Recommendations on various aspects of the Hine redevelopment dominated the agenda at the Tues, April 10 ANC 6B meeting. Around 50 residents attended the three and a half hour meeting at the Hill Center. Here are the highlights:
- The commission voted to send a response to the Historic Preservation Review Board on the latest Stanton-Eastbanc design changes to the Hine project. While the response notes the developer’s significant progress on a number of commission concerns, it does outline further recommendations for improving the project’s design. In voting to support the commission’s response, I noted that I did not agree with all of the recommendations (particularly on the 7th and Penn. Avenue building), but felt that the commission’s Hine subcommittee had on the whole voiced some legitimate concerns about the project.
- ANC 6B also voted on a number of Hine subcommittee working group recommendations, including:
- Response to Stanton-Eastbanc’s proposed list of amenities and benefits
- Additional recommendations for proposed amenities and benefits
- Transportation mitigation recommendations
- Summary of principles from the retail working group, and
- Recommendations from the public space and community use working group
I voted against the retail working group document because it included an unnessecarily restrictive recommendation on eating establishments (“should be limited to no more than 25% of total linear retail street frontage”) and a recommendation to limit retail and entrances on the Pennsylvania Avenue SE & D Street SE side of the development. The chair and vice-chair of the subcommittee, Commissioners Ivan Frishberg (6B02) and Brian Pate (6B05) respectively, will use the recommendations as a guide in their negotiations with the developers. I’ll add links to the documents above once they are finalized.
- A special exception and variance to permit Wagtime, an animal shelter and boarding facility, to operate at 900 M Street SE was unanimously approved by the commission. Wagtime’s owners and nearby neighbors agreed to a strong set of operational conditions to ensure that the facility does not disrupt the abutting residential area. Commissioner Kirsten Oldenburg (6B04) deserves kudos for working with Wagtime and the neighbors on this agreement.
- After some discussion, the commission voted to urge the DC Council to amend a proposal by Mayor Gray to extend the hours that bars and restaurants can serve liquor. The commission’s amendment would require any establishment seeking to extend their hours to enter into a voluntary agreement with the affected Advisory Neighborhood Commission. The commission also voted to support keeping the hours for serving liquor at their current limits in the ANC 6B commission area. The DC Council’s Committee on Human Services, which has jurisdiction over the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA), will hold a April 17 hearing on the Mayor’s proposal.
- Judge McKenna of the DC Superior Court’s Community Courts shared information on the new community courts initiative, an effort to sentence non-violent defendants/offenders to community service instead of short-term jail stays. The goal is to have the offender perform court-supervised community service in the area where the crime was committed. You can read more about the community courts on the DC Courts website.
- I shared a brief recap of the ANC 6B Hill East Task Force March 19 informational session on Reservation 13 and thanked residents for attending the meeting and the March 22 community meeting wtih Mayor Gray.
- The commission also voted unanimously to support the renaming of the alley in between 12th, 13th, C and D Streets SE after Eastern Market architect Adolph Cluss and voted to not take any action on a proposed community letter on the CSX/Virginia Avenue Tunnel project.
- ANC 6B’s May meeting will be on Tuesday, May 8, 7:00 pm at the Hill Center.
Brian Flahaven 