During rainstorms this spring and summer, the block of Gallatin Street next to Driskell Park has flooded, spilling out onto the lower lot of the planned Suffrage Point development.
In a July 5 email, developer Werrlein Properties said that the lack of a wetland work permit prevents the company from fixing the problem by installing larger drainage pipes under the lower lot to replace smaller blocked ones.
A group of residents called Save Our Sustainable Hyattsville continues to contest the development on both the upper and the lower lots, and to raise money for legal fees to support that effort.
Following a Feb. 23 state special appeals court ruling, the county council, sitting as the district council, must recalculate the allowable number of houses per acre on the site, subtracting land in the 100-year flood plain from the total acreage, along with alleys and streets. The county must also establish a maximum number of townhouses per net acre for the site.
At their July 12 meeting, the district council discussed whether a public hearing was needed for the determination of the allowable number of townhouses per net acre, and postponed a decision.
In the meantime, members of Save Our Sustainable Hyattsville have an oral argument in front of a county circuit court on Aug. 12 in their challenge, filed two years ago, to a preliminary plan of subdivision for the development of the upper lot.
According to Werrlein’s website, five of the 16 houses being built on the upper lot have been sold and seven are under contract, as of Aug. 6. One of the 15 townhouses planned for the upper lot is under contract.
Werrlein continues to plan 41 additional townhouses for the lower lot. County planning staff supported, with conditions, a preliminary plan of subdivision for the lower lot in a June 16 memo.
