Brian Flahaven

We had a good turnout for ANC 6B’s June 10 meeting at the Hill Center. Here is a recap:

• After a presentation by the owner and a lengthy discussion, the commission voted unanimously to support a raze permit for the “shotgun house” at 1229 E Street SE, the vacant, boarded up one story building located in the Capitol Hill Historic District. The commission’s support included language urging the Historic Preservation Review Board to hold the owner, Larry Quillian, accountable for “demolition by neglect” and a desire to see the curb cut leading into the property removed. Mr. Quinlan presented the commission with an engineer’s report that recommended the building be demolished.
• Given uncertainty about whether the city would allow a curb cut on the property, ANC 6B voted 9-0 to urge the HPRB to postpone a hearing on the design of a proposed condo building at 1220 Potomac Avenue SE. The placement or non-placement of a curb cut really changes the design of the proposed building and the size of the units (without parking, the owner would prefer smaller, one bedroom units). Hopefully we will see this case again once the curb cut issue is addressed.
• The commission voted 9-0 to send a letter (pdf) to Deputy Mayor for Education Abigail Smith with some general feedback on the Student Assignment and School Boundary Review. In the letter, the commission highlights the need to continue with the review process and voices strong support for matter-of-right neighborhood schools. You can learn more about the process and review the latest proposal on the Deputy Mayor for Education’s website.
• After Commissioner Francis Campbell and I provided a brief summary of the May 29 ANC 6B Hill East Task Force meeting, ANC 6B voted 9-0 to send a letter (pdf) to the Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian Community Action Group (CAG) seeking additional information related to their plans for 124 15th Street SE.  CAG recently received city funding to resume construction of the planned community center for the site.
• The commission voted 8-1 to support the DC General Short-Term Playground Amendment Act of 2014 and to authorize my testimony at the upcoming June 30 Committee on Human Services hearing on the bill (pdf). ANC 6B previously voted to support a temporary, movable playground to serve the 500-600 children living at the temporary DC General Emergency Family Shelter. In addition to voicing our support for a temporary playground, I plan to remind the committee of the need to commit to a plan and closing date for the DC General shelter.
• Jon Whitney of the District Department of Transportation’s 11th Street Bridge Project announced some good news and bad news related to the project. The good news is that an eastbound exit ramp from the SE-SW Freeway to 11th Street SE will be opening on June 21. The bad news is that DDOT will be closing the 11th Street SE entrance to the SE-SW Freeway for two months (June 21-August 23) to complete final construction of the ramp. Mr. Whitney also announced that DDOT also plans to temporarily re-open the freeway between 11th Street SE and Barney Circle SE to “help move traffic through this corridor,” while the agency works with the Office of Planning on refining concepts for the Southeast Boulevard. I’m not a fan of the city spending money to clear, re-surface and temporarily re-open a section of freeway that will just encourage more commuter traffic to use 17th Street SE and other neighborhood streets.
• Representatives from DC Water provided a brief update on the Clean Rivers Project, a multi-year tunnel project designed to significantly reduce combined sewer overflows into the Anacostia River. Construction on the Anacostia River Tunnel, a segment that runs along the river between RFK Stadium, Congressional Cemetery and down by M Street SE and Water Street SE, is currently underway and is expected to be completed by November 2017. DC Water also hopes to wrap up work on the M Street diversion sewer, which is taking place at M Street and 9th Street SE, by November 2014.
• ANC 6B’s July meeting will be on Tuesday, July 8, 7 pm at the Hill Center.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 13th, 2014 at 11:23 am and is filed under ANC 6B. 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.