MEMORANDUM
TO: City Council
FROM: David J. Deutsch, City Manager
SUBJECT: Status Report/Council Poll
DATE: August 2, 2007
Status Report
1. COG Regional Activity Centers and Clusters Brochure
A copy of the recently released brochure on Regional Activity Centers and
Clusters prepared by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
(COG) is in your package. Last fall, when the final draft document was
released, staff questioned the lack of information about employment centers
in Bowie. The City was advised that the centers and clusters result from
compilation of Round 7.0 forecast data produced by M-NCPPC for Prince George's
County and that, according to the data, there was not enough employment
forecast in the Bowie area to support a designation. M-NCPPC staff had
been maintaining a relatively low employment forecast for the Maryland
Science and Technology Center and was not aware of some of the other recent
office construction in the City. While this oversight was too late to be
addressed in this round, it will be corrected in the next update, which
could occur in about a year since COG is now examining ways to aggregate
their analysis zones to align with municipal boundaries. This change will
allow COG to track employment trends and make projections more accurately
in the future.
2. West Bowie Village
Wednesday, August 1 saw the opening of a new business in West Bowie Village – the
Best Pie Company at 13600 Annapolis Road. The owners, Bowie residents Patricia
and Sherman McCoy, bake pies from scratch five days per week (Wednesday through
Sunday). They plan for a grand opening celebration after a few weeks of operations.
This is the first new business to open in this area of the City in several
years.
3. Navy Federal Credit Union
The Navy Federal Credit Union has contracted to purchase Lot 5 in Block A
of Bowie Gateway Center and is preparing a Detailed Site Plan for a new,
3,500 sq. ft. credit union building. Lot 5 is adjacent to On The Border
restaurant and abuts the northwest corner of the US 301/MD 197 intersection.
Access is restricted to an ingress-egress easement connecting to Heritage Boulevard that is shared with
On The Border and Chili's. Coincidentally, the Maryland State Highway Administration
is currently in the process of reconstructing the drainage system within
State right-of-way near this location. This improvement will have no bearing
on the development proposal, which is on a separate lot. The full City
review process, including a Stakeholders Meeting and Bowie Advisory Planning
Board/City Council public hearings, will be scheduled for the credit union
site plan this fall.
4. County Surplus Property Resolution
Attached for Council's information is a copy of Prince
George's County Council Resolution CR-48-2007 (DR-2), declaring certain parcels of County-owned
real property as surplus. While the list does not contain any surprises,
the conveyance of 219 acres to the Bowie State University Foundation (see
page 6) is noteworthy. This is the land located on the east side of MD
197, north of the MARC commuter rail station, that is recommended for a "Future
Community Center" (mixed-use development) in the Bowie and Vicinity
Area Master Plan. M-NCPPC is expected to begin work on a Sector Plan for
this property during the current fiscal year.
Attachments:
Metropolitan
Washington Council of Governments - Report on Regional Activity Center
and Clusters - (pdf- 16 pages)
Prince George's County Council Resolution Declaring certain County-owned
real property as surplus