Effort to bring Whole Foods to Prince George's highlights complexity of process The two sides stood ready for battle. But instead of duking it out over a controversial development that would include Prince George's County's first Whole Foods market, the combatants sat for more than four hours of debate over whether the matter could even be heard. In eight years as a County Council member, William A. Campos (D-Hyattsville) said he had never seen anything like April 11. As the matter prepares to come up again before the District Council on Monday, residents and officials are still marveling at the spectacle of it all. A map of the Cafritz Parcel in Riverdale More news about Md. politics John Wagner With the possibility of a pair of special sessions in coming months, fundraising rules for Maryland lawmakers have become a little more tricky. The opening of the $500 million facility in Anne Arundel County will mark a key milestone in Maryland's gambling program. County officials have embarked on an aggressive push to bring high-end retail to Prince George's. The hope is that a Cafritz family proposal to build a mixed-use development in Riverdale Park could lure other much-needed retail to the county. But for some, that hearing was an illustration of how the process can be confusing for developers and the communities affected by their proposals. "I was surprised," Riverdale Park Mayor Vernon Archer said. Not that we didn't finish, but that Wednesday was as difficult and unproductive as it was. Added John Tabori, mayor of neighboring University Park: "When I walked into that meeting, I had zero sense that that massive explosion of confusion was going to occur." The District Council, the name the County Council takes when it hears matters relating to development, has held two public hearings on the Cafritz proposal this month but has taken no public testimony. Given the size of the project - and that it may go into an area populated by people active in civic affairs - nothing about the effort to develop 36 acres of wooded property on Route 1 north of East-West Highway was going to be easy. But a multitude of factors have complicated the approval process. Part of the difficulty is that this is the first time a developer has attempted to rezone land in Prince George's set aside for single-family residential homes into a mixed-use town center zone. The plans would allow for construction of 995 units of multifamily housing, a 120-room hotel, 22,000 square feet of office space and 68,200 square feet of retail. If built, the development would be one of the largest infill projects in the county. Attorneys for the two sides have come up with vastly different interpretations of how the Planning Board and District Council are supposed to proceed. People's Zoning Counsel Stan D. Brown, whose job is to ensure hearing records are accurate, said the Planning Board did not meet the 105-day deadline that was required to approve the project. He also said the Planning Board erred by placing limits on public testimony during the multiple days of hearings that were held before the project was approved. But attorneys for the Planning Board and the Cafritz family said they are confident the process they followed is sound. Because of the legal tussling, the District Council delayed the hearing until Monday. At least 17 people have signed up to testify. When they convene, it will be for a proceeding known as an evidentiary hearing. People testifying on the matter will have three minutes to speak, but they can be cross-examined for an unlimited amount of time by other parties involved in the matter.