February 12, 2025 - Spring Housing Guide

The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper

THE DIAMONDBACK

Spring Housing Guide

2025

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Table of contents

CONTENTS RHA Fees 5 Prince George’s 3 County Bills 6 Housing Poll UMD Housing Riverdale Park 4 By the Numbers 7 Development FULLY UPDATED AND EDITED BY: Founded 1910, independent since 1971.

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A student Crosses Route 1 toward a row of apartments. (Neelay Sachdeva/The Diamondback)

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Prince George’s County Bills

5 key bills the Prince George’s County Council passed in 2024

By Charlotte Kanner | Staff writer The Prince George’s County Council passed dozens of bills in 2024 as it concluded its final legislative session of the year in November.

Of the bills the council passed, many focused on road safety, crime and housing costs, among other initiatives. Here are five key bills the Prince George’s County Council passed this year.

Late-night business safety plans

The council approved a Late-Night Business Safety Plan bill in November that requires businesses operating between midnight and 4 a.m. to submit a safety plan to the Prince George’s County Police Department for approval.

In order to operate, businesses must comply with their established plan and renew it every three years.

Those without an approved plan will face daily fines, according to the legislation.

District 7 council member Krystal Oriadha, one of the bill’s sponsors, said during an Oct. 15 council meeting that it’s important for businesses to help hold themselves accountable.

“This legislation allows [businesses] to work hand in hand with our police department to look at the strategies to make their business safer,” she said.

Stop sign cameras in school zones

The council passed an emergency bill in November to allow stop sign monitoring systems in school zones.

The bill aims to improve traffic safety by enabling monitoring systems on state and local highways, in

school zones, to ensure compliance with stop sign laws. ​​The bill authorizes law enforcement agencies to use monitoring systems to capture violations, such as failing to stop at a designated sign. Violations could result in a fine of up to $40, according to the legislation.

Systems must be approved by local governing bodies and the Prince George’s County Council to be placed in a school zone. In order to raise awareness about the monitoring systems, agencies must notify the public through online announcements and signs on affected highways.

Youth curfew zones

In June, the council passed legislation granting commercial property owners the authority to request “more restrictive juvenile or minor” curfew zones in designated areas.

The measure allows property owners to petition the county police chief to establish these zones, specifying the area within clear geographical boundaries.

Eligible areas must be primarily commercial, according to the legislation.

Applicants must outline a public notification plan for the curfew zone and get a letter of support from at least one county council member who represents the impacted district, the legislation said. They are also required to propose specific curfew hours, which must fall between 5 p.m. and 5 a.m.

The legislation includes exceptions for minors

accompanied by a parent or guardian, those traveling home from school or religious events and minors with employment-related exemptions. Parents or guardians could also face penalties if a minor is detained in a curfew zone.

Minimum wage indexing

The Prince George’s County Council approved legislation last month to annually adjust the county’s minimum wage based on inflation.

Effective July 1, 2025, the bill ties wage increases to the Consumer Price Index, a measure of average price changes in goods and services.

Supporters argue the legislation safeguards workers from inflation. This could potentially boost wages for nearly 44,000 employees by more than $20 million annually, according to Christopher Meyer, a research analyst at the Maryland Center on Economic Policy.

This will especially benefit women and people of color, Meyer said during a Nov. 19 council meeting.

“Research shows that [the bill] would bring long-lasting benefits, like helping families put food on the table, improving infant health and helping kids succeed in school,” Meyer said.

Permanent rent stabilization

The Permanent Rent Stabilization and Protection Act of 2024, which passed in July, addresses housing affordability and prevents excessive rent increases, according to a county news release.

The law is intended to protect renters from excessive rent increases by limiting how much landlords can raise rents each year, the news release said. Some properties are exempt from the law, according to the release.

Landlords for most rental units will have to limit increases to either 6 percent annually or 3 percent above the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower.

The law went into effect on Oct. 17.

During a July council meeting, Oriadha emphasized the significance of the bill’s passage.

“Two years ago, we thought this moment would never happen, and so this is a huge victory, not for myself, not for the people that sit here with me, but for every single resident, all the seniors, all the people sitting here today that have spent two years doing strikes, standing out in the heat, coming here, taking off of work,” she said. “This is a victory for you.”

The Exterior of the Wayne K. Curry Administration Building on Oct. 8, 2024. (Adelia McGuire/The Diamondback)

UMD Housing Numbers

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University of Maryland’s housing

39 dorms

by the numbers

By Adam Hudacek I Tabloids editor

7 lack air conditioning 16 host living-learning programs 4.8 average floors per dorm 90% of freshman live in dorms

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5

RHA FEES

UMD RHA votes in favor of increasing dining, housing fees

By Nicole Pilsbury | Staff writer

The University of Maryland RHA voted Tuesday to approve a 9.33 percent dining fee increase and a nearly four percent housing fee increase for fiscal year 2026.

The proposed increase means students would pay an extra $281.50 a semester for a resident dining plan and a little more than $189 a semester for a traditional double room with air conditioning.

Dining Services fee revenue would increase by $4.8 million and the Resident Life and Residential Facilities fee revenue would increase by $3.4 million from fiscal year 2025.

The fees, which still need to be finalized, would go into effect during the fall 2025 semester and continue into the spring 2026 semester.

The fee increases first must be approved by this university’s student fee review committee and the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, according to Residence Hall Association president Samantha Briggs. RHA approves and discusses fee increases to advocate for students and keep fees as reasonable as possible, the senior government and politics major said.

The RHA Senate discussed two options for

Dining Services fee increases and chose to approve the 9.33 percent Dining Services fee increase instead of a 7.59 percent increase. Senators said during the meeting that they chose the larger fee to avoid drastic increases in the future as costs continue rising.

RHA members also discussed how approving the lower fee could impact dining hall foods and efficiency.

“Increasing the fee ensures that dining can still function in its capacity and hopefully also implement new initiatives,” Briggs told The Diamondback.

Dining Services, Resident Life and Residential Facilities are self-supported departments, meaning they must generate their funding themselves, according to Dining Services director Christopher Moore.

Most of the Dining Services fee increase is to fund wages for the department’s staff, including student workers.

“It’s fundamental to make sure that our staff feel supported because they’re the ones who make the wheels turn,” RHA vice president Michelle Ameyaw told The Diamondback.

Ameyaw, a junior biology major, said Dining Services funds also ensure choices are available for students with dietary restrictions and accommodations.

Another reason for the Dining Services fee increase is the rising cost of food products and operating expenses due to inflation, Moore said.

Moore acknowledged the financial impact that fee increases have on students, but emphasized the funds are needed to provide food and pay for labor.

About 65 percent, or $2.2 million, of the housing fee increase is for employee wages, according to Resident Life director Dennis Passarella-George. Some wage increases are due to a July state-mandated salary increase, Passarella-George told the RHA. The housing fee increase will help pay off a laundry program contract that eliminated the coin and card payment system, fund dining plans for resident assistants and pay for insurance costs and overhead fees.

“We know that every dollar matters,” Passarella-George said.

AN RHA MEETING on Feb. 1, 2022. (Kurt Leinemann/The Diamondback)

Housing POLL

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Housing POLL

By Adam Hudacek I Tabloids editor

TOP DORMS

What is your favorite piece of dorm or apartment decor?

Pyon-chen Hall

“Michael Jordan poster” - Aaron Waldman, freshman operations management and business analytics major.

“Squishy duck lamp” - Samantha Krakovsky, senior aerospace engineering major.

“LED lights” - Jacob Grossman, freshman enrolled in letters and sciences.

A student’s room in Pyon-Chen on August 29, 2021. Pyon-Chen is behind La Plata Beach on North Campus. (Autumn Hengen/The Diamondback)

What piece of dorm or apartment decor couldn’t you live without?

“My speaker or big squishmallow” - Nisha

Bhullar, sophomore global health major.

Johnson-Whittle Hall Oakland Hall

“Mini fridge” - Trinity Foster, freshman English major.

“Storage bins” - Caroline Ulmer, senior government and politics major.

South campus Commons 5 and 6. (Julia Nikhinson/The Diamondback)

1 in 3 poll respondents favor South Campus Commons for post-freshman year housing accommodations, while 1 in 6 favor an offcampus apartment.

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Riverdale Park Development

Local officials, residents express concerns about proposed development in Riverdale Park

By Irit Skulnik | Staff writer

Some Prince George’s County community members are concerned about the University System of Maryland Board of Regents’ approval of a 99-year lease for research and development space in Riverdale Park last month.

The lease, which the Board of Regents unanimously approved in a consent calendar at its Nov. 22 meeting, covers about 6.4 acres of state-owned land adjacent to the Riverdale Park North-University of Maryland Purple Line station, according to board documents.

Using the area near the station as a flex research space instead of for higher density mixed-use developments is an inefficient use of the land, local officials and residents told The Diamondback.

“When we have great assets like the Purple Line and really valuable state land, we need to make the best use of that land,” Lindsay Mendelson, the Maryland Sierra Club’s senior transportation campaign representative, said.

The lease’s site plan calls for nearly 58,000 square feet of research and development space across two one-story buildings in a joint venture between this university and real estate developer St. John Properties, board documents stated.

The project is a “key component” to develop the Discovery District — a research park adjacent to this university — as a hub of high-tech companies, according to a statement from Michael Sandler, the university system’s vice chancellor for communications and marketing.

The project is set to support high-demand busi-

nesses such as engineering, virtual reality, quantum computing and biotechnology, the statement read.

The development must be approved by the Maryland Board of Public Works before it can move forward.

The Maryland Sierra Club urged the board and local legislators to revisit the lease’s site plan in a letter sent Nov. 21. The letter cited the plan’s inconsistency with the Maryland Transit Administration’s Transit-Oriented Development Design Guidelines and Prince George’s County’s general plan.

Transit-oriented development emphasizes dense, mixed-use developments within a half mile of transit stations, according to the Maryland Department of Planning. State guidelines for these kinds of developments recommend at least 20 housing units an acre and buildings with two or more stories — none of which the lease’s site plan contains, according to board documents.

“We have this valuable resource overlooking a Purple Line station, we absolutely need to make sure that it’s following those guidelines and we’re making the best use of that space,” Mendelson said.

The letter also said transit-oriented development is crucial to reducing miles traveled by personal vehicles, which is necessary to meet the climate goals outlined in the state’s 2023 climate plan.

Riverdale Park Mayor Alan Thompson said he would like to see a denser development go into the space near the Purple Line station.

According to Thompson, he and other Riverdale Park town leaders were officially notified of the project

about one week before the board approved it. Thompson said he would have liked to know about the site plan earlier so the town council could have more time to deliberate and provide feedback.

For one Riverdale Park resident, Steven Hartig, the board’s decision was disappointing.

“We need to build dense, walkable, vibrant things in this place, not a soulless office park,” the electrical engineer and sustainable growth advocate said.

Another issue with the site plan is the significant amount of surface parking it includes, Hartig said.

Thompson said a large impervious surface parking lot would exacerbate the area’s existing flooding issues.

“Even if we don’t like these buildings as they are, even if it’s not the highest and best use, can we please just have it not make our flooding situation any worse?” Thompson said.

This project marks the second phase of a previously approved development with St. Johns Properties that created 111,240 square feet of research space in Riverdale Park and a 50,107 square foot building to house the College Park Academy — a public charter school, according to the board’s documents.

Discussions are underway to dedicate 16,000 square feet of the new development to a gymnasium or arts facility for the academy, the documents reported.

Now that the lease has been approved, it must go before the county’s planning department in what’s called a mandatory referral process. Then, this university has to present the plan to the Maryland Board of Public Works, which must approve it to go forward.

It is unclear when the project will go before the Board of Public Works, according to the Board of Public Works’ executive secretary John Gontrum.

According to the university system’s statement, the lease’s approval is just an initial step in the development process and “additional factors and feedback will be considered as the project moves forward.”

Thompson said he is hopeful he can come to a consensus with this university before it reaches the state’s board and explore potentially adding housing units on top of the flex buildings to “move this project in a direction where we can all be happy.”

Mendelson and Hartig said they will continue advocating for a site plan that better maximizes the space and aligns with the state’s climate goals.

“With a 99-year lease, if we don’t get this right, we’re going to be stuck with this for the rest of our lives,” Hartig said.

A worker operates a construction vehicle at a Purple Line construction site outside Hornbake Library on Jan. 25, 2024. (Neelay Sachdeva/The Diamondback)