By STELLA GARNER
Photo credit: Adelia McGuire
This January, the Prince George’s County Planning Board voted to approve the detailed site plan for a McDonald’s on East-West Highway and Ager Road, a massive step forward for a project that has been mired in controversy and repeatedly stalled by opposition from local residents. But the fight isn’t over yet.
After an April 1 county council hearing, Councilmember Wanika Fisher (District 2), who represents Hyattsville, took the plan under advisement, meaning she’ll decide whether the plan will be further approved or sent back to the planning board by the end of the month.
The planning board’s decision to approve the site plan included conditions that the company retain some of the woodland, which would’ve been destroyed in the initial plans; paint a crosswalk in the shopping center; and include a sign in the store that acknowledges the property’s partial location on a former historic plantation where people were enslaved.
But according to Hyattsville residents, these conditions aren’t enough. Several voiced concerns that the proposed land acknowledgement by McDonald’s might be merely a poster.
“You’re going to venerate a bunch of people who were enslaved and died on this property by putting a bunch of posters in a McDonald’s,” local resident Alexi Boado said at the January planning board meeting. “I think that’s crazy; I don’t think that meets a minimum standard of historic preservation or education for the public, and I’m just really disappointed that that was even considered.”
McDonald’s representative Edward Gibbs assured board members at the meeting that the markings to designate the restaurant’s location would be “presented artistically and tastefully,” and that an archeologist would be present during the installation.
Updates to the original construction proposal also include more fencing, crosswalks, speed bumps and signage in the parking lot to manage pedestrian traffic around the building.
“I believe that with more pronounced sidewalks, safety features such as stop bars, painting on the surfaces, speed bumps, it definitely will enhance the safety, pedestrian and vehicular,” said Nicholas Speach, a civil engineer hired by McDonald’s to implement planning board recommendations.
However, community members told the board in January that the proposed changes would not be enough to keep pedestrians safe from the inherent danger of constructing a high-traffic venue in an already dangerous area.
“I believe the record indicates that the traffic estimates provided by the applicant are fanciful,” resident Jeff Cronin said in testimony. “In fact, I believe that the high throughput drive-thru proposed here increases the likelihood that more pedestrians will suffer injuries or fatalities after colliding with a vehicle.”
Multiple members of the county council had similar qualms about exacerbating the existing danger of the area. Councilmember Eric Olson (District 3) told the council he personally faces the risks of the intersection when driving his daughter to school.
“I’m floored that this proposal would even be before us, frankly, as a frequent driver to that area,” Olson said. “I can’t think of a worse site.”
Residents’ main concerns about the area, however, are more about the impacts of another fast-food restaurant in a community already suffering from a lack of healthy eating options and the effects that pollution from the restaurant could have on students at César Chávez Dual Spanish Immersion School — one-third of a mile from the proposed location.
Attorney for McDonald’s Edward Gibbs argued, with the support of the planning board, that discussions surrounding the site plan should be focused solely around on-site problems and effects on traffic within the parking center.
“I don’t challenge [the opposition’s] concerns. But the plethora of documents and testimony put in by the applicants all relate to off-site issues,” Gibbs said. “Drainage, impacts on Sligo Creek, the climate control plan, food equity — I don’t quarrel with the sincerity of those objections. But with respect, they are not relevant inquiries to the approval of a detailed site plan.”
According to the community, however, there are myriad factors that must be discussed in order to understand what the effects of the new restaurant would be.
“We’re talking about our children, who go to a school that’s on a major thoroughfare,” said César Chávez parent Rebeca Rios. “They’re already exposed to a lot of traffic-related air pollutants. … [The McDonald’s is] going to add more air pollutants, and asthma is already a major concern for Prince George’s County.” Rios went on to mention that air pollution can worsen the effects of asthma and lead to susceptible students missing school.
The area surrounding the school, which was previously designated a “food swamp” by the nongovernmental organization Prince George’s County Food Equity Council, is a large point of contention among community members who want more robust food options in such a high-activity area near a school.
“I think I can speak by and large for parents when I say that we want to provide healthy food for our children, and it’s no secret that McDonald’s food is not healthy or high quality,” César Chávez parent Rachel Mulford said. “We really want to avoid a higher density of fast-food restaurants in our immediate surrounding community.”
Before taking the matter under advisement, some of the council expressed apprehension about the intentions of the restaurant to operate differently based on community concerns.
“It does appear that you understand the comments from the residents,” said Council Chair Edward Burroughs (District 8). “It just also appears that you don’t care.”
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Stella Garner is an undergraduate journalism student at the University of Maryland.
