November 4, 2022 - Fall Housing

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CONTENTS

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contents North college park community speaks out against paint branch development

5 South campus Commons 6 reverts to one commmunity assistant per shift, cuts hours Housing Resources

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UMD announces $20M investment for need-based financial aid

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WRITTEN BY: Hannah Ziegler Ilana Williams Parker Leipzig

COPY EDITED BY: Ella Sherman Devon Milley Natalie Adams Eric Neugeboren Nataraj Shivaprasad Apurva Mahajan Emilie Miranda DESIGNED BY: Sydney Theis Hanna Zakharenko PHOTO EDITING BY: Cam Andrews Autumn Hengen

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SOUTH CAMPUS COMMONS management decisions have led to fewer shifts and cuts for students working as community assistants. (cam andrews/the diamondback)

FRONT COVER PHOTO BY: Kurt Leinemann BACK COVER PHOTO BY: Autumn Hengen

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Development

North College Park community speaks out against Paint Branch development plans

By Hannah Ziegler | @hannahzziegler | Assistant news editor

Paint branch Trail in College Park on Oct. 8, 2022. (neelay sachdeva/the diamondback) Christina Toy alerted her neighborhood last summer when she saw a flyer that caught her eye.

The College Park resident saw a paper for a community meeting about the development of Paint Branch Preserve North and South — roughly two dozen acres of wooded area along Paint Branch Trail in north College Park.

“I was like ‘that’s awful,’” said Toy, who lives near the preserve.

The preliminary development plan for Paint Branch Preserve North and South includes the construction of 228 single-family townhomes in the space.

Paint Branch Preserve North would have 131 homes, while 97 homes would occupy Paint Branch Preserve South.

Initial plans for the preserve’s development have prompted widespread concern from north College Park residents who emphasized hundreds of new homes along Paint Branch Preserve would cause environmental degradation, harm residents’ quality of life and inject a swarm of new cars into a notoriously crowded intersection.

Cherry Hill neighborhood residents first discussed their concerns with the development during a community

meeting on Aug. 31. During the meeting, residents voiced widespread concern for the development’s environmental impact.

Now, residents are awaiting another meeting with the proposed developer to hear how their concerns have been addressed as the project moves forward. A community meeting with the developer that was scheduled for Sept. 21 was canceled and has yet to be rescheduled.

Paint Branch Preserve is home to dozens of heritage trees — large, individual trees with unique value that are often considered irreplaceable.

“These are one of the last mature wooded areas and, unfortunately, people only think about money and profit instead of how taking away habitat for birds and insects … affects us deeply,” Toy said.

District 4 College Park City Council member Maria Mackie, who represents the Cherry Hill neighborhood, added that the townhomes would be near a floodplain and environmentally, it is a “dangerous situation” to put a high-density development in the area.

“We’ve gone a little overboard with the development in College Park, and I

feel very much that we haven’t looked at the long-term effects of all this development,” Mackie said. “I mean, is the infrastructure solid enough to handle something like this?”

Community members would access the new townhomes via the intersection of Route 1 and Cherry Hill Road, which is already congested, resident Mary Cook said. The intersection has been failing since Cook moved to College Park more than 20 years ago, she said.

“Imagine what it is today. It’s failing times 10,” Cook said. “So it was very disturbing to hear about these developments.”

The development of high-density townhomes also does not fit with the neighborhood’s character, Cook said.

The “beautiful,” quiet Cherry Hill area is removed from the rest of the city’s development-heavy neighborhoods, she added.

Cherry Hill residents have fought to preserve that atmosphere in recent years. The neighborhood provides a reminder of “what College Park used to be,” Cook said.

“We would like [the development]

to be eliminated because we don’t see a need for it, especially right in that area,” Cook said. “It’s a piece of history there. We don’t want to see it destroyed.”

The development project is still in its earliest stages of design and feasibility, said Mathew Tedesco, a lawyer representing Stanley Martin Homes. Stanley Martin Homes and its design team are in the process of “vetting feedback from various stakeholders,” Tedesco said.

“This requires time and careful thought,” Tedesco said. “The outcome, we are confident, will be a high-quality project.”

Stanley Martin Homes is currently adjusting their planned development application to consider community feedback from the August meeting, according to District 1 council member Fazlul Kabir.

Kabir said Stanley Martin Homes has agreed to look into expanding its traffic study to understand the development’s impact on the Route 1 and Edgewood Road intersection. The developer is also considering decreasing the density of the development, he added.

“They are going through some changes, which is encouraging,” Kabir said. “I’m just curious. I’m keeping an open eye and following the development.”

Approval for the development rests with the Prince George’s County Planning Board. But city council members are prepared to discuss the topic if Stanley Martin does not adjust based on the resident concerns.

District 4 council member Denise Mitchell said developers are typically “collegial and collaborative” when working with resident and council concerns. But she is willing to reevaluate the revised development plans with the city council if needed.

“If it gets to the point where I see personally, that there was not an attempt made to address the concern, then I will work with my colleagues to have a discussion with them in regards to this proposed plan. To say maybe this is not the project for you right now, here in College Park,” Mitchell said.

Resources

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Housing resources Where to find off-campus housing: UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND OFF-CAMPUS HOUSING DATABASE The university’s online database for off-campus housing provides the latest house and apartment vacancies around the campus. With your student account, you can add a listing or look for a roommate while providing a roommate profile of your own.

FACEBOOK On select University of Maryland student Facebook groups, you can find student subletters and students looking for roommates. A comment or direct message showing interest could put you in contact with the individual who’s listing.

REAL ESTATE MARKETPLACES Online real estate marketplaces offer listings for entire apartments and houses in College Park. Many allow you to filter out listings by price range, amenities and more. Some offer maps, so you can figure out a property’s proximity to this university’s campus.

Renter’s insurance information: Renter’s insurance can protect you from a liability lawsuit as well as your personal property when unexpected events such as fires, flooding or vandalism occur, depending on the policy.

Many major insurance companies hold renter’s insurance policies.

The average cost of renter’s insurance was $14.90 per month in 2021, according to Business Insider.

You may also be covered by your parents’ insurance depending on their policy.

HEY TERPS! Get the shell over here and earn some extra credits.

Montgomery College Winter Session Begins December 19.

Tuition starting at $132 per credit. montgomerycollege.edu/visiting

A sign advertising Tempo apartments outside of its leasing office on Route 1 on Oct. 28, 2021. (joe ryan/the diamondback)

Montgomery College is an academic institution committed to equal opportunity.

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south campus commons

Financial aid

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South Campus Commons reverts to one community assistant per shift, cuts hours

UMD announces $20M investment for need-based financial aid

By Parker Leipzig | @leipzig_parker | Staff writer

By Ilana Williams | @ilana_willi | Staff writer

Community assistants in South Campus Commons are voicing frustrations about the decision from their management to only allow one staffer at service desks throughout the day.

CAs learned at their monthly staff meeting earlier this month there would be one community assistant stationed at each service desk, a cut from the two CAs that had worked at service desks since the start of

A sign outside South Campus Commons 1. (julia nikhinson/the diamondback)

the fall semester. The student employees, who manage packages, issue spare keys and field emergency calls, say this change was sudden and will leave them overwhelmed. There are three service desks for the seven South Campus Commons buildings.

“It’s just going to be so much more difficult to do that on your own, and very overwhelming,” said Katherine Badia, a junior government and politics

major who has been a CA for almost a year.

South Campus Commons management said the shift to only one CA working at each desk is not unusual. In their time as CAs, current student workers said they do not remember doing single shifts.

“South Campus Commons’ service desk staffing patterns historically have been to have one CA per shift,” Christopher Mason, the director of undergraduate affiliated housing for Commons, wrote in an email to The Diamondback. “South Campus Commons CAs do not have double shifts throughout the semester, only briefly in the weeks following resident check-in.”

The staffing changes have also forced students to work fewer shifts.

Caroline Klecka, a senior journalism major who has been a CA for almost 18 months, said in the week since the adjustment, she was taken off of the schedule for the shift she usually works. Prior to the change, Carter Austin, who has worked for a CA for more than a year, said he worked 20 hours a week, but now he works seven.

“I was sad to hear it because I had to pick up a second job,” he said. “Obviously that’s not something that somebody wants to do.”

CAs said they liked working with their colleagues because along with the extra help, it allowed them to connect with their coworkers.

“Obviously jobs aren’t a social aspect, but they are almost cutting that entirely, so how are you supposed to know your coworkers?” Badia said. “Creating that bond just allows for more efficient working.”

Some CAs said they wished they would have been consulted about the change in staffing. Klecka said she thinks hiring different people for day and night shifts rather than having everyone work both could be effective.

“I think when you get comfortable in a job you think they will kind of have your back which is not the reality,” Klecka said. “But, it’s still kind of disheartening.”

The email from management also reminded CAs of their salary increase to $15, which was effective starting Aug. 1. The increase followed the increase in hourly wages for CAs working under Resident Life.

CAs are wondering whether the raise in their hourly wage is part of the reason they now work fewer hours.

Klecka said she wants people to know how the cuts in shifts impact students that should be valued employees.

“These changes have had very real effects on the people close to me,” she said.

The Thomas V. Miller Jr. Administration Building on Sept. 7, 2020. (joe ryan/the diamondback)

The University of Maryland launched a $20 million investment program for need-based financial aid to start in January 2023, according to a campus wide email Monday.

This is the largest single-year investment in needbased scholarships in the university’s history.

The Terrapin Commitment program aims to cover tuition and fees for Pell eligible, in-state students who are enrolled full-time at the university — reducing the gap between a student’s total financial aid package and the cost of education, the email said.

“Since day one of my presidency, I have empha-

sized the importance of increasing financial support and access to our university,” university President Darryll Pines said in the news release. “Every Maryland student deserves an equal opportunity to attend the state’s flagship university.”

If the eligible student’s funding sources, such as scholarships, grants and expected family contributions, are below this university’s tuition and fees, the program will pay the difference.

“We continue to find new and meaningful ways to invest in people and communities,” university Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer King Rice said.

“Our investments in need-based financial aid better position us to serve the people of our state.”

Students who submitted the 2022-2023 academic year Free Application for Federal Student Aid and meet the eligibility requirements are automatically considered for the Terrapin Commitment.

“This investment in need-based financial aid is extraordinary,” Barbara Gill, the associate vice president of enrollment management, said in the news release. “It will change the way we can support our low-income students.”