Take Part in My June 19 Neighborhood Town Hall

June 18, 2014

On Thursday, June 19, I’ll be holding a Neighborhood Town Hall meeting from 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm at Curbside Cafe (257 15th Street SE). During the meeting, I’ll provide updates on key Hill East projects, including:

  • Development plans for Reservation 13 and the status of DC General
  • Barney Circle-Southeast Boulevard Project
  • 17th & 19th Street Safety Improvement Project
  • Eastern Branch Building Request for Offers

Attendees will also have an opportunity to share concerns about other issues affecting our neighborhood. And it will be a great way to meet and catch up with neighbors.

Hope to see you there! And thanks to Curbside Cafe for hosting!

Leave a Comment » | ANC 6B | Permalink
Posted by bflahaven

How DC’s Olympic Bid Could Affect Hill East

June 16, 2014

On June 13, the United States Olympic Committee announced that DC is a finalist to be the U.S. bid city for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. In a press release, Ted Leonsis, vice chair of DC 2024, the committee of local business leaders working on the DC bid, stated:

“This is about how investments will accelerate existing development plans for Washington, Virginia and Maryland to create a permanent legacy of affordable housing, employment, transportation and environmental improvements in our neighborhoods. It is also about the Washington region building the most transparent, greenest, most wired and most athlete-centric Games in history. And it is about bringing the world to Washington and bringing Washington to the world.”

Well, given that there is almost zero information about the bid, budget and venues on the DC 2024 website, the “most transparent” games in history are off to a shaky start. But the Leonsis quote also gets at another common argument made by supporters of hosting an Olympics – that the two-week extravaganza can address major issues and concerns facing the host city. The reference to affordable housing is not an accident as everyone is aware of the lack of affordable housing in DC. But do we need to spend $10+ billion to bring the Olympics to DC to address the city’s affordable housing crisis?

Olympics supporters also like to point out how the event can increase civic pride, boost tourism and push cities to invest in infrastructure and transportation improvements that will benefit residents after the games are over. In a July 2012 article in The Atlantic, Andrew Zimbalist, an economist from Smith College who studies the economic impact of mega-sporting events, does a great job of debunking these arguments. Unlike other cities, we certainly do not need the Olympics to boost tourism or put us on the map. And we shouldn’t invest millions in sports infrastructure that will be rarely used.

While all DC residents should be concerned about a potential Olympic bid, Hill East residents should be especially concerned. Why? Though DC 2024 has not released any information about the location of proposed venues, the Washington Post has reported that the current RFK Stadium site is under consideration for a new Olympic stadium. And given the need for numerous other venues to be located in close proximity to housing for the athletes, I think it is safe to assume that Reservation 13, the 67-acre site of the former DC General hospital campus that sits immediately south of RFK Stadium, is also under consideration in the plans.

This is not good news for our neighborhood. The city has just moved forward on the first phase of the long-stalled, community-supported Reservation 13 master plan. And with DC United set to move out of RFK Stadium in the coming years, the city has an opportunity to think creatively about future uses of this critical site. The Olympics bid potentially puts all of this on hold and creates additional uncertainty about development plans.

If Reservation 13 and RFK Stadium are part of the Olympics  bid, I hope DC 2024 and city officials will answer the following questions:

  1. How will the Olympics benefit Hill East? The land targeted for Olympic venues is already valuable and will be even more so in the coming years. What is the opportunity cost of locking this land up for the Olympics versus pursuing mixed-use development now?
  2. Why is an Olympic stadium used for two weeks and perhaps 10 days annually thereafter the best future use for the RFK Stadium site? I’ve previously shared my concerns about building a new stadium.
  3. What advantages does an Olympic plan for Reservation 13 have over the community-supported master plan? Why should we develop this land to the specifications of the International Olympic Committee versus the reality of what best serves the neighborhood and city?
  4. Does Reservation 13’s inclusion in the Olympic bid mean the city really does have a strategy in place for relocating the emergency homeless shelters and other services at Reservation 13? It is amazing how supposedly insurmountable political obstacles tend to crumble when sports-related facilities are proposed (see training facility debate).
  5. How much is DC 2024 (or more likely, the city) going to spend to building Olympic venues and housing at RFK/Reservation 13?
  6. What is the city’s current involvement in the Olympics bid? Does Mayor Gray support the bid? And who on the Council supports the bid?

Of course, there is no guarantee that DC will be selected as the U.S. bid city (Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco are also in the running) nor is there a guarantee DC will ultimately be selected to host the games. But the longer that DC stays in the running, the more likely the unacceptable status quo for both RFK Stadium and Reservation 13 remains in place. And that would be a shame for the city and Hill East.

What do you think about DC’s Olympic bid and its potential impact on Hill East? Post your thoughts below.

 

5 Comments | Development, Reservation 13/Hill East Waterfront, RFK/Stadium Armory | Permalink
Posted by bflahaven

ANC 6B June Meeting Recap

June 13, 2014

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.

1 Comment | ANC 6B | Permalink
Posted by bflahaven

Meeting On Payne Elementary School Modernization Tonight

June 11, 2014

The DC Department of General Services and DC Public Schools will be holding a community meeting tonight (June 11), 6:30 pm at Payne Elementary School (1445 C Street SE) to provide an update and answer questions on construction plans for the school. All are welcome to attend and participate in the meeting.

Leave a Comment » | Schools | Permalink
Posted by bflahaven

DC General Building 9 to Be Demolished

June 10, 2014

During a June 5 Zoning Commission hearing, representatives from the DC Department of General Services testified that the city plans to demolish Building 9 on the DC General campus and that DGS, working with the Mayor’s Budget Office, had identified the estimated $2 million needed to raze the building this coming year.

As I wrote in a previous post, the city is relocating the Harriet Tubman Women’s Shelter from Building 9 to Building 27 on the DC General campus. The relocation is due to hazardous and unsafe conditions in Building 9, particularly in the 85 percent of the building not used by the shelter. Since Reservation 13 is zoned to conform with the Reservation 13 master plan, the city needs to get zoning relief to allow the shelter relocation to happen.

Originally, the Office of Planning sought a text amendment that would have allowed shelter use permanently in either Building 9 or Building 27 (not both) and referenced the Department of Human Services’ plan to move the shelter back to Building 9 once renovation was complete. In a May 14 submission to the Zoning Commission, ANC 6B objected to the text amendment and urged the Zoning Commission to require OP to seek a time-limited special exception to allow the temporary shelter use. ANC 6B also urged the Zoning Commission and city to signal intent to demolish Building 9.

After consulting with DGS, DHS, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and reviewing ANC 6B’s comments (pdf), the Office of Planning revised their text amendment to limit the use to Building 27 for period of 5 years. Though I testified (pdf) on behalf of ANC 6B for the special exception, the Zoning Commission approved OP’s revised amendment. While this was not exactly what we wanted, adding a time limit was big move in our direction.

Though getting a time-limit included in the text amendment was a big news, the bigger news was the DGS announcement that the city plans to raze Building 9 this coming year once the women’s shelter is relocated to Building 27. The demolition of Building 9 opens up the northern third of the Reservation 13 site (parcels B1, B2 and C) for development and certainly signals the city’s commitment to the Reservation 13 master plan. Overall, a good outcome for both the residents of the women’s shelter and for the development vision for the site.

I really appreciate DGS, DHS, DMPED and OP’s willingness to revise their original text amendment and find funding to raze Building 9. I’m also appreciative that the Zoning Commission agreed to include a time-limit on the temporary use in Building 27. And, finally, I’m grateful to my colleagues on ANC 6B for supporting  a strong position on this issue and to former ANC 6B Commissioner Ken Jarboe for sharing his expertise and advice on the zoning issues at hand.

You can watch a replay of the June 5 Zoning Commission hearing on the Office of Zoning website.

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

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