DCRA Director on Noise, Row House Crowding, Illegal Construction

Melinda Bolling, interim director of DC's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA), answered some questions before the start of the the regular monthly meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street on April 2. The questions addressed various topics which are under DCRA's purview.

Bolling (center) answers questions

Bolling explained some details about about DC sound regulations. Noise was a constant complaint, she said, but DC was "hesitant" to impose new soundproofing requirements on existing buildings. Instead, DCRA concentrated on assuring that new constructions and buildings getting renovations were up to code in this regard.

"If you make renovations, you have to meet the code," Bolling said.

ANC1B Chair James Turner (Commissioner for district 09) brought up a specific place which he predicted would be a future headache for Commissioners.

"We're going to have a problem with Nellie's," Turner said.

Nellie's Sports Bar is a popular establishment located at 900 U Street NW. It is next to a parcel of land likely someday to hold a multi-story mixed use building. This neighboring parcel is one of two parcels which are being considered (together as a single unit) for redevelopment by the Bowser administration. The other package in the deal is the nearby Grimke School (1923 Vermont Avenue).

A proposal to redevelop these two pieces of land was approved in the last moments of the administration of former Mayor Vincent Grey in December 2014. The award was "put on hold" shortly after Mayor Bowser was sworn in, and is now being reevaluted.

In response to a question on illegal construction, Bolling gave the name of the city official responsible -- Jill Byrd -- and a telephone number to call -- 202-442-STOP. (Byrd's email is Jill.Byrd@dc.gov.) However, Bolling says, "no one works on weekends", so complaints about any illegal construction happening after Friday evening will have wait until the next business day for action.

In response to a question about illegal rooming houses, Bolling said it was legal for six unrelated people to live together in one house.

ANC1B Commissioner Nick Ferreyros (district 05) said he had been told the actual legal limit is five or less.

No, Bolling said, six was permitted.

DCRA has the responsibility to enforce rules against illegal rooming houses but "we have to build a case", and it was often difficult to do so, she said.

Bolling also briefly addressed the DCRA"s "Third Party Inspection Program", meaning, practice of having private businesses to do inspections to ensure buildings are up to code, in lieu of inspectors on the city payroll. Bolling said many inspectors were hired by developers. There was a profit motive for inspectors not to scrutinize too closely the properties they were being paid to inspect, she admitted.

There was only one person in the audience who had a question, and the matter turned out to be one handled by another DC government agency.

The ANC thanked Bolling for coming. She departed and the ANC moved on to its regular agenda.

Bolling became DCRA interim director at the beginning of 2015. She was DCRA's General Counsel for several years prior.

Read here a February 27 post from the blog Park View DC about a recent Ward One town hall meeting where DCRA's chronic "unresponsiveness and failure to address issues" was the focus of many citizen complaints.

Florida Avenue Improvement Project Delayed Until 2016

A long-planned improvement of Florida Avenue NW between U Street and Sherman Avenue will be delayed until April 2016, according to Richard Kenney of the District Department of Transportation (DDOT). Kenney made the announcement during the latest regularly-scheduled meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street on April 2.

(From October 2014 DDOT presentation)

According to a presentation made by DDOT on October 27, 2014, the Florida Avenue project was to start construction in October 2015.

The delayed project will eventually bring bike lanes and sharrows to this stretch of Florida Avenue. It will also improve drainage, provide a traffic light at V Street, widen sidewalks, and add wheelchair ramps. There will also be additional green space, Kenney said. 

Kenney told the ANC that "outstanding issues were putting the project on hold" including one involving District Department of the Environment (DDOE) storm water management regulations and another involving curb cuts along Florida Avenue which need to be closed before work could start.

In addition, a separate project will soon begin nearby on Georgia Avenue, Kenney said, and DDOT does not want to have two projects in close proximity in progress at the same time, since both will obstruct north-south traffic.

The Georgia Avenue project will bring dedicated bus lanes. The October 2014 presentation said construction would start in February 2015. At the meeting last week, Kenney said the start of the Georgia Avenue project was "imminent".

ANC Commissioner Ellen Nedrow Sullivan (district 02) asked Kenney if, since the project was delayed anyway, whether new street lights for the 1900 block of 9th Street could be incorporated. Much of the neighborhood has received new street lights with an elegant, retro look to replace utilitarian-looking street lights used before -- see a examples of the two styles in this SALM blog post. But the 1900 block of 9th Street has not yet benefitted from this upgrade.

See a September 2012 post from the blog Greater Greater Washington about this project here. This post references 2011 input (see here) from ANC1B.

All Souls Bar Mobilizes Social Media to Support Outdoor Service

CORRECTION: When originally published, the first sentence of this article said the patio would be at the corner of "8th and I Streets". Apologies.

All Souls Bar (725 T Street NW) has launched a campaign on social media to gain community support for a planned patio at the corner of 8th and T Streets. As a result, Nick Baumann, chair of the liquor-licensing affairs committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street, has received about 50 emails in support of the planned patio as of last Thursday evening, April 2, when the ANC had its regularly-scheduled monthly meeting. (Baumann also tweeted this information on the same day.) By comparison, at a meeting of the liquor-licensing committee on March 18, Baumann reported he had received eight emails, divided for and against.

From All Souls Bar's Facebook page

In order to serve outside, All Souls will have to get permission from DC liquor-licensing authorities. The first step toward this permission would be getting buy-in from the community, including the ANC. Neighbors of, and property-owners near, the establishment have come to the last two meetings of the liquor-licensing affairs committee of the ANC to oppose the proposal -- see SALM blog posts of February 25 and March 25.

On April 1, All Souls Bar published a post on its Facebook page asking for community support. At the same time, it tweeted a "call to action", directing readers to the Facebook post.

The Facebook post has pictures of the proposed space (see above) and also cites reporting on this blog. All Souls Bar's owner/operator David Batista writes he feels "opposition is unwarranted with some misinterpretation of the law and our intentions." Batista also writes:

We want to take a barren lot and surround it with trees and plantings to beautify the corner for pedestrians and patrons alike. We want a patio with table service only—no standing, no speakers and no smoking (sorry folks). A patio with limited hours.

The post urges supporters to email Baumann and ANC Commissioners and "let them know why you support All Souls and our patio". As of this writing, the post has 190 "likes" and has been shared 40 times, including on the SALM Facebook page.

Shortly after the post was published, it was shared on the Facebook-based blog U Street Buzz and was the subject of a sympathetic article on the blog Popville. In both places, it received many additional likes and favorable comments. The Popville article also has some unfavorable comments.

Since the original Facebook posting, All Souls Bar has thanked it supporters on Twitter for the "great and truely humbling" response, and urged supporters to "keep the emails coming, you are being heard".

At the April 2 meeting, several ANC1B Commissioners said they had received emails in support of the patio. Baumann told the ANC the matter would come up again at the next regularly-scheduled liquor-licensing committee meet, and he expected it to be "contentious". There was little further discussion and no vote of any kind on the project at the April 2 meeting.

The next meeting of the liquor-licensing affairs committee of ANC1B is scheduled for Wednesday, April 15. Meetings usually start at 7pm, and take place at the Thurgood Marshall Center (1816 12th Street, between S and T Streets).

DC Attorney General's Office Launches Charm Offensive at ANCs

In the quest for budget independence, representatives of newly-elected DC Attorney General Karl Racine stopped off at the regular monthly meetings of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) 2F/Logan Circle on Wednesday, April 1, and 1B/U Street last night, Thursday, April 2.

Representatives of the office pitched a plan that would allow the Attorney General's office to retain up to $20 million annually from settlements and awards it wins as a result of litigation.

"We want to keep some of the food we kill," said Vanessa Natale, chief of the Neighborhood and Victim Services Section of the Attorney General's Office at  ANC2F's meeting.

"What we're asking for is to be more independent," Natale also said.

Natale told the ANC the Attorney General's office was seeking the unusual funding arrangement in part to be able to hire more attorneys. The office currently has 275 attorneys, she said, and it needed another 75 attorneys to bring it up to size that similar offices have in cities of the same size.

The Attorney General's office also wished to strengthen its consumer protection division, she said, and be able to fund a proposed new "affordable housing" division.

Natale also compared the budget of the Attorney General's office -- about $55 million a year, or 1% of the District's overall budget -- with the amount of money the office ("a revenue-generating agency for the District government") takes in. For example, the Attorney General's office won an award of $60-90 million from online hotel companies who were booking hotel rooms without paying appropriate taxes.

A presentation submitted to the ANCs said: "This fiscal year, we project that we will recover or save the District more than a billion dollars."

At the ANC1B meeting last night, attorney Argatonia Weatherington, also of the Neighborhood and Victim Services Section of the Attorney General's Office, made a similar, but shorter, presentation, emphasizing that the Attorney General's Office sought "more independence" and "more autonomy". The Attorney General's office wished to retain a portion of settlements and awards in order to "expand the organization". Weatherington mentioned hiring 65-75 new attorneys.

The proposal must be approved by the DC Council. Natale said a hearing on the proposal is scheduled for April 22. Weatherington told ANC1B the hearing on April 27.

See a March 30 article from the Washington Post about Racine's proposal here.

Two Questions about Outdoor Seating for All Souls Bar

CORRECTION: Someone wrote to me that the "neighbor" mentioned below does not actually live in the neighborhood. Whenever he is referred to as "neighbor" in the text below, I changed it to "man". Apologies for the error.

David Batista, owner/operator of All Souls Bar (725 T Street NW), with his attorney Andrew Klein of Veritas Law Firm, appeared at last meeting of the liquor-licensing affairs committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street on March 18. They wanted to talk about the details of proposed outdoor seating at the corner of T and 8th Streets. They had artist's renderings already on set up on easels, ready to show the committee. But the papers covering the drawings were never removed, and the committee never saw them, as neighbors once again were there to object.

All Souls Bar (grey building left) wants to serve here

"Not much has changed since the last meeting," said committee chair Nick
Baumann. The only development, Baumann said, was that he had received about eight emails total on the topic -- some for, some against.

All Souls Bar has not officially applied to DC's Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) for permission to serve outdoors. The ANC has taken on the task of trying to negotiate between the parties.

ANC1B Chair James Turner (Commissioner for district 09) urged all parties to try to arrive at a durable solution.

"Everybody wants a patio, a roof deck, a pop up, a pop out, a shoot out," Turner said in exasperation. Turner told both sides the ANC wanted "something we're not going to get a noise complaint about later".

The discussions at the meeting generated two questions...

Was the decision to allow the bar to open illegal?

"ABRA put a bar there even though there is a law against it," said one of the neighbors man about a 2012 decision (13-page .pdf here) that allowed All Souls to open.

Attorney Klein said: "I would suggest that he [the neighbor man] familiarize himself with the law." Klein sarcastically referred to this neighbor man as "the gentleman from Montgomery County".

The law the neighbor man refers to is a DC law forbidding issuance of liquor licenses to establishments within 400 feet of a school -- in this case, the Cleveland Elementary School (1825 18th Street), which is across T Street.

The neighbor man would be wise to take the attorney's advice about familiarity with the law. As this Greater Greater Washington blog post explains, ABRA found the prohibition against a liquor licensee within 400 feet of a public school did not apply in this case, since there was already another licensee (an Ethiopian market/restaurant on 7th Street) operating within 400 feet. This stipulation is clearly laid out in the law -- see DC Code §25-314(b) here.

The neighbor man could, perhaps more accurately, state that enforcement of the spirit of the law -- to protect schoolchildren from seeing and interacting with drunk patrons -- had been violated over a technicality. The Ethopian market/restaurant on 7th Street is around the corner and out of sight of the school, therefore drinking there not a matter of immediate concern to parents. The tavern, on the other hand, is across the street, clearly visible from the school.

However, this argument also is unlikely to gain traction in this case for two reasons: (1) All Souls is committed to operating only outside of school hours, and (2) ABRA's 2012 decision clearly states it is not in the business of shielding children's eyes from seeing establishments where liquor is served.

What's the law on outdoor service near schools?

Rule 23-302.5 of DC Municipal Regulation (available for download here) says

No alcoholic beverage shall be sold or served by a licensee upon any portion of any premises which fronts upon, abuts, adjoins, or is opposite to the premises of any of the institutions or recreation areas mentioned in this section unless that portion of the premises where alcoholic beverages are served is within a building; provided, that the restriction of service within a building is not applicable to Class C or D licensees on non-school days, weekends, and after 6:00 p.m. on weekdays, allowing alcohol products to be served on licensed outdoor patios which are part of the licensee's premises.

All Souls Bar is a class C licensee, so service after 6pm school days, and longer hours on other days, is possible, according to the regulations. So neighbors of the bar will probably make a case for denying outdoor service on the basis of "peace, order and quiet" -- this being the most frequently used language when neighbors oppose a liquor license.

All Souls Bar is located in ANC1B district 01 -- Brian Footer is the Commissioner. It is also borders on district 02 -- Ellen Nedrow Sullivan is the Commissioner. These two will have the task of trying to bring the sides together. Sullivan is on the liquor licensing affairs committee and said she was planning to start meetings with a protesting neighbor in the week following the meeting.

No vote was taken on any aspect of this proposal at the March 18 meeting.

Tropicalia Assault Case Report: No Blame on Club

The owner of the dance club Tropicalia (2001 14th Street NW) gave a freshly-minted official report to a committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street on March 18. This report, the owner said, exonerated his club of any wrong-doing concerning two alleged cases of assault by club bouncers against women customers -- see SALM blog post of January 22.

Tropicalia is in the basement of this building at 14th and U

Jesse Cornelius, Public Affairs Specialist at DC's Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA), said in an email the report (see copy here) states that ABRA "took the matter under consideration and decided to take no further action."

The chair of the liquor-licensing affairs committee, Nick Baumann, began the discussion as a part of the committee's regularly-scheduled committee meeting. Baumann had invited both the customers and the club ownership to the meeting to discuss the incident, and both sides were present.

"It's not our role to rule on the facts," Baumann said.

Baumann then said ABRA had not yet ruled on the case. It was at that moment that Tropicalia owner Amanollah Ayoubi first informed the committee of the ABRA report's existence. Ayoubi said the report had been issued that day and had "dismissed the case". He gave the committee a copy of the report.

Ayoubi was given the floor and disputed much of the customers' version of events as presented to the committee in January. The owner's version of events largely agrees with that presented in the ABRA report. For example, one customer stated at the January committee meeting she had been assaulted by the nightclub bouncer. However, the report says the only assault that occurred at that time was when the woman struck the bouncer after refusing to leave.

The owner also said there was no video of the incident. The club keeps surveillance camera video for two weeks. They were notified by ABRA of the investigation 17 days after the incident took place, the owner said.

The owner also accused the customers of waging an unfair campaign against the club on social media.

ANC Commissioner John Green (district 12 -- where Tropicalia is located) asked if the bouncer involved in the incident was still working at Tropicalia.

Another member of the management team said the bouncer involved in the incident had left -- "for unrelated reasons".

The customers who had made the allegations and their allies sat silently while the owner talked to the committee. When he was finished, Baumann asked if they wished to say anything. One of them took up his offer.

"The reason I came before this body was to give you a heads up," she said.

She said she had been "attacked and injured" at the club and a report had been "filed with the prosecutor". However, she said, she understood the owner's perspective.

"I want to prevent that from happening again," she said.

Barring further developments, this seems to be the end of the case. The committee did not take any action or any vote on this matter at the meeting.

(Photo credit: Google Street View)

Problem Liquor Stores at 14th and U and in Columbia Heights Seek Liquor License Renewal

This is the second of two articles published today about renewals of liquor store licenses -- more specifically, about the renewals that the liquor licensing affairs committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street discussed at its March 18 meeting. All DC liquor stores have until the end of March to file applications to renew their Class A liquor licenses.

Many of the applications seemed routine and generated little or no discussion. The two cases below were exceptions.

Bestway Liquors

The owner of Bestway Liquors (2011 14th Street) attended the meeting and reported that his mandatory placard about the renewal application has been up in the window of his store for about a week. Commissioner John Green (district 12 -- also the location of Bestway Liquors) reported "positive and negative remarks" via email about the store. He read the emails to the meeting about the store, which is located on the east side of 14th Street just north of U Street. Some emails said the store "attracts unsavory people", that there were "people loitering", and "drunks passed out" in front of the store.

Bestway Liquors and placard on March 19

The owner of the store said he tried to do everything possible to limit people from congregating in front of his store, but the space was after all a public sidewalk as well as a bus stop. He said it was particularly difficult to get people to clear out of the bus stop, which had a bench. Police had told him not to shoo people away from the store -- he should call the police, because anything on the sidewalk was police responsibility.

The owner and his attorney showed the ANC several "certificates of compliance", which is what liquor stores get when DC authorities attempt a "sting" to get the store to sell liquor to underage or obviously drunk patrons, and the store (complying with the law) refuses to do so. The owner also showed several "barring notices" -- official documents that allow an owner to refuse to sell to specific individuals who have been a problem. On some occasions, the owner says he observes, on the store's security cameras, barred individuals sitting at the bus stop persuading others to buy liquor on their behalf. When the owner sees this, he said, he refuses the sale.

The owner also said he does not sell malt liquor or "singles".

A police officer at the committee meeting said the MPD had a new additional police officer assigned to that stretch of U Street and hoped the officer would reduce the problems in front of Bestway Liquors.

The committee voted to take no action. If there are no official complaints to DC's liquor-licensing authorities, the store will probably have its license renewed.

Fairmont Liquors

"It draws a huge crowd of Howard students," said one committee member of Fairmont Liquors (2633 Sherman Avenue).

"They come in six, seven, ten at a time," the owner of Fairmont Liquors told the committee.

(Google Street View)

The committee noted three cases of selling liquor to minors. In November 2014, Fairmont Liquors was fined $8000 and ordered closed for 15 days for selling to underaged individuals who were probably Howard students -- see SALM blog post of December 9, 2014.

"The problem is a fake ID," the owner said. "They [meaning, the ID cards] come from many states, not just Virginia, Maryland, but Alaska, many states."

The owner told the committee he had gotten a booklet from DC's liquor-licensing authorities to help him distinguish genuine out-of-state IDs from not-so-genuine.

"We need to take a serious look at the record," said ANC1B Chair James Turner (Commissioner for district 08). Turner noted there were occasions when there was no ID check.

"Is that a good community neighborhood establishment?" Turner said.

During the discussion it was also noted there had been a homicide at the liquor store sometime during the last three years. However, the homicide was unconnected with the store, except for the fact that it took place there, and no one suggested the owner was in any way culpable.

A member of the committee asked if the establishment had security camera. The owner said he had one inside camera and was planning four cameras outside.

The liquor license renewal application for Fairmont Liquors has not started its placarding period yet, so there was no vote at the meeting. The committee expects to take up the case at its next meeting. The owner was advised to prepare as much as possible in order to make a strong case for renewal when he comes before the committee.

Many other liquor stores in the area between U Street and Columbia Heights are coming up for renewal -- see the bottom of today's other post for a list.

Recently-robbed LeDroit Market Gets Community Help, Committee Endorsement

LeDroit Market (1901 14th Street NW) is getting support from its neighbors after it was robbed. It also easily got endorsement for a regularly-scheduled renewal of its liquor license at a March 18 meeting of a committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street.

(Google Street View)

Liquor licenses come up for renewal every three years, timed so that each year a different class of license comes up for renewal. This year, it's "class A" liquor licenses -- that is, the licenses that allow liquor stores to operate -- and their application for license renewal must be filed before the end of March.

LeDroit Market seemed to be the first local establishment to file for renewal. At the meeting, Commissioner Brian Footer (district 01 -- also the location of LeDroit Market) told the committee the store had been "amazing" and an "absolute model" of an excellent community business, soliciting neighborhood opinion from the get-go.

The committee voted unanimously to endorse the application of LeDroit Market to renew its liquor license. The application will move next to the full ANC, which is scheduled to meet on Thursday, April 2, at 7pm, at a location to be determined.

Footer also reported LeDroit Market was robbed last weekend. A member of the MPD told the committee the robbers took about $400, but the market had "a good surveillance camera".

Footer told the ANC that LeDroit Park residents were organizing an event for next Wednesday, March 25, between 7 and 9pm. Local residents will make a special effort to go to the store and purchase items at that time in order to show support. The next day, a report of the same upcoming event appeared on the blog Left for LeDroit.

In addition to LeDroit Market, The ANC1B's liquor licensing affairs committee had a list of local liquor stores needing license renewals in its jurisdiction, which runs from U Street up to Columbia Heights and from 15th Street to Georgia Avenue.

Two other liquor stores, Bestway Liquors (2011 14th Street) and Fairmont Liquors (2633 Sherman Avenue) generated some discussion, which is the subject of a separate SALM post today.

A longer list of local liquor stores generated little or no discussion at the meeting, in part because no one from the public showed up to complain, and in part because they haven't completed their paperwork. These establishments include:

• Dove House Liquors (1905 9th Street)
• Florida Liquors (2222 14th Street)
• Gallagher & Graham (1939 12th Street)
• Harvard Liquors (2901 Sherman Avenue)
• Joe Caplan Liquors (1913 7th Street)
• Serv-u-liquors (1935 9th Street)

These will all probably be considered at next month's meeting after they officially apply for renewal of their license. The liquor licensing affairs committee normally meets on the third Wednesday of every month at the Thurgood Marshall Center (1816 12th Street) at 7pm -- next month, that will be April 15th. If you want to see a local liquor store change their behavior, this is an excellent opportunity to try to make it happen.

27 New "Leaning Toward Condos" at 14th and U

Developers The Goldstar Group and Bonstra|Haresign Architects has unveiled a proposed design for a new nine-story mixed-used building at 1355/1357 U Street NW, a stone's throw from 14th Street. A committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street heard a preliminary presentation about the building on March 16. The development has not yet applied for historic preservation review or zoning relief -- the briefing was purely informational.

How the building (top left) might look from the Reeves Center

ANC1B's Zoning, Preservation and Development (ZPD) Committee heard Eric May of The Goldstar Group and Rob McClennan of Bonstra|Haresign tell of their September 2014 purchase of the property and the "somewhat arduous process" of meeting three times each with DC's historic preservation and zoning authorities since then. Any development on the property will require review by DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) because it is located in the U Street Historic District.

Parking

The presenters have not officially applied at any government agency yet, but they told the committee they will probably apply for zoning relief for parking. The current design of the property provides three parking spaces, located in the rear of the building. Zoning would require nine. The presenters said the shape of the long, narrow lot would make an underground garage with a ramp a near-impossibility.

ANC1B chair James Turner (Commissioner for district 08) told the presenters the ANC would likely push for building to provide at least nine spaces as required. Turner is not on the ZPD Committee but attended the meeting.

The presenters' calculation of nine spaces was built on the assumption they would end up with 27 new residential units in the new building. At another moment, the presenters said they expected the finished building to have 25 - 30 residential units, and they were "leaning towards condos" as opposed to rental units.

Size

The proposed designs would preserve the existing buildings facing U Street to a depth of 34 foot from the sidewalk, which is their depth as originally constructed. Behind these original structures, there are newer buildings. These would be demolished so the new mixed-use building could be built on the land.

The original buildings facing U Street would be then integrated with brand-new construction to the rear to form one continuous space of 3000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor.

The presenters said they were considering both office and residential space for the second floor, extending from the old building facing U Street to the rear of the lot in the same manner as the ground floor. If they went with office space, the presenters said, they might have 4600 square feet of office space.

Starting on the third floor, the building facade would be set back 34 feet from U Street for a planned additional six stories of residential space, plus a "mechanical penthouse" (containing air conditioning units, elevator machinery, etc.).

The projected height of the building is 100 feet, which is still not as tall as a neighboring apartment building, The Ellington.

Affordable Housing

The development would also be subject to DC regulations about "inclusionary zoning", also known as affordable housing. The law would require eight percent of the total units -- perhaps two or three units, depending on how many total units the development had -- be set aside for housing available at less than market rates. These units would be considered affordable by families earning 80% of DC Metropolitan Area Median Income (AMI) -- about $70,000 for a family of four. In 2013, two-bedroom condos included in the inclusionary zoning program sold for about $200,000/year average, according to a DC government report here.

Turner said the ANC would push on inclusionary zoning and urged the developer to go beyond the minimum requirement and consider including some units affordable at less than 80% AMI.

One committee member said units at 60% AMI would offer "real benefit" to the community.

More generally, the presenters said they were considering putting four units on each floor -- two one-bedroom, two two-bedroom -- except for the top floor, which would have only two units total.

Other details

The presenters said they had talked to the neighboring Hamiltonian Gallery. The gallery was "fully supportive". The developers will offer compensation to the gallery for disruption that will occur construction. About a neighboring liquor store, the presenters said it had been unresponsive and "we cannot get past go."

Given the building's location, committee members asked the presenters to consider materials than absorb, rather than reflect, sound -- meaning, for example, less use of glass.

The presenters said they had not gotten to the point where they had settled on the details of the design (e.g., color and materials) but "we'd like to go very contemporary".

The property is the former location of the nightclubs Republic Gardens and State of the Union.

Goldstar and Bonstra|Haresign told the ANC they had presented the new building designs to the U Street Neighborhood Association the previous week -- see March 13 article from the blog Urban Turf.

(photo credit: detail from documents submitted to the ZPD Committee)

Darnell's Signs Agreement with U Street ANC, Protests Dismissed

Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (ANC) 1B/U Street has signed a settlement agreement with Darnell's Bar (944 Florida Avenue NW), which will attempt to limit the noise coming from the establishment. As a result, the ANC withdrew its protest of Darnell's liquor license renewal as of March 11th, the date the agreement was officially recognized by DC's Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (ABRA).

Image of Darnell's from Google Street View

Protests by the ANC and other groups had threatened to close the establishment -- see SALM blog posts of October 22 and December 10, 2014.

Beside the ANC, three other parties were protesting the renewal. Two of these three protests were also dismissed on March 11th. One of the dismissed protest was that of a group of five or more neighbors. Any protest by a group of five or more is automatically dismissed when an agreement between the ANC and the establishment is signed, as set forth in Section 25-609 of DC Code.

The second dismissed protest was that of an abutting neighbor, who lives above the establishment. This neighbor's protest was dismissed because she failed to attend an ABRA hearing on February 18. Information gathered from an ABRA official transcript of the hearing indicates that the neighbor had gone "way down in Virginia" to visit family during the long Presidents' Day weekend immediately previous, and then was unable to return to DC due to a February 17 snowstorm that brought the area to a halt, closing schools and the federal government.

The third protesting party attended the hearing. He told ABRA about the upstairs neighbor's inability to make it back to the city, but said he had talked to the upstairs neighbor. She wished to remain a party to the protest.

He was asked if he had anything in writing that stated this.

"I couldn't get anything in writing. She left before the snow come," he replied.

He was asked if he had any email that stated this. He didn't.

"I'm not computer literate anyway and neither is she," he said.

According to the same transcript, the upstairs neighbor's protest was then dismissed. The neighbor who attended the hearing was advised that an appeal of the decision was possible if filed within 10 days of receiving notification. However, a March 11 ABRA document (page seven of an 18-page .pdf here) says that the neighbor's request for a reinstatement was unanimously denied. No reason for the denial was given.

On the same day, the protest of the upstairs neighbor was officially dismissed. See the order dismissing the protest here.

One protesting party remains -- a second abutting neighbor. This neighbor will get to make a case against Darnell's at the ABRA protest hearing, scheduled for April 8 at 1:30pm at ABRA offices at the Reeves Center (14th and U Streets).

The text of the settlement agreement between ANC1B and Darnell's can be seen as on the last page of the order dismissing the protest of the group of five or more here.

ANC1B voted to enter the settlement agreement with Darnell's at its regular monthly meeting in January -- see SALM blog post of January 12.

ANC1B Commissioner Resigns, Special Election to Be Held if Necessary

At its regular monthly meeting on March 10, James Turner, Chair of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street, announced that Kevin Cain, Commissioner for district 04, had resigned that day. No reason for the resignation was given. Turner further announced the timeline for filling the seat.

The opening will be advertised in the DC Register on March 20. Blank petitions for the open Commission position will be available at the DC Board of Elections and Ethics (DCBOEE) starting March 23. Candidates must gather at least 25 registered voters who live in the ANC district. Deadline for filing the petitions will be April 13. There will be a three-day "challenge period" for signatures on the petition. The qualifying candidates will be announced on April 22.

If there is only one qualifying candidate, DCBOEE will declare the position filled. If there is more than one candidate, a special election will be held of the sidelines of the next ANC1B meeting after the challenge period ends. ANC1B normally meets on the first Thursday of the month, so the election might take place on Thursday, May 7. ANC1B normally meets at 7pm. The location of the May meeting has not yet been announced.

According to DCBOEE information here, candidates must be a registered voter in the ANC district they wish to represent, and they must have lived in that ANC district for at least sixty days prior to the day the nominating petition is filed.

District 04 is located just north of the Reeves Center (14th and U Streets NW), north of V street, west of 15th, east of 12th -- see map above.

U Street ANC Asks Attorney General Opinion on Liquor License for Shared Office Space

At its regular monthly meeting March 10, Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street voted unanimously to ask the the office of the DC Attorney General to weight in on the matter of the requirement of a liquor license for DC branch of WeWork, located in the Wonder Bread Factory (641 S Street NW) in Shaw. This may set a precedent for all shared office space establishments in DC.

Wonder Bread Factory in 2013

"This is actually a very important issue to tackle," said ANC1B Chair James Turner (Commissioner for district 09).

DC's Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board has reviewed the case and issued a temporary liquor license to WeWork, according to page six of this March 4 document. This would allow WeWork to continue its practice of supplying beer free of extra charge to the tenants of its shared workspace for tech start-ups.   The ABC Board is presumably considering the issuance of a long-term Class C multi-purpose facility liquor license, which normally might cost around $2000 and be valid until March 2016.

WeWork, a multi-national company specializing in shared office space, had been providing a common refrigerator stocked with beer, as well as non-alcoholic beverages, to clients at its three DC locations until it was visited by the enforcement branch of DC's liquor-licensing authorities -- see SALM blog post here. While WeWork will probably not have difficulty getting a liquor license, the ANC brought up the possibility that WeWork doesn't actually need a liquor license as long as meets certain basic requirements -- similar to the 2014 case of a U Street art gallery reported here.

ANC1B voted to send a letter to the ABC Board supporting the contention that WeWork did not need a license. However, it was reported at the meeting that the ABC Board found aginst WeWork, meaning, WeWork is required to get a liquor license. This decision sets a precedent for all providers of shared office space in the district.

In addition, Commissioner Brian Footer (district 01) said: "It doesn't make sense."

Commissioners also reported advocates for WeWork had been given bad advice and had "made a poor argument during the basic finding hearing" at the ABC Board.

The DC Attorney General's office is not obligated to agree with ANC opinion, of course, but it is obligated to respond to a letter from the ANC.

In addition to the Wonder Bread Factory location, WeWork also has branches in Dupont Circle (1875 Connecticut Avenue) and Chinatown (718 7th Street).

2024 15th Street: ANC1B Facilitates Negotiations Between Neighbors about Pop-back

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street successfully facilitated an agreement between the owner of 2024 15th Street NW and a neighbor, so that the building will be able to "pop back" into a residence that will have four or five residential units. ANC1B's Zoning, Preservation and Development (ZPD) Committee voted unanimously to support the project after representatives of the neighbor came to the meeting and said they were satisfied with the outcome. The vote came at the ZPD Committee's February 23 meeting.

The darker grey on the left is the rear addition to the house

The neighbor had originally written a letter of protest about the development, which must get the approval of DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) because it is located between U and V Streets in the U Street Historic District.

Patrick Nelson, ZPD Committee chair, said he had made a site visit to the property three weeks before and had spent two hours on the telephone with the neighbor a few days previous, addressing the neighbor's concerns.

The neighbor was out of town on business, but the neighbor's spouse and mother appeared at the meeting to confirm that the neighbor was satisfied with the outcome.

"He was very happy that someone took the time," Nelson said.

The neighbor was initially concerned about trash collection at the building once the expansion was complete, as well as a part of the proposed new construction which, the neighbor felt, would block light and air. The parties developing 2024 15th Street took the concerns on board and made changes.

"The modifications were not the ideal," the owner of 2024 15th Street told the committee.

The applicants told the committee they were planning to appear before the HPRB in three days' time, on February 26. This would be too soon to get approval from the full ANC, but the applicants were hoping to go to the HPRB with the committee's approval only.

The historic preservation aspects of the project were approved by the HPRB at its February 26 meeting. The HPRB staff report on the project (available here) calls the rear addition compatible with the historic district as a whole. It notes that it will not be visible from the front and is similar to rear additions to nearby houses already in place.

The rear additions will not increase the building's height, and the building will still have two parking spaces as required by zoning. The project does not require any zoning relief, so now that the HPRB has signed off on it, it can go ahead.

See the architectural drawings submitted to the HPRB here.

Weather permitting, ANC1B's regularly monthly meeting is scheduled for tonight, March 5, at 7 pm at the auditorium of the DC Housing Finance Agency, 815 Florida Avenue. This matter is not on the published agenda, which is available about half-way down this page.

(Photo credit: detail from applicant's HPRB submission)

Columbia Heights Property Tries to "Make It Legal"

CORRECTION: When first posted, the committee chair was identified as Patrick Brown. His name is Patrick Nelson. Apologies for the error.

2807 Sherman Avenue NW, a property with a colorful recent history, will get a facelift if the new owners can get some zoning relief from DC's Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA). So one owner and his attorney were before a committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street on February 23 to ask the committee to recommend support to the full ANC.

2807 Sherman Ave (to right of streetlight) in May 2014

"This has been a nuisance property for a long time," said Patrick Brown Nelson, chair of
ANC1B's Zoning, Preservation & Development Committee.

"There were like 20 people [living] there," said Brown Nelson of the building which is located between Girard Street and Gresham Place.

On-line records (see .pdf here) show the then-owner of 2807 Sherman Avenue was arrested in August 2012 for assault on a police officer with a dangerous weapon. On the same day, other people at the same address were arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to use.

In the early morning hours of January 25, 2013, a fire broke out in the floor and walls of 2807 Sherman Avenue, according to a tweet from the DC Firefighters Association. A post with photographs on the District of Columbia Fire Department website (about half-way down the page here) says the fire broke out between the second and third floors and seven residents were "forced into the freezing pre-dawn cold" by the fire.

New owners

The house was sold in June 2014 for $417,000, according to online records. One of the current owners, Matt Medvene, appeared before the ZPD Committee with attorney Martin Sullivan of Sullivan & Barros.

The new owners did not get off to a good start with the building. Medvene told the committee he originally hired an architect from Baltimore who was unfamiliar with DC regulations. While Medvene was out of the country, he said, the architect went ahead with demolition and started building without city permission. This unauthorized construction included a structure on the top of the building, which is still now half-completed. The unauthorized work was stopped and Medvene had to pay three fines totalling several thousand dollars, he said, before he could start the process of making the up and out expansion legal. Medvene blamed the Baltimore-based architect for the illegal construction, and said he is no longer working with him.

"We're making it legal," he said.

The owner said he planned to have a two-unit building, and live in one of the units. The building is already a two-unit building, he said, "with separate addresses".

Although the building will be taller, it does not require zoning relief for height, as it is still within what the owner can do "by right". In addition, it is not located in a historic district, so no review by DC historic preservation authorities will be necessary. Finally, the neighboring house to the north is already taller than 2807 Sherman Street (see photo). Medvene said this neighbor has indicated support for his expansion.

The building requires zoning relief for lot occupancy. It is already over the maximum lot occupancy for the zone -- 60% permitted, 70% existing. It is unclear how the building got that way. Medvene reported the previous owner had no documentation about whether he made alterations to the house.

Both committee members and the owner said they did not like the color of the house.

"It looks kind of putrid," the owner said. "We'll be repainting. We're looking at a cool gray."

Committee decision

The committee voted, 5-1, to support the request for zoning relief. The matter will probably be considered by the full ANC at its next regularly scheduled meeting on March 5, at 7pm, at a location to be determined.

The applicants told the committee their case was scheduled for a public hearing at the BZA on April 7.

The documents relating to this case can be accessed by going to the DC government's Interactive Zoning Information System and putting case number 18960 into the search bar.

This is the first meeting for ANC1B's Zoning, Preservation & Development Committee. It will take up most of the business formally handled by the ANC's Design Review Committee, which has been disbanded. The February 23 meeting was a make-up for a meeting that was originally scheduled for February 17, but then cancelled due to snow.

(Photo credit: Google Street View)

Cork Market In Danger of Losing Liquor License over Ownership Issues

DC's Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board is investigating Cork Market & Tasting Room (1805 14th Street NW) for possible "ownership interest issues". According to ABC Board document available here, the ABC Board is investigating to determine if it is appropriate to forward the matter to the DC Office of the Attorney General for prosecution, and to determine if the ABC Board can legally renew their liquor license.

A hearing on the matter was scheduled for yesterday, February 25, at the ABC's Board offices at the Reeves Center (14th and U Streets). The hearing was postponed until April 22.

The ABC Board document cited above asks the proprietors of Cork Market & Tasting Room, Diane Gross and Khalid Pitts, to supply all bank records for the establishment plus their federal income tax returns for 2012 and 2013.

The document also said the Board was looking into whether Cork was "not in compliance" with several parts of the DC Code. One of them is section 25-301 (a)(5), which states that, before the ABC Board will issue or renew a liquor license, the applicant must be able to show that he or she

is the true and actual owner of the establishment for which the license is sought, and he or she intends to carry on the business for himself or herself and not as the agent of any other individual, partnership, association, limited liability company, or corporation not identified in the application.

Another section cited is section 25-403 which states in part

The making of a false statement, whether made with or without the knowledge or consent of the applicant, shall, in the discretion of the Board, constitute sufficient cause for denial of the application or revocation of the license.

Khalid Pitts ran unsuccessfully for an At-Large City Council seat last year. His Linked In profile says he is active in an executive capacity in a number of other organizations, including Democracy Partners, DC Health Link, and USAction.

Cork Market & Tasting Room's sister establishment, Cork Wine Bar, is located across the street at 1720 14th Street. It is not named in the ABC Board document. Cork Wine Bar was one of the first upscale establishments to appear on 14th Street. It won Pitts and Gross the title Restaurateurs of the Year from Washingtonian Magazine in 2009.

All Souls Bar Meets Opposition to Outside Service

David Batista, owner/operator of All Souls Bar (725 T Street NW), came before the liquor licensing affairs committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street on February 18 to re-open the question of outside service. He met opposition from neighbors, at least one of whom is on the committee.

Lot on the left, normally grassy, was recently snowy.

"We've been open for 14 months. We've been good neighbors," Batista said.

Batista asked the committee to consider approving a patio to be located on a large grassy lot (see photo) adjacent to All Souls Bar on the west, facing 8th Street. Batista characterized the area "a city lot that we maintain". However, everyone agreed, it is not public space in the sense that the sidewalk is public space. Public records available at Property Quest, DC's public land-use database, indicate that the grassy area and the bar building are located on a single lot of property. The place in the database where the name and address of the lot owner normally appears is blank.

There is a much smaller paved area in front of the bar, and allowing outside seating there was discussed as a substitute for or an addition to the outside seating as Batista requested it.

Batista also told the committee that his appearance was supposed to be the beginning of a dialogue and no official request had been filed. Batista said he hoped the outside seating could be open until 11pm Sunday to Thursday and 1am on Friday and Saturday, and that there would be no music, live or recorded, outside the bar.

In June 2012, All Souls Bar was granted a liquor license by DC's Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) despite strong opposition centering on the bar's location across T Street from Cleveland Elementary School (1825 18th Street NW). Unusually for a liquor license application, the hearing of the case of All Souls Bar in March 2012 generated TV news coverage from WJLA (Channel 7) -- see video here.

Batista told the committee he had intended to have outside seating from the bar's opening but had withdrawn the request from his original application in the hopes it would make the process go more smoothly. 

Of the four people who came to the meeting to object to outside seating, none of them identified themselves as having a connection to Cleveland Elementary School. All of them self-identified as neighbors. 

"We don't want a patio," said one neighbor, who is also a member of the committee.

Another neighbor, who owns an abutting property, told the committee that the neighbors had fought for a settlement agreement with All Souls that excluded outside seating, and that they did not want the agreement changed. The tenant of the same abutting property also appeared and said she was against outside seating.

Yet another neighbor said he was against the bar at its opening but was now a customer of All Souls Bar. Still, he said, he was against outside service.

No vote was taken on the request. ANC1B Commissioners will take on the difficult task of finding common ground between the parties and negotiating an agreement

See the 2012 ABRA order issuing a liquor license to All Souls Bar here. The settlement agreement with the neighbors is attached as the final two pages of the 13-page .pdf document.

The 2012 application was the subject of coverage in many blogs, including Borderstan, Popville, GrassrootsDC, and Greater Greater Washington.

Stipulated Liquor License Recommended for Calabash Tea & Tonic in Shaw

Sunyatta Amen, a self-described "fifth-generation herbalist" and local TV and radio personality, appeared before the liquor-licensing affairs committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street on February 18. She asked for a stipulated liquor license for a soon-to-open Shaw branch of her five-year-old Takoma vegan tea room, Calabash Tea & Tonic.

From website of Calabash Tea & Tonic

The address will be 1847 7th Street NW.

Amen told the committee she intended to serve "low alcoholic kombucha", cherry liqueur, and dandelion wine. She also said the shop might have some products from nearby Right Proper Brewing (624 T Street) but the shop would serve "primarily tea". The establishment may seek an endorsement on its license that will allow tastings, but it will not seek a live entertainment endorsement, nor will it have any type of outside seating. Its planned hours of operation are 8am to 11pm.

"It's not like we're a bar," she said. Nevertheless, the establishment is seeking a category CT license, also known as a "tavern license". These are more expensive than licenses often sought by restaurants ("CR"), but the holder is not obligated to demonstrate that a certain amount of its revenue come from sales of non-alcoholic items.

Amen said the establishment planned to open "maybe in three weeks".

Amen is a self-described "natural health advocate" who has a radio program on Monday afternoons on WPFW. She has appeared on many occasions on Fox 5 News doing demonstrations of healthy cooking, teas, and herbal remedies.

On her Fox 5 appearances, on her YouTube videos, and elsewhere online, she is sometimes referred to as "Dr. Sunyatta Amen".

The committee voted unanimously to grant the establishment a stipulated liquor license, which will allow it to serve alcohol while its paperwork for a permanent DC liquor license is processed, assuming that no other objecting parties appear. The chair of the committee did not vote on the matter, in accordance with ANC1B's new bylaws.

The matter will probably be considered by the full ANC at its next regularly-scheduled meeting, to be hear on Thursday, March 5, at 7pm, at a location to be determined.

ANCs have to authority to grant stipulated liquor licenses to allow establishments to get up and running. However, the potential licensees must make a separate application to the ANC and DC liquor-licensing authorities for a permanent liquor license, so the committee will probably see Amen again soon.

965 Florida Avenue Project Expects Exit Soon from Bowser Hold

The developers of several parcels of land at and near 965 Florida Avenue NW told a meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street February 5 that it will soon exit the hold put on the project by the Mayor Bowser.

Red Star = 965 Florida Avenue (photo credit below)

"We are on the goal line on getting this in front of the council," said Matthew Robinson of MRP Realty.

965 Florida Avenue is one of five development projects approved late in the administration of former Mayor Vincent Gray which were put on hold January 29, pending review by the new Bowser administration team. The Bowser administration has said it wishes to confirm that upcoming projects are compliant with soon-to-be-enacted regulations concerning affordable housing.

Just before the developers spoke, the ANC also heard from Marc Bleyer, Senior Project Manager at the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED), on the multiple project hold. The bulk of Bleyer's remarks were about the possible long-term hold of a separate project to develop the former site of the Grimke School (1923 Vermont Street NW) -- see SALM blog post of February 9. However, about 965 Florida Avenue, Bleyer said: "We're working to get that done quickly."

Joining Robinson on the team of developers presenting were James Nozar of The JBG Companies and Chip Ellis of Ellis Development Group.

Nozar outlined the scope of the project, which involves three separate parcels of land. Nozar said there would be an announcement soon about the "neighborhood-oriented retail" that would appear in the new development. This included "food that is non-tapas oriented", he said.

Ellis announced there would be a 40,000 square foot grocery store on the site, but said he could not yet name the retailer. A report from last year named Harris Teeter as the "likely" grocery retailer for the project.

"We are pleased to announce that the project will be adhering to 30 percent affordable housing," Ellis also said, perhaps meaning that the project as currently envisioned is already compliant with the upcoming new regulations on affordable housing.

After the presentations, ANC1B Commissioner Ellen Nedrow Sullivan (district 02) told the presenters: "You're really answering the needs of the community."

See a February 3, 2015, article from the Washington City Paper's Housing Complex blog about the partnership of JBG and MPR Realty on this project here.

See a page from the DMPED web site about this project, including a link to the original Request for Proposal, here.

(Photo credit: detail from the DMPED 2012 Request for Proposal for 965 Florida Avenue)

Pepco Exelon Merger: DC Ratepayers Shouldn't Count on That 50 Dollar Check

Marc Battle, Vice President at the Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO), told a meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street February 5 that PEPCO customers should not count on getting a rumored $50 rebate check as a result of the proposed merger between PEPCO and Chicago-based energy giant Exelon Corporation, "the nation's leading competitive energy provider".

Battle told the ANC that the proposed terms for the merger, now being considered by the DC Public Service Commission, included a $14 million settlement. The Public Service Commission may dispose of as it pleases, and Battle thought it would be better spent in other ways.

"The settlement would be more effectively used as a block, not a fifty dollar credit," Battle said.

Talk of a fifty dollar check was in the air at the meeting as Robert Robinson of the Grid 2.0 Working Group, which opposes the merger, told the ANC that a $50 check and a three-year rate freeze are the only benefits District ratepayers would be likely to receive from the deal.

"The ratepayers become a cash cow," Robinson said. "We get fifty dollar benefit, that's all."

Exelon executives have already promised a $50 rebate for Maryland Pepco customers, according to a report in the Baltimore Sun.

Robinson told the ANC that the beneficiaries of the most lucrative portion of the deal will be shareholders and company executives, who will get to share a premium estimated at $1.2 - 2.5 billion.

"What does Exelon get from that? The shareholders go away," Robinson said.

To keep the meeting down to a manageable length, all presenters were given a limited amount of time, and then asked politely but firmly to wrap up when their time expired. This rule became even more necessary when it was revealed (in mid-discussion of the merger) that the room where the ANC was meeting at the Banneker Community Center (2500 Georgia Avenue) needed to be vacated at 9pm so it could be used as an emergency overnight shelter for the area homeless who were gathered outside waiting in the cold.

ANC1B Chair James Turner (district 09) told Robinson the discussion would have to wrap up. There would be no vote that evening, Turner said. The deadline for comment was March 26, so further discussion and a vote on a resolution, if any, could take place at the next ANC meeting (tentatively scheduled for Thursday, March 5, at a location to be determined).

Robinson looked extremely unhappy at this news and indicated he had not said all he wanted to. He also told the ANC that a comment made closer to the Public Service Commission deadline was likely to have much less impact than a comment now. Nevertheless, the portion of the meeting dedicated to this issue was closed after PEPCO Vice President Battle got to make remarks, including those mentioned at the top of this post.

Battle also said that the DC Public Service Commission would be starting hearings on the matter on Monday, February 9.

"These hearings are long, tedious, complicated, but important," Battle said.

See the DC Public Service Commission's case file on Pepco-Exelon merger here.

See a Washington City Paper article from yesterday concerning a new public opinion poll about the merger here.

The arithmetic of the proposed rebate check: The settlement is $14 million. Pepco said on its web site that it had 255,000 customers in DC in 2010. Today, it's probably a higher number. Fourteen million divided by 255,000 is a little over $54.90.

Bowser Administration Explains Grimke Project Hold to ANC1B

On February 5, Marc Bleyer, Senior Project Manager at the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) explained the Bowser administration's decision to put the disposition of the Grimke School (1923 Vermont Street NW) on hold. Bleyer spoke about the decision to Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street during its regular monthly meeting.

Marc Bleyer of the Deputy Mayor's office

ANC Commissioners and some audience members told Bleyer they were not pleased with the decision to put the project on hold after the ANC and the community spent a long time pondering the best use of the property.

"This is causing some unintended consequences," said ANC1B Chair James Turner (Commissioner for district 09). "What we've really done here is devalue the property."

"We were really excited about our tenants," said Comissioner Ellen Nedrow Sullivan (district 02). "The Grimke project needs to be special use. There's a lot of concern because it was a use we were really excited about."

The Grimke School is in Sullivan's ANC district.

The proposal now on hold was awarded on the last day of the Gray Administration to the development team of Sorg Architects and Roadside Development to turn the long-vacant school and nearby parcels into a new home for the African-American Civil War Memorial & Museum, along with dance and entertainment spaces, plus a mixed-used building with retail and residences.

The law explained

At the ANC meeting, Bleyer explained why the project had been put on hold. The "Disposition of District Land for Affordable Housing Amendment Act of 2013" was enacted by the DC City Council on November 27, 2014. As with all local legislation, the law went to the US Congress for a review period. It is anticipated there will no objection to this law in Congress, and the Bowser administration is acting on the assumption it will come into effect on or about March 10, 2015.

As of that date, Bleyer said: "Any property that has not yet been approved by council is subject to this law."

The law, as it applies to this project, says that, because it contains a housing element, at least 30% of the housing units must be allocated to "affordable housing", according to Bleyer. Of this 30%, there will be two categories of affordable housing -- those deemed affordable to those earning 30% of Area Median Income (AMI) and those deemed affordable at 50% of AMI. (Latest AMI for Washington DC is $107,500.) A two-bedroom apartment at 30% AMI might rent for about $725/month, while a 50% AMI apartment might rent for a maximum of $1,200/month.

Next steps for the new mayor's team

Now, the Bowser administration has reviewed the Grimke proposal and has gone back to the two developers who made it to the final round of the previous bidding process for a new "best and final offer".

"This is the first I've heard of a best and final offer," Turner said. "We should have been notified."

Bleyer was asked: Could the Bowser administration share the new best and final offers?

"I can't share the offers," he said. "I'm happy to meet with you but I cannot share the submissions."

Grimke School is one of five Gray-approved projects now on hold pending review by the Bowser administration -- see articles here and here. The day before ANC1B's meeting, ANC 2F/Logan Circle voted to send a letter to Mayor Bowser requesting the hold on one of the other projects be removed -- see SALM blog post of February 5.

Bleyer also addressed another on-hold project located in ANC1B -- 965 Florida Avenue -- which will be the subject of a separate blog post.

(photo credit: from the website of the Urban Land Institute Washington)