Prince George's County council takes remanded Springfield Road retirement-community case under advisement after dispute over acreage and variance authority

The District Council of Prince George's County took under advisement a remanded special-exception application for a planned retirement community at 8215 Springfield Road in Glendale after hours of testimony Friday over whether the property meets the 12-contiguous-acre requirement and whether the council has legal authority to grant an area variance.

The applicant, represented by attorney Chris Hatcher, asked the council to approve a planned retirement community of 57 age-restricted single-family attached dwellings and to allow removal of four specimen trees. Hatcher said an existing prescriptive non-possessory easement along Springfield Road affects whether the parcel totals 12 acres, and he said the applicants filed an alternative variance request in case the council concluded the site falls short. “The applicant is proposing a 57 dwelling unit planned retirement community,” Hatcher said, and he described the easement area as about 3,500 square feet that the developer would not…