Development Review Policies Draft.Pdf
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City of Bowie 15901 Excalibur Road Bowie, Maryland 20716 MEMORANDUM TO: City Council FROM: Alfred D. Lott, ICMA-CM, CPM City Manager SUBJECT: Development Review Policies DATE: January 14, 2021 ______________________________________________________________________________ The current Development Review Guidelines and Policies document was approved by City Council on November 6, 2017 via Resolution R-65-17. City Council agreed to have City staff update the policies to assist the City’s review of the Bowie, Mitchellville and Vicinity Area Master Plan, which is now being prepared and will be released this summer. Staff conducted three public review sessions with City Council on September 8, September 21 and November 2, 2020. An updated “Draft for Public Comment” version, as well as a Track Changes version of the revised policies, were posted on the City website. No comments were received prior to the December 31st deadline; however, staff received informal positive feedback regarding the proposed revisions from Environmental Advisory Committee members and the Multimodal and Public Spaces (MAPS) subgroup of the Bowie Green Team. On January 13th, the City’s Planning Director gave a presentation on the changes to the Economic Development Committee. A City Council public hearing is scheduled for Monday night. At the meeting, the Planning Director will review the staff recommended changes to the policy elements, which include: Land Use; Economic Prosperity; Transportation; the Environment; Housing and Neighborhoods; Community Heritage, Culture and Design; and, Public Facilities. The recommended Council policies are attached. Specific revisions requested by Council are addressed by staff, as follows: 1. Downzone all the Jesuit Property, take it out of the Established Community and put it into the Rural Area. See revisions in Established Communities #2 and Rural/Agricultural #3. 2. Preserve neighborhood shopping centers and don’t let them become centers of high- density development. Establish building height limits to protect the character of shopping areas. Revise land use policies to better protect these areas. See revisions in Established Communities #3 and Mixed-Use Areas #4. 3. Include office park locations, such as Bowie Office Park on Gallant Fox Lane, 3000 Mitchellville Road and the commercial areas near Allen Pond Park in the Employment Areas section of the Land Use Policies. See revisions in Employment Areas #1. MAYOR Timothy J. Adams MAYOR PRO TEM Adrian Boafo COUNCIL Michael P. Esteve • Henri Gardner • Ingrid S. Harrison • Roxy Ndebumadu • Dufour Woolfley CITY MANAGER Alfred D. Lott City Hall (301) 262-6200 FAX (301) 809-2302 TDD (301) 262-5013 WEB www.cityofbowie.org 2 Development Review Policies 4. In the redevelopment of the Bowie Race Track, maximize green space, allow the sale of agricultural products, minimize the number of buildings and encourage development of recreation, parks and open space. See revisions in Established Communities #1. 5. Add a policy that addresses the future possibility of the City taking over certain State and County roads. No changes recommended. 6. Revise MD 450 policy to advocate for a true mainstreet design, between Stonybrook Drive and Race Track Road. See revisions in Mixed-Use Activity Centers #5. 7. Investigate available methods for the City taking responsibility for designing improvements in the Bowie Mainstreet portion of MD 450. No changes recommended. A draft letter to the SHA Administrator requesting the State’s re-examination of the Bowie Mainstreet portion of the MD 450 engineering and design project is attached. 8. Revise existing land use policy to eliminate references to medium density residential within activity centers other than the Bowie Local Center. See revisions in Mixed-Use Activity Centers #4. 9. Delete the policy supporting a larger activity center boundary of Bowie Mainstreet so that it can’t be used to justify higher density residential uses in the redevelopment of commercial shopping center parcels. No changes recommended. 10. Ensure that West Bowie Village activity center remains commercial and does not become a location for higher density residential development. No changes recommended, as policy already endorses commercial only with live-work units. 11. Revise current water and sewer policy to eliminate the exception language that would allow areas in the Rural Tier to be served by public water and sewer if there is no other means available. See revisions in Rural/Agricultural #1. 12. Work with SHA to slow traffic, provide on-street parking and create a mainstreet design for MD 450 that would encourage adjacent businesses to integrate this concept in redevelopment of their sites. See revisions in Transportation #1. 13. Improve pedestrian and bike crossings of MD 450. See revisions in Transportation #1. 14. Revise current transit provisions to reflect the City Council support for WMATA route restructuring and County transit improvements per the annual transportation letters. See revisions in Transit #13. 15. Elaborate further regarding specific traffic management techniques, such as painting white lines on roadway pavement and re-examine the City’s resident petitioning criteria to facilitate application of traffic calming principles. See revisions in Traffic Management Techniques #27. 16. Delete the recommendation for a future interchange at US 50/MD 193. See revisions in Transportation #25, which is proposed for deletion. Also, delete Transportation #24. 3 Development Review Policies Recommendation Conduct public hearing and direct staff to make any additional revisions (if any) and return the final document to City Council for final action via resolution on a future Consent Agenda. LAND USE ESTABLISHED COMMUNITIES 1. Any redevelopment of the Bowie racetrack (Bowie Training Center) should only be with single-family, low-density residential uses public recreational uses, green space, parkland and open space. 2. The historic viewshed of the Jesuit property associated with Sacred Heart Church should be preserved by returning the entire property on both sides of MD 450 to the Rural Tier (Rural Preservation Area) and downzoning the land to the lowest density residential zone. 3. A Residential Neighborhood Conservation Area and zoning district should be established to protect the original Levitt sections and conserve the City’s older neighborhoods. This zoning tool should establish uniform zoning standards, such as lot coverage standards, and should also prohibit unwanted special exception uses from encroaching on the established neighborhood character. Policies should be developed in the new Bowie, Mitchellville and Vicinity Area Master Plan to address preservation of the character of existing retail shopping centers. Mixed Use Activity Centers 4. Higher-density and mixed-use development should be concentrated within the Bowie Local Center (and the Bowie/MARC Center) while encouraging only low- and medium-density development and revitalization of existing centers in the Established Communities. 5. Additional focus should be placed on redevelopment in the MD Route 450 Mainstreet area that converts this area from a through arterial to a true main street design, with narrower streets and on-street parking. Appropriate design standards should be adopted in conjunction with a Sector Plan for the Bowie Mainstreet Activity Center the update of the Bowie, Mitchellville and Vicinity Area Master Plan. The boundaries of the Bowie Mainstreet mixed-use activity center should be expanded to include the civic uses on MD 450 (Bowie High School, Bowie Center for the Performing Arts, the public library and racquet club), the Bowie Community Center, the Levitt model homes on Sussex Lane, the adjacent townhouse communities on Millstream Drive, Marquette Lane and Scarlet Oak Terrace and the funeral home and church located east of Race Track Road. A mixture of uses should be encouraged at the Bowie Mainstreet's three shopping center properties, as well as the commercial use area along Superior Lane. These areas should be designated as the “core” of the Bowie Mainstreet mixed-use activity center. The three “core” properties should be designated as preferred sites for small-lot, affordable residential development. 6. Pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use development should be encouraged within the existing commercial district of Old Town Bowie. Opportunities to develop a wider range of compatible housing choices in Old Town Bowie via the Comprehensive Design Zone technique are generally supported. The concept of creating an arts or cultural center in Old Town Bowie should be explored in the next Master Plan update. 7. The development concept for West Bowie Village should be limited to basically non-residential uses within the existing business district, except that live-work units should be specifically included as an allowed residential dwelling type within the commercial district. 8. The Pointer Ridge mixed-use activity center is supported, however, no vehicular access, including indirect access via parking lots, should be allowed to Pointer Ridge Drive. US 301/MD 3 Median 6. Existing properties in the MD 3/US 301 median should be retained in the R-R zone. Expansion of existing commercial uses should be discouraged, as they will further contribute to an already over-burdened transportation system and create the potential for increased vehicular conflicts. Any future commercial rezoning of residential properties to commercial zones is discouraged. 7. The consolidation of existing commercial