Brian Flahaven

ANC 6B held its first meeting of 2012 last night at the Hill Center. About 20-25 residents were in attendance for what turned out to be a very short and efficient meeting. Here are the highlights:

• The commission began the meeting by electing officers for 2012. Commissioner Jared Critchfield  (6B06) was elected the new chair of ANC 6B (Commissioner Neil Glick (6B08) chose to not seek another term as chair), Commissioner Ivan Frishberg 6B02) was re-elected as vice chair, Commissioner Brian Pate (6B05) was elected secretary, Commissioner Carol Green (6B07) was re-elected as treasurer and I was re-elected as parliamentarian. I’m looking forward to working with Chairman Critchfield and the rest of my colleagues on the ANC 6B Executive Committee this coming year.
• The commission unanimously supported raze permit requests for 1442 Pennsylvania Avenue SE (old KFC site), 701 Virginia Avenue SE (auto repair shop) and 733 Virginia Avenue SE (Miles Glass building) on the consent agenda.
• I announced that the ANC 6B Bylaws Review Working Group would hold its first meeting on Wed., Jan. 25, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm in the 3rd Floor Conference Room at the Hill Center. Commissioners Critchfield and Dave Garrison (6B01) will be joining me on the working group. Meetings are open to the public. If you are interested in helping out with the review, please e-mail me.
• ANC 6B approved a new liquor license for Young Chow Asian Restaurant at 312 Pennsylvania Avenue SE. The commission also approved a stipulated license for the restaurant, which allows the owners to begin serving alcohol to patrons prior to formal consideration of the liquor license request by the DC Alcholic Beverage Control Board.
• The commission unanimously approved sending a letter to the Office of Planning outlining concerns related to Stanton-Eastbanc’s Planned Unit Development (PUD) filing for the Hine Jr. High School site. The letter notes that the filing did not provide traffic, noise or shadow studies. ANC 6B would like to see these issues addressed in the “set down” report being provided to the Zoning Commission later this month.
• During the Hill East Task Force report, I provided the commission an update on the pending invitation to Mayor Gray to speak at a community meeting on the status of Reservation 13. I’m working with the Mayor’s office on a date/time/location.
• ANC 6B’s February meeting will be on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 7 pm at the Hill Center. Celebrate Valentine’s Day with ANC 6B!

Post any comments or questions below.

Hope you had a great weekend! Here are a few updates for the week of Jan. 9:

• On Friday, the Washington Business Journal published an article (subscription required) on our ANC invitation to Mayor Gray to speak on the future of Reservation 13. While the article states that the Mayor’s office has decided not to send the Mayor to the meeting, the Mayor’s staff has yet to confirm that with me. I’ll be sure to post the date, time and location if and when a meeting with the Mayor is confirmed.
• Events DC is holding an RFK Community Outreach meeting tonight, 7 pm at RFK Stadium. Events DC will discuss upcoming RFK/Armory events, the 2012 quarterly stakeholders meeting schedule, opening of the RFK Skate Park, and other community matters. If you are interested in attending, please e-mail Theresa DuBois today. You can enter the Stadium on the north side and proceed to the 4th Floor meeting room.
• This weekend, I distributed my 2012 contact cards around the neighborhood. All residents of 6B09 living south of C Street SE should have received a card. I plan to distribute cards to the northern part of my single member district later this week. If you live in an apartment or did not get a card, please e-mail me and I’ll be sure to get you one.
• ANC 6B’s January meeting is tomorrow night (Tues., Jan. 10), 7 pm in the Benjamin Drummond Room at the Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Avenue SE. You can view the agenda on the ANC 6B website.

Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells is hosting a community meeting with the Metropolitan Police Department tonight (Thurs., Jan 5), 6:30 pm at the Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Avenue SE. MPD First District Commander Daniel Hickson, PSA 108 Lt. Michael Thornton and other local MPD officers will be in attendance. Councilmember Wells has called the meeting to discuss the recent uptick in crime around the Hill.

ANC 6B’s Alcoholic Beverage Committee is also meeting tonight, 7 pm in the 3rd Floor Conference Room of the Hill Center.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. Here are a few updates as we approach the New Year:

• Finally! The owners of Crepes on the Corner, located at 15th & C Streets SE, announced that they plan to open in January 2012.  Apparently, there was a delay in getting the required Certificate of Occupancy from the city. I’m excited that they are ready to open!
• ANC 6B will consider Douglas Development’s request for a raze permit for 1442 Pennsylvania Avenue SE (old KFC site) during January’s planning & zoning and full commission meetings. I expect this will be a rather routine review as the building itself is not historically significant. Earlier this year, ANC 6B  supported and the Board of Zoning Adjustment approved variances necessary for Douglas Development to build a mixed use retail residential building at the site. 
• An update on 17th Street SE and photo enforcement: MPD’s new photo enforcement contract is still working its way through the DC Office of Contracting and Procurement. Once it clears OCP, the contract must then be approved by the DC Council since it is over $1 million. I’ve contacted Councilmembers Tommy Wells and Phil Mendelson’s offices about the contract and the need for the Council to approve it expeditiously. I’m optimistic that we will see photo enforcement technology on 17th Street sometime in early 2012. ANC 6B has asked MPD to deploy photo enforcement technology along the corridor.
• In case you missed it, I joined with 11 other ANC colleagues to invite Mayor Gray to a community meeting on the future of Reservation 13. I plan on following up with the Mayor’s office shortly to hopefully schedule a date and time in January.
• Finally, a big thank you for your support during my first year as ANC commissioner for 6B09. While the meetings can be long and the issues frustrating (redistricting anyone?), I’ve enjoyed every minute of my first year and feel particularly honored to represent Barney Circle and Hill East. Thanks for calling and e-mailing Councilmembers, joining me on visits to the Wilson Building, attending community meetings and neighborhood walks, and sharing your issues and concerns with me. We’ve made a lot of progress this year, but there is still a lot of work to be done.

Have a safe and Happy New Year! I look forward to working with you in 2012.

Yesterday, I joined with 11 fellow ANC commissioners to invite  Mayor Vince Gray to attend a community meeting to share an update on the status of development proposals for Reservation 13, the 67 acre site of the former DC General Hospital.  The text of our invitation letter is below. I plan to follow up with the Mayor’s Office after the holidays to schedule a date and time for the meeting.

December 20, 2011

The Honorable Vincent C. Gray
Mayor
District of Columbia
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 316
Washington, DC 20004

Dear Mayor Gray,

As ANC commissioners representing Single Member Districts adjacent to or near Reservation 13, we invite you to attend a community meeting to share your vision for the future development of the 67-acre site. We also invite Victor Hoskins, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, to join you in providing an update on the status of development proposals for the site.

For more than a decade, residents in our neighborhoods have worked tirelessly to see the Hill East Waterfront Development at Reservation 13 become a reality. This master development plan, widely supported in our neighborhoods, envisions a mixed-use retail and residential project that extends neighborhood streets to the Anacostia River.  

Unfortunately, due to the economy and other factors, these development plans have stalled. Instead, Reservation 13 consists of crumbling infrastructure and dilapidated buildings. The site has become a social services hub for the entire District of Columbia. While our neighborhoods have had to deal with the negative consequences that come with concentrating so many services and people in one small area, the District of Columbia continues to lose out on revenue that could be generated by developing the site.    

Recently, you’ve indicated an interest in using a portion of the site for a Washington Redskins training facility. Your constituents in our neighborhoods would like to learn more about this idea and how such a facility would fit into the master development plan. Your participation in a community meeting would help residents get a better sense of your vision for the site.

Brian Flahaven, commissioner for ANC 6B09, will follow up with your staff to find a date and time that works best for you, ideally in January 2012. We also hope to hold the meeting on the site, perhaps at St. Coletta of Greater Washington, 1901 Independence Avenue SE.

Reservation 13 is one of the last large, underutilized, undeveloped parcels of land with Metro access left in the District of Columbia. We are committed to working with you to support future development at Reservation 13 that increases the quality of life in our neighborhoods, our wards and the entire city.

Thank you for your consideration of our invitation.

Sincerely,

Nicholas Alberti, Commissioner, ANC 6A04
Francis Campbell, Commissioner, ANC 6B10     
Sheila Carson-Carr, Commissioner, ANC 7A01
Jared Critchfield, Commissioner, ANC 6B06
Brian Flahaven, Commissioner, ANC 6B09
Neil Glick, Commissioner, ANC 6B08
Carol Green, Commissioner, ANC 6B07  
David Holmes, Commissioner, ANC 6A03
Villareal Johnson, Commissioner, ANC 7A07
Brian Pate, Commissioner, ANC 6B05
Lia Veneendaal-Selck, Commissioner, ANC 6A08
Lisa White, Commissioner, ANC 7D01  

cc: 
Yvette Alexander, Councilmember, Ward 7
Tommy Wells, Councilmember, Ward 6