Prince George's County Planning
Click to see the full version of the Prince George's County Approved General Plan Map.
General Plan
The Prince George’s County Approved General Plan provides the planning framework to guide long-term land use and development policies in Prince George’s County. The General Plan divides Prince George’s County into three development tiers – the Developed, Developing, and Rural tiers – and establishes policy goals for different parts of the County. The General Plan also targets 26 Metropolitan, Regional, and Community Centers for mixed-use, economic development, with an emphasis on TOD.
The main priorities of the General Plan are to concentrate growth within the Developed and Developing tiers, and to encourage more intense development in Centers and Corridors within each tier in order to take advantage of public investments in transportation facilities. All Metrorail stations are located within the Developed tier with the exception of Largo Town Center station which is located within the Developing tier, and all 15 Prince George’s County Metrorail stations are designated Metropolitan, Regional, or Community Centers.
The General Plan characterizes Metropolitan, Regional, and Community Centers as follows:
- Metropolitan Centers have a high concentration of land uses and economic activities that attract employers, workers and customers from other parts of the metropolitan Washington area, such as large government service or major employment centers, major educational complexes, or high-intensity commercial uses. High-density residential development may also be located in or very near Metropolitan Centers.
- Regional Centers are locations for regionally marketed commercial and retail centers, office and employment areas, some higher educational facilities, and possibly sports and recreation complexes primarily serving Prince George’s County. High-density residential development may be an option at these Centers if the needed public facilities and services, particularly schools and transit, can be provided.
- Community Centers are concentrations of activities, services and land uses that serve the immediate community near these Centers. These typically include a variety of public facilities and services—integrated commercial, office and some residential development—and can include mixed-use and higher intensity redevelopment in some communities (p. 47-8).
Table 2 details the recommended land use mix at Metropolitan, Regional, and Community Centers:
| Table 2. General Plan Recommended Land Use Mix at Centers* | |||
| Land Use Mix | Metropolitan Center | Regional Center | Community Center |
| Residential | 15-60% | 20-70% | 20-80% |
| Retail and Services | 10-50% | 10-60% | 5-50% |
| Employment | 20-60% | 10-60% | 5-50% |
| Public Uses | 10-20% | 10-20% | 10-20% |
| *Numbers reflect the ideal percentage of acreage that should be devoted to each class of use or, for mixed-use sites, the percentage of floor area. | |||
Source: General Plan, p. 49.
Table 3 details the minimum and maximum densities at Metropolitan, Regional, and Community Centers.
| Table 3. General Plan Density Targets at Centers | ||||||
| Land Use | Metropolitan Center | Regional Center | Community Center | |||
| Core | Edge | Core | Edge | Core | Edge | |
| Residential Density (DU/Acre) Minimum Maximum | 30 No limit | 20 40 | 24 No limit | 8 30 | 15 30 | 4 20 |
| Nonresidential Density (FAR) Minimum Maximum | 2.0 No limit | 0.5 1.5 | 1.0 No limit | 0.5 1.5 | 0.25 1.0 | 0.15 0.30 |
| Employment Density (Emp/Acre) | 100 | Not specified | 50 | Not specified | 25 | Not specified |
| DU/Acre = Dwelling Units per Acre; FAR = Floor Area Ratio; Emp/Acre = Employees per Acre | ||||||
Source: General Plan, p. 49.
Master Plans/Sector Plans/Development Plans
The County is divided into seven subregions, and further divided into 36 planning areas. Master Plans may be prepared for a specific planning area, group of planning areas, or subregion. Sector Plans, Transit District Development Plans, and Mixed-Use Town Center Development Plans may be prepared for smaller, geographic areas. A number of Sector Plans, Transit District Development Plans, and Mixed-Use Town Center Development Plans have been completed for areas of Prince George’s County in the vicinity of Metrorail stations.
Zoning Tools
In most instances, properties near Prince George’s County’s Metrorail stations have been rezoned to mixed-use zones, or overlay zones (Development District Overlay (D-D-O) or Transit District Overlay (T-D-O)) have been superimposed on the underlying zones, through Sectional Map Amendments associated with Master Plans, Sector Plans, Transit District Development Plans, or Mixed-Use Town Center Development Plans.
The county approved these rezonings to facilitate and guide the development and/or redevelopment of properties near Prince George’s County’s Metrorail stations. The Zoning Ordinance is included as Subtitle 27 of the County Code.
The County recently adopted a form-based code called the UrbanCenters & Corridor Nodes Development and Zoning Code (included as Subtitle 27A of the County Code), which is currently in the process of being implemented. The 2010 Subregion 4 Master Plan and Sectional Map Amendment provides preliminary guidance for implementation by providing conceptual regulating plans for four Metrorail station centers.
