By Elizabeth Faragi
The College Park Restorative Justice Committee gave a presentation addressing harm to the Lakeland community due to urban renewal at the city council meeting on Feb. 10, urging council members to continue progress on October report recommendations.
Urban renewal is defined as taking comprehensive measures to address urban problems like unsanitary conditions, according to Britannica. The committee’s October report, named “The Way Forward Towards Restorative Justice,” contained 33 recommendations, which has now been narrowed to the top eight that the committee believes essential to improving Lakeland.
Two priorities are to rebuild the community and address individual harms to community members, according to Maxine Gross, chair of the committee. The Feb. 10 presentation included members of the committee reiterating the recommendations.
“The priority is the repair of the harm,” Gross said. “It’s not the order of a particular group of recommendations. All of the recommendations are important.”
The committee’s top request is to establish a Lakeland legacy members group, which would consist of community members making informed decisions about how to progress on restorative justice in their community.
“A lot of the reason that the creation of the legacy group is put up front is to put the group together and allow them to start to have a say in where the priorities lie,” Gross said. “We can make guesses and look at what has been done in other places but we are pretty much making guesses.”
The legacy group will also be responsible for helping with the the Return to Lakeland program, another aspect of the plan. This program is intended to help former residents reconnect with the Lakeland community.
Mayor Fazlul Kabir expressed concerns about how the legacy group would be created, as well as exactly who would be involved.
“This is more a group of people who have suffered some harm,” Gross said. “You’re recognizing that and therefore they would be possible recipients of some type of repair because of that harm.”
The committee and council agreed that specifics for creating this legacy group would be discussed at a later date. The committee also discussed possible funding for these projects.
Andrew Fellows, former mayor and a member of the committee, explained that some ideas for funding include Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission taxes and city earmarks.
“We give a ballpark estimate of $500,000 to $1 million over time,” Fellows said. “So we certainly need a big chunk of money that’s coming from a really appropriate source.”
The city earmarks, which is money set aside for specific purposes, would be for Western Lakeland future tax income. According to Fellows, this is a reasonable funding option since it builds on the community in Lakeland that was harmed and may generate future revenue for the city.
The payment in lieu of taxes would represent the East Lakeland community that was destroyed, according to Fellows. This area includes Lake Artemesia, which is a tax-free area of Lakeland and does not generate revenue for College Park. The payment from the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission would help develop East Lakeland.
District 2 Council Member Holly Simmons expressed her support for the work that the committee had done and for the possible funding methods presented.
“I’m really interested the next time we see this, particularly from city staff, to kind of frame out the funding and resources needed to really make some moves on the Lakeland Legacy members portion of this project in FY27,” Simmons said. “That seems like really the next big push for this project.”
District 2 Council Member Kelly Jordan also expressed her support for the project.
“Lakeland is a gem in our city,” Jordan said. “What has happened affects all of College Park and what will happen will affect all of College Park. We do want to do things that will build up Lakeland.”
Other aspects of the project that were discussed included advocacy for members of the Lakeland community, such as right of first refusal policies for real estate owners and improved transportation in Lakeland.
District 4 Council Member Denise Mitchell expressed her willingness to get started on the project as soon as possible.
“I’m really wanting us to, in fiscal year 27, start the process because we’ve talked about it for a long time and it’s time to start,” Mitchell said. “The harm does need to be addressed. It needs to be addressed verbally. It needs to be acknowledged and it needs to be acknowledged to the Lakeland community.”
Featured Image: The outside of College Park City Hall on Feb. 11, 2026. Photo by Kendrick Brown.