Springdale residents living close to the site of a proposed CVS say before a brick goes up, a relationship between the pharmacy and the community must be built first.

Ardmore Springdale Civic Association president Nakia Ngwala wants a community agreement with CVS outlining what the store can offer future patrons in terms of jobs, local school partnerships and public safety before moving forward so both sides remain good neighbors. There are about 50 ASCA members, and the association represents 3,500 Springdale residents.

“We’ll know exactly what they have to offer, what benefits can be offered to us, how we can do an even exchange and create a partnership since they will be in our community,” Ngwala said.

The plans, subject for review, call for a 13,225-square-foot building with 72 parking spaces and entrances and exits from Ardwick Ardmore Road and state Route 704, said Tom Lockard, a staff reviewer with the Prince George’s County Planning Department.

The next closest CVS pharmacy is four miles away, in New Carrollton. The next closest pharmacy is the Wegmans at the Woodmore Towne Centre at Glenarden, Ngwala said.

The ASCA is used to creating covenants with developers. The group had a similar community agreement this March with developer Klein Enterprises for the planned Village at Springdale shopping center at Ardwick Ardmore Road and St. Joseph’s Drive.

G.S. Proctor and Associates, a lobbying firm doing community relations for CVS, last met with ASCA members in November but have continued email correspondence with Ngwala over several months. A projected timeline for a groundbreaking was not available by press time.

No county Planning Board or District Council meetings are currently scheduled to discuss the CVS, Lockard said. The County Council sits as the District Council on zoning and land use issues.

The CVS could bring between 16 and 25 new jobs, and nine to 11 would be full time with the rest being part time, Ngwala said. There would also be part-time seasonal employment, she added. Residents asked for business front lawn signs posting job openings for those without Internet access to job sites, Ngwala said.

Lobbyist Steve Proctor said he has met with other nearby residents in the city of Glenarden and the Brock Hills community in Upper Marlboro. He plans on doing another meeting with the ASCA soon but has not set a date yet, Proctor said.

“We’ll certainly work with and partner with the community,” Proctor said. “We presented to them that there will be things such as employment.”

Ngwala hopes CVS will stay committed to company programs such as Pathways to Pharmacy, an internship program for youth interested in pharmacy and be a resource to local schools for needs such as classroom supplies, for example.

“Maybe the first of the school year they could donate items to either Ardmore Elementary School or Charles Herbert Flowers High School,” Ngwala said of the Springdale schools.

Resident and ASCA member Clayton Aarons said a CVS would be an improvement to retail in the Martin Luther King Jr. Highway corridor, but, like Ngwala, he would like to see a written mutual understanding about what residents and the business will do for each other.

“We do look forward to a community agreement, in particular to have adequate lighting in that area for residents who may go late in the evening when it’s dark, particularly in the fall,” Aarons said. “They have assured us they’re going to do that.”

The Prince George’s County Planning Department accepted a special exception application in April to place a pharmacy on the 2.2 acres, Lockard said.

The exception is needed because the land is currently zoned “CM,” which stands for commercial miscellaneous, such as auto-related businesses, Lockard said.

Currently an old medical office of Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. sits on the site and would have to be razed for a new building, Ngwala said.

nmcgill@gazette.net