Two shootings bookend the month of October in College Park. P. 3
P. 4
By Christina Armeni
Fresh flowers lay on the bus stop bench outside of Montgomery Hall, guarded by a black chain fence. This University of Maryland (UMD) bus stop has been closed since 23-year-old 2nd Lt. Richard Collins III was brutally murdered
By Colin Phillips
When Pratyush Tiwary’s aim to run a marathon in September fell through due to the pandemic, his alternative plans unfolded in a very College Park kind of way.
Pratyush and his wife, Megan Newcombe, recently moved here with help from the College Park City-University Partnership’s homebuyer program, and they both looked forward to the convenience of living close to their work at the University of
By Robert Craig Baum
“The winds, the storm, hit all of us but we can choose how we want to set the sail.”
— Skip Prichard, The Book of MistakesWhen COVID-19 hit the DMV, many restaurants laid off workers or closed altogether. Others maintained skeleton crews while management threw on kitchen aprons and prepared takeout. SeoulSpice’s Conor O’Reilly, director of operations for
all three locations — Tenleytown, NoMA, and College Park — had a different plan. I sat down with O’Reilly to talk about how he has been able to pivot his business and survive.
Which elected officials could say no to improving their community? Which could say no to improving their constituents’ quality of life and making their city more attractive to newcomers? We, in North College Park, can only hope our city, county and state officials are listening.
North College Park is home to the ma-
jority of the city’s long-term residents. It is an international mosaic of people from every economic and educational background. Many of these residents are calling for the establishment of a community center which will become an integral part of their neighborhood. Such a center will be a space for meetings and exercise, art programs, and bicycle repair classes. It will also serve as a social hub for seniors and youth alike. It will create cohesive-
The College Park City Council unanimously voted to amend the city’s animal codes on Oct. 27 after a series of presentations given by the city’s Animal Welfare Committee (AWC).
Over the past two years, the AWC and College Park Animal Control officials have reviewed Chapter 102, “Dogs and Other Animals,” of the city code. They have recommended revisions to make the code more current and compatible with animal management regulations recently issued by Prince George’s County.
The new revisions to the city code include renaming Chapter 102 from “Dogs and Other Animals” to “Animal Welfare.” Proponents also pushed for repealing, amending and reinstating several sections of the code, ranging from the clarification of impoundment rules to measures to mitigate animal
neglect and cruelty.
“We felt it was desirable to update the code,” said AWC Cochair Suzie Bellamy at the city council’s Oct. 6 work session. “We have reviewed the animal control rules for several jurisdictions, and we want to make things more concise and area-wide.”
Bellamy said that even though changes have been made to the county code, many College Park residents would be more likely to recognize them if the city adopted those changes, as well.
“We feel the city residents would look at the city code before county code,” she said.
A section was added to the county code to define restraint of animals. It stated that it shall be unlawful for any animal’s owner to allow that animal to be at large in the City of College Park, meaning that an animal not on the owner’s premises must be leashed or caged. Bellamy wanted to clarify that this would not apply to animals in
Managing Editor Mark Goodson mark@hyattsvillelife.com
ness and camaraderie, and will be an investment in our children, an investment in our seniors.
Such a center could take an alternative form to a conventional community center. By renting retail space, we could support property owners and speed up the center’s creation. Like a pop-up restaurant or store, it will allow us to experiment and shape the center’s size and offerings. Then, when the time is right, a permanent
structure could be constructed. Let’s not do another survey. Let’s get to work. Solicit company sponsors, grants and perhaps a bond bill. Let’s rent some space and get moving. What an exciting day it will be when our city can celebrate an attractive, welcoming center for long-time residents and newcomers alike. Who could say no to that?
Mary C. Cook is the North College Park Community Association president and a former councilmember.
A community newspaper chronicling the here and now of College Park.
Mailing address: PO Box 132, Hyattsville, MD 20781
The College Park Here & Now is published monthly by Streetcar Suburbs Publishing., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Editors welcome reader input, tips, articles, letters, opinion pieces and photographs, which may be submitted using the mailing address above or the email addresses provided.
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Writers & Contributors
Christina Armeni, Dawn Budd, Robert Craig Baum, A.R. Cabral, Mary Cook, Brittany Gaddy, Luke Gentile, Eric Maring, Julia Nikhinson, Gabriel Pietrorazio, Colin Phillips, Gea Ujcic, Emily Williams
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areas identified as off-leash in the city, such as recognized dog parks.
Responding to the changes, Mayor Patrick Wojahn said, “There is very good stuff in there, such as making it illegal to leave an animal inside a locked vehicle.”
Several revisions to the code address College Park’s many feral cat colonies. Under these revisions, a feral cat colony is defined as a group of cats existing in a wild or unsocialized state and sharing a common food source and territory.
Councilmember John Rigg (District 3) said that there are residents in his district who want to see the number of feral cat colonies go down.
“They are quite controversial in my community, given the concern for songbirds and native birds,” he said. “So fewer feral cats is good for our bird populations.”
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Circulation: Copies are distributed monthly by U.S. mail to every address in College Park. Additional copies are distributed to popular gathering spots around town. Total circulation is 9,600.
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opted city code refers to animals found at large. It states that “any animal found at large shall, if possible, be impounded by the city and taken to the city animal control center for a period of at least three workdays, or to other appropriate shelter.”
Previously, when a feral cat was captured, one of two things happened: Either it was taken to a county shelter, with the intention of then returning it to its colony or, if the cat was young enough, it could have been accepted into an adoption program.
Director of Public Services Bob Ryan said that this process successfully reduced the size of feral cat colonies in part because cats that are captured are spayed or neutered.
“Over the last five years, we have seen a significant reduction in feral cats,” he said. “[The program] has solved a lot of problems in areas of the city … [that] are overrun with colonies.”
The amended city code mandates that ear-tipped, freeroaming cats should only be impounded at the discretion of Animal Control. Unless a captured ear-tipped cat showed signs of disease or injury, it
would be immediately released where it was trapped.
Animal Control Officer Rebecca Bailey said every ear-tipped cat is considered a colony cat. Ear-tipped cats are spayed or neutered and have received at least one rabies vaccination.
Some volunteers take in feral cats, and Bellamy said that county funds may help care for these cats. “We were given a grant from the county council to help people taking in cats, getting them spayed and neutered,” she said.
The public hearing addressed many revisions that the AWC and College Park Animal Control believe College Park residents would be interested in.
The council hopes that the modifications to the city code — from impoundment rules to measures taken to reduce animal neglect and cruelty — will make changes made at the county level clear to city residents.
“These are strong recommendations,” AWC Co-chair Kathy Rodeffer said. “Not everything in the county code will be in the city code, but what is not covered in the city code defaults to the county code.”
A 28-year-old man was fatally shot at the 4800 Block of Berwyn House Road on Thursday, October 1, just after 5:00 p.m. According to the Prince George’s County Police Department (PGPD), the victim was identified as Christopher Ryan Harrison of Camp Springs, MD. The shooting took place in the parking lot of the University Club apartments.
According to Lt. Harkirat Singh, Harrison was taken to the University of Maryland, Prince George’s Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival. Singh is an officer with the PGPD Media Relations Division.
According to a PGPD tweet, the initial 911 call was made at 5:10 p.m. Officers from the PGPD, University of Maryland Police Department and Hyattsville Police Department responded.
“I was walking, and I saw an ambulance and some yellow tape blocked off,” said Myron Gilmore, a resident of Washington D.C., who was visiting the apartment the evening of the shooting. “I asked someone what happened, and he said someone got shot.”
When asked if being there made him uncomfortable after hearing about the shooting, Gilmore said, “No it doesn’t; violence can happen anywhere, anytime.” Gilmore is not the only person who felt this way.
“Not too shocked, honestly,” said Zackary Frazier, a 24-yearold resident of University Club apartments, in response to the shooting, “I’ve been hearing gunshots from [around College Park]. I heard gunshots all summer, so the fact that someone got shot? I am not super shocked.”
Britteny Lewis, manager of the University Club apartments, wrote in an email to tenants that neither the victim nor the shooter was a resident of the complex.
According to PGPD, this is an on-going investigation, and the suspect has not been found. Some residents near the apartment complex have voiced their fear.
“[You have to] be extra cautious,” said Tommy Gardiner, a 22-year-old college student who lives close to where the shooting occurred, “especially at night time, because you never know what is going to happen.”
The shooting took place just blocks away from the University of Maryland (UMD). The university sent students texts and email alerts about the incident at 5:29 p.m. that evening. A second email was sent 19 minutes later informing students that an armed assault had taken place, and that the suspect had not been found.
The University Club apartments followed up with an email to their tenants. “A shooting occurred yesterday afternoon at our community,” the email started, “... University Club is doing all we can to try and keep our residents’ safety our top priority.”
The complex added security patrols shortly after the incident.
A second shooting in College Park bookended the month of October. Seven people were shot at the 7700 block of Baltimore Avenue on October 31, according to PGPD.
The shooting took place in a room at The Hotel sometime after 11 p.m., just across Baltimore Avenue from the University of Maryland campus, according to a message to UMD students from Chief David B. Mitchell of the university’s police depart-
ment. Students received Mitchell’s alert at 11:30 p.m. and were told to avoid the area.
In an email to students, University of Maryland President Darryll Pines said the incident was “deeply unsettling,” and encouraged students to check in with each other. Pines also said that the school “has no information that any of the victims are affiliated with the University of Maryland community.”
“You have to be extra cautious, especially at night time.”
Tommy Gardiner UMD student
West Africa’s Mandingue people have a long tradition of using a drum called a djembe to bring people together. With sharp, high-pitched tones and low, round bass sounds used to create complex, rhythmic music, it’s hard to imagine that the drum wouldn’t attract people to listen.
And in College Park, one musician uses that same style of drumming to gather a diverse group of people from around the DMV.
The woman behind it all is Kristen Arant, also known as the Drum Lady, who has been a musician, teacher and activist in the Washington area for about 20 years.
Arant grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and attended the University of Missouri, where she studied journalism and music, specializing in the oboe. There, she was inspired by a women’s studies course to be a part of the third-wave feminist movement taking place at the time.
When she graduated, a friend gave her a type of djembe, called a Remo, which has a body made from plastic rather than a tree trunk. This gift changed Arant’s life.
She moved to Washington in
2000 to work as an organizer for a hotel and restaurant employees union. She played her djembe on the picket lines during demonstrations. Arant soon realized that she wanted to learn more about the drum.
“I’m a musician,” she said. “I’m not going to just play an instrument and not know how to really play it, where it came from and what it was used for.”
Eager to learn different styles of African drumming, Arant sought out teachers and even
went to Ghana to study drumming techniques there.
Arant has combined her love of music and her dedication to activism to teach other aspiring musicians. In 2005, she started the Young Women’s Drumming Empowerment Project, in D.C., a summer program for girls between the ages of 10 and 18. The program aims to empower young girls through drumming, poetry, movement, song and performance.
Arant said that most of the
girls in the program were initially shy; she suspected that they were reacting to the discrimination they experienced growing up. She noticed how much they opened up when she gave them a drum.
“Feeling part of a community emboldened these girls,” she said. “The other thing is just total physics: The drum is loud; they play the drum; they’ve already been loud. They’re not as scared after that to let their voices be heard.”
That program is inactive now, but Arant is teaching West African drumming classes. While she focuses on teaching technique and rhythm, she also encourages spontaneity and experimentation.
“My teaching style is super intuitive, and I just want to meet everyone where they’re at and help bring them further along their path as an empowered spirit and as a drummer,” Arant said.
After her students have been taking classes for a while, Arant often invites them to join her ensemble of women drummers, the Bele Bele Rhythm Collective.
One of the women in the group, Diane Yates, has been Arant’s student for about five years. Yates found Arant while looking for a drumming class and a teacher who was knowl-
edgeable about the music and the history of it, too.
“Kristen embodies something akin to being naturally blessed with the ability to transcend where we are right now and go into a space that is completely new, improvisational and delightfully musical,” Yates said.
Arant has also taught students in the Art Scholars Program at the University of Maryland. Harold Burgess, director of the program, said he has been working with Arant for seven years and has had her perform and teach students the djembe in the arts program.
Burgess has observed that students are often initially intimidated because they have never used a djembe. Once students have learned a basic rhythm, the rest of Arant’s band joins in, and Burgess said he notices a change in the room.
“You see the students kind of lift up like ‘oh my goodness, we’re all now part of this whole, big, engaged activity,’” Burgess said. “And that’s really exciting to see that when it happens in the room.”
Audiences are also enthusiastic when Arant’s ensemble plays. She recalled a performance at the Woman’s National Democratic Club during which one of her students, Novie Craven, jumped off stage as they were playing and started dancing in front of civil rights activist Jesse Jackson.
Arant said that Jackson started to dance, too, losing himself to the rhythm. She added that having an audience participate — their clapping, chanting and singing — is a powerful experience for the ensemble.
“That is the zenith, that feeling, the absolute best of all feelings that you can experience as a musician,” she said.
In addition to teaching and performing, Arant and her husband have created a youth empowerment project in Ghana, Drumming Up From Poverty. They also own Hands on Drums, a store in Brentwood where they sell drums her husband makes along with craftworks from Ghana.
And as for the name Drum Lady, that came from Arant’s dad who made a website for her and named it that. The name stuck, even when one woman said to her that she should be known as Drum Spirit Woman.
“My spiritual side, when I drum and when I teach, is really visible, it’s really audible. And I don’t need that to be in my name,” Arant said.
And Arant’s spirit is in her every move as her drumbeats inspire her students, giving new history to the djembe right here in College Park.
The Old Parish House is a sacred spot in the College Park community, over 200 years old and full of history that I can’t even begin to honor in this brief space. It was first used as a dairy barn, but over time has served as a place of worship and togetherness for many generations.
I feel blessed to have been able to be a part of countless special moments there, making giant papier máché puppets while meeting neighbors, teaching music classes for families, and holding tribute concerts to honor legendary musicians and their music. I’ve sung in choirs at the parish house, celebrated my son Leo’s bar mitzvah and relished a 50-year wedding anniversary there. I’ve watched countless young musicians fill the building with music as they cut their teeth in front of
their neighbors, and moved hearts and minds by moving their fingers nimbly across fretboards, violin necks, piano keys, saxophones, clarinets and beyond.
When I talk with younger musicians about the parish house, I refer to it as our temple, a building designed for worship, because that’s what it feels like to me: a place to worship community, and most personally for me, a place to worship the role that community plays in music and that music plays in community. And these days, as the pandemic is keeping our community out of the Old Parish House, we do miss it dearly.
The College Park Youth Music Traditions group calls the Old Parish House its home. This group that I mentor, now in its sixth year, is dedicated to learning traditional and old melodies, songs and dances. At least twice a year, we hold
a performance and dance for the community — but no dance calling, holding hands in a circle or switching partners these days. Even with the challenges that the pandemic has brought, we have families in the group who share my vital need to carry on, to find ways to play music together — albeit outdoors and distanced, or on Zoom. Playing over a virtual platform is not ideal for musicians, but we can still pass around melodies, learn new tunes and see each other smile.
Even as we’re facing challenges creatively, meeting together, in the same physical space, remains key to our growth as a group. To touch this need, we’ve held three outdoor rehearsals on the lawn at the Old Parish House. It felt important to me to give the young musicians a chance to connect with our musical home.
When I entered the building
to plug in my extension cord, I was amazed at the sensory reaction I had to the space; I would know the scent of the Old Parish House in any blind test, for sure. How many memories are contained in a scent? I carried that moment with me back outside, and I could feel my memories transfer to my teaching.
As we rehearsed, people in the neighborhood strolled by, smiling behind their masks and giving these young musicians a thumbs up. Their appreciation reminded us that what we were doing mattered, that we’re still going, we’re still
living and life has not stopped. Children adapt to different situations, and my students were doing exactly that, with masks on and joy in their hearts for the songs. And at the conclusion of our rehearsal we took a bow to the moment, to our community, and to the Old Parish House.
Eric Maring is a local music educator and performer and author of the new book, Two Little Blackbirds. Visit maringmusic.com for more information.
By Gabriel Pietrorazio
The Prince George’s County Council has been reviewing and acting on several foodrelated pieces of legislation before the Nov. 30 end of their final session in 2020.
Councilmember Danielle Glaros (District 3) has been on the front lines, pushing for a task force dedicated to addressing food access issues at the county level.
“The pandemic has pushed us to get food out immediately. Thousands and thousands of people are food insecure in our communities, but food insecurity was there before the pandemic, and it’s going to be there after,” Glaros told the College Park Here & Now.
Glaros and Council Chair Todd Turner (District 4) introduced CR-062, a resolution to establish the Food Security Task Force. The bill was approved in July, and the task force met for the first time in late September.
Glaros expects the resolution to advance conversations about food access in College Park and throughout the county, as well.
“It was a really exciting meeting of the task force last week [Sept. 27-Oct. 2]. It’s a great group, really diverse perspectives coming together for the first time to really holistically and collaboratively talk about how we can, for the longer term and the short term, address food security,” she said.
According to the resolution, the task force was formed “to address issues relat-
ed to the demand and supply of healthy food and areas with limited access to healthy food, food-health connections, school meals, and food security in Prince George’s County.”
Glaros is keenly focused on providing healthy food options for residents, and especially children. She is one of eight cosponsors of CB-071, the Prince George’s County Healthy Kids’ Meal bill. Councilmember Tom Dernoga (District 1) also co-sponsored the bill.
Even though her two children are grown, Glaros still remembers ordering her fair share of kids’ meals.
“I’ve bought a lot of kids meals over the years, and the reality is [that] we look at our health data here for Prince George’s County all the time, and we know that there’s a direct connection between what we eat, what we consume … A lot of it boils down to healthy access to food, whether that’s fresh produce, or whether that’s the meals that are being served,” Glaros said.
The legislation was crafted in partnership with the American Heart Association of Greater Washington, Sugar Free Kids of Maryland, the Center for Science and the Public Interest, and Prince George’s County Food Equity Council. It aims at lowering children’s sugar consumption, a goal that Glaros wholeheartedly supports.
On Oct. 15, two amendments were ad-
opted as a part of the bill’s second draft. According to Leroy Maddox, the county’s legislative officer, the second draft details the tiered approach that will be used to implement the county mandates.
Milk, water, and 100% juice must be offered with children’s meals as default options at all restaurants within the first two years following the bill’s approval, a healthy side within two to three years, and at least one children’s meal option within three to four years. Enforcement of the law would begin five years after the bill is enacted.
Maddox also confirmed that language about enforcement of the bill’s provisions has been deleted. “What you will see is all the references to fines and things with respect to chronic offenders have been removed,” Maddox disclosed. Fines are still permitted through the county’s health department, according to Turner.
Even with significant revisions, the bill still faced backlash from major players in the food retail industry, including McDonald’s and the Restaurant Association of Maryland (RAM).
Melvin Thompson, RAM’s senior vice president of government affairs and public policy, pushed the Prince George’s County Council to strike mandates designed to provide healthy meals to children, in particular.
“If the council decides to act on this
legislation, we would request striking all language in the bill regarding the default healthy side and healthy children’s meal because most restaurants do not have the nutrition analysis resources or expertise to easily comply,” Thompson testified.
In contrast, Ellen Valentino, the executive vice president for the MarylandDelaware-District of Columbia Beverage Association, sided with councilmembers, saying that the bill is important, though she suggested minor modifications.
“We are absolutely aligned with the goals. You see that by the changes we have made to our industry as a whole. We have actually supported similar legislation ... and at this point in time, I think we’re prepared to support this [bill] with a couple of changes specifically to the default beverage definition,” she noted.
Valentino also urged the county to “consider looking at another low-cal option,” one that’s 25 calories or less in a single eight-ounce beverage.
Despite considerable opposition, the bill garnered near-unanimous support and was voted out of the committee in a 11-0-1 decision.
A public hearing is scheduled for Nov. 17. Residents can register to speak through eComment on the county council’s webpage calendar (princegeorgescountymd. legistar.com/calendar.aspx). Registration ends at 3 p.m. on Nov. 16.
Driving through for some Halloween fun!
On a spooky Friday, October 30, the City held its Hallo-Boo Drive Thru event as a safer alternative to trick-or-treating for City children. The sold-out event, held at Duvall Field, was the first of its kind for the City and a roaring success.
This year, the CDC, State and County recommended that people not participate in traditional trick-or-treating, or trunk-ortreating due to the increased risk of transmission of COVID-19. The event was created as a safer alternative for City residents to participate in the Halloween festivities in a safer way.
About 300 families participated by driving and stopping at three stations where they received goody
bags full of treats and then a photo station at the end.
Many arrived in fantastic costumes and some even decorated their cars as part of the event’s car decoration contest. Winners will be announced shortly on the City’s social media and website.
Mayor Patrick L. Wojahn, District 1 Councilmember Kate Kennedy, and City Manager Scott Somers along with City staff handed out the goody bags via trays to more than five hundred children.
District 3 Councilmember John Rigg and his son Luca provided some zombie chills, thrills and amusement to unsuspecting cars.
Pictures from the photo station will be posted on the City’s website and social media. Thank you to all who came out!
Curbside leaf collection has begun! This annual City service (provided by the City’s Department of Public Works) started in early November and will continue through the beginning of January.
Leaf collection diverts leaves and other soft yard waste from the landfill and is used to make the City’s SMARTLEAF compost.
Look for the posted signs in your neighborhood to know when curbside leaf collection will occur in your neighborhood. Collection schedules are tentative as they depend on weather conditions.
The latest schedule is available on the City’s website at www. collegeparkmd.gov/curbsideleaf. Please note that for our crews to stay on schedule, leaf trucks will not be able to return to collect leaves once they have already been through your street.
Each area of the City is scheduled to be serviced at least four times during our leaf collection period, so there will be several opportunities to have leaves collected.
Help make the collection as efficient as possible by making sure that your piles of leaves are easily accessible from the street. The vacuum hoses are not able to reach around cars or other obstructions; pile your leaves as close to the curb as possible, but not in the
Curbside Leaf Collection Has Begun!
street as this can affect stormwater drainage.
Have further questions? The City has made a handy guide and how-to video for all your curbside collection questions! Check it out at www.collegeparkmd.gov/ curbsideleaf.
CURBSIDE LEAF COLLECTION
DO’S AND DON’TS:
• No bagging is necessary during leaf collection with
vacuums. Grass can be included in your leaf piles, however, no vines or woody trimmings.
• If you put your soft yard waste in bags or containers, they will be collected on your regular trash collection day.
• Rake leaves to the curb. Do not put them in the street.
• Pile leaves away from cars and storm drains. The leaf vacuum cannot reach around cars.
• Remove vines or woody yard waste, tree limbs, rocks, trash, and other debris from leaves to be collected. These items can damage the equipment and cause delays.
• Noise and dust may be noticeable. Dry conditions generate more dust. We apologize for any inconvenience.
• Leaf vacuuming only occurs in the fall/early winter.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, the City has created programs to address resident, business, and non-profit organization needs. Due to County regulations, the Programs end on December 15, 2020.
The Council and staff have developed a plan with more than $1,500,000 in COVID-19 assistance to help those experiencing financial hardship during this difficult time. The goal of these programs and initiatives is to help our residents and businesses get back on their feet as the recovery
process begins.
At the time of this publication, the City has approved 55 Small Business Assistance Grants totaling $684,988.71, and 24 Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Residents totaling $87,814.32.
The City has also awarded four Business Assistance and Facade Improvement grants totaling $44,833.42 and four more applications are pending.
There are two programs that eligible College Park businesses can apply for: the CITY OF COLLEGE PARK
Small Business Assistance Grants Program and the Modified Business Assistance & Façade Improvement Program.
The purpose of the City’s Small Business Assistance Grants Program is to assist small businesses and non-profits with 25 or fewer full-time equivalents (FTEs), with direct economic support for costs of business interruption caused by: required closures, voluntary closures to promote social distancing, or decreased customer demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Each
Did you know that the City of College Park has designated $1,150,000 in COVID-19 assistance for small businesses and non-profits?
The City has two COVID-19 Business Assistance Programs: the Small Business Assistance Program and the Modified Business Assistance & Facade Improvement Program.
www.collegeparkmd.gov/covid19assistance
business/owner can receive up to a maximum grant of $15,000 from this program.
The Modified Business Assistance & Façade Improvement program is similar to the existing program except that it does not require matching funds. For more information about these programs or to apply, please visit www.collegeparkmd.gov/ covid19assistance#businesses.
The City has also created a program to provide financial aid for residents in need. The purpose of the City’s Emergency Financial Aid to Residents Program is to provide financial assistance to families, senior citizens and other individuals who have been directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Financial assistance may be provided for eligible expenses such as rent/ mortgage payments to avoid eviction or foreclosure, unforeseen funeral costs, utility payments, and other emergency needs as deemed necessary.
Each eligible family/person can get up to a maximum of $5,000 per household for indirect payments to applicable payee (landlord, lender, Utility Company) and/or gift cards for eligible expenses from this program. For more information about this program or to apply, please visit www.collegeparkmd. gov/covid19assistance#residents.
Interested in volunteering on a City Board or Committee?
The City has numerous Council-mandated Boards and Committees that cover a variety of resident quality of life initiatvies.
To apply, please complete and submit an application (available on the City’s website) and send it to the City Clerk, Janeen Miller at jsmiller@collegeparkmd.gov or to your City Council representative.
For additional information on City advisory boards and vacancies, please visit our website at www.collegeparkmd.gov/boards.
The following advisory boards have vacancies:
• Animal Welfare Committee
Serve your community, lend your talents & meet your neighbors!
– Volunteers from District 2, 3 or 4
• Committee for a Better Environment – Volunteer from District 3
• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Tribute Committee –Volunteers from any district
• Noise Control Board –Volunteer from District 2
• Recreation Board – Volunteers from District 1 or 2
• Veterans Memorial Committee – Volunteers from any District
BOARD & COMMITTEE VACANCY DETAILS
Animal Welfare Committee
Individuals interested in serving on the Animal Welfare Committee should have interest and expertise
in animal care and animal rescue.
This committee addresses issues related to domestic and wild animals in the City of College Park and works with the City Animal Control Officer to promote and educate the public about animal welfare.
Committee for a Better Environment
Individuals interested in serving on the Community for a Better Environment (also known as the CBE) should have an interest in sustainability and the environment.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute Committee
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute Committee plans and hosts the annual City event in honor of Dr. King in January.
Noise Control Board
Individuals interested in serving on the Noise Control Board should have interest or expertise in mediation, noise measurement and control, code interpretation, administrative law, and fair adjudication.
Recreation Board
Individuals interested in serving on the City’s Recreation Board should have interest and expertise in entertainment, recreation, sports, social activities, organizational skills, media relations, and consensus building.
Veterans Memorial Committee
Individuals interested in serving on the Veterans Memorial Committee will be involved in planning the City’s Veterans Day and Memorial Day events to honor our veterans.
All information is current as of November 8.
The Lakeland Spirit: Through Digital Footprints
Join moderator Omar EatonMartinez for a virtual presentation of the history and stories of the Lakeland community. Nov. 19, 7 to 8:30 p.m. RSVP at lakelandchp.com. Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
OpenBarre. College Park’s fitness studio offers virtual classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and outdoor classes Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Start your 3-day free trial today! For more information, go to openbarrestudios.com
Numi Yoga. Daily livestreamed yoga classes and outdoor sessions on Monday at 5 p.m., Wednesday at 8 a.m. and Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Visit numiyoga.com for registration information and locations of outdoor classes.
Gentle and Advanced Chair Yoga. Online and outdoor yoga classes to increase resilience, improve fitness and promote mindfulness. No experience needed. First class free. For more information and to register, email yogiamalie@gmail.com.
Hollywood Farmers Market. Located in the parking lot of the Hollywood Shopping Center, the market is open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
College Park Farmers Market at Paint Branch Parkway. At 5211 Campus Dr., the market is open Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Friday Dance Workshops. Join instructor Karen Stewart, of Jessie’s Soul Line Dancers, every Friday from 10 to 11 a.m. for step-by-step instruction and dance along to soul, gospel, and pop music. For more information, go to cpae.org.
Free Creative Writing Workshop. The College Park Arts Exchange is offering a free online creative writing workshop on Nov. 14 from 8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Email info@cpae.org for access to the Zoom meeting.
Belly Dance Livestream. Join the College Park Arts Exchange for a free, virtual dance concert on Nov. 21 and Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. Come for the show, stay for the dance party finale. Visit cpae.org for more information.
Saturday Tap Dance Workshops. Free online tap workshop with instructor Elizabeth Gardner every Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Email info@cpae.org for more information and to register.
Online Book Club. The College Park Arts Exchange book club will discuss When I Fell from the Sky, by Juliane Koepcke on Nov. 17 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Email info@cpae.org for more information and to register.
Free movie on December 4. Revisit or discover the classic romantic comedy, While You Were Sleeping. From 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Hope Lutheran Church, 4201 Guillford Dr.
Saturday Night with Eric and Leo Maring. College Park’s music man Eric Maring and his son, Leo, host concerts on alternating Saturday nights at 9 p.m. For more information, go to maringmusic.com.
Novel Writing Retreat: Recurring Symbolism & Surprising Metaphors. The College Park Arts Exchange’s virtual creative writing workshop will take place on Nov. 21 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Join local writers Mary Amoto and John Feffer for an energizing mix of lectures, discussions and writing sessions. Fee $40. For more information go to cpae.org.
Draw Like a Famous Artist. Join artist Racquel Keller for a virtual free art workshop sponsored by the College Park Arts Exchange. Workshops take place Nov. 21 and Dec. 5 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Visit cpae.org for more information.
College Park Community Library. The library’s book club meets on Dec. 8 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. to discuss The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. Church of the Nazarene, 9704 Rhode Island Ave. Please bring a folding chair and face mask.
Retraction: The CPH&N printed last month that the city has a track record of miscalculating storm damages. This is not accurate. It is the county’s Office of Emergency Management, not the city, that records storm damage in the city.
Senator Jim Rosapepe
Married his wife Sheilah Kast at Holy Redeemer. Former University System of Maryland board member. A founder of College Park Academy and Monarch Preschool.
Delegate
Joseline Peña-Melnyk
Member of the College Park City Council before being elected to the Maryland House of Delegates. Vice Chair of the House Health Committee. Leader on health issues and a strong believer in equal rights, justice, and respect for every individual person.
Delegate Ben Barnes
Life long prince
Georgeane and current College Park resident with his wife and 3 sons. Ben serves as the Education Chair in Annapolis with oversight over the University of Maryland.
Delegate Mary Lehman
A native Prince George’s County resident, graduate of UMD College Park, and mother of four, Mary serves on the House Environment & Transportation Committee. Mary previously served 8 years on the Prince George’s County Council.
Maryland (UMD). Their home in the Berwyn neighborhood also provided great access to the local network of walking, biking and running trails.
For his marathon, Pratyush devised a virtual race, on trails close to home, with easy access to supplies and refreshments, and including a mid-point water top-off from Megan. And instead of toughing out the last miles alone, he had pacing support from UMD student Matt Laskowski. Pratyush found Matt by connecting the dots between a name he recognized from his fitness tracker app, Strava, and a student’s name in the physical chemistry class he was teaching at the university. Strava is a popular social app for fitness activities like biking, running, walking and kayaking. Friends share updates about their activities, give kudos to support each other’s progress, and sometimes compete for speed and frequency on segments that users create. Popular Strava segments in College Park include the loop around Lake Artemesia and Shady Straight, the wooded stretch of the Paint Branch Trail north of Route 193.
Pratyush, who sometimes runs with his dog Pakora, logs his activities on Strava. He recognized Matt Laskowski as one of the faster runners in the area. Matt’s name appears near the top of the leaderboard on a lot of local Strava segments.
College Park has an enviable
selection of trails that connect local neighborhoods and link the city to the broader region through a large trail network.
Some of these trails, including the Northwest and Northeast Branch trails, the Paint Branch Trail and the Indian Creek Trail, are part of the Anacostia Tributary Trail System. The trolley trail follows an old streetcar line. The Lake Artemesia trails are a byproduct of building Metro’s Green Line.
Recent improvements have increased connectivity among trails. The Northeast Branch Trail now continues to the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail, which runs through Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens and on to the District. The Paint Branch Trail now extends to Beltsville, and beyond to the Intercounty Connector Trail. The Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail now connects College Park to Riverdale Park and Hyattsville. A soon-toopen connector trail will link the College Park Woods neighborhood to the rest of the network. And additional improvements are in the works to give North College Park residents more direct access to the network of the trails.
College Park has arguably some of the best and most-used trails in the area, based on data in the Strava Global Heat Map. This app allows users to record where they are, and then it produces a cool — or, really, a hot — visualization of where people are concentrated. The app shows College Park shining brightly.
The city’s trails are one of the attractions that brings visitors,
including bicyclists and runners, to College Park. Prince George’s Running Club (PGRC) members hail from across the county, but many of their group runs take place on College Park’s trails and the UMD running track. Popular events like the Washington Area Bicycling Association’s November Cider Ride see hundreds of riders on our trails. The weekly Saturday College Park parkrun has introduced thousands to the Paint Branch Trail, and many of these runners return to the city’s trails at other times of the week, as well.
Recently, parkrun regular Stewart Mayhew ran 10 miles from his home in Chevy Chase to College
Park, stopped to enjoy a mug at Vigilante Coffee, and then ran the 10 miles back home.
The College Park trails are what sociologist Ray Oldenburg called a third place — a place where people in a community come together, separate from home and work. It’s where we encounter familiar faces and start to recognize people we might not meet otherwise. With the pandemic forcing limits on indoor gatherings, having third places, outdoors, has become even more important.
When Pratyush Tiwary approached Matt Laskowski about helping with his marathon, Matt quickly agreed. “I am a part of Club Running at
UMD. We think of ourselves as a part of the College Park running community. If somebody else in the community has some goal, then we are all for helping them reach their goals.”
A poll of PGRC runners found that the most popular elements of the local trails are shady stretches, wildlife and water fountains (when they are turned on). The trolley trail scored extra points for having waste stations for dog walkers. People would love to see more benches, even more shade and year-round bathrooms. Riders would welcome improved lighting; this would potentially make the trails usable for year-round commuting. The proposed Paint Branch Riverwalk project could help integrate trails with other community activities and businesses. But there are many who just don’t know about the great trail resources in our midst. Runner Matt Laskowski guesses that most UMD students are familiar with the stretch of the Paint Branch Trail right next to campus, but suspects that few are aware of the wonders that lie beyond.
For Pratyush Tiwary, his virtual marathon was a resounding success. He set out at 5:30 a.m., starting on the trolley trail, where the lighting made it possible to run before sunrise. Then he meandered around familiar trails until it was time to refuel and meet up with Matt Laskowski, who joined him for the last 10 miles. Matt’s pacing clearly helped, as Pratyush beat his best marathon time by nearly 30 minutes.
Whether on a porch or in the kitchen, living room, or bedroom, six novice tap dancers are doing Shuffles, Maxi Fords and complicated Broadways in front of their cameras. It’s midday on a Saturday, and these beginner tappers are learning these intricate patterns over Zoom.
College Park Art Exchange
(CPAE) is a grassroots nonprofit organization that’s been active in the area for the past two decades. Due to the pandemic, the organization has shifted most its activities online. Although the organization’s choirs, band and orchestra activities are currently suspended, art and creative writing classes, and dance sessions are all taking place virtually.
Anne Gardner, CPAE’s social media specialist, said that they were able to quickly and effectively switch to virtual programming. “It’s been a great opportunity for people to try different things, and for us to try different things, and I think it has been working out well, considering the circumstances,” she said.
Like many other CPAE initiatives, the idea to organize the Beginners’ Tap Dance workshops came from the public, explained Anne Gardner. “One nice thing about the dance class is that no one can see you, especially if you turn your camera off ... it doesn’t matter if you mess up, no
one can see, so I think people may be more prepared to try something they wouldn’t otherwise have the courage to do in front of a class,” she added.
Julia Frank is a 69-year-old psychiatrist and a college professor. She teaches classes over Zoom, and she’s been dancing since childhood, but this is the first virtual dance class she’s taken.
“It is a great joy to do something different when we are all kind of stuck in narrow routines and narrow places,” she said.
Andrea Waters, a 42-year-old teacher with the Montgomery County Public Schools system, agrees. “There are so many things we can’t do right now due to the pandemic, and it was nice to feel like this was something I could do. It gives me some joy and respite from all the other craziness going on,” she said.
Waters appreciates the attention that tapping requires, too. “There’s a lot of stressful things going on, and when you’re tapping, you have to completely focus on what your feet are doing, and it’s nice to escape for a while,”
she said.
Elizabeth Gardner, who studies dance and history at Barnard College, teaches the class. Gardner’s been dancing since she was three, and she previously taught a dance class at her college, and one for preschoolers, too. This is her first time teaching dance virtually.
During the class, Gardner focuses her webcam on her legs and feet so the attendees can see her movements. Because of this setup, she can’t easily see her students’ faces, and she said that she misses visual feedback from her students. You can often hear her asking, “How are we feeling? Thumbs up, thumbs down?”
Although Gardner prefers in-person teaching, she has found that using a virtual platform has some advantages. “When everyone is tapping in the same room together, it can get really loud, and everyone being in their own home and having the mute feature ... it’s actually helpful for a lot of people, to not get overwhelmed with too much going on,” she said.
Enrollment for the free tap dance workshop is open, and anyone can join. New dancers are welcome, and you don’t even need tap shoes. For more information and to register, visit the CPAE website (cpae.org) and start tapping this Saturday!
By Dawn Budd
The West College Park Citizens Association (WCPCA) includes residents of College Park Woods, Crystal Spring and Acredale. These neighborhoods are unique, in that each one has only one point of access from Metzerott Road, near the University of Maryland. The association was incorporated on Nov.12, 1987 –Happy 33rd Anniversary! Suchitra Balachandran is WCPCA president.
“We need to organize and find other people to take it over, but the community is changing with more rental homes, and we have not found interested volunteers to run it, “ Suchitra said. She had agreed to lead the association in 2005, when it was “in a state of hiatus, and we needed to rev it up to oppose the University of Maryland Connector Road that would have linked the
campus to I-495.”
Most recently, the WCPCA took the lead in opposing an attempt to restructure and develop the golf course at the University of Maryland. The opinions and recommendations of citizens associations are valued by the city council.
As Councilmember Maria Mackie (District 4) said, “... [the council] worked with the WCPCA on our design for the meeting space at the former Swim Club. I would love to work with the WCPCA more, and I am very open to hearing from them and working with them.”
Membership is open to all residents of the West College Park area who are at least 18 years old. Dues are $10 per year.
WCPCA is not currently meeting on a regular schedule but does reach out to the neighborhoods when issues arise.
RCB: When did you know that operations at your three locations would need to make immediate and perhaps drastic changes to survive the pandemic?
CO: Eric Shin [founder and CEO], Danielle Wilt [vice president] and I met in late February, before the shutdown, to discuss how we could immediately take care of our families and to define what we all needed as a corporate team, as a business [and] as part of the community. I also needed to take care of my seventy-oneyear-old father. While shopping, I immediately noticed the shortage. I can’t find peanut butter, toilet paper, frozen vegetables ...
RCB: That was me. I bought like thirty dollars’ worth of peanut butter, so I may owe you an apology!
CO: No. [laughs] It’s all good. But immediately, I wondered to myself and in meetings, how will this shortage impact our customers and staff?
RCB: You saw a need, an opportunity — a path, of sorts.
CO: Yes. We said to ourselves and our staff [that] we can do something that will help our customers that will probably change our services for the bet-
ter. We won’t be the same operation in six months.
RCB: Not just reacting to the problem, but re-shaping how you do business ...
CO: We didn’t want to fail the workers or each other. You see, if we made the wrong move, we could’ve simultaneously hurt the staff, and the customers and the community.
RCB: When I read that you were turning Korean barbecue restaurant into bodegas for pantry items and groceries, my reaction was nothing less than shock; I’m sorry, a Koreatown-inspired bodega at ALL locations?
CO: Yes. You see, after we decided to start the bodega in Tenleytown, the word got out immediately that we were not only open, but we were going to provide groceries and essentials for the immediate community.
RCB: How long did that take to plan?
CO: Maybe a day or two.
RCB: So now you’re a restaurant that transformed its empty dining room into a corner store. That’s mental!
CO: Right? We wanted to keep our people working, moving, doing things. We sold the items for cost. It wasn’t about profiting; it was about reaching a de-
mand for the local community, gain[ing] some PR for the future — because we saw a future.
RCB: This is the whole story, Conor. In the pandemic, you became more of what you already were. You changed but stayed true to your mission.
CO: Eric and the leadership team, with the staff and customers, saw this as the best answer to the pandemic. We wanted to project a proactive, immediate way to survive and thrive in the pandemic.
RCB: What’s Eric like?
CO: He’s an innovator. He listens to his management, staff and customers. He can see the whole picture, not just the bottom line. He is macro and micro and can shift his focus without taking away attention from the problem at hand. He worked hard with us to redefine SeoulSpice as a community service and small business that addresses both UMD [University of Maryland] students and the local yearround customers like you. We were too student-focused when we launched.
RCB: Did you experience any supply chain problems?
CO: Nothing. Our supply line never shut down. Except corn, for some reason. We carried a different brand; not a shortage.
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RCB: So, you had to change your corn provider? Not beef? Chicken? Tofu? Your famous Korean egg?
CO: Of all that could’ve gone wrong, we only had to modify corn. That’s not bad.
RCB: To succeed, you already had to be ready for this.
CO: We used our experience in everything we’ve been doing already to create this new model. Owners and managers delivered food, too. It wasn’t just the company, but the community and culture at SeoulSpice that came together to determine our response. We worked too hard across the DMV to be taken down by this pandemic.
RCB: What was your staff retention?
CO: Ninety percent.
RCB: No ...
CO: Yes, Robert. Eric gave employees bonuses once a month. Higher level received a quarterly bonus. Eric adjusted contractual percentages so they were attainable during [the pandemic]. Otherwise, they would’ve taken a period hit. They didn’t.
RCB: When the College Park listserv mentioned your new bodega, I felt relief knowing you and the staff were still up and running.
CO: Others felt that way, too. Business colleagues and customers, too. We were even approached by other local businesses and individuals who wanted to sell products in our stores. Stanton & Greene drink mixers. Local greeting cards. Local artisan chocolates.
RCB: You communicated a message clearly to all: How can we support you during this crisis?
CO: We initially reached the businesses and individuals through the D.C. mayor’s office. Many were also customers. Like the greeting card company who custom made a new line just for us.
RCB: Get well soon. Happy Birthday. It’s a pandemic, Charlie Brown.
CO: They covered everything.
RCB: What happened to your pivot model when the supply chain normalized?
CO: In July, we shut down the bodega model. College Park SeoulSpice is now doing the best of all locations. Because Metro ridership is down, AU [the Tenleytown location] is down. So we applied for parking permits to launch a drivethru operation, in addition to providing curbside and delivery [and lower capacity inside dining]. We added to our services as we learned what our community and staff needed in the summer of 2020. It went against established thinking to go on offense. And take risks.
RCB: You have created a culture of opportunity for anyone and everyone willing to address problems head on. What’s next?
CO: If we’re going to support our workers, we have to innovate and grow and do what we do well [even] better. We’re expanding in 2021 and 2022. I’m going to hold myself and Eric to account for growth, as individuals and as a business. Every day we’re here, pitching growth and high standards. We tell our staff [that] what you learn here you carry with you for life. Covid cannot take value away from what we do.
RCB: If there’s one thing we can count on humanity to do is normalize.
CO: How we address this new normal is a different story. As we continue to move forward, the public has become more aware of what we do and plan to do, and all we offered them during the worst months of the pandemic.
there in 2017. A photo of Collins in his military uniform hangs on the plexiglass.
More than three years later, UMD and Bowie State University (BSU) have formed a social justice alliance to mark the state’s enactment of the Richard Collins III Law, which expands Maryland’s hate crime laws to ensure that individuals convicted of hate crimes are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
“It is important to us that this law serves as a model for other laws across the country and other states, so that we can truly fulfill the purpose of this nation to become a more perfect union,” said Collins’ father, Richard Collins Jr., at a virtual event celebrating the new legislation on October 1st.
Richard Collins Jr. and his wife, Dawn, lobbied for the bill in Annapolis, alongside Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy.
“We believe that it will be a benefit to our community, to our state, and in the future people will be able to be held fully accountable for their actions,” Braveboy said. The previous Maryland hate crime statute required establishing proof that hate was the only active motive behind a crime, a nearly impossible task, according to Braveboy.
Collins, a commissioned army officer, was just days away from his college graduation from Bowie State University when a man stabbed and killed him while he was visiting the UMD campus.
Sean Urbanski was convicted of first-degree murder in the killing, but not of a hate crime. Urbanski had ties to a white supremacy group.
“It was devastating,” said Braveboy, a UMD alumni. “Having been a student at the University of Maryland, I know that there has always been racial tension on the campus.” Braveboy said that the Collins family, whom she worked with closely to lobby for the new statute, cares deeply about helping the community and protecting students.
“It’s a big deal, because I think nationally we’ve seen a lot of incidents of hate and violence as a result of hate, and the question is, are people being held account-
able?” Braveboy said.
Kevin Bradley moved to College Park soon after the Collins murder, bringing his family here, in part, beause of racial tension in their former Northern Virginia community. Bradley was “surprised but not shocked” by the incident.
“These kinds of laws don’t speak to a stance on crime, but they speak to a stance on the evaluation of the lives of underrepresented people in the community,” Bradley said. He and his wife were concerned about their three sons’ safety after hearing about the murder.
“If their lives were equally valued and considered, there would be no need to have extra legislation around [defining and prosecuting hate crimes],” Bradley said.
The BSU-UMD Social Justice Alliance aims to take part in the fight against social injustice through educational initiatives. “More than ever, this newly formed alliance is needed to address critical issues facing our society,” said Bowie State University President Aminta Breaux at the virtual announcement. In addition to adding courses focused on racial justice, both universities plan to dedicate a scholarship in Collins’ name.
Recognizing the importance of the new law, Braveboy said, “This is about accountability. Holding people accountable for their actions. It’s about recognizing that hate cannot be tolerated in any form, and if you commit a crime based on hate, the state will hold you accountable.”
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Celebrating
We have envelopes for correspondence, work orders for the job, proposals for the quote, brochures for advertising, directories for the club, newsletters for the newsworthy, postcards for the announcement, posters for the event, tickets for the show, programs for the concert, menus for the hungry, and stickers for identification.
Free parking and a free cup of coffee!
“These kinds of laws don’t speak to a stance on crime, but they speak to a stance on the evaluation of the lives of underrepresented people in the community.”
Kevin Bradley
The Prince George’s County Planning Board unanimously approved the development of The Hub, a mixed-use student housing project on the north side of Knox Road in College Park.
After approving the preliminary plan of developer Core Campus Manager, LLC (Core Spaces) on Oct. 8, the board approved the detailed site plan Oct. 15.
The plan will create a 0.72-acre parcel of land by combining six lots and razing two duplexes that were built in 1953.
The apartment building will have 161 dwelling units, which will include 46 onebedroom units, 21 two-bedroom units and 94 four-bedroom units. Amenities will include a gym, yoga room, sauna, club room, hot tub and a pool terrace. There will be 1,022 square feet of space set aside for retail and plans include a garage with 94 parking spaces.
During a Sept. 15 College Park City Council meeting, members discussed the redevelopment of land at 4210-4220 Knox Road. The council voted to approve the development plan Sept. 22. Some members had concerns about the apartments’ affordability, the development’s storm-
water management and the increase in traffic it could introduce to the area.
The costs of the rental units have not yet been decided.
Councilmember John Rigg (District 3) expressed his concern that possible high prices for The Hub could make it difficult for some University of Maryland students to live in the city.
Matthew Tedesco, a lawyer representing Core Spaces, said that the diversity of the units will increase the apartments’ affordability.
Edward Maginnis Jr., assistant vice president for real estate at the University of Maryland, said that increasing the supply of apartments will also lower rental prices.
City council student liaison Adam Rosenbaum compared The Hub’s possible rents to Terrapin Row apartments, which are currently priced as high as $1,909 for a one bedroom apartment.
“… [I]t doesn’t really change the status quo,” Rosenbaum said. “This is just sort of adding to the number of beds … without really making it easier or more accessible for students to live close to.”
Councilmember Maria Mackie (District 4) said she’s concerned that having another high rise in the area could exacer-
bate stormwater management issues. But according to Miriam Bader, senior planner for the city’s Department of Planning and Community Development, all stormwater will be treated and remain on the site. It “will be collected and treated by five micro-bioretention plant-
ers ... with underdrains, a green roof and a vault and filter system.”
Currently, there is no stormwater management for the site, said David Bickel, Core Spaces’ civil engineer. “So this development makes everything better,” he noted.
While some residents are concerned that the development may increase traffic in the area, a traffic impact analysis conducted by Lenhart Traffic Consulting Inc., indicates that plans for The Hub offer adequate access to public transportation facilities, minimizing the need for cars. The study also projected that the intersection of Knox Road and Route 1 is equipped to handle the additional traffic volume.
Citing some low levels in the analysis, Tedesco said, “At the end of the day, the analysis and the test that we have to conduct, and the laws that we have to follow do indicate that this is a passing intersection under all circumstances.”
“In general, [students are] very excited to have The Hub coming,” Rosenbaum said. The retail space is “a major source of excitement.” But the issues of traffic and storm water management will remain in discussion as The Hub development process continues.
While some residents are concerned that the development may increase traffic in the area, a traffic impact analysis indicates that plans for The Hub offer adequate access to public transportation facilities, minimizing the need for cars.