Prince George’s County Council (sitting as the District Council) on Oct. 6 heard an orientation by Park and Planning on SE 22‑002, a special exception for a planned retirement community that would create 57 age‑restricted single‑family attached units on a 12.01‑acre parcel near the intersection of Lakeland Drive and Springfield Road in Council District 4. Ellen Schadl, a planner in the development‑review division, presented site maps, environmental constraints and the applicant’s requests for alternative compliance and a variance to remove four specimen trees.

Schadl said the subject property is in the rural residential (RR) zone and is not the subject of a prior preliminary plan or final plat; the proposed development will require a future preliminary plan and subsequent approval steps. The applicant requests alternative compliance from two sections of the 2010 Prince George’s County Landscape Manual (sections 4.6(c)(1)(a)(2) and 4.10 regarding street trees and buffers) and a variance to remove four specimen trees noted on the Type 2 tree conservation plan. Schadl reported the planning director recommended approval of the two alternative‑compliance requests and that staff found the required findings for specimen‑tree removal were adequately addressed in the submission.

Opposition representatives and the applicant requested an argument schedule; after discussion the council agreed to continue the oral‑argument portion of the hearing and set a future time. The parties agreed to reschedule argument rather than proceeding at that meeting; the council and participants discussed possible dates and eventually indicated a continuation on Nov. 17, 2025, at 10 a.m. (parties asked clerk to confirm availability). No final council action on the special exception occurred Oct. 6; the case remains pending with an action‑by date shown in case materials as Feb. 9, 2026.

Why this matters: SE 22‑002 seeks approval to convert a rural parcel to a 57‑home age‑restricted community and requests relief from landscape‑manual requirements and specimen‑tree protection rules. Because the site lacks an earlier preliminary subdivision and will require subsequent subdivision approvals, neighbors and the council will rely on forthcoming technical reviews (preliminary plan, stormwater and tree conservation) to evaluate design, environmental and access impacts.