Agreement Reached in Logan Circle Air Rights Deal

Barry Madani of Madison Investments told a committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle that his company had reached a deal with the board of the Zenith Condominium (1437 Rhode Island Avenue) which will allow Madison to build a part of a seven-story condominium over the Zenith's driveway. Madani told ANC2F's Community Development Committee (CDC) of the deal at its last regularly-scheduled meeting on February 25.

This space will change hands.

"They were interested, we came to an agreement," Madani said.

However, Madani did not say how much Madison Investments will pay the Zenith Condominium for the air rights. Last year, there were reports that the owners' association of the Zenith Condominium had been offered $500,000, but some members wished to hold out for more -- see SALM blog post of August 27, 2014.

The ANC does not have to endorse or even know about the deal, but it creates a situation in which Madison Investments needs to court the ANC's endorsement.

Madison Investments will get "fee simple" (meaning, unconditional) ownership of a slice of land, which is now a driveway to some outside parking on the side and rear of the Zenith Condominium. The slice is roughly the width of one curb cut. Its length starts at the public sidewalk in front of 1437 Rhode Island Avenue and ends somewhere in mid-lot.

In exchange, the Zenith Condominium will get (in addition to a large cash payment) a "perpetual easement", so vehicles coming and going from the Zenith can use the driveway just as they do now.

The change of ownership of the strip of driveway means that Madison Investments will now be responsible for the curb cut leading to Rhode Island Avenue. Madani explained that the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) treats this change of ownership and responsibility as "a new development", so Madison Investments must apply for a curb cut like it was a new one, even though the curb cut already exists and will accommodate the same cars moving and parking on the same land.

"For all intents and purposes, everything will remain as it is," Madani said.

The CDC unanimously endorsed this request with very little debate. It will recommend to the full ANC that a letter be sent to DDOT in support of the "new" curb cut. Normally, requests approved unanimously by the CDC are approved by the full ANC with little further debate.

This matter is on the agenda for ANC2F's next regular monthly meeting, scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday), March 4, at 7 pm at the Washington Plaza Hotel (10 Thomas Circle).

1330 Vermont Street: Single-family Logan Circle Home Pops Back to Five Units

A proposal that would allow a developer to convert a single-family row house at 1330 Vermont Avenue NW, a stone's throw from Logan Circle, to a five-unit building got endorsement from a committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle on January 29. ANC2F's Community Development Committee (CDC) unanimously approved the historical preservation elements of the concept, which would expand the building to the rear. No height would be added to the building.

The rear of the building now

If approved by the full ANC, the proposal will move on to DC's Historical Preservation Review Board (HPRB) for approval of concept. Jim Foster of Arcadia Design (1737 Johnson Avenue) told the committee the a DC official reviewed the project and found it is "by right", that is, it needs no zoning relief. (Foster did not yet have a letter to this effect from the DC government, he said, but he planned to get one soon.) If the historical preservation aspects of the expansion are approved, it needs no further consideration by the DC government.

"If you give approval, you won't see us again," Foster said.

Foster said the client for this project was DC developer John Casey.

Forster told the committee the expansion would add under 1,000 square feet to the building, which currently is about 4,000 square feet in size. As currently envisioned, the finished project would have two basement apartments, one ground-floor unit that with an entrance in the rear of the building from a small backyard, a single front-entrance unit with space on the ground and second floors, and a fifth unit which would be located on the third floor plus a mezzanine.

The fifth unit only would have access to a large roof deck. Forster characterized this unit as "the money unit" of the expansion. He said there would be a small elevator installed in the building to access this unit.

1330 Vermont from the front

The present rear wall of the property will be moved back, but there will still be space on the rear of the property for two parking spaces, which is the minimum required by zoning.

The committee asked if the abutting neighbors had been contacted. Foster said the abutting neighbor to the north had been contacted but the neighbor to the south had not been contacted. There was no mention of contacting the neighbors to the rear, whose houses face onto the 1300 block of Rhode Island Avenue but will look on the proposed expansion from the rear.

The committee urged Foster to show evidence of contacting the abutting neighbors when presenting the project to the full ANC.

The illustrations submitted to the committee made it look as if the expansion would be mostly covered in light blue aluminum siding. Foster reassured the committee that it would not be. First, Foster explained, the color ink that the printer used on the illustration did not accurately represent how the proposed project would look. Second, Foster said, the siding would be wood (perhaps pine or cedar) or "essentially wood", depending on how much the developer decided to spend.

ANC Commissioner Pepin Tuma (district 03) asked what "essentially wood" meant. Foster explained "essentially wood" meant something called "hardie plank siding" (called "hardie board siding" when explained here), which are cement boards artificially given the texture and color of wood.

Tuma is not on the CDC, but the proposed project is in his ANC district.

The expansion requires HPRB review because the building falls within two different historic districts -- the Logan Circle Historic District and the Greater Fourteenth Street Historic District.

The matter is on the agenda for the next meeting of the full ANC, scheduled for Wednesday, February 4, at 7pm, at the Washington Plaza Hotel (10 Thomas Circle). Matters approved unanimously by the CDC are normally passed by the full ANC without much further debate, barring unexpected appearance at the meeting of opposition from the community.

Consideration of this project was the only item on the CDC agenda for this meeting.

Logan Circle Condominium Offered $500,000 for Air Rights, Some Want More

The owners' association of the Zenith Condominium (1439 1437 Rhode Island Avenue NW) has been offered $500,000 by an abutting developer for the right to build seven stories of condominiums over the Zenith's driveway. According to one person familiar with the offer: "Several owners are very unhappy with the proposed deal."

Worth half a million?

They feel the condo association should hold out for more money.

The owners' association has hired its own evaluator. The evaluator is scheduled to return an opinion in the next week.

The counter-party in the agreement are representatives of Madison Investments, who is planning to build an eight-story residential condominium at 1427-1429 Rhode Island Avenue, directly to the east of the Zenith Condominium. They hope to get the deal done before September 15.

According to a document circulated at an August 7 meeting of Zenith Condominium unit owners, in exchange for the $500,000 dollars, the Zenith condo owners will agree to sell 1,151 square feet of driveway area on the east side of the Zenith property and "grant... a seven-foot wide 'light and air' easement along the entire east property boundary".

In return, the developers of the new condo will "grant Zenith Association a perpetual, exclusive easement for the use of a gated, covered street-level vehicular accessway".

Over the accessway will be seven stories of residential space. The space above the accessway on each floor will be part of a two-bedroom apartment that will extend into the lot that the developers already own, according to drawings by the developers.

See the drawings (particularly, page 7 of 13), which were submitted to Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle in March, here.

The historical preservation aspects of the project were approved by ANC2F at its meeting of April 10.

The blog District Source published articles about the progress of this development on March 29, April 14, and April 30.

UPDATED: "Average Price Points" Bar Proposed for Former Ghana Cafe Space (1336 14th Street)

UPDATED: A tweet from Jamie Hess makes it clear that the new bar will be named "Crowbar".

The prospective co-owners of a bar to be located at 1336 14th Street NW came before Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle last night (August 6) to brief on their plans. The space, between N Street and Rhode Island Avenue, is the former home of the Ghana Cafe, which closed in early June.

1336 14th Street yesterday

One of the prospective owners is Steve Zarpas, former proprietor of Crow Bar (which was located at K and 20th Streets and closed in 1998). The other is Jamie Hess, one of the operators of Ivy and Coney (which opened at 1537 7th Street in Shaw less than a year ago).

Zarpas and Hess told the ANC they were "lifelong residents" of DC. They wanted to alert the ANC and the community of their intentions before they signed a lease on the space, they said.

"We're professionals, decent honorable people," Zarpas said.

Speaking of the Ghana Cafe, Zarpas said: "Given the history of that restaurant, it's ripe for innuendos."

The Ghana Cafe was the subject of a long and contentious battle involving the ANC and a group of neighbors. The dispute led to the ANC being sued by one of the neighbors. The lawsuit is still ongoing.

Ghana Cafe had a restaurant-category liquor license, which obliges the owner to show he earned a certain percentage of revenue from food. If the new establishment wants a tavern license, they will most likely have to petition for a completely new license, instead of buying the liquor license of the Ghana Cafe.

"I'll be honest," Zarpas said. "It's definitely more of a bar."

The prospective owners told the ANC they wished to get a tavern license, but they intended to serve a full menu of "comfort food" at "average price points".

Zarpas said he was "astounded" at the $20 hamburgers routinely found at restaurants along 14th Street. He wished to open a place with more reasonable prices.


Commissioner Walt Cain (district 02) asked if they proprietors would have entertainment on the premises.

The prospective owners said their initial plan was to show sports on television. After opening, they said, they might consider renovating the basement and offering recorded music there.

James Kane, the neighbor of the former Ghana Cafe who brought the lawsuit, was present at the meeting. There was an opportunity for community comment after the presentation, and Kane asked about characterizations on the Internet that Crow Bar was a "biker bar".

Zarpas said that "biker bar" was "a mischaracterization", but it had been a hang-out for bike couriers and popular with the motorcycle enthusiasts who came to DC every Memorial Day weekend for the Rolling Thunder Rally.

"Is that a group that you are planning to target?" Commissioner Cain asked.

"We have no plans to target that community specifically," Zarpas said.

After the presentation, there was a short scheduled break in the meeting. Kane, Zarpas, and Hess had a seemingly amicable conversation in the hallway outside the meeting room.

The prospective owners did not say what name they planned for the bar. The ANC2F meeting agenda said the prospective business was named "Crowbar".

The briefing was strictly informational. There was no vote of any type taken on the proposed establishment. If the lease on the property is signed, the proprietors will have to return to the ANC for liquor-license related approval, and probably other matters as well.

1740 NJ Ave: Trust Everybody, But Cut the Cards

An attorney told Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6E/Shaw July 1 that there was no reason to vote against her project, because she would immediately ask for a postponement of the planned zoning hearing. But ANC6E voted to oppose the project anyway.

The property from across Rhode Island Avenue

Attorney Meredith Mouldenhauer of Griffin, Murphy, Moldenhauer & Wiggins, LLP appeared before the ANC as part of a team with developer Jimmy Edgerton of Newton Street Development 3, LLC. The team aims to develop a property at 1740 New Jersey Avenue NW, a wedge-shaped piece of land at the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue and S Street, which has been vacant from at least 2011. The house on the property now is in poor condition. The current aim of the developers is to build a single-family home and an eight-unit condo on the property.

The single-family home can be built "by right", meaning, without asking for any zoning relief. But the eight-unit condo needs zoning variances for several reasons, including lot occupancy and parking. The existing building is not zoning-compliant because it covers 100% of the lot, and because it has no parking. ANC endorsement for these variance requests will help it move more smoothly through DC's Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA).

From remarks made at the meeting, it is clear that the developers and the ANC have been negotiating for quite some time about this project. There still has not been a meeting of the minds. The developers won't go below eight units; the ANC won't agree to eight units.

"I have been talking to the developers for months now and I have expressed strong opposition to their plans," said Commissioner Kevin Chapple (district 02).

The proposed development in Chapple's district, and he lives three houses down from 1740 New Jersey Avenue.

"Everyone that I've spoken to in my district is against such a dense unit at this location," he said.

When it became clear that Chapple was dead-set against the plan and the most of the ANC would probably vote with him, Mouldenhauer backtracked and promised to ask the BZA for a postponement of their hearing. But Chapple was not inclined to let the matter rest at that.

"We'd have to take your word for it," he said, about Moldenhauer's promise to ask for a postponement. 

There was some consternation in the audience that someone would not take an attorney at her word.

"She's a member of the bar!" exclaimed an attorney sitting next to me.

It was also mentioned that, if Mouldenhauer went back on her word now, she would never get another favorable hearing before the ANC again.

But Chappell seemed to want to be better safe than sorry, and put forward a motion to oppose the zoning variances. It passed 6-1. The lone vote against was Commissioner Marge Maceda (district 05).

After the vote ANC6E chair Alexander Padro (commissioner for district 01) said: "We welcome the opportunity to continue to work with you. We just wanted to have a placeholder to express our concerns, so you'd understand where we were coming from."

Online information indicates this property was sold in December 2013 for $775,000.

The blog District Source has also written about this case.

The documents related to this case can be examined by going to the BZA's Interactive Zoning Information System and putting case number 18794 into the search bar. A request to postpone the BZA hearing until September has been recently added to the file.

The remark "Trust everybody, but cut the cards" is attributed to American humorist Finley Peter Dunne.

1801 4th Street: "We're Mimicking the Town House That Was There"

A committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street gave conditional endorsement to zoning variances that will allow construction of a two-family row house on an empty lot at 1801 4th Street NW in LeDroit Park. The endorsement came at a meeting of ANC1B's Design Review Committee on June 16.

1801 4th Street (vacant lot center)

This is one of several recent cases where design modifications by DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) to planned renovation or construction have triggered the need for zoning variances -- see SALM blog posts for June 12 and May 30, 2014.

The lot in question was formerly the parking lot of Frazier's Funeral Home, which was located in an abutting property to the south. Frazier's Funeral Home closed in 2008. Developer Thomas Swarm bought the property. He developed the Funeral Home building (the brick building on the left in the photo) first -- it is now a residential building.

Both this project and the previous renovation had to get HPRB endorsement because the properties are located in the LeDroit Park Historic District.

Historic Preservation calls the shots

Before the lot was parking, a row house was there. HPRB has said the new construction had to be as close as possible to the long-gone building.

"This is their design," Swarm said at the meeting. "This is their direction."

HPRB required that the new row house be set back ten feet from the front property line, just like its neighbors.

"We're mimicking the town house that was there," Swarm said.

Since the entire living space of the building will be pushed back, the rear yard will be much smaller (4 feet 10 inches) than required by zoning (20 feet). In addition, the lot coverage (61.9%) will be slightly bigger than allowed by zoning (60%). The width of side yard of the building will not meet zoning requirement (3 feet vs. 10 feet).

In addition to the need for zoning variances, HPRB-led design has also created another small problem. The planned front staircase for the building will protrude slightly into public space, i.e., the front sidewalk. If this design is implemented as written, Swarm would also have to go to the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and seek a permit to use public space.

Tempers flare

The request seemed to be fairly routine. However, the discussion got a little heated during a digression about Swarm's trip through the DC property development maze. Committee member Tony Norman asked if Swarm had been to ANC1B before his HPRB approval. Swarm said he had been to the ANC last year. Norman said he didn't remember Swarm's visit.

Norman could have stimulated his memory by reading the SALM blog post of November 4, 2013, which was about the previous appearance of Swarm before Norman and the committee. At that time, Norman was chair of the committee, as well as chair of ANC1B as a whole. (He has since lost his position as chair and resigned from his commissionership.)

Norman said Swarm should have appeared before the committee before seeking HPRB approval. There was further discussion of whether Swarm had navigated the DC various government bodies in the correct order.

"I'm doing everything by the book," Swarm said.

He got a little angry.

"This is so dysfunctional," he said. "This is just like DC."

At this point, Swarm's attorney, Leila Batties of Holland & Knight, stepped in and gently redirected the conversation back to the immediate problem.

The committee voted unanimously to recommend to the full ANC that the zoning variances be endorsed as presented, with the caveat that the front stairs should not protrude into public space "if at all possible". 

The matter will probably be considered at the next meeting of the full ANC, scheduled to take place on July 10, 2014, at the Reeves Center (14th and U Streets). ANC1B usually holds their monthly meetings on the first Thursday of the month, but is postponing July's meeting due to the Independence Day holiday.

The application is scheduled for consideration by the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) on July 15. Documents in the case can be seen at the BZA's Interactive Zoning Information System by entering case number 18796 into the search bar.

Logan Circle ANC sued over FOIA Request

A resident of the 1400 block of Rhode Island Avenue has sued the DC government, alleging that Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle has failed to adequately provide documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

Detail from the complaint document

Documents (23-page .pdf) filed on June 2 at the Superior Court of The District of Columbia by James Kane allege ANC2F failed to search their records pertaining to the liquor license of the Ghana Cafe (1336 14th Street NW). It asks the court to declare DC in violation of FOIA, to force ANC2F to release the documents (mostly emails), and to order reimbursement of legal costs.

In response, ANC2F Chair Matt Raymond has issued a press release calling the lawsuit "frivolous" and "rife with demonstrable falsehoods".

Backstory

The FOIA request stems from a pair of votes (see "Old Business", near the end of this web page) by ANC2F in March 2014 in support of Ghana Cafe's request to terminate a 2009 settlement agreement. The 2009 agreement is a multi-sided one, between Ghana Cafe, ANC2F, and neighbors. At the March 2014 meeting, ANC2F voted to enter into a new agreement with the Ghana Cafe, independent of other parties. The new agreement is both more lenient than the existing agreement and similar to agreements signed by their newer neighboring competitors. However, it will not come into effect until 2016, when the older, stricter agreement will sunset. 

In April 2014, Kane filed a FOIA request, asking for all documents, physical or electronic, that contained the address of the restaurant, the name of the ANC2F liquor-licensing affairs committee, the name of the DC liquor-licensing authority, or the terms "Ghana Cafe", "Settlement Agreement", "resolution", among others, between April 1, 2013, and April 22, 2014.

In his press statement, Raymond says he found "literally thousands" of documents satisfying the criteria. Raymond suggested a narrowing of the criteria due to the many hours it would take to process the documents.

"Neither Kane nor his attorney responded to Raymond’s good-faith offer to comply, instead taking the matter directly to court," Raymond's press statement says.

Kane's court filing quotes a May 14, 2014, letter from Raymond, asking for an extension:

Your request happened to arrive at the same time the expectations and obligations of my day job have been more extreme than at any other time during my tenure here. Multiple projects and events converging within the past couple of weeks necessitated days often lasting 14 to 16 hours.

(ANC Commissioner is a voluntary, unpaid position. Commissioners usually have paying daytime jobs. Raymond's Linked-in profile says he is Senior Director of Communications at International Food Information Council Foundation.)

In a May 29, 2014, letter (also quoted in the court filing), Raymond said "ANC2F is unable to respond to the totality of your request", due to the scope of the request and lack of paid staff. Raymond urges Kane "to resubmit your request with a far greater degree of sufficient particularity".

Lawyer for the plantiff responds

Kane referred a request for comment to his lawyer, Don Padou.

In a phone interview, Padou said the decision to begin legal action now stems from ANC2F's decision to reject the FOIA request in its entirety.

"He could have produced some documents to show that they were operating in good faith," Padou said. "Instead, he just denied the entire FOIA request without producing anything."

Padou was unsympathetic to the claim the FOIA request was excessive.

"If they don't have the resources to comply with the FOIA request, that's not my client's fault," Padou said. "DC government has an ANC office. If the ANCs can't comply with FOIA requests, they should staff their office to make compliance possible."

ANC2F had a regular monthly meeting last night (June 4). ANC Chair Raymond was not present. The lawsuit was not mentioned during the first 90 minutes of the meeting, after which I left.

ANC2F's dealings with Ghana Cafe and its neighbors were the subject of previous SALM blog posts on February 14, 2014, and December 20 and October 10, 2013.

Carter Woodson Park to Get a Long-awaited Facelift

The contract has been awarded, the statue has been cast in bronze, and construction will start in June on a long-awaited improvement of Carter G. Woodson Park in Shaw. That's what the D.C.'s Department of General Services (DGS) and Office of Planning told Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6E/Shaw at its regular monthly meeting on May 6.

"We are at the end stage of going through this review process," said Chris Shaheen of the Office of Planning.

Carter G Woodson Park now

The park is located on a triangle of land bordered by Rhode Island Avenue, 9th Street, and Q Street NW. The park was named after Woodson, an African-American writer and historian, in 2001, whose nearby home is a national historic landmark. Since the park was named in honor of Woodson, there have been several unsuccessful attempts to improve the park so that it adequately honors Woodson. Right now, the park is mostly a triangle of asphalt with no place to sit down (see photo).

Presentation about the park

A representative of DGS made a presentation to ANC6E and solicited the ANC's comment on their project and its design. The DGS representative said at the meeting that a copy of his slideshow was available on the website of D.C.'s Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR). I could not find it there. However, I did find a copy on the website of the National Park Service. View a copy of the presentation, with artist's renderings of what the park will look like, here.

(Artist's rendering from the presentation)

The park will feature a statue of Woodson (see photo), which has already been cast in bronze, the ANC heard. The statue will face Rhode Island Avenue when installed. The redesign of the park will take place around a mature tree on the site. All the details have not been finalized, but the plans include grass on much of the site which is now asphalt. Six benches are also in the plans.

Suggestions from ANC6E

The committee had two suggestions for the presenters. The first was that they refrain from using bricks on the site's walkway. Bricks often look good at the opening, but then are not maintained properly.

"I do not recommend putting bricks down anywhere because they never get repaired," said Commissioner Rachelle Nigro (district 04).

A member of the audience asked about a water source to maintain the green areas of the park. The presenter said irrigation had been discussed but "that's still in the works".

ANC6E Chair Alexander Padro (Commissioner for district 01) said he had been a participant in earlier stages of the planning and a water source had always been included.

"I am shocked to hear that there has been a change in terms of the water source," Padro said.

Carter G. Woodson Park is in Padro's ANC district.

Padro also remarked at the meeting of the long string of failed attempts to get a fully-funded park project. A 2007 blog post said design work was underway for the park, including a "larger-than-life" statue of Woodson. A 2008 post on the same blog said the renovation of the park had been put on hold due to "funding technicalities". Another blog said in 2009 that "2010 should bring us a redesigned triangle park honoring Dr. Carter G. Woodson".

ANC6E voted unanimously to endorse the plans for the park, provided that there is a water source in the park, and that paths or walkways are made of limestone or concrete materials.

According to Shaheen, the project will now go to a commemorative works committee, with representatives from nine D.C. agencies plus three citizen members. After that, it will go to the City Council for final formal action.

ANC6E videos its meetings and then posts them in their entirety on its Youtube channel. The section of the May 6 meeting dealing with this topic can be viewed by going to video 00046 here, starting at 29:45. The discussion continues on the next video, 00047, here.

ANC2B Endorses Two Marijuana Dispensaries But May Only Get One

At its regular monthly meeting last night (May 14), Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle voted unanimously to endorse the establishment of two marijuana dispensaries. But they heard that the D.C. Department of Health (DOH) is planning to give only one of the two permission to open.

(Image courtesy Wikimedia)

ANC2B voted nearly-identical letters of support for Herbal Alternatives LLC (1710 Rhode Island Avenue NW) and National Holistic Healing Center (1718 Connecticut Avenue).

Herbal Alternatives LLC received endorsement from ANC2B last year, but had to return because their original approval was at another address (1147 20th Street).

Jen Brunenkant of Herbal Alternatives LLC briefed ANC2B on its proposed location at 17th Street and Rhode Island Avenue. It will be on the third floor of an office building. There will be a larger dispensary room and three smaller consulting rooms. Counseling will be given on nutrition and alternative forms of intake, such as by vapor.

Brunenkant told ANC2B medicial marijuana can only be consumed legally at the dispensary or in the patient's home. Under current DOH regulations, she said, medical marijuana can only be prescribed for patients with HIV, cancer, glaucoma, and certain motor diseases like multiple sclerosis. There will be a vote this month about whether to include Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on the list of conditions treatable by medical marijuana.

Brunenkart said she had notified her future neighbors, including a YMCA and a church, and she had not heard any objections.

Brunenkart also explained only one of the two dispensaries would be given permission to open by the DOH. The DOH is using a system of points to decide which dispensary will be given permission to open. ANC approval will garner each side some points. The dispensaries will also be evaluated on security, site suitability, educational brouchures, packaging, labeling, marketing, and other criteria.

Brunenkart also spoke about the medical marijuana situation generally in response to questions from Commissioners. She said D.C. doctors are reluctant deal with dispensaries.

"The problem D.C. is running into right now is the physicians," she said.

Commissioner Kishan Putta (district 04) asked why.

"They're concerned about the legality," Brunenkart replied. Many doctors are connected to university hospitals as well, which are worried about endangering federal funding by finding themselves on the wrong side of this issue.

When it was time to question representatives of the National Holistic Healing Center, it was agreed that most questions had been answered already. This establishment was represented by a doctor from Howard University who specialized in infectious diseases. The dispensary will be located in the basement of 1718 Connecticut Avenue. It will cover about 1500 square feet and provide one-on-one consulting with patients.

Both establishments comply with legal requirements as far as distance from certain types of establishments, like day care centers and half-way houses for former drug addicts.

After hearing both of the petitions, ANC2B added to its endorsements some language saying that there is no overconcentration of medical marijuana dispensaries in Ward Two (in fact, there are none). Commissioners indicated they would welcome both establishments. ANC2B Chair Will Stephens (Commissioner for district 08) suggested saying in a cover letter to the DOH about the endorsement that the ANC had no problem with having two medical marijuana dispensaries.

The vote was unanimous, with one Commissioner temporarily out of the room.

According to the web site of the Marijuana Policy Project, there are three medical marijuana dispensaries currently operating in D.C.: Metropolitan Wellness Center at Eastern Market, Capital City Care on North Capitol Street, and Takoma Wellness Center in Takoma Park. 

Long-term Street Lane Closures in Shaw Starting 2017

Good news first: a massive DC Water project will ease chronic flooding in Shaw, LeDroit Park, and Bloomingdale. Bad news: to complete the project, it will be necessary to close traffic lanes for periods of 18 to 36 months on and near Rhode Island Avenue NW, starting 2017.

(from DC Water web site)

One closure is in Shaw. The other is very near Shaw and will severely affect east-west traffic in Shaw.

Want to know more? DC Water will hold a Ward 6 town meeting tonight (Tuesday, April 15) at 6:30pm in the Multipurpose Room of Eliot-Hine Middle School, 1830 Constitution Avenue NE. The meeting will address all aspects of the DC Water project, including street and lane closure both in Shaw and elsewhere in D.C. This meeting is part of eight ward-wide town meetings DC Water is holding this month.

If you can't get to the town meeting

DC Water presented the outlines of the ambitious project to Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6E/Shaw at its regular monthly meeting on April 1.  The street lane closures are only a small part of the plan to build the Northeast Boundary Tunnel, a hole 23 feet in diameter, located 100 feet underground. The tunnel will not only reduce flooding but also is necessary under a 1998 multi-party consent decree designed to clean up water in the Anacostia River and beyond. The district ratepayer is footing the bill for the project.

The projected closure in Shaw will be one lane for 24-36 months around the perimeter of Cooper Park (a "pocket park" made from a triangular patch of land bounded by Rhode Island Avenue NW, 6th Street, and R Street). The projected closure near Shaw will be two lanes at Florida Avenue and Third Street NW (near Rhode Island Avenue) for 18 months.

Some work at the Florida Avenue site should have started already. The plan is for this work to be completed by April 21. Later, DC Water will also have to drill holes in the ground at this site. There is no projected date to begin, but, once begun, work will take "two to three months", according to the presenters at the ANC meeting.

The presentation said the final design and construction phase of the project will start in December 2016.

Cooper Park

Cooper Park (left) at RI Avenue, seen from 6th Street

Since the Cooper Park site is in ANC6E, it got the more attention at the April 1 meeting. Like the Florida Avenue site, DC Water will, at some uncertain date in the nearish future, drill some holes in the ground at Cooper Park. This work is exploratory and there will not be any lane closures. This phase of the work will take two or three months.

During the 2017 construction phase, the park will be used as a staging area. The complete restoration of the park is included in the budget for the project. DC Water has hired a landscape architect and has a conceptual design for the park restoration. It solicited comment from the Commissioners on this point. ANC6E Commissioner Alexander Padro (district 01) suggested public art for the new space, and asked DC Water not to forget a water source in the park. Commissioner Marge Maceda (district 05) asked DC Water to include "playable art".

It is difficult to drive across town now. The lane closures will make it even more difficult. Padro worried about the impact the closing of a lane on R Street at Cooper Park. R Street carries a lot of crosstown traffic, Padro noted, and cannot be completely blocked.

"You must have some carrying capacity there or all hell's going to break loose," Padro said.

Padro also asked about the piles of sandbags around the vent on the median of Rhode Island Avenue at 7th Street, next to the Watha T. Daniel Library (1630 7th Street NW). The sandbags are there to prevent flooding on Metro's Green Line. Padro would like to see the sandbags removed. DC Water said the removal of the sandbags was not part of the DC Water project.

ANC6E videos its meeting and puts the videos on YouTube in 30-minute chunks. The presentation by DC Water can be view by following this link, starting at the beginning of the video, which is part two of the meeting. However, you cannot see the accompanying slideshow presentation. I was unable to find a copy of the slideshow presentation on DC Water's web site.

The Committee unanimously voted to send a letter to DC Water summarizing its concerns as articulated at the meeting.

Today: Wrecking Ball Comes to 1101 Rhode Island Avenue

Barring snow delay, demolition will start today on both the former headquarters of Diamond Cab and an adjacent two-story apartment building. The properties are on the corner of Rhode Island Avenue and 11th Street NW. They will be replaced by a multi-story mixed-use building.

Soon to be rubble

Representatives of property developer CAS Riegler and Snead Construction held a final pre-demolition meeting with the residents of nearby properties last Thursday, March 13, at CAS Riegler offices at 1501 11th Street NW. Two employees each from CAS Riegler and Snead Construction briefed seven residents plus Commissioner John Fanning (district 04) from Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle.

The property is in Fanning's ANC district.

Timeline

Snead Construction told the residents the project should take "fourteen and a half months" from today to complete. A fence will go up two weeks after demolition, and excavation of the site will start. The digging will start on the north (near Q Street side) and move south toward Rhode Island Avenue. The depth of excavation will vary, but the deepest digging will be 12 feet on the east (11th Street) side of the property.

The sidewalk on Rhode Island Avenue will be closed "pretty much for the entire duration" of the project. Construction vehicles will enter and exit on that side of the property. The sidewalk on the residential Q Street side will remain open "until absolutely necessary".

What's under the site?

An issue between the developers and the neighbors has been the possibility of ground contamination -- see SALM blog post of September 30, 2013. The grounds functioned as a repair shop for Diamond Cab for many years, and for a long time before that it was a gas station. It is possible there could be old undocumented gas tanks or other waste underground. The briefers told the residents they had already used ground radar on the site and found no evidence of a tank. However, CAS Riegler has committed to check the excavated material.

"We will have expert testing as it [i.e., the dirt] comes out of the ground," a presenter said.

Noise and vibration

Some neighbors were worried about the effects of pile driving of poles on the property. First, there is the noise. Also, the neighbors live in historic row houses abutting the property line, and fear vibrations will lead to cracks in the walls of their homes. The construction team assured the neighbors there would be no pile driving. Instead, they will drill holes in the ground and drop beams into the holes.

"The whole thing is going to be noisy," the presenters admitted.

The two sides have agreed work may begin at 7am weekdays and 8am weekends. Work can continue until 7pm every day, but presenters hoped work would usually end at around 3pm, assuming work continued as scheduled.

The presenters fielded questions from the neighbors about a variety of additional topics, including the placement of cranes, the effect on phone and Internet service, the closure of the alley from Rhode Island Avenue to Q Street (none for now -- 24 hours notice if necessary), the moving the 11th Street bus stop (in negotiation), and the placement of fences and walls during and after construction.

One neighbor asked about the planned 3,000 square feet of retail space. It is designed for one business only, but the space hasn't been marketed yet.

"There will be the ability to put a restaurant in that space," a presenter said.

See an image of what the proposed building may look like at CAS Riegler's web site here.

In October 2013, ANC2F's Community Development Committee voted to support this project, contingent upon settling some issues to the neighbor's satisfaction -- see SALM blog post of October 28, 2013.

Thanks to CAS Riegler, Snead Construction, the neighbors, and Commissioner Fanning for permitting me to observe and write about this meeting.

No Entertainment License for Ghana Cafe

D.C.'s Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board has rejected a request that would have enabled the Ghana Cafe (1336 14th Street NW) to feature live entertainment, potentially until 2 am. The decision came at an ABC Board public hearing on January 15 (see .pdf here).

(Luis Gomez Photos - used by permission)

A group of neighbors, all of whom live in nearby properties on the 1400 block of Rhode Island Avenue, protested Ghana Cafe's request to amend its liquor license to allow live entertainment. The neighbors and Ghana Cafe are parties to a settlement agreement. Some of the neighbors' concerns centered around whether Ghana Cafe has previously honored the terms and conditions of the settlement agreement. The neighbors also wished the details about the proposed live entertainment to be more clearly defined, and enforcement of any amended agreement spelled out.

Attempts by a D.C. government mediator to reach an agreement prior to the meeting were unsuccessful.

At the meeting, ABC Board chair Ruthanne Miller said Ghana Cafe's request should be dismissed because an entertainment endorsement would be in violation of the settlement agreement. Tony Opare, the owner of the Ghana Cafe, said the settlement agreement should be voided because he had been unable to set up a sidewalk cafe as the originally envisioned in the settlement agreement. Miller did not accept this argument.

Then, the motion to dismiss the application was made, seconded, and approved by the ABC Board. Left unanswered were the questions regarding the appropriateness of a restaurant being allowed to modify their agreements and being allowed to host live entertainment until 2 am.

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle had a representative at the meeting and is another party to the settlement agreement. It was signed in 2009, at which time settlement agreements were called "voluntary agreements". A copy of the agreement is available as a .pdf document here, starting at page four.

ANC2F's efforts to mediate between the parties was the subject of the December 20, 2013, SALM blog post. ANC2F voted to protest Cafe Ghana's request for an entertainment endorsement on its liquor license in October 2013.

A settlement agreement is an agreement between a liquor-serving establishment and other interested parties. They often address topics such as hours of operation, noise levels, vermin control, parking, and outside service. See a model settlement agreement here.

Funeral Home Parking Lot to Rowhouse

Developer Thomas Swarm told the Design Review Committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street he wishes to put up a rowhouse on a 1,262-square-foot lot at 1801 4th Street in LeDroit Park. The site was formerly the parking lot for the adjoining property, Frazier's Funeral Home. Frazier's went out of business in 2008, and the former funeral home is being developed into a 4 - 5 unit residential building.

1801 4th Street is now a vacant lot (center)

Before the building was a parking lot, there was a rowhouse on the site. The new rowhouse attempts to duplicate the footprint of the long-demolished rowhouse. Its height will be the same as the neighboring rowhouse.

According to documents presented at the meeting, the new rowhouse will have two apartments. One will be a two-bedroom, two-bathroom, 844-square-foot basement apartment. The other will be a two-story, three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom, 1,688-square-foot apartment. There will be one enclosed parking space in the rear.

Swarm told the Design Review Committee on October 28 he wished to get support for his request to D.C.'s Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) for zoning variances. However, Design Review Committee chair Tony Norman told Swarm the committee would not consider his request until Swarm officially filed for zoning variances with the BZA, because only then would the committee know for certain the number and nature of the zoning variances Swarm required.

Norman is also chair of ANC1B as a whole and Commissioner for district 10.

Swarm told the committee he would need a zoning variance for the side yard next to the proposed building. Zoning requires side yards to be at least 10 feet wide. Due to the unusual shape of the lot, the side yard would have to be only three feet wide in order to replicate the original building's footprint.

In addition, Swarm said, the rear yard would require a zoning variance for setback.

Documents presented at the meeting show that the proposed lot occupancy will be 61.9%. Since lot occupancy allowed is 60%, Swarm may have to seek BZA approval for this as well. 

The property is located in the LeDroit Park Historic District, so Swarm had to appear before D.C.'s Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB). The HPRB advised Swarm to make his new construction match the neighboring white building (see photo) as much as possible, he said at the meeting.

The 2012 HPRB application, made by architect Michael Vallen of Vallen Design Studio on Swarm's behalf, is a .pdf document available here.

According to a 2012 article in the Washington Post, Frazier's Funeral Home operated in the LeDroit Park location from 1929 until its closing. Swarm bought the property in 2011 for $850,000, the Post said. A separate report indicates that the September 2011 sale included both 5,500-square-foot parcel which held Frazier's funeral home plus the parking lot.

ANC2F Contingent Support for 1101 Rhode Island Avenue Development

A committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle has endorsed a request for support by property developer CAS Riegler for a handful of zoning variances. But there are strings attached.

CAS Riegler is the developer of 1101 Rhode Island Avenue NW (see photo). Until recently, the property was the headquarters and service station for Diamond Cab. The proposed new building will have 38 apartments, 14 parking spaces, and space for retail on the ground floor.

The center and right-hand buildings will be torn down

The building's future neighbors are concerned about a variety of issues, including parking, building height, roof setback, and site density. The neighbors, CAS Riegler, and ANC2F's Community Development Committee (CDC) met the previous month to consider the same issues -- see the SALM blog post of September 30.

The strings attached

ANC2F endorsement is contingent on the successful negotiation of a memorandum of understanding (MOU). CAS Riegler was concerned about organizing negotiations, because the neighbors are not all members of an organized civic group, nor do they have a clear leader. CDC Committee Chair Walt Cain (district 02) said ANC Commissioner John Fanning (district 04) would be the principle point of contact for the negotiations.

The proposed new building is in Fanning's district. However, he was not at the meeting, probably because ANC2F's liquor licensing affairs committee was meeting at the same time at another venue. Fanning is the chair of the liquor licensing affairs committee.

What will the agreement cover?

"There are no limits except reason," said Commissioner Cain.

Normally, there are three actions an ANC can take about a zoning variance application. It can endorse the application, take no action, or protest the application. If the MOU is signed, the application to DC's Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) will have ANC2F's endorsement. The MOU will become part of the BZA's decision and will be an enforceable contract.

If the MOU is not approved, the application will go forward as if the ANC decided to take no action. Cain did not offer circumstances under which the ANC might protest the zoning application.

The negotiations will have to be completed before CAS Riegler's December 3 BZA hearing date.

Can an agreement be reached?

The atmosphere of distrust between the two sides may make it very difficult to negotiate an agreement. The neighbors want a lot of changes which would reduce the income CAS Riegler could derive from the site. CAS Riegler did not give any indication it would consider changes from its present design.

There was little the two sides could agree on. There was much discussion of the exact meaning of the two phrases - "exceptional practical difficulties or exceptional and undue hardship" and "substantial detriment to the public good" - in DC's zoning code. How these words are interpreted will determine how easy or difficult it wlll be for CAS Riegler to get a zoning variance.

CAS Riegler said they had been forthcoming in sharing information with the future neighbors, including holding a town hall meeting at CAS Riegler offices the previous week. The neighbors responded that much of the important information had been sent to them only five hours before the Wednesday evening (October 23) meeting. This was too late for the neighbors to read, analyze, and prepare a coherent response, the neighbors indicated.

In an effort to refute neighbor claims about parking difficulty in the neighborhood, CAS Riegler had expert testimony by Jami Milanovitch of transportation consultants Wells and Associates. She had led an investigation into parking availability in the area. Although the parking spaces on some blocks were 100 percent occupied (or more, with illegal parking), Milanovitch said, other blocks were only 58 to 85 percent occupied on a weeknight evening and 66 percent occupied overnight.

The neighbors were extremely skeptical of this claim. In response to questioning, it was revealed that Milanovitch's figures were based on a single observation on a weekday evening, and another observation on a weekend evening. The neighbors (and some committee members) felt that these were too few observations to permit any sort of conclusion. Milanovitch responded she had used well-established standard procedure in the industry. Other neighbors said they had lived in the neighborhood for years and Milanovitch's figures were wrong.

The CDC's contingent endorsement was approved unanimously at the October 23 meeting. Unanimously-approved motions from the committee are often approved with little or no further discussion by ANC2F. The next meeting of ANC2F is scheduled for 7pm on November 6 at the Washington Plaza Hotel (10 Thomas Circle).

ANC2F Committee Supports Removal of 14th Street Bus Stop

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle will likely vote at its next meeting to support the elimination of a bus stop on 14th Street NW. The bus stop in question is located on the west (southbound) side of 14th Street between Rhode Island Avenue and N Street. It is directly in front of the Ghana Cafe (1336 14th Street).

The notice posted on the bus stop

The Community Development Committee (CDC) of ANC2F unanimously passed a motion to recommend sending a letter to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) requesting the removal. Motions passed unanimously by the CDC are often approved with little or no debate at the next meeting of the full ANC.

The vote took place last night (October 23).

The owner of the Ghana Cafe appeared before the committee in support of the
request. He said local homeless people used the bus stop as a "living room", often after begging for money in front of the nearby 7-11 and then buying alcohol from the liquor store across the street.

"It's a place where a lot of nefarious activity takes place," said Commissioner Walt Cain (district 02). Cain is also chair of the CDC.

At the June ANC2F meeting, the owner of the Ghana Cafe complained that homeless people were using the bus stop as a place to have oral sex and also to harass his customers.

Another member of the community testified in favor of the elimination of the stop. He said that the stretch of 14th Street between P Street and Thomas Circle (which includes this bus stop) is the only place in the area with a bus stop every block for three blocks. The bus stop in front of the Ghana Cafe is the middle stop of the three.

"This is a redundant bus stop," he said.

Prior to the meeting, ANC2F posted a notice on the bus stop (see photo) and attempted outreach in the area likely to be effected by the proposed bus stop elimination.

The matter will likely be voted on at the next meeting of the full ANC, which is scheduled to take place on November 6 at 7pm at the Washington Plaza Hotel (10 Thomas Circle).

Rat Summit II: East Side of 14th between N and Rhode Island

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANF) 2F/Logan Circle held its "rat summit" last night (Thursday, October 17). It formed a plan of action which will include block-by-block meetings between businesses, residents, and DC government to address the rat problem. The first block to be targeted will the east side of 14th Street NW between N Street and Rhode Island Avenue.

"We're going to take the city back from them one block at a time," said Gerard Brown, Program Manager at DC's Department of Health (DOH).

ANC Commissioners Linn and Fanning, plus media coverage

The first block we'll take back

Residents of the 1300 block of Rhode Island Avenue showed up to lobby to be the first block.

"Are there inspectors for rivers of sludge?" one of the residents asked DC officials. The questioner then reported a particular river of sludge, flowing out behind Barrellhouse Liquors (1341 14th Street) onto Rhode Island Avenue.

After the meeting, I looked at the alley in question. The river of sludge exists. It does NOT originate at Barrellhouse Liquors. It flows underneath a dumpster further up the alley, but it is not clear where it comes from.

The food-related establishments on this block of 14th Street, moving from Rhode Island Avenue south to N Street, are: Birch and Barley, W. Millar and Company (a caterer), Teak Wood, La Villa, and Popeye's.

ANC Commissioner John Fanning (district 04) said he would work together with DOH's Gerard Brown and other officials to get the businesses in the same room with the residents. Brown asked the residents to help the process by remaining polite at all times.

"When we get together, can we be cool?" he asked.

Another speaker, Pamela Washington of DC's Department of Public Works, cautioned there were limits to what officials could force a business owner to do.

"It is up to the restaurant owner to decide that it is better to take meaningful steps than getting citations," Washington said. "I can't make that restaurant comply with the law."

Reporting rat-attracting conditions

At the beginning of the meeting, Brown talked about what citizens can do if they see conditions likely to attract rats. If the possible offender is a commercial property, defined as having four units or more (residential, commercial, or mixed), you can call Brown's office. The main number is 202-536-2636. Brown's office is 202-535-1954.

For smaller properties, residents are advised to call 311 or DC's Solid Waste Education and Enforcement Program (SWEEP) at 202-645-7190.

ANC2F residents who wish their blocks to be on the list for a rat summit with businesses and DC government officials may contact Commissioner Fanning through the ANC2F web site.

No food-related local businesses identified themselves or spoke at the meeting. However, Fanning reported that representatives of Eat Well DC (operator of nearby restaurants The Pig, Logan Tavern, and Commissary) and Whole Foods had attended.

The meeting attracted mainstream media coverage, including a reporter from WTOP.

ANC2F Commissioner Chris Linn also attended the meeting, which was held at the Washington Plaza Hotel (10 Thomas Circle).
 

Neighbors Lobby ANC2F on 1101 Rhode Island Avenue

"You are increasing your property's value, but you are decreasing ours."

CAS Riegler prepares to present

This was a reaction of a local resident to the presentation by real estate development company CAS Riegler about its proposed new multi-story building at 1101 Rhode Island Avenue NW. More than 20 future neighbors of the proposed mixed-use building turned out at the Community Development Committee meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle to question developers closely about their intentions, and to express their displeasure at certain aspects of the project. The meeting took place on September 25 at the Washington Plaza Hotel (10 Thomas Circle).

The community mobilizes

The controversy started before the meeting had begun. Activity on Twitter and the web site Popville indicated the possible future neighbors of the proposed project were mobilizing against it. Among the reasons: concern about building height, parking, and setback. Developers responded with a detailed post explaining their position and asking that supporters of the project come to the ANC meeting.

No members of the community other than those connected to CAS Riegler spoke in favor of the proposal during the meeting. However, more than 20 local residents came in a group and identified themselves as having serious concerns about the proposal. Of these, six or seven individual residents identified themselves by name and address before detailing their objections.

ANC2F apparently had advance warning of the turnout, as the published agenda had an unusual annotation reminding attendees that questions about the project from the floor would not be taken until the presenters had spoken and the committee had asked all the questions it wished to.

CAS Riegler presents

Kevin Riegler of CAS Riegler made the initial presentation. He asked the ANC to support a petition to DC's Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) requesting five zoning variances and a special exception. The BZA hearing is scheduled for December 3. (A list detailing the variances and exception are listed on page two of a BZA word processing document available here.)

Artist's view of project, presented at meeting

Unusually for the area, the building site is not part of any historic district, so does not require endorsement from DC's Historic Preservation Review Board.

The proposed building will be located on an odd-shaped lot. It will have existing two-story townhouses to its rear. As planned, the building will be more than more than two stories taller than these neighbors.
 
Riegler said his company was also a member of the community. The company's offices are located diagonally across from the project site. He talked about the history of the site -- it belonged to the Diamond Cab company, and before that was a gas station -- and is a high-traffic area of Rhode Island Avenue.

"It's a nice quiet street but doesn't necessarily need to be," Riegler said.

The site now

The planned building will have "up to" 40 residential condominium units, and 25,000 to 29,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. The vision is for the space to be occupied by a single retailer, most likely a "three-meal bistro, umbrellas on public space".

The developer is planning a single level of parking with 14 spaces for the building. Over the garage, the plan is to create a "green roof", which might cost more to build, but would be more pleasant for residents to look down on than the roofs of cars. The garage will include a bicycle room with 40 spaces.

Another potential problem area is what excavation may reveal about the land underneath the former cab company and gas station. There is expected to be petroleum contamination to clean up and old gas tanks to remove. How many gas tanks are actually below the property is impossible to know. Records indicate that there were once as many as 11, and at least 4 have been removed.

Questions from the committee

ANC2F Commissioner Walt Cain (district 02) asked whether the proposed penthouse will be visible from the alley to the rear of the building, which will face the neighboring historic townhouses. Reigler said that it would "in spots".

From drawing presented at meeting

Cain is chair of the ANC2F's Community Development Committee.

Committee member Joel Heisey asked who would manage the retail space.

"We will," Riegler said.

"Forever?" Heisey asked.

"We can't promise that," Riegler replied.

Commissioner John Fanning (district 04) said that the alley that will separate the building from the row houses was in bad shape and will need to be resurfaced. It was agreed that this could be done as part of the project.

In response to committee questions, the developers put forth a timeline for the project. Ideally, they will be able to get a permit to raze the buildings on the property in 30 days. Demolition would take place in the first quarter of 2014, and construction would stretch for 12-14 months after that.

The community has a say

The first speaker from the community, a resident of the 1500 block of 12th Street, said they had three concerns: parking, roof setback, and lot occupancy. 

The developers assume that most residents will not have cars. Most of the current residents of the neighborhood had cars, the first speaker said. It was not appropriate to assume that new residents will not have cars. The best way to assure the new building would not aggravate the parking shortage would be to meet the legal requirements, which would entail providing 21 parking spaces.

"We feel really comfortable with the ratio of people who own cars," Riegler replied.

Concerning roof setback, there seemed to be some disagreement about whether the penthouse would exclusively house stairs, elevators, and mechanical equipment, as required by law. If the penthouse structure is in any way meant for residential use, it would be in conflict with zoning code.

The proposed building's neighbors to the rear

CAS Riegler is also requesting an exception from lot occupancy requirements. Community members said the building as designed would occupy 90 percent of the lot space, including the "green roof" on the parking area. This is far more than the maximum 75 percent permitted under law. 

Debate went on a long time. It wandered back and forth among these topics as other residents echoed the above concerns. Residents urged the developers to lower the number of units and to dig a deeper garage to get the required number of parking spaces.

"A restaurant is not needed in that neighborhood," one resident said.

"The building looks like a cheap hotel," said another, commenting on the drawings presented to the committee. 

Still another, a mother of a small child from the 1100 block of Q Street, was worried about the ground contaminants that the excavation would uncover, and said she was "worried about remediation".

By the end of the meeting, several members of the Community Development Committee had indicated they felt CAS Riegler's presentation was inadequate. They would have to return and do better. 

"We need concrete documents instead of assertions," Committee Member Joyce Cowan said. Other members of the committee echoed her sentiments, and indicated they expected to see more detailed plans and information in the future.

"I need more concrete information," said ANC Commissioner Matt Connolly (district 08).

No motion was made and no vote was taken about the project at the meeting. It was agreed that there would be further meetings between the concerned parties and the committee would consider the zoning relief requests again in the future.