SUITLAND - Prince George's County Planning Department

town center. Therefore, an early step in theM‐U‐TC zoning process involves the creation ofa development plan with locally tailored designguidelines and standards.The process for establishing a town centerdevelopment plan for Suitland included fivecommunity workshops. The workshops werea continuation of the efforts begun nearly adecade ago to encourage reinvestment andredevelopment in this older commercial,and adjacent residential, area. The vision forSuitland expressed in the 1995 RevitalizationAction Plan is still relevant as a guide for currentplanning.“Overall, Suitland is an economically vibrantcommunity, which enhances and stimulatescommunity-directed commercial growth.New development and redevelopment allowfor reinvestment into our self-sustainingcommunity.”Community WorkshopsAt the first workshop in fall 2002, participantswere presented with a review of planning effortswithin the M-U-TC area, were introduced toa range of urban design concepts of potentialrelevance to the Suitland area, and workedin small group sessions to explore potentialboundaries, land uses, themes, and designconcepts for the area. There was generalconsensus at the first workshop that theM‐U‐TC Zone should extend down both sidesof Silver Hill Road to the Metro station andshould include the commercial areas alongSilver Hill and Suitland Roads.Workshop participants focused largely on acommunity-centered theme for the area, whilestill recognizing the regional importance ofSilver Hill Road. For example, manyexpressed the view that the Suitlandtown center should reflect andstrengthen the image of Suitland as afriendly, caring, and safe community.It was felt that the town center shouldcreate a strong community “place”;one that will evoke civic pride andlocal reinvestment.A number of urban design imageswere presented to elicit communitypreferences on preferred designconcepts. The images that receivedthe most positive discussion included:g A lively and varied town centerstreetscape that promotes groundfloor retail and encouragespedestrian activity.g Parking areas located to the rear ofbuildings and lots so that they are not easilyvisible from the street.g A balanced mix of housing types onthe lower end of the density scale (e.g.,townhouses, particularly those in “mansionstyle” structures; single-family attachedunits; and single-family detached units).g Community parks with an emphasison landscape features (trees, plants andflowers).g Human-scale, safe, attractive streets thatencourage and invite pedestrian use.At the second workshop, a range of conceptualdevelopment plans was presented anddiscussed. From the information receivedduring the first workshop, it became clear thatthe primary focus for the town center shouldbe a community-based core along SuitlandCommunity representatives at a Saturday workshop.Road and a secondary mixed-use regional nodealong Silver Hill Road capable of attractingusers from the Suitland Federal Center, theMetro station, and those traveling along thatcorridor. The workshop participants stronglyendorsed a greatly improved pedestrian andopen space system that allows the communityeasier and safer access to the town center,including the Suitland Federal Center (its majoremployment center) and the adjacent residentialneighborhoods. Through discussions at thesecond workshop, the final concept presented inthis document evolved.At subsequent workshops, design standards andguidelines were discussed for different areas inthe town center. Community representativesbroke up into work groups to discuss the formand function of development needed to createa town center: (1) “main street” development,where a mixed-use commercial core shouldbe established; (2) “neighborhood streets,”where new residential development shouldApproved Suitland Mixed-Use Town Center Zone Development Plan