College Park council presses JTCC developer to fix aviation safety intrusions, asks county to delay hearing

The College Park mayor and council voted unanimously to ask Prince George’s County planners to delay a July 30 mandatory referral hearing on the proposed expansion of the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) until the applicant submits revised plans that resolve aviation-safety intrusions and secure written confirmation from the Maryland Aviation Administration (MAA).

The June–July presentation, led by Miriam Bader, the city’s director of planning and community development, described a planned expansion that would add 10 courts to JTCC — six indoor and four outdoor — and new public amenities. The project team, represented by attorney Bill Shipp, told the council the applicant has been revising the design and “will not be seeking a variance from MAA or any of the other height regulations,” a pledge Shipp repeated during the presentation.

MAA’s acting regional aviation director, Sean Hammer, told the council the agency’s earlier review of a prior design had identified multiple penetrations of the regulatory airspace — what MAA refers to as ‘‘imaginary surfaces’’ — and that those intrusions were recorded as obstructions. “When we go through our reviews … an obstruction is deemed a hazard,” Hammer said, warning that unresolved hazards could jeopardize future grant funding to the airport.

Several nearby pilots and airport advocates urged the council to require full compliance before any county action. “We don’t want developers to build within critical airspace that may affect safety,” said Michael Cummins, who told the council he represents local aviators. James Garvin, an aviation authority member and long-time resident, told the council the prior proposal had pierced state regulations in multiple places and argued the airport’s operating procedures and economic viability would be at risk if the intrusions remained.

Parks Department representatives (Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission staff) said they own the land and are negotiating a revised letter of intent with JTCC that will include an explicit promise not to seek an MAA variance. Parks staff advised the council that the mandatory referral is advisory but urged the city to put its expectations on the record so county staff and commissioners take them into account.

Councilmembers pressed the applicant and Parks for clarity about timing and documentation. Several elected officials warned the council not to set a precedent of accepting major projects at county hearings without updated engineering drawings. After extended questioning about whether revised drawings would be available before the mandatory referral hearing, the council adopted a motion directing staff to request that MNCPPC postpone the July 30 hearing until the applicant provides revised site engineering that conforms to COMAR 11.03.05 and until the seven MAA-identified obstructions are resolved and accompanied by a letter of compliance from MAA.

The motion, moved and discussed on the record during the meeting, passed 7–0. Council members emphasized that the applicant and Parks Department had indicated they would return with revised drawings and written commitments; the council’s action requests that those revisions and an MAA compliance letter appear in the county record before the project proceeds to permitting.

What happens next: Parks staff said they will submit the mandatory referral materials and the signed letter of intent to the planning board once revisions are complete. The council’s position will be included in the mayor-and-council letter to MNCPPC; the planning board’s mandatory referral remains advisory to county decision-makers.

Quotes from the meeting capture the core positions of the parties. “We will not be seeking a variance from MAA or any of the other height regulations,” attorney Bill Shipp told the council. MAA’s Sean Hammer said his office’s review “identified penetrations to what we call the imaginary surfaces … In the regulations, an obstruction is deemed a hazard.”