College Park council approves sale of 5021 Lakeland Road to affordable‑housing trust, citing 99‑year covenants

College Park’s City Council voted March 24 to approve the contract of sale and adopt the ordinance needed to transfer city‑owned property at 5021 Lakeland Road to a partnership between the city’s affordable‑housing trust and Habitat for Humanity.

The council passed a motion to approve the contract conditioned on execution of the attached contract of sale and affordable‑housing trust agreement and on the recordation of covenants in the land records. After brief council discussion and public testimony, the moderator announced, “The motion has passed,” and the contract of sale was approved.

Why it matters: council members and community speakers framed the transfer as a pilot for restorative‑justice work in the Lakeland neighborhood and as a model for producing permanently affordable, owner‑occupied housing. Longtime Lakeland residents and former elected officials told the council past local efforts sometimes produced homes that later became rentals rather than long‑term owner‑occupied properties; several urged enforceable protections.

What the city and partners said: staff and trust representatives described legal tools written into the sale and the trust agreement to address those concerns. Orlando Storlander, speaking for the partnership, said, “it is part of the land trust agreement that it must remain owner occupied throughout the 99 year covenants.” He added that the partnership (the trust) has the first right of refusal on resale and that the city has a subsequent right of first refusal for the housing improvements, and that the land would remain under the trust’s covenants in perpetuity.

City attorney/staff explained that the sale process includes three documents shown to council: the contract of sale, the ordinance confirming the contract, and a grant agreement that spells out the roles of the trust and Habitat. The ordinance discussed at the meeting was identified in the materials as ordinance 26 0 0 2; staff said the deed or a separate covenant agreement will be recorded immediately after conveyance to ensure the restrictions are on title.

Community perspective: Bob Catlin, president of the Berwyn District Civic Association, laid out a history of prior city lot donations for affordable housing in Lakeland in the late 1990s. Maxine Gross, a longtime Lakeland resident, said previous efforts had not always produced owner‑occupied homes and urged the city and partners to ensure legal protections and community involvement. Susan Whitney, a former council member, urged Habitat to consider a duplex option for the site to create two owner‑occupied units and recommended aggressive outreach to former Lakeland residents.

Next steps and conditions: council approved the contract of sale and then adopted the ordinance authorizing the transfer, both by voice vote. Staff and the partnership said design options—including single‑family or duplex configurations—and resident selection will be determined with community input; the partnership has already held community meetings and will coordinate with the Lakeland Civic Association on outreach. Staff also said the project team has applied for at least one grant to support the project.

What the vote did not include: meeting remarks and the recorded materials describe the contract and ordinance terms and note the covenants and grant agreement, but the council did not read a member‑by‑member roll‑call vote or publish a numerical tally in the meeting transcript. The contract approval and ordinance adoption were announced as approved by voice vote during the meeting.

The council listed the Lakeland transfer as a pilot project and a potential model for future property transfers and affordable‑housing development in College Park. The council moved on to other business and adjourned later in the evening.