ANC 6B April Meeting Recap

April 12, 2013

We had a packed agenda and a full house for most of ANC 6B’s 3+ hour April meeting on Tuesday night. Two major Hill East projects – a proposed residential building at 1550 Penn Ave SE and DDOT’s Barney Circle-Southeast Boulevard Project – were on the agenda along with a long list of liquor license renewals. Here is a recap:

  • After hearing comments from the attendees and the developer, the commission voted 9-0 to support zoning relief for a proposed 81-unit apartment building at 1550 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, a site located in my Single Member District. NOVO Development is seeking a special exception related to the height of the building’s mechanical penthouse and variances related to the size of the loading dock and parking. The latter is the most controversial variance – NOVO plans to provide 30 of the 41 required parking spaces for the building.
  • Having worked with a number of nearby neighbors and the developer to negotiate an acceptable Memorandum of Understanding (pdf) between the parties, I voted to support the special exception and variance requests. With a signed MOU in place, which specifies the developer’s commitment to 1) develop a transportation demand management plan, 2) pursue car share and 3) urge DDOT to add on-street parking on the Penn Avenue side of the building, I felt any potential impact of the parking variance request would be minimized. Note that the developer is providing a significant number of the parking spaces required under zoning (30 of the 41 required for an 81-unit building, so the variance is for 11 spaces). The nearby neighbors deserve a lot of credit for negotiating the MOU and ensuring that negative impacts of the building beyond parking (loading, garage entrance, etc.) are addressed by NOVO Development.
  • It is important to remember the benefits this building will provide to the neighborhood. Most residents want more retail and restaurant options in Hill East. This building will help generate additional foot traffic on the 1400 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, which will help existing businesses and new businesses open and thrive. And the new building will be the first thing drivers, bikers and pedestrians see as they approach Capitol Hill – an improvement over the existing used car lot.
  • The Board of Zoning Adjustment will hear the 1550 Penn Ave SE case on Tuesday, April 30, 9:30 am at 441 4th Street NW, Room 220 South.
  • The commission voted 8-0 to send a letter (pdf) to the District Department of Transportation outlining issues and concerns related to the Barney Circle-Southeast Boulevard Project. Among a long list of issues, the commission 1) raises concerns about a proposed bus depot under the proposed Southeast Boulevard, 2) asks DDOT to include the 700 & 800 blocks of Kentucky Ave SE, the 700 block of 16th Street SE, Freedom Way SE and the stretch of 17th Street SE between Potomac Ave and Barney Circle in the scope of the project, and 3) requests that DDOT consider the project’s potential impact on Historic Congressional Cemetery.
  • The commission also voted 8-0 to send the Barney Circle project letter to Councilmember Vincent Orange (D-At-Large) with a special cover letter (pdf) referencing the Councilmember’s Feb. 23, 2013 press release “expressing joy” at DDOT’s consideration the area under the proposed Southeast Boulevard for a bus depot.
  • A good portion of the meeting was spent considering liquor license renewal requests for restaurants in the commission area. In general, the commission supported an establishment’s renewal request if they agreed to sign a settlement agreement (SA) with the commission. SA’s generally cover hours of operation and include provisions on noise and trash. The commission did vote to protest liquor license renewals for restaurants that did not sign a SA, though the commission anticipates being able to come an agreement with most of these establishments.
  • Commissioners announced a number of upcoming meetings, including:
    • April 24 DMPED meeting on Reservation 13, 6 pm – 8 pm, Dept. of Corrections Training Academy at DC General
    • Mayor Gray’s April 25 Ward 6 FY14 Budget Town Hall, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, Capitol Hill Montessori, 215 G Street NE
    • May 16 DDOT meeting on the Pennsylvania-Potomac Avenue Pedestrian Safety Study Project, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, Payne Elementary School
  • Doug Klein, the First District Prosecutor from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia gave a brief presentation on the office’s activities. Klein agreed to attend a future ANC 6B Outreach & Constituent Services Task Force meeting to answer additional commission and community questions.
  • During community speakout, Commissioner Ron Swanda of the DC Commission on Aging announced the creation of the Ward 6 Senior Network. Commissioner Swanda is looking for representatives to serve on the network, which plans a variety of activities to ensure that seniors in the ward have access to information and the services they need. Residents interested in participating in the network can contact Commissioner Swanda at dc.coa.ward6.swanda@gmail.com or 202-340-7708. If you would like to represent ANC 6B09 on the network, please let me know.
  • ANC 6B’s May meeting will be on Tuesday, May 14, 7 pm at the Hill Center.

1 Comment | ANC 6B, Barney Circle, Development, Liquor License, Penn East, Potomac Avenue Metro, Reservation 13/Hill East Waterfront | Permalink
Posted by bflahaven

DMPED Schedules April 24 Community Meeting to Review Res. 13 Response

April 8, 2013

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) has scheduled a community meeting on development plans for parcels F1 and G1 on Reservation 13. The meeting will be on Wednesday, April 24, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm at the Department of Corrections Training Academy in the former DC General Hospital,  1901 D Street SE, Room 1340.

During the meeting, representatives of Donatelli Development/Blue Skye, the sole respondent to DMPED’s most recent RFEI, will present their plans for parcels F1 and G1. I’ll provide additional information as the date approaches.

1 Comment | Development, Reservation 13/Hill East Waterfront | Permalink
Posted by bflahaven

Monday Quick Takes: 1550 Penn, Barney Circle, Mayor Gray’s FY14 Budget & Hill East

April 1, 2013
  • ANC 6B’s Planning & Zoning Committee will consider zoning relief for a proposed 80-84 unit residential building at 1550 Pennsylvania Avenue SE on Wed., April 3, 7:00 pm at St. Coletta of Greater Washington (1901 Independence Avenue SE). At the meeting, NOVO Development will explain why they are requesting parking and loading variances and a special exception related to the height of the building’s mechanical penthouse. Residents will also have an opportunity to weigh in on the project. Read my recap of last week’s second community meeting for more details.
  • On Monday, April 8, ANC 6B’s Transportation Committee will be discussing the DDOT’s Barney Circle-Southeast Boulevard project. The committee will likely recommend that the commission send a letter to DDOT on key principles and concerns with the project. I plan to push for language that includes the 700 and 800 blocks of 17th Street SE and Kentucky Avenue SE in the scope of the Barney Circle project since both of these streets will be greatly affected by the proposed new traffic circle. The meeting will take place at 6:30 pm at the Hill Center (921 Pennsylvania Avenue SE).
  • Mayor Gray’s FY2014 budget, released last week, includes lots of funding for development projects across the city…except for Reservation 13. While projects such as Skyland Shopping Center ($40 million), St. Elizabeth’s ($29.5 million) and Walter Reed ($2.3 million), the budget includes zero dollars for infrastructure related to the Hill East waterfront development. The only funding for Reservation 13 is $500,000 for the Department of General Services  to conduct  studies of the existing buildings/facilities at Reservation 13 to determine “short-term and long-term utilization of the asset.” Again, it appears that Mayor Gray is unwilling to invest in the future of the Hill East waterfront.
  • On the positive side, the Mayor’s budget does include funding for the 17th & 19th Street Safety Improvement Project recommendations. Construction on improvements to 17th & 19th Street SE are set to begin in spring 2014, and the Mayor’s budget calls for $600,000 (to be supplemented by federal funds).
  • Mayor Gray will be holding a Ward 6 Budget Town Hall on Thursday, April 25, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm at Logan School (215 G Street NE). The town hall will be a good opportunity to ask the Mayor questions about his FY14 budget, his commitment to the Hill East waterfront and other key priorities in the city.

Leave a Comment » | 17th Street SE, 19th Street SE, Development, Penn East, Reservation 13/Hill East Waterfront, Transportation | Permalink
Posted by bflahaven

Testimony on DC General Shelter at March 13 Human Services Oversight Hearing

March 13, 2013

This afternoon, I testified on behalf of ANC 6B at the DC Council’s Committee on Human Services oversight hearing for the Department of Human Services. My testimony, posted below, focused on the status of the DC General Shelter.

Good morning Chairman Graham and members of the Committee on Human Services. My name is Brian Flahaven, and I serve as chair of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6B. My single member district, 6B09, lies in Hill East and is located immediately west of the Hill East Waterfront, also known as Reservation 13. My district also includes Barney Circle, the Historic Congressional Cemetery, and the Eastern Branch Boys & Girls Club Building.

I’m here today to testify about the status of the DC General shelter. I’m testifying on behalf of ANC 6B, which approved my testimony 8-0 during its March 12 Commission meeting.

First, we want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, and the committee for holding your Feb. 28 DC General hearing at the shelter. At the hearing, which I attended, current shelter residents talked about numerous difficulties with the building and with finding the support they need to obtain housing. Shelter management and staff talked about problems associated with over-concentrating so many people and services at one site. Representatives of the Department of Human Services testified that it costs the city $50,000 per family per year to house people at DC General and that the goal is to move families and individuals out of the shelter, not to invest additional dollars in a deteriorating building.

Unfortunately, the hearing also made it clear that while DHS may have a goal to move families out of DC General, the department does not have a concrete plan for achieving that goal. ANC 6B views housing so many incredibly needy families in such deplorable conditions, including a large number of families with children, as an outrage and embarrassment to our city and as completely counterproductive to the ultimate goal of ending homelessness. The lack of a humane and holistic plan to housing homeless individuals in this city concerns us greatly, and developing such a plan should be a top priority of the Mayor, DHS and the Council.

When the city started housing homeless families at DC General in 2007, it was announced as a temporary measure. Soon after the shelter opened, the city began housing more and more families at the old hospital, particularly as shelters were closed in other parts of the city. Instead of working to find suitable housing and shelter options within existing neighborhoods, city leaders chose the politically convenient approach of housing more and more families and individuals in a deteriorating, depressing building totally separated from the surrounding neighborhood and city.

In addition to the shelter, the city opened and expanded clinics at the site, including a methadone clinic. So, in addition to an over-concentration of people, the site has an over-concentration of services.

While all this was happening, ANC 6B and surrounding neighbors continued to push the city to implement the Reservation 13 master plan. The plan, approved by the Council in 2003 and created with substantial community input, envisions mixed-use development that will finally connect surrounding neighborhoods to the Anacostia River waterfront. The plan recognizes the site’s many advantages – waterfront location, access to Metro and close proximity to two wards – and it envisions bringing housing (including 30 percent affordable housing), retail and office space to an area of the city in desperate need of all three.

Unfortunately, the city’s expansion and now indecision on DC General is stalling mixed-use development at Reservation 13, with real consequences to the city and neighborhood. The city’s most recent Request for Expressions of Interest to develop the two Reservation 13 parcels closest to the neighborhood, issued in October 2012 and closed in January 2013, yielded only one response. Each time the city has issued a RFEI for Reservation 13 – and there have been three issued since 2008 – the number of responses has dwindled. With no plans for the eventual closure of DC General, the development community remains skeptical that the city is truly committed to developing the entire site.

ANC 6B strongly believes that the city’s goal should be closing DC General and transitioning homeless families and individuals to better housing options. And the commission also believes that the full vision of development plans for the Hill East Waterfront will remain stalled until the city provides a clear timeline for closing DC General.

To help us get a sense of where the city is on this issue, we urge the committee to ask DHS the following questions:

  1. Does the city have a plan for reducing the number of families and individuals living in DC General and eventually closing the building?
  2. Has the Mayor or DHS considered announcing a date for closure of DC General? Setting such a date would have the combined effect of pushing the Council to provide the funding necessary to provide better alternatives to homeless families while sending a signal to the development community that the city is serious about developing the site.
  3. Does DHS intend to discuss its plans for DC General with the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development? At a March 1 oversight hearing, Deputy Mayor Hoskins indicated that there have been no serious discussions between DMPED and DHS on the future of DC General.  Given the city’s plans to develop the site, it seems appropriate that DHS should be coordinating closely with DMPED.

ANC 6B stands ready to work with the Mayor, DHS and this committee to support efforts to end homelessness and eliminate the need for shelters like DC General. And we also strongly urge the Mayor, DHS and the Council to make closing DC General a top priority, and to begin funding the programs necessary to make this a reality in the FY14 budget.

Thank you for your time, and I’d be happy to answer any questions.

2 Comments | ANC 6B, Reservation 13/Hill East Waterfront | Permalink
Posted by bflahaven

Laundromat Project, Zoning Regulation Review on March 12 ANC 6B Agenda

March 11, 2013

The conversion of  a laundromat into a 5-unit condo building and recommendations on the DC Office of Planning’s Zoning Regulations Review will be discussed by Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6B on Tuesday, March 12, 7 pm at the Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Avenue SE.

Owner Gary Cohen of Willco Development is seeking the commission’s support for a two-year extension on his variance requests for his proposed condo building at 732 15th Street SE (currently a parking lot). ANC 6B originally supported the variance requests in 2011.

Also, ANC 6B will vote on proposed comments to the Office of Planning on proposed updates to the zoning code, including the elimination of parking minimums, the allowance of “corner stores’ by-right in residential zones and new building height measurement standards. You can read more about the laundromat case and the zoning regulations review in the March planning and zoning committee report (listed after the meeting agenda).

I also plan to ask the commission to ratify my testimony on the status of Reservation 13, which I delivered at the March 1 DC Council oversight hearing for the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.

As always, I’ll post a meeting recap sometime in the next few days.

Leave a Comment » | ANC 6B, Development, Penn East, Reservation 13/Hill East Waterfront | Permalink
Posted by bflahaven

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