Prince George’s residents back green space, seek more homes, transit, infrastructure

Prince George’s planners are heading into a land-use fight in a small but strategic slice of north Beltsville and Konterra, where residents say they want to protect green space and quiet neighborhoods while also demanding more homeownership, transit, infrastructure and community centers.

The update covers about 7 square miles inside the larger 44-square-mile Subregion 1, including Konterra Town Center, the Muirkirk MARC Station and nearby commercial and industrial land with redevelopment potential. County planners say the minor amendment is meant to create a “forward-looking, market-viable framework” for investment and economic development while improving quality of life and aligning growth with current conditions.

The survey results point to a community that is not rejecting growth, but insisting that new development come with basic supports. In the department’s “Love, More, Less” exercise, 16 responses were tabulated. Community facilities and resources led at 50% of top preferences, followed by infrastructure improvements at 22%, retail and commercial development at 15% and housing options at 13%.

Residents named open green spaces, community centers, first responders, road updates, public transportation, parking garages, shopping centers, local businesses, urgent care, affordable housing and fewer townhomes. They also pushed back on excessive rentals, overdevelopment without supportive infrastructure and surface parking, a sign that the coming debate will center on what gets built, where it goes and who it serves.

The planning department said the recommendations are being organized around land use, open space, economic development, housing and transportation. The visioning phase took place in November 2025, after a town hall on July 28, 2025, a listening session on November 24, 2025 and an online survey that ran from December 1 to December 19, 2025. An open house at the Laurel-Beltsville Senior Activity Center on Jan. 21 was designed to share engagement results, review draft updated plan language and proposed zoning changes, and gather more feedback.

County Council member Tom Dernoga has been publicly involved in convening the community meetings as the county works on the update to the 2010 Subregion 1 Master Plan and sectional map amendment, which set a vision for balanced growth in northwestern Prince George’s County. The current effort is intended to align growth, development patterns and infrastructure planning with community priorities and the countywide goals of Plan Prince George’s 2035.

The next decisions now move to the public hearing stage. A joint public hearing is scheduled for June 8, 2026, at 6 p.m. at the Wayne K. Curry Administration Building in Largo. Written comments will be accepted through the close of business on June 23, 2026, and anyone seeking to testify on zoning intensification must file an affidavit by May 8, 2026.