Brian Flahaven

On Wednesday evening, Paul Millstein of Douglas Development shared updated plans for their proposed mixed use, retail/residential  development at the old KFC site, 1442 Pennsylvania Avenue SE:

• Douglas Development Plans for 1442 Pennsylvania Avenue SE (Updated August 2011) (pdf)

As proposed, the development will have 21 apartments, about 2,600 sq. ft. of retail on the ground floor and seven parking spaces. Douglas is asking ANC 6B and the Board of Zoning Adjustment to support a variance on the parking requirement (a minimum 11 spaces are required) and for a special exception related to a roof requirement.

Two primary issues were raised at Wednesday’s meeting:

1) Access to Parking – Millstein said that the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) may oppose the project due to the use of the existing curb cut as the parking entry off 15th Street SE. DDOT prefers that parking be accessed through the alley behind the building. That is also my preference, particularly since it would mean only one curb cut for the alley and more space for landscaping. Millstein said Douglas is open to re-drawing the plans and that an alley entrance could (and I emphasize could) lead to an additional two parking spots, for a total of nine.

2) Memorandum of Understanding – Millstein said that Douglas Development is willing to update its memorandum of understanding with neighboring residents. The original MOU, negotiated two years ago when Douglas sought approval to build a two-story retail/office building at the site, limited the types of retail that could lease the space. The updated MOU would add language that states that 1) Douglas Development will inform tenants that they would be ineligible for residential parking permits and 2) construction vehicles can not park in the alley during construction.

Please post your thoughts on the proposed plan, the parking entrance, the MOU, below. I also encourage you to attend the following ANC 6B meetings where the proposed development will be discussed and considered:

• Tuesday, Sept. 6 – ANC 6B Planning & Zoning Committee, 7:00 pm, St. Coletta of Greater Washington (1901 Independence Ave SE) – the P&Z committee will hear the case and make recommendations to the full ANC.
• Tuesday, Sept. 13 – ANC 6B Full Commission Meeting, 7:00 pm, St. Coletta of Greater Washington (1901 Independence Ave. SE) – the full commission will hear the case and vote on a recommendation.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 2nd, 2011 at 12:56 pm and is filed under Barney Circle, Development, Penn East. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.