On May 27 Greenbelt City Council met in closed session in council chambers to discuss the topic of annexation. Present for that meeting were city councilmembers, City Manager Josué Salmerón, Planning Director Terri Hruby and the city’s solicitor Todd Pounds (attending virtually).
City staff and councilmembers are prohibited from commenting on items from an executive session. However, the stated purpose of the closed session was to obtain legal advice on an annexation matter.
Salmerón confirmed there is nothing further to make public and said the meeting was primarily to discuss the process. The action taken is recorded in the written statement for closing the meeting as “gave staff direction to gather further information about annexation opportunities.”
Rationale
Though the News Review has been unable to get further comment from the city about its rationale for discussing annexation opportunities, increasing the tax base for Greenbelt is a likely motivator. Over recent months the city has managed to balance a challenging budget, but it has few options for increasing its revenue for future years. Annexation would also give the city more control over requests for variances or
departures from various requirements of the Prince George’s County zoning ordinances in the annexed area.
Should the city annex a currently unincorporated area, it would become responsible for providing services. Indeed, communities may seek or agree to annexation in order to receive city services and infrastructure. They’d also gain municipal representation, something Chelsea Wood lacked during its residents’ long ordeal without heat over the winter.
Unincorporated Areas
Greenbelt is bordered by various unincorporated areas such as Seabrook, the location of Robert Goddard Montessori School, which is also slated to be the home of Dora Kennedy French Immersion School beginning in fall 2026. According to the census bureau it is approximately 3 square miles and had a population of 19,627 in 2020. Within a mile of Seabrook is DuVal High School, with a Lanham address, and Goddard Space Flight Center, with a Greenbelt address, though it is not within incorporated Greenbelt. Magnolia Elementary, which some neighborhoods in Greenbelt East are zoned for, also falls outside the city limits in what’s identified as Lanham by the Prince George’s County Public Schools. The school is near Luminis Health Doctors Hospital, also in Lanham and close to communities like Chelsea Wood and Gates of Cipriano, which fall within Seabrook. On the other side of Greenbelt, to the east, is also a small area that appears cut out of the city and is unincorporated (see map).
Process
A city is able to annex unincorporated land adjacent to it through a series of steps. If it is initiated by the city rather than a community seeking to be annexed it would need consent and support from at least 25 percent of voters and property owners in that area. In addition to also requiring county approval, there might be a Greenbelt referendum by ballot.
