Brian Flahaven

Around 40 people attended last night’s ANC 6B meeting at the Hill Center. Here is a brief recap of the commission’s major actions:

• ANC 6B unanimously approved sending a letter (pdf) to the Zoning Administrator asking that construction on a new two-story commercial building at 1442 Pennsylvania Avenue SE (the old KFC site) be allowed to begin without further Board of Zoning Adjustment Review (read more about the rationale for this request). A big thanks to the residents who waited patiently through a long meeting agenda to weigh in on this request and to all who posted comments or sent me e-mails. I’m hopeful that our letter will be persuasive with the Zoning Administrator.
• On an 8-0-1 vote, the Commission passed a resolution (pdf) supporting closure of the 300 block of 7th Street SE on Saturdays and Sundays during construction of the Hine School development. Closure of the street is necessary since construction will displace the flea markets currently operating on the Hine parking lot. I voted in support of the resolution.
• Though the notice was extremely late, the commission voted unanimously to support the route for the Susan G. Komen 3 Day Walk taking place this weekend in DC. Walkers will begin on Friday morning at RFK Stadium and will return that evening to RFK. A Komen representative said that the walkers will obey traffic signals and that volunteers will be positioned at key intersections to ensure that traffic can proceed.
• ANC 6B voted 9-1 to support sending a letter to District Department of Transportation Director Terry Bellamy asking why ANC 6B has not been properly notified of Public Space Committee actions regarding a fence built on public space at 768 13th Street SE. The commission has previously voted in support of removing the fence from public space. I voted in support of sending the letter.
• The commission unanimously voted to support a grant request (pdf) by the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop for its proposed “Two Views” project. The project involves images that would be projected from two upstairs windows at CHAW’s building at 7th & G Streets SE. CHAW is requesting a grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
• Requests by La Plaza restaurant (629 Pennsylvania Avenue SE) to increase its occupancy load and extend its hours of operation and hours of alcohol sales/service/consumption were unanimously approved by the Commission. La Plaza is adding another floor of seating at its current location. Owner Henry Mendoza did sign a voluntary agreement with the Commission.
• ANC 6B voted 6-1-2 to support sending a resolution (pdf) to congressional leaders opposing the planned across-the-board budget cuts (a.k.a. “sequestration”) scheduled to take effect in January 2013.  The Mayor’s Office is requesting that each ANC in DC pass such a resolution. Given the potential negative consequences that sequestration could have on DC and my overall dislike of across-the-board cuts, I voted in support of the resolution.
• DC Fire & EMS Chief Kenneth Ellerbe provided an update on his department’s activities. He reminded attendees that Fire & EMS will provide and install free smoke alarms to DC residents. If you are interested, you can request a smoke alarm online or by calling 202-673-3331.
• ANC 6B’s November meeting will be on Tuesday, Nov. 13, 7 pm at the Hill Center (921 Pennsylvania Avenue SE).  

We had a packed room for ANC 6B’s September meeting on Tuesday night. Here are the highlights:

• The commission unanimously supported the extension of Performance Based Parking (PBP) north of Pennsylvania Avenue SE. Blocks with PBP restrict parking to Zone 6 residents only on one side of the street. The expansion includes all streets north of Pennsylvania Ave SE from 2nd Street SE to 11th Street SE (East Capitol Street SE is not included). PBP would be in effect 6 days a week for most of the expanded area, though the commission has requested that PBP be in effect for 7 days on the blocks between 5th Street and 8th Streets SE.
• On a 9-0-1 vote, ANC 6B voted to protest a liquor license Ambar, a new restaurant planning to open at the location previously occupied by Jordan’s 8 (523 8th Street SE). The protest was mainly due to the inability to negotiate a voluntary agreement prior to the meeting (owner was out of the country). Hopefully, the commission and owner can come to an agreement in the near future.
• Commissioner Norm Metzger (6B03) discussed an August 27 letter (pdf) ANC 6B received from DC Water regarding damage to the pocket park located at Potomac Avenue SE and M Street SE. DC Water General Manager George Hawkins explained that his agency was using the park as a staging area for the Clean Rivers Project and would replace the park once the project is completed. The commission felt that DC Water’s response was satisfactory and did not take any action on the issue.
• The commission unanimously supported the design concept for a proposed development at 1211 G Street SE, the site of a former Salvation Army Building. If it moves forward, the development would include a renovation of the existing building and the construction of new row houses along G and 12th Streets SE.
• The commission also unanimously supported plans for the 2013 USA Rock N’ Roll Marathon and Half Marathon taking place Saturday, March 16, 2013. Unlike previous years, the marathon will not begin and end on Capitol Hill and will not cause multi-hour street closures on race day.
• After a lengthy discussion, the Commission postponed taking action on a resolution calling for the closure of the 300 block of 7th Street SE during construction of the Hine project. The 300 block of 7th Street SE has been discussed as the location for the weekend flea markets during and after Hine construction. Commissioners Brian Pate (6B05) and Ivan Frishberg (6B02) requested postponement to allow for the views of the brick and mortar merchants along the block to be incorporated into the resolution.
• Lisa Sutter from MPD’s Traffic Safety Automated Enforcement Unit talked about MPD’s efforts to install additional speeding cameras and other photo enforcement tools across the city. In addition to speeding cameras, MPD is getting ready to introduce stop sign, truck and cross walk cameras across the city, starting with blocks near schools. When I asked about ANC 6B’s request for a speed camera on 17th Street SE, Ms. Sutter said that they had received the request and are waiting for the DC Council to approve the new photo enforcement tool contract, hopefully this month.
• The commission also heard brief remarks from Elizabeth Falcon of the Housing for All Campaign, an initiative that is trying to get DC to invest additional dollars in affordable housing. The campaign is hosting a Ward 6 Town Hall on Thursday, Oct. 11. Additional details are available on the Housing for All website.
• I reminded my colleagues and the audience that ANC 6B will be holding a special call meeting to consider proposed revised bylaws and proposed standing rules on Monday, Sept. 17, 7 pm at Brent Elementary School (301 North Carolina Avenue SE).
• The commission unanimously approved a budget for FY2013 and a new contract for ANC 6B Executive Director Susan Eads Role.

Hope you had a nice Labor Day weekend! Two weeks from tonight on Sept. 17th, ANC 6B will hold a special call meeting at 7 pm at Brent Elementary School (301 North Carolina Avenue SE) to consider adopting proposed revised bylaws and proposed standing rules. The documents below are the product of ANC 6B’s Bylaws Review Working Group, a group which I chaired as Parliamentarian.

• ANC 6B Memorandum Explaining Bylaws Review Process (pdf)
• ANC 6B Proposed Revised Bylaws (pdf)
• ANC 6B Proposed Standing Rules (pdf)
• ANC6B Proposed Bylaws Revision Document (pdf)
• Current ANC 6B Bylaws (pdf)
• ANC6B September 17 2012 Special Call Mtg Agenda (pdf)

As I mentioned in a post earlier this year, the working group was tasked with doing a comprehensive review of ANC 6B’s bylaws and making recommendations to the full commission. The current bylaws are too long, contain significant inconsistencies, include outdated references to DC law and are loaded with administrative detail that makes it extremely difficult for the commission to make routine changes in its operations. From the outset, the working group set out to streamline the document, update references and move administrative functions and detail to new standing rules.

In addition, the working group considered a number of “policy changes” designed to improve how the commission operates. The following are a few of the major changes:

• Resident Members of Committees/Task Forces Get a Vote – Under the current bylaws, resident members serving on committees can only vote if their commissioner is not present at the committee meeting or if the issue on which the committee is voting is located in his or her Single Member District (SMD). It seems odd to ask a resident to serve on a committee and not to let him or her vote, particularly when all committee’s do is vote on recommendations (the full commission always has the last say). The revised bylaws would allow all resident members a vote, regardless of whether their commissioner is present or not.
• Committee Assignments – ANC 6B’s bylaws state that every commissioner is a member of every committee or task force. This means that commissioners feel compelled to attend three committee meetings (planning & zoning, alcoholic beverage control and transportation) the first week of the month followed by the full commission meeting on the second Tuesday of the month. And the commission hears all of the same cases at the full commission meeting.  The proposed standing rules would spread the workload by assigning commissioners to the two committees with the most work – planning & zoning and ABC – and would fill the rest of the committee slots with resident members.
• Executive Committee – ANC 6B’s Executive Committee is really only an executive committee for purposes of establishing a quorum. Once a quorum is established (three of the five officers), then any commissioner can attend and vote at executive committee meetings. The revised bylaws would create a true executive committee and limit votes at committee level to the five officers
• Meeting Procedures – If you’ve been to an ANC 6B meeting lately, you know that our monthly meetings typically last for 3+ hours. Long meetings are not good for encouraging public participation and engagement with the commission. The proposed standing rules introduce simple meeting procedures, such as putting time estimates on meeting agendas and establishing clear rules for community speakout, that will hopefully increase the efficiency and decrease the length of commission meetings.

The Sept. 17th meeting will likely include lively discussion about these and other proposed policy changes. Seven commissioners must vote in support for the revised bylaws to be enacted while the proposed standing rules will need a majority vote.

This process has taken a tremendous amount of time and effort. I owe a special thanks to Commissioners Jared Critchfield (6B06) and Dave Garrison (6B01) for agreeing to serve on the working group. Commissioners Carol Green (6B07) and Brian Pate (6B05) also contributed to the development of the revised bylaws and proposed standing rules. And I especially want to thank Susan Eads Role and Wanda Sims, two registered parliamentarians who volunteered their time and expertise to assist in our comprehensive review.

Please post any comments and questions below.