STATEMENT

OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BOWIE
regarding the proposed FY03 budget of the
Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
April 24, 2002

The Bowie City Council congratulates the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission on your 75th Anniversary of providing recreational opportunities to the residents of Prince George's County. We share with you the desire to contribute to a strong sense of community and family values. To this end, we make the following comments to the proposed FY03 budget.

RECREATION AND PARKS

This year, the assessable tax base in the county increased by the highest amount since 1990, with the majority of this increase due to new housing in the Bowie area. The City of Bowie contains over 53,000 residents who are very active in many forms of recreation. The city itself is aggressive in trying to provide the services and facilities required for this population, but cannot, nor should not, do it alone. Not only do City residents pay a large amount in taxes to the Commission, but city facilities are often used by County residents as well.

1) ALLEN POND PARK is a good example of this, as it is a popular picnic site that serves the region. Recognizing this, M-NCPPC provides an annual maintenance grant for this park. We support and appreciate the $78,650 allotted for such, which has not increased in five years.

2) PARKS AND COMMUNITY CENTERS require maintenance and renovations as they age. Mowing, lining and grooming of fields take manpower and equipment that cannot be shortchanged. The community centers in Bowie are over 25 years old and need renovations. We fully endorse the code compliance measures to be undertaken at the Bowie and South Bowie Community Centers in FY03 and the refurbishment of the aged tennis and basketball courts in the city.

3) TEEN CLUBS, KIDS DAY OUT, TURNKEY and the XTREME TEENS PROGRAM are all commendable efforts at providing quality experiences for youth. These activities should be continued.

4) The Bowie City Council supports the expenditure for the CLASS Enterprise Registration System that will allow for on-line bookings of facilities, programs, classes, park permits and camp registrations.

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM

1) HUNTINGTON COMMUNITY CENTER is due to have the design and permit process completed this year with construction funding in FY03. The renovation of this historic structure will allow it to become an important focal point in Old Town Bowie. We ask for retention of funding and the commitment of any additional funds to complete this long anticipated project. We appreciate the Commission's commitment to provide an alternative site in the Huntington community during the renovation process.

2) MOUNT OAK COMMUNITY PARK - The soccer field to be funded at this site by a developer has been, at our request, moved to the nearby City owned Hopkins Property where we plan on building three soccer fields. This is shown in the M-NCPPC Proposed Annual FY03 Budget, but not yet in the County FY03-08 Proposed CIP. Recently an agreement was reached between M-NCPPC and the developer to settle for a fee in lieu that would be passed on to the City of Bowie. The amount in past budgets, and originally agreed upon, was to be $90,000. However, the recent agreement lowered the fee to $70,000, which will not cover the cost of a field. The original project also contains a parking lot funded by the Commission at a budgeted figure of $70,000. We ask for this amount to also be passed on to the City for parking lot expense at Hopkins. The City has completed a concept design of the fields and is funding development within the next few years. Therefore, the $70,000 slated by the Commission for a project in this area, that the City is willing to build and maintain, must be available soon.

3) SADDLEBROOK NEIGHBORHOOD PARK - This project for soccer fields has been in the CIP since FY97, has been designed, but has yet to be built. Funding to complete the park has been pushed to FY05. However, these fields are to replace fields lost to the 520 home Saddlebrook development that already has over 300 units completed. These families need some place to play now. We ask that the funding for this park be moved into the FY03 CIP.

4) FOXHILL COMMUNITY PARK has been in a multi-year renovation that just saw the first phase completed with a new tot lot. We now eagerly anticipate the picnic pavilion, parking lot expansion and paths that are to be completed this year. The users of this park, that includes four tennis courts, a fishing pond and four ball fields, have requested the addition of a restroom facility. We request that this be included for funding in FY04.

5) GREEN BRANCH REGIONAL PARK - The Commission recently acquired this property for a regional soccer tournament complex that would contain eleven soccer fields. A tournament site would not only provide revenues for the park system but also for the travel, tourism, hotel and restaurant industries as well. This is a great location off of Route 301 to bring guests to the County, as well as serve our own athletes. Bond funding of $300,000 for design is scheduled for FY03, however future funds are not scheduled until FY07. This project needs to be moved up in order to showcase Prince George's County.

6) COLLINGTON STATION COMMUNITY PARK - This park on Jennings Mill Drive contains one field that opened in the Fall of 2001, however the funding of $75,000 for the parking lot continues to be pushed back one year, every year. The development of the adjacent Woodmore at Oakcreek Subdivision will connect Jennings Mill Drive to Church Road, resulting in higher volumes of traffic. This road extension will also increase the accessibility of the park to the surrounding community, causing the need for more parking. In order to prevent neighborhood streets from being negatively impacted by cars, we ask that the 30-car parking lot remain funded in FY03 as budgeted for last year, instead of being pushed to FY04 as proposed.

7) SANDY HILL COMMUNITY PARK - The City urges the completion of the design of this park with construction funding in FY04. The City understands that Waste Management, Inc. is to build the park. It is important to keep this project moving along since the County's Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan has identified this area in the high need category for recreational facilities.

PLANNING PROGRAMS

The City strongly supports the many new planning initiatives proposed in the FY 2003 Budget. Many of these are long overdue activities that must be fully staffed and funded to achieve meaningful results.

The City applauds the Commission's programming of funds to begin an update of the Bowie-Collington-Mitchellville and Vicinity Area Master Plan in the third quarter of FY 2003. As the proposed budget notes, the land use pattern and transportation system recommended in the existing master plan are heavily dependent on A-44 and removal of A-44 would necessitate a reexamination of the entire area. It is requested that funds to begin staff research be accelerated to begin early in the fiscal year, in concert with the Master Plan of Transportation update, as opposed to the latter half of the fiscal year.

The proposed budget shifts large amounts of staff time to the Biennial Policy Plan Update. One of the aspects of this task will be to create a system for monitoring development activity and its relationship to public facilities programming. Because this proposal is consistent with the City's remarks on the County General Plan, the City strongly supports funding for this activity in the Countywide Planning Division. However, it is also crucial that public facility needs be examined comprehensively, either through the Biennial Policy Plan or through an update to the Public Safety Master Plan.

The City is also pleased to see several other Functional Master Plans being advanced in next year's work programming. The Green Infrastructure Plan will examine and provide a framework for the provision of hubs and corridors for wildlife movements, addressing outdoor lighting issues and revising Woodland Conservation regulations. The Master Plan of Transportation update will provide a much-needed analysis of traffic conditions and circulation issues. The City recommends that one premise of this update be that unneeded arterial roadways, such as A-44, which do not serve designated Corridors or Centers, should be removed from the Master Plan of Transportation. The City supports full funding of all these programs.

Finally, we are pleased to see that the Commission intends to make a concerted effort to update the Zoning Ordinance and other development regulations in the coming year. This revision presents an excellent opportunity to update Adequate Public Facilities (APF) tests for police, fire, medic, library and school facilities. The City wishes to contribute the assistance of our professional planning staff in this effort.

CONCLUSION

The Bowie City Council understands the hard decisions that are needed to balance a budget. What can be accomplished and what residents want you to accomplish sometimes cannot be the same.

We feel our requests and concerns are justified, given the growth in the Bowie area and the delays most of the projects have already received. Each item has merit in fulfilling the Commission's desire of providing quality resources and wholesome opportunities to citizens. We, also, as a municipality will continue to provide for the construction and renovation of city recreational facilities in order to make Prince George's County a desired place to live and work.

Thank you for your serious consideration of these requests.