Submitted by: Ben Simasek
Submitting Department: Legislative
Agenda Section: Action
Item Title:
title
Letter to Maryland Department of Environment opposing Suffrage Pointe Nontidal Wetlands Permit
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Suggested Action:
recommendation
I move that the Mayor and Council submit correspondence to the Maryland Department of Environment requesting 1) That Werrlein WSSC LLC's application for a Maryland Wetlands and Waterways Permit be rejected,
2) That adjoining Hyattsville property owners to Suffrage Point's 4017 Hamilton Street address receive the required notification of the hearing and,
3) That the public comment period be extended at least another 30 days to allow reasonable time for interested parties to participate in the public process.
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Summary Background:
This action is consistent with the City of Hyattsville's previous position regarding the lower parcel, regarding which the city is still a party in pending litigation.
In 2004, the city and county agreed that this appropriate zoning for this parcel would be open-space, given its location in the 100-year floodplain and its adjacency to what is now Driskell Park. It is important to consider long-term resiliency and risk in the face of increased occurrence of extreme weather events and flooding due to climate change. The Prince George's County Draft Climate Action Plan, for which the city has registered its support, includes the following language:
As a first step and common-sense approach to building climate resilience, our County must immediately prohibit any new development within its floodplains. Our region is projected to receive more precipitation, often delivered in sudden extreme events without dependable frequency. With the rapid and intensifying impacts of climate change already occurring, there is simply no certainty that today's engineering standards will be adequate into the future. Our County must stop the practice of permitting the reconfiguring of floodplain storage areas within a nat...
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