The Prince George’s County Council ended an effort to update Westphalia’s long-term development plan on January 27, less than seven months after authorizing it. The decision stopped the amendment process, leaving the county to determine a different way forward.
Through Council Resolution CR-3-2026, the Council, acting as the District Council, repealed the resolution that had launched a major amendment to the 2007 Approved Westphalia Sector Plan and an accompanying Sectional Map Amendment—a process for considering zoning changes to implement a plan’s recommendations.
The Council had approved that effort on July 8, 2025, through CR-82-2025, adopting goals, guidelines and a public participation program. The Planning Department subsequently advertised a November 12 open house at the Westphalia Community Center to gather ideas about the area’s future.
Why the Council stopped the process
The Council’s stated concern was that the schedule did not provide enough time for residents and other stakeholders to discuss Westphalia’s future. It also said ongoing and proposed development raised issues beyond the amendment’s scope and schedule, including effects on areas outside the sector plan’s boundaries, such as the Town of Upper Marlboro.
The vote came just before a key deadline. According to the Council’s legislative record, January 29—two days after the decision—was the final date for the Planning Board to release the staff draft amendment and proposed zoning changes to the public.
Infrastructure financing was another consideration. The Council concluded that it did not need to amend the sector plan to pursue changes to the Westphalia Public Facilities Financing and Implementation Program, established through CR-66-2010. That separated the question of how to finance infrastructure from the broader effort to revise the development plan.
Identifying an appropriate financing approach would still require additional research, evaluation and public engagement, the Council said.
Why the plan was being revisited
The 2007 plan envisioned more than additional housing. Its goals included a walkable, mixed-use town center, employment and retail space, neighborhood centers, a central park and residential areas designed to reduce dependence on cars.
But a 2020 Planning Department assessment, Westphalia: Measuring Our Success, documented a substantial gap between that vision and construction. Comparing approvals through May 2020 with development built through 2019, it found less than 1 percent of approved retail and commercial space completed, alongside approximately 6 percent of office space and 19 percent of industrial space. The population was about one-quarter of the projected 38,550 residents at full buildout.
Those figures describe conditions documented in the 2020 report, not a current inventory of Westphalia’s development.
The assessment identified three major obstacles: the absence of an anticipated Metrorail extension, competition from transit-served locations and infrastructure costs. It cited approximately $413 million in infrastructure improvements in 2007 dollars, excluding Metro, and noted that development-based financing depended on the issuance of building permits.
What changes—and what does not
Ending the amendment process is not the same as ending development in Westphalia. The Planning Department says the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission continues working with stakeholders on retail, amenities, and park and recreation facilities.
The department also says it will work with the Council, the community and other stakeholders to identify next steps. As of October 18, 2026, its Westphalia project page did not list a replacement timetable for the amendment process.
For residents, the next questions are practical: What form will further public participation take? What changes will the county pursue to infrastructure financing? And when will it establish a new planning timetable?
Residents can send questions or suggestions to westphalia@ppd.mncppc.org and sign up for notifications through the Planning Department’s Westphalia project page.