and climate change preparedness and apply it to Brentwood’s particular circumstances. As with the County’s draft plan, inclusion and equitable planning and strategies are priority commitments, as the effects of climate change can be demonstrably punitive to disadvantaged and vulnerable populations. The concurrent Flooding and Stormwater Hazard and Risk Management Analysis for the Towns of Brentwood and North Brentwood, Maryland, will also inform the project.

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Project Planner

Updates

The consultant presented the market summary to the Pike Partnership on April 18, 2024.

Project Description

The Marlboro Pike Market Feasibility Assessment will be undertaken for a portion of Marlboro Pike from Brooks Drive (5300 block) to Forestville Road (7600 block), north along Ritchie Road to Darcy Road, approximately three miles. Marlboro Pike originated as the Washington-Marlboro Turnpike, linking the county seat of Upper Marlboro with the District of Columbia, and grew significantly from the 1930s through the 1950s. Automobiles allowed people to move farther from Washington, D.C., without having to rely on street cars and trolleys, and a demand for houses provided a market for suburban growth.

In 1939, the area’s first shopping center was built at Coral Hills. Nearby major federal institutions, including the Census Bureau complex and Joint Base Andrews, further increased market demand for housing. The number of residents grew by 150 percent in the 1940s and doubled again in the 1950s. In the 1960s, Pennsylvania Avenue was extended from central Washington, D.C. to Upper Marlboro and beyond, effectively creating a bypass of the communities along Marlboro Pike. This was the start of a fundamental change in the character of the Pike, as it was no longer a main thoroughfare. Most traffic was rerouted, and the Pike lost the economic benefits of through traffic. The continuing availability of vacant land and the construction of the Capital Beltway contributed to the decline.

Over the years, areas of disinvestment have led to deterioration and what many residents perceive to be unsafe conditions. Many of the surrounding communities appear to have disassociated themselves from the Pike. The 2009 Approved Marlboro Pike Sector Plan contains comprehensive recommendations for revitalization of the Pike based on a market analysis, stakeholder input, project area inventories, and a SWOT analysis. However, a sector plan scorecard undertaken in February 2022 determined that only six percent, or nine of the 154 actionable recommendations, had been completed. After 14 years and transformative changes in the housing, retail, and office markets triggered by technology, demographics, the COVID-19 pandemic, and interest rates, the analysis is obsolete. The Marlboro Pike Partnership CDC was formed in 2020, and seeks revitalization ideas to spur investment and expand economic opportunity and safety for all residents and businesses along the Pike, as well as façade improvement and rebranding ideas to make it an attractive destination. Previous and current revitalization efforts include an application for ULI/COG TAP and ongoing meetings with County agencies and partners to address quality-of-life issues in this area. 

The purpose of the project is to:

• Analyze, interpret, and understand the current market and economic conditions of the study area; 
• Develop a report that details the capacity of the study area for economic growth and
• Provide recommendations to improve upon and advance the interests of the Marlboro Pike community based on an assessment of feasibility.

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Timeline

• Planning Board Approval: December 14, 2023
• Project Kickoff: February 6, 2024
• Field Tour: March 1, 2024
• Partnership Presentation I – Market Summary: April 18, 2024
• Key Informant Interview Process: April-July 2024
• Market Assessment and Development of Recommendations: June-August 2024
• Partnership Presentation II – Market Assessment Report: August 2024
• Final Report – Market Feasibility Assessment: October 2024