Brian Flahaven

We had a big crowd – around 50-75 residents – at the ANC 6B meeting last night at St. Coletta. Many attendees came to voice concerns about two issues 1) ANC redistricting and 2) a special exception request by the Community Action Group (CAG) related to their property at 124 15th Street SE. Here is a brief recap of major commission actions:

• The commission unanimously approved a parking variance and special exception request for 1442 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, the old KFC site. A big thanks to the neighbors and Douglas Development for all of the community meetings and discussions.
• During the community speakout, Ksenia Kaladiouk announced that the Friends of the 13th Street Community Park & Garden is holding a yard sale and fundraiser on Saturday, October 8. You can learn more at www.13thstreetgarden.org.
• After a lengthy debate and discussion, ANC 6B voted 8-1 to approve an ANC redistricting resolution that conveys the commission’s strong support for the status quo plan adopted by the Ward 6 Redistricting Task Force. The resolution also states ANC 6B’s clear opposition to an ANC 6C proposal to move area in the western part of 6B to 6C.
• The commission voted 7-2 to remove language from the resolution that expressed ANC 6B’s disappointment that Near Southeast (Navy Yard, Nationals Park) was not added to ANC 6B. I was in the minority on this vote. While adding Near Southeast would make 6B a large, potentially unwieldy 12 member commission, I feel very strongly that the views of Near Southeast residents, who overwhelmingly want to be a part of 6B, should not be ignored. And the language did not say that the commission planned to fight on for Near Southeast…it just expressed our disappointment. However, a majority of the commission decided that the resolution should remain silent on the issue.
• The adopted redistricting resolution also suggests that the proposed northern border for 6B09 extend along Massachusetts Avenue SE from 15th St. SE to 19th St. SE. This change would add the northern side of the 1800 block of D St. SE and the southern side of the 1800 block of Massachusetts Ave. SE into 6B09.
• Ward 6 Redistricting Task Force members attended the meeting to hear input from the commission. Joe Fengler, Cody Rice, Antonette Russell, Ken Jarboe and the other members of the task force deserve a great deal of credit for the time, effort they’ve put into the redistricting process.
• I announced that the next ANC 6B Hill East Task Force meeting will take place Wednesday, Sept. 28, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm at Payne Elementary School, 1445 C Street SE. The topic will be an update on the Eastern Branch Boys & Girls Club building, located at 17th St. SE and C St. SE. More details to come on this meeting.
• On an 8-0-1 vote, the commission approved a slate of new resident members to serve on ANC 6B committees and task forces. The following residents were approved from 6B09:
  • Planning & Zoning Committee – Ksenia Kaladiouk
  • Transportation Committee – Keith Smith (former 6B09 commissioner)
  • Hill East Task Force – Kate Wall
  • Outreach & Constituent Services Task Force – Darren Cole and Evan McCarthy

  Thanks to Ksenia, Kate, Keith, Darren and Evan for volunteering their time to represent our neighborhood.

• A number of residents showed up to voice support for and opposition to a request by CAG for a special exception related to their property at 124 15th Street SE. The case itself is pretty straightforward – CAG needs a parking special exception in order to begin construction of their new building. However, a number of residents voiced concern about parking and noise issues they’ve had with CAG in the past and asked the commission to postpone a vote on the case until October. Complicating matters was the absence of Chair Neil Glick due to illness. Commissioner Glick has been working with CAG and concerned residents to draft a memorandum of understanding. After hearing from attendees, the commission ultimately voted to support the CAG special exception with the expectation that CAG and the neighbors will reach an agreement on the MOU.
• Commissioner Brian Pate (6B05) announced that Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells will soon introduce legislation creating a new governing structure for Eastern Market. ANC 6B will likely hold a special call meeting in October to learn more about the proposed legislation and to hear comments from the community.
• The next ANC 6B meeting will be on Tuesday, October 11.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 14th, 2011 at 9:13 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. 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.