Bradley Heard, founder and president of Greater Capitol Heights Improvement Cooperation, was recently appointed to the Plan Prince George’s 2035 Implementation and Infrastructure Task Force. The mission of the task force is to guide the implementation of the land use and development recommendations outlined in Plan 2035, the county’s comprehensive General Plan, adopted in 2014.
Heard is one of four community members appointed to the 16-member task force. Two councilmembers will also serve on the panel. The remaining appointees will come from various county agencies involved in land use matters.
Prince George’s County Council Vice Chair Wala Blegay shared that planning goals for the General Plan have not been met, due to ongoing challenges in and out of Council’s control. “The County’s General Plan was adopted to establish a long-term vision for the County, but implementing the recommendations has presented some challenges. Establishment of the Task Force will ensure that we meet our predetermined development goals, especially near designated regional transit areas,” said Blegay.
The task force will be responsible for recommending ways that the County Council can address the lapses before they become a more significant problem. One example of such a lapse is that over 50% of new residential development in the county, especially townhomes, has occurred outside the areas that Plan 2035 had recommended for future growth.
“I am grateful to Councilmember [Tom] Dernoga for the opportunity to serve on the Plan 2035 Implementation and Infrastructure Task Force,” Heard said. “We certainly have our work cut out for us, to help find creative ways that the County can more effectively incentivize and direct growth and development to our inner-Beltway Metro stations and neighborhood activity centers and away from sprawling areas that are dislocated from transit and ill-equipped to support such growth.”
The task force will convene for six years and make annual reports of findings and recommendations to the County Council.