Port Towns Sector Plan and SMA

The Prince George’s County Planning Department seeks to initiate a multi-year effort to develop a new sector plan for Port Towns, designated a Neighborhood Center by Plan Prince George’s 2035 Approved General Plan (Plan 2035). The sector plan will be developed concurrently with a sectional map amendment (SMA) for the portions of Planning Areas 68 and 69 that include the Bladensburg, Colmar Manor, Cottage City and Edmonston areas. 

The Port Towns Sector Plan will replace the 2009 Approved Port Towns Sector Plan and SMA to identify updated, achievable, and realistic long-term vision, goals, policies, and strategies for the Port Towns area. The plan will also supersede portions of 1994 Approved Master Plan for Planning Area 68 and the 2018 Approved Greater Cheverly Sector Plan. The Sector Plan’s recommendations are intended to support the implementation of Plan 2035 by guiding growth and development, along with phased infrastructure improvements, in the Port Towns. It will reflect the vision and goals contained in Plan 2035, including focusing new development in designated centers and preserving existing neighborhoods, and will amend applicable countywide functional master plans. A consultant team was contracted in July 2023 to begin work on this project in Fall 2023, focusing on market analysis and feasibility studies, urban design and visioning, transportation and mobility analysis, and zoning analysis, all with an emphasis on supporting existing commercial development and spurring revitalization. Stakeholder engagement for this plan began in late Fall of 2022.

The Port Towns Sector Plan area is approximately 1,935-acres. The sector plan area generally comprises the properties contained within the municipal boundaries of Bladensburg, Colmar Manor, Cottage City, and Edmonston, all located within Subregion II and Council District 5. The Towns of Cottage City, Colmar Manor, and Edmonston are in Planning Area 68 and the Town of Bladensburg is in Planning Area 69. The project will cover areas within Plan 2035’s Established Communities Areas and Neighborhood Centers.

The sector plan area (see Maps) also includes properties south of the Bladensburg municipal boundary from the south side of MD 450 (Annapolis Road) to MD 295 (Baltimore-Washington Parkway) (excluding the properties within the Cheverly municipal boundary) east to the Colmar Manor municipal boundary, and properties east of the Edmonston municipal boundary and north and west of the Bladensburg boundary to Carters Lane. The boundary encompasses the municipal borders of Bladensburg, Cottage City, and Edmonston except for Colmar Manor, which is not entirely within this boundary. The sector plan area is largely residential but contains a mix of other uses, including several shopping centers, employment areas, and portions of the Northeast and Northwest Branches of the Anacostia River.  

The sector plan area includes major transportation routes and commercial corridors that impact the visual character and economic viability of these inner-ring suburban communities. Bladensburg Road is a gateway to Prince George’s County from the District of Columbia, as well as a major commercial thoroughfare for the Port Towns communities. US 1 (Baltimore Avenue) and MD 201 (Kenilworth Avenue) are both prime routes for truck traffic and important commercial corridors.