Key Talking Points against the Current Draft of the Adelphi Road Sector Plan

The Prince George’s County Council's Adelphi Road-UMGC-UMD Purple Line Station Area Sector Plan (Adelphi Road Sector Plan or ARSP, for short) is unacceptable as currently drafted because:

It drastically increases the zoning density of the entire area without regard to the preservation of Guilford Woods and thus is discordant with the emerging Prince George’s County Climate Action Plan
- It preserves only ~4 out of 102 acres as reserved open space despite the fact that it is critically important to preserve and expand our urban forests to help adapt to ongoing climate change
  1. - Urban forests like Guilford Woods provide many health and environmental benefits, including air purification, carbon sequestration, climate control, stormwater management, and support for biodiversity. Replanting saplings elsewhere cannot make up for the loss of mature trees in an established forest.
It does not adequately acknowledge the Guilford Run watershed as a critical part of the Countywide Green Infrastructure Network
It does not include both sides of Campus Drive, omitting UMD Lot 1, a large impervious area that contributes to extensive stormwater runoff
It ignores the recent University of Maryland “pause” of the Western Gateway Project
- The illustrated interior road network in the Draft Plan is substantially based on the paused Western Gateway plans
- Moreover, this road network violates the Green Infrastructure Network and bisects the current Hillel Building.
It completely ignores community input
It fails to make adequate provisions to ensure affordable housing.

Although the draft resolution makes many references to sustainable development and preservation of tree canopy, this is just empty "greenwashing" because the plan in its current form fails to achieve any of these goals.

We need a pause in the planning process to allow time to address these serious shortcomings and to take community input into account.

We support higher density, mixed use infill development near Purple Line stations. However, transit-oriented development must be properly balanced with environmental preservation, as it is crucial to protect our existing tree canopy and green spaces. With better planning, it is possible to achieve this balance-- for example, by focusing development on already asphalted, deforested areas such as U-Md's Lot 1, as envisioned in an alternative proposal created by U-Md School of Architecture students.

Letter Templates

You can use the sample letters below as models for your own letters to elected officials. You can find contact information here, along with links to maps showing district boundaries.

Sample letters against the Adelphi Road Sector Plan

Dear ...............

I am writing to urge you to oppose the current version of the Prince George’s County Council's Adelphi Road-UMGC-UMD Purple Line Station Area Sector Plan.

As currently drafted, the Adelphi Road Sector Plan fails to appropriately integrate environmental preservation with transit-associated development. In particular, the Sector Plan is a direct threat to the future of Guilford Woods, an environmentally sensitive ecosystem that is part of the Anacostia watershed. Moreover, the planning process up to now has failed to effectively engage key stakeholders or to take community input into account

An outpouring of public opposition led the University of Maryland to pause the Western Gateway Project, which would have destroyed Guilford Woods. Yet the Adelphi Road Sector Plan leaves Guilford Woods vulnerable to future deforestation by up-zoning the area for development. Indeed, the draft Sector Plan preserves only 4 out of 102 acres as reserved open space. While dense development around transit hubs is important, it is also crucial to protect our existing tree canopy and green spaces.

You can find more information about the problems with the current draft of the Adelphi Road Sector Plan here. I hope you will voice your opposition to this poorly conceived plan. Please urge the Prince George's Planning Board and the Prince George's County Council to pause the planning process for one year to allow for a truly stakeholder-engaged approach that meets the climate urgency of our time and allows for meaningful community input.

Dear.......

I am writing to convey my opposition to the current draft of the Adelphi Road-UMGC-UMD Purple Line Station Area Sector Plan. In its current form, the proposed plan is totally inadequate as it does not deal with transportation issues, will up-zone the entire sector rather than concentrating the highest density development nearest the station area, and exclude some obvious campus parking areas that would be prime for development. Moreover, the planning process up to now has failed to take community input into account . You can find more information about the problems with the current draft of the Adelphi Road Sector Plan here.

To address these and other major weaknesses, the planning process should be paused to allow for adequate community input in shaping a revised plan that better reflects the needs of our area and the realities of the climate crisis we are in. Many other community members join me in making this request, as seen in this petition to the Prince George's County Council Members.

Dear ..............

I am reaching out to convey my opposition to the current version of the Adelphi Road-UMGC-UMD Purple Line Station Area Sector Plan and the resolution drafted to support it. In its current form, this plan does not represent a good vision for future development of our area.

Despite including many references to sustainability, responsible development, and preservation of tree canopy, the draft resolution in its current form fails to achieve any of these goals.
The current plan boundary preserves only 4 out of 102 acres as reserved open space. Virtually all of the area within the current plan boundary is significantly up-zoned. These zoning changes greenlight the development and destruction of Guilford Woods, one of the area’s few remaining urban forests.
The current draft excludes areas immediately proximate to the Purple Line Station (areas north of Campus Drive, including the University of Maryland Global Campus and U-Md’s Lot 1), even though development of both sides of a street is fundamental to good planning.
Community input and stakeholder feedback was largely ignored in the planning process.

In light of these and other major weaknesses, I hope you will voice your opposition to the current version of the Adelphi Road Sector Plan and urge the Prince George's County Council to pause the planning process in order to take community voices into account in developing a revised plan that better reflects the needs of our area.

Dear ...............

I am writing to urge you to oppose the current version of the Prince George’s County Council's Adelphi Road-UMGC-UMD Purple Line Station Area Sector Plan.

As currently drafted, the Adelphi Road Sector Plan fails to appropriately integrate environmental preservation with transit-associated development. In particular, the Sector Plan is a direct threat to the future of Guilford Woods, an environmentally sensitive ecosystem that is part of the Anacostia watershed.

In addition, the draft plan fails to include adequate provisions for stormwater management. Given increased problems with flooding due to climate change, the conservation easement on the stream buffer should be expanded to a minimum of 300 feet. A 200-year design for stormwater management should also be required on the entirety of the Sector Plan area, regardless of federal, state, county, city, or private ownership.

As regards stormwater management, please note that runoff from U-Md’s Lot 1 is major cause of flooding in the area. Yet Lot 1 has been entirely omitted from the Sector Plan area. This failure to plan for future development of Lot 1 is just one of many examples of the poor conceptualization behind the current draft of the Adelphi Road Sector Plan.

I urge you to oppose the Adelphi Road Sector Plan as currently drafted. Please ask the Prince George's County Council to come up with a revised plan that takes the climate crisis seriously and provides a better vision for future development of the area.

Dear ...............

I am writing to urge you to oppose the current version of the Prince George’s County Council's Adelphi Road-UMGC-UMD Purple Line Station Area Sector Plan.

As currently drafted, the Adelphi Road Sector Plan fails to appropriately integrate environmental preservation with transit-associated development. In particular, the Sector Plan is a direct threat to the future of Guilford Woods, an environmentally sensitive ecosystem that is part of the Anacostia watershed.

An outpouring of public opposition led the University of Maryland to pause the Western Gateway Project, which would have destroyed Guilford Woods. Yet the Adelphi Road Sector Plan leaves Guilford Woods vulnerable to future deforestation by up-zoning the area for development. Indeed, the draft Sector Plan preserves only 4 out of 102 acres as reserved open space. At a time when it is critically important to preserve and expand our urban forests to help adapt to ongoing climate change, this proposal is entirely unacceptable.

Our forested areas provide untold health and environmental benefits, including air purification, carbon sequestration, climate control, stormwater management, and support for biodiversity. Once lost, these benefits cannot easily be recovered, even if new saplings are planted elsewhere in place of those cut down. It takes more than half a century of growth for a young tree to provide the same level of environmental benefits as the mature trees in an established forest. Given the urgency of the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis we’re facing, this is time that we simply do not have.

Instead of up-zoning the parcels along Mowatt Lane and the State-owned land comprising Guilford Woods, a far more reasonable plan would be to up-zone only the parcels of land along Adelphi Road and Campus Drive up to the Domain apartment complex (at the corner of Campus Drive and Mowatt Lane). This would protect the woods and stream while still allowing for a significant amount of additional higher-density housing proximate to the Purple Line Station.

Inexplicably, however, the current draft of the Sector Plan omits land located on the north side of Campus Drive (e.g., University of Maryland Global Campus, UMD Lot 1)— even though development of both sides of a street is fundamental to good planning. To visualize the missed opportunity this oversight represents, please consider the alternative proposal created by UMD School of Architecture students, which creatively redevelops the asphalt-strewn 20 acres of Lot 1.

I hope you will voice your opposition to the Prince George’s County Council’s Adelphi Road Sector Plan as currently drafted. Developing around transit hubs is important, but protecting our existing tree canopy and green spaces is also crucial. With creativity and proper adherence to principles of sustainable development, the two goals of transit-oriented development and environmental preservation can be balanced. However, the current draft of the Adelphi Plan fails to achieve that balance. Please put your weight behind supporting genuinely sustainable development in Prince George’s County.

Sample letters to elected officials who supported SGW

See the list of supportive officials here.

Dear ...............

Your support was instrumental in convincing University of Maryland leadership to pause the Western Gateway Project and save Guilford Woods from deforestation. Thank you so much for your leadership on this issue! However, this pause may only be temporary because the Prince George’s County Council’s Draft Adelphi Road Purple Line Sector Plan shows the Guilford Woods area as being developed.

The Save Guilford Woods Coalition includes notable architects and urban planners as well as distinguished UMD professors, community members, and students. Our consensus is that the draft sector plan is poorly devised and totally inadequate. It sacrifices a forest while saving a parking lot, and it neglects to include sufficient input from community stakeholders. We believe that the draft plan should be scrapped and a new plan devised in one year's time.

One of the key failures of the draft plan is that the boundaries do not include land located on the north side of Campus Drive (e.g., University of Maryland Global Campus, UMD Lot 1). Therefore, it totally neglects to imagine any potential future development on UMD Lot 1. To remedy this failure, UMD School of Architecture students have created an alternative plan focused on the development of Lot 1. Turning the 20-acre Lot 1 eyesore into such an outstanding project surely would benefit UMD, our local community, Prince George's County, and the State of Maryland. This alternate plan would surely create something in which we all could take pride.

You can find more information about the problems with the current draft of the Adelphi Road Sector Plan here. I hope we can count on your support in our continued efforts to protect Guilford Woods and to work for genuinely sustainable development in Prince George’s County.

Dear ...........

I am active in community efforts to save Guilford Woods from deforestation, and I am writing to thank you for supporting our campaign to protect this important local ecosystem. It was with great relief that I learned the news that the University of Maryland has decided to pause its plans for the Western Gateway Project, and I know that having the support of elected officials such as you was pivotal in reaching this point. I and many other community members greatly appreciate your leadership in speaking out against the Western Gateway Project and voicing your support for finding alternatives for graduate housing that do not require destroying one of our area's few remaining urban forests.

Unfortunately, there is still much work to be done to ensure that Guilford Woods and Guilford Run stream are permanently protected. In particular, we are now mobilizing to oppose the current draft of the Adelphi Road-UMGC-UMD Purple Line Station Area Sector Plan, which proposes zoning changes that threaten Guilford Woods. You can find out more about our concerns here.

I hope that we can count on your support as we work to win permanent protection for Guilford Woods and to make sure that all future development plans in our district are held to the highest environmental standards.

Sample thank you letter to U-MD's President Pines

Dear President Pines:

I have been active for several months in community efforts to save Guilford Woods from deforestation, and I am writing to thank you for your recent decision to pause plans for the Western Gateway Project. Given the environmental concerns raised by a growing number of students, faculty members, and local residents, this decision was clearly the right one, and I applaud your announcement that the university will move forward instead with plans to sustainably redevelop Old Leonardtown for graduate student housing.

Sample letter to state treasurer Dereck Davis

Dear State Treasurer Davis:

I am active in community efforts to save Guilford Woods, a remnant forest on the southern edge of the University of Maryland’s College Park campus that has been under threat of deforestation by the university’s so-called Western Gateway Project, a development plan that would clear-cut about 1,000 trees on publicly owned land that is part of Prince George’s County's designated green infrastructure network.

After mounting pressure from university students, faculty members, and local residents, President Pines recently announced that the university is putting the Western Gateway Project on hold. You can read more about this decision in a recent Washington Post column written by several distinguished UMD faculty members. But while this welcome news came as a great relief to me and to many others in the community, we know that our efforts are not over until Guilford Woods is permanently protected, and that is why I am reaching out to you.

If the University of Maryland decides to resume its plans to develop Guilford Woods, it will need to seek approval for the land sale from the Maryland Board of Public Works. Should that happen, and should you be our next state treasurer, I hope that you will oppose the Western Gateway Project and the sale of this environmentally important ecosystem.

In addition to clear-cutting about 28% of the campus tree canopy, the Western Gateway Project would destroy part of the Guilford Run headwaters, a stream that feeds into the Anacostia River. In return, the University of Maryland would receive about 300 units of graduate student housing—a mere drop in the bucket compared to its graduate student population of roughly 10,000. It is worth noting that none of the graduate housing would be located on the land that would be sold. Instead the deforested public land—amounting to roughly three-quarters of the overall project footprint—would go toward constructing 81 private townhomes and associated infrastructure. Moreover, this land would be sold to a private developer at far below market price, thus devaluing the worth of public land at an enormous cost to the community and to the environment.

A mature forest like Guilford Woods is a complex, interacting ecosystem that takes generations to form, supports a great biodiversity of species, and provides untold environmental benefits, including air purification, carbon sequestration, climate control, and stormwater management. Once lost, these benefits cannot easily be recovered, even if new saplings are planted elsewhere in place of those cut down. It takes more than half a century of growth for a young tree to provide the same level of environmental benefits as the mature trees in an established forest. Given the urgency of the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis we’re facing, this is time that we simply do not have.

I fully recognize and support the need for more affordable housing for graduate students. However, this need can be met in a more environmentally sustainable way, without destroying one of the few remaining urban forests in the area. And at a time when the global climate crisis is becoming ever more urgent, the University of Maryland has no business considering a development project so at odds with its own pledges to be a climate leader and to advance sustainability.

If you would like more information about the issues at stake, I would be more than happy to arrange a tour of Guilford Woods for you with community members involved in efforts to save the Woods. There is also a wealth of information about the proposed development plan and its environmental costs at this website:

https://saveguilfordwoods.wordpress.com/

Many thanks for your consideration.

Sample messages urging Pres. Darryl Pines to stop the Western Gateway Project and save Guilford Woods

You can find more sample letters here: https://saveguilfordwoods.wordpress.com/letters/.

Dear President Pines:

As a [local community member/UMD student/faculty member] concerned about Guilford Woods, I am writing to express my opposition to the University of Maryland’s proposed Western Gateway Project, which would deforest nearly ten acres of this precious natural resource.

At a time when the global climate crisis is becoming ever more urgent, we are disheartened that the University of Maryland would consider a development project so at odds with its own sustainability goals. We believe that the need for more graduate housing can be met in an environmentally sustainable way, without destroying one of the few remaining urban forests in the area, and we respectfully urge you to withdraw your support for the Western Gateway Project.

Dear President Pines:

I am writing to express my strong opposition to the proposed Western Gateway project, a plan to deforest nearly 10 acres of woods adjacent to the University of Maryland campus to construct townhomes and graduate student housing.

At a time when we need to be doing all that we can to protect the environment, this project would

destroy about 1,000 trees on publicly owned land that is part of PG County's designated green infrastructure network
destroy part of the Guilford Run headwaters
threaten wildlife habitats and endanger local biodiversity
exacerbate existing problems in the area with stormwater management and flooding
lead to decreased air quality and increased temperatures
significantly reduce tree canopy for the UMD campus and surrounding areas

While expanding graduate housing is important, there are alternative sites available that can be developed in a more environmentally sustainable way, including UMD's Lot 1, Graduate Hills, and Leonardtown. Smart growth and sustainable development involve the creative redevelopment of existing vacant or under-utilized lots-- not the wholesale deforestation of one of the few remaining urban forests in the area. I urge you to uphold the University of Maryland’s stated commitment to sustainability and to rescind your support for this environmentally irresponsible project.