City Paper Widget

Showing posts with label parking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parking. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Return of Ward Two Parking Permits for Ward Six Residents in Shaw

DC City Councilmember Charles Allen (D-Ward Six) has introduced legislation that will enable certain Ward Six residents in Shaw to get Ward Two parking passes. Allen told a meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6E/Shaw last night he was "working with" DC City Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward Two) on this matter.

Charles Allen at last night's meeting
This action fulfills a promise Allen made during last year's campaign -- see SALM blog post of June 6, 2014. Allen's promise to re-introduce the legislation came after a similar bill introduced by Allen's predecessor, Tommy Wells, went down to defeat against unified opposition in the DC Council.

Allen told the meeting he "wanted to make sure the neighborhood was connected" with Ward Two parking.

As far as parking elsewhere in Ward Six goes, Allen said: "Other parts of Ward Six doesn't do as much good."

Commissioner Rachelle Nigro (district 04) gave Allen some advice on how to get the legislation passed in the face of probable opposition from Evans.

"Don't work with Jack [Evans]. Work with the rest of the council."

Allen backed away from any suggestion he would not be fully cooperating with Evans.

"He is my colleague," Allen said.

"I need to respect that he is the Ward Two Councilmember," Allen said later.

Residents here want to park in Ward Two
Ward Two parking permits for Ward Six residents first became an issue in 2011, when a large section of Shaw was re-districted from Ward Two to Ward Six. The area is in question is bordered by New York Avenue NW in the south and (mostly) by New Jersey Avenue in the east. At some points, it extends as far as Florida Avenue in the north and 11th Street in the west -- see map.

Shaw residents fought a successful rear guard action for several years before action to change the street signs and residential parking requirements started last year. At the meeting last night, one audience member said the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) managed to miss one block near his home, which still enjoyed Ward Two parking privileges.

"DDOT has not done the greatest job," Allen said. "I've found them to make mistakes."

Other SALM blog posts on Ward Two parking for Shaw residents were published on May 14 and June 2, 2014.

At last night's meeting, Allen spoke on a number of other issues of concern to the neighborhood, and took questions from the audience. Allen emphasized his new "Books from Birth" initiative, and got several questions and comments from audience members who were eager to participate.

Friday, October 24, 2014

1108 16th Street: Renovation of Former Planned Parenthood Building Moves Forward

At its regular monthly meeting October 8, Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle endorsed the redevelopment of 1108 16th Street NW. The building, formerly the DC headquarters of Planned Parenthood, is to be transformed into a mixed-use commercial office and residential building.

1108 16th Street
Planned Parenthood has sold the building and is moving to H Street NE.

The ANC endorsed both the historical preservation aspects and requests for zoning relief by separate votes. Both votes received unanimous approval by the six commissioners present at the time of the vote.

Attorney Christine Roddy of the law firm Goulston Storrs and Jane Nelson of Nelson Architects led the team of presenters. The presenters said that the building started its life as three buildings in 1880s, was renovated to make it a single flat-front building in the 1920s, and then was "inexpertly renovated" (the presenters' words) in the 1950s.

The facade of the first two floors of the building (see photo) will be retained as is, according to current plans. Six additional stories will be added.

There will be four stories of commercial space and four stories of residential space. The current plan calls for 20 residential units.

The project requires zoning relief in three areas. The area that received the most discussion was parking. Normally, zoning would require 14 parking spaces for this building. It currently has five. It would have three if the proposal goes through as presented. The ANC discussed if there would be sufficient parking for deliveries as well as for handicapped accessibility. The presenters said there would be -- at least one of the spaces would be, as required, extra wide to accommodate people with special needs.

There are few residential neighbors, and none of them have any objection, according to ANC2B Commissioner Abigail Nichols (district 05). The project is in Nichols' district.

"This is perfect for what you are going to do," said Commissioner Mike Silverstein (district 06).

The historical preservation aspects of this case are on the October agenda to be reviewed during one or more of the scheduled meetings of the HPRB. The meetings are scheduled for October 23 and 30. See the HPRB staff report on the historical preservation aspects of the renovation here.

The case of 1108 16th Street is on the BZA's calendar for consideration on December 2.

Documents related to the request for zoning relief, including plans and drawings for the building, can be seen by going to the Interactive Zoning Information System and entering case number 18866 in the search bar.

See previous reporting on this project from the blogs District Source here and Urban Turf here.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

200 Block of N Street: Discord over Parking

Two recent incidents along the 200 block of N Street NW illustrates how the fight for limited on-street parking space sets neighbor against neighbor.

"It's a bit of a sad situation for the 200 block of N Street," said Commissioner Rachelle Nigro (district 04), referring to the first of the two incidents described below.

(From the Facebook site of Commissioner Rachelle Nigro)
At the last meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6E/Shaw, a request for a dedicated on-street handicapped parking space for the resident of a single-family house at 216 N Street was discussed. The resident at 216 N Street apparently applied to the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) for a designated handicapped parking space in front of her home. The space was granted. There was "negative feedback" from some neighbors. But it is too late to un-grant the handicapped parking space.

DDOT is supposed to notify ANCs of requests of this type. DDOT says it did so, specifically, that they mailed a letter on June 4. But, by the September 1 meeting, the ANC had never received any communication, paper or electronic, about the application for a handicapped parking space. A Commissioner said this was the second time communication concerning handicapped parking spaces did not reach the ANC.

ANC6E Chair Alexander Padro (Commissioner for district 01) expressed exasperation at DDOT's apparent inability to mail a letter so that it arrives at its intended destination.

"We get notices from the District government about proposed actions every day," he said.

Another Commissioner was skeptical about the letter's existence.

"Let us read the proof," said Commissioner Marge Maceda (district 05). "We have never received this."

The ANC passed a motion to send a letter to DDOT telling them their letters do not arrive at their intended destination.

ANC6E videos its meetings in their entirety and post them on its YouTube channel in 30-minute segments, but the section of the meeting which contained the discussion of this topic was missing from the channel at the time of this writing.

There was also some discussion at the meeting because the property was apparently listed as for sale on the real estate web site Zillow. However, on the same day as the ANC meeting, the listing was removed from Zillow, although the attendees of the meeting apparently didn't know it.

The asking price for the property was $1.3 million.

The second parking dispute occurred in August, according to information from the Facebook site of Commissioner Nigro. On August 7 and 8, there was a two-day teacher development event at nearby Dunbar High School (101 N Street). Apparently someone at DC public schools issued several official-looking "parking permits" (see above) in the name of the Office of the Deputy Chancellor Institute of DC Public Schools. The permits claimed it allowed the bearer to park in "the two-hour restricted zone" (i.e., on-street parking for residents) while the development event took place.

As Commissioner Nigro pointed out in a Facebook comment, DC public schools are not authorized to issue on-street parking permits, and there apparently was some confusion about who exacting authorized and produced the "permits".

Nigro also wrote on Facebook that she had asked for an explanation from various parts of the DC government about the incident, but as of this writing had not posted any response.

Monday, September 15, 2014

1534 5th Street: Owner Has a Driveway but Can't Get a Curb Cut

At its regular monthly meeting September 2, Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6E/Shaw voted unanimously to oppose a curb cut in the middle of the 1500 block of 5th Street NW in Shaw, between P and Q Streets. A curb cut would reduce on-street parking on the block by at least two spaces.

1534 5th Street in July
"Parking is such a huge problem on this block and there's no other property that has a curb cut," said Commissioner Kevin Chapple (district 02). Chapple made the motion to oppose the curb cut.

The proposed curb cut would be in front of 1534 5th Street, which is in Chapple's district.

Abraham Soquar came before the ANC to plead his case. He is a newcomer to the neighborhood, and is building a three-and-a-half story semi-detached row house on the formerly empty lot. He talked about when he first saw the lot.

"When I passed by," Soquar said, "people would throw rubbish there, have homeless people living there, and so on."

He said the house, which is currently under construction, is his "first project" and he is hoping to live there. It has space for a driveway on the north side of the property, but there is no rear alley or other way for a vehicle to park there.

Soquar said the completed house would be "more of a sightly place and a better benefit to the street."

Soquar had a letter of support from one of his immediate neighbors, but many of the people in the area were opposed to the curb cut.

"I have received many, many other notices from my constituents that they are opposed to the curb cut," Chappell said.

Other than the next-door neighbor, Chappell said: "Everybody else who has contacted me -- and I've contacted -- are opposed to it because it would put added stress on everyone else..."

Shaw activist and neighbor Martin Moulton spoke briefly against the curb cut. Moulton said he had lived in the neighborhood for 14 years and had never seen homeless people camping out on the property when it was vacant. However, he conceded: "It was sort of a blight."

Moulton said there had been "at least three or four ground-up constructions" in the same block and "no one has received a curb cut."

"It's totally out of character with the types of blocks we live on," Moulton said.

Soquar had hoped to get ANC endorsement before a District Department of Transportation (DDOT) hearing scheduled for later this month. Curb cuts are the responsibility of the DDOT.

The proposed curb cut at 1534 5th Street was the subject of the SALM blog post of July 16.

ANC6E videos its monthly meetings in their entirety and posts them in half-hour segment on YouTube. See ANC6E's YouTube channel here. The discussion of the curb cut for 1534 5th Street can be on seen here, starting at time 24:10.

Friday, June 6, 2014

Charles Allen, Jack Evans on Ward Two Parking for Shaw Residents

Emergency legislation to allow Shaw car owners to retain their Ward Two parking privileges went down to defeat on June 3, but that's not necessary the end of the matter. Charles Allen, Democratic nominee for the Ward 6 City Council seat, pledged to re-introduce legislation if elected. However, messages on Twitter indicate the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is already replacing resident parking signs in Shaw.

Newly-installed parking sign in Shaw
Meanwhile, DC City Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward Two) told Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle why he opposed the bill.

Shaw residents were redistricted from Ward Two to Ward Six as a result of the 2010 census. Since that time, they have been able to retain Ward Two parking permits. They wish to continue to do so -- see SALM blog posts of June 2 and May 14.

Allen at 6E/Shaw

Charles Allen visited the regular monthly meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6E/Shaw on June 3 -- a few hours after the emergency legislation was defeated by a voice vote. The purpose of Allen's visit to ANC6E was to "say hello and listen in", he said.

Allen reported the failure of the emergency legislation. However, he said, the the bill would be re-introduced this session as permanent (i.e., not emergency) legislation, and there was a possibility that it could pass in this manner.

If it does not pass, Allen promised to re-introduce the legislation if he is elected to the DC Council in November.

According to a DC Council web site faq page, "An emergency bill is a proposed new law or an amendment to existing legislation that takes effect immediately and is effective for 90 days.  Because it does not follow the committee process, a vote of a super majority (9) is required for an emergency to be considered."

The path of permanent legislation is slower and more complicated, including potentially a visit to the US Congress, but it will not require a super majority. See an explanation here.

Signs already changing

About four hours before the emergency legislation failed in the DC Council, a Shaw resident reported on Twitter that Ward Two resident parking sign were being replaced with Ward Six resident parking signs. A DDOT worker said the sign change was being fast-tracked, the resident wrote in a separate tweet.

Rachelle Nigro, ANC6E Commissioner for the area in question (district 04), instructed the resident to take and send a photo of the sign in question -- see above. Nigro said she had sent an email to DDOT Director Matthew Brown about the matter.

Evans at 2F/Logan Circle

Jack Evans was at the regular monthly meeting of ANC2F on June 4. His main purpose was to talk about the recently passed city budget, but he touched briefly on the parking bill. He said he understood why Shaw residents wanted Ward Two parking passes.

"I understand wanting to continue to park in neighborhoods that you used to be able to park in," Evans said. "But the purpose of residential parking passes is to park in a residential neighborhood. And, frankly, this neighborhood would have been impacted by having people from Shaw parking in a residential area."

Evans' position might be, in part, a result of trying to park near his home in Georgetown.

"I can't even find an illegal parking spot," he told ANC2F.

Other matters discussed by Evans and ANC2F at the June 4 meeting will be the subject of one or more future SALM blog post.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Ward Two Parking for Shaw Residents: Lobbying on Both Sides

Tomorrow (June 3), DC Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward Six) will put forward a resolution that will enable an estimated 1,100 Shaw car owners -- although resident in Ward Six (see map below) -- to retain their Ward Two Residential Parking Permits.
Formerly Ward Two, now Ward Six

Rachelle Nigro, representative for district 04 on Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6E/Shaw announced the initiative on her Facebook page May 30. She asked her constituents to call the offices of all members of the DC City Council to express their support of the bill, called the ANC 6E Residential Parking Permit Exception Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2014. 

Also on May 30, Nigro sent tweets to DC Councilmembers David Grosso (I-At Large), Jack Evans (D-Ward Two), Mary Cheh (D-Ward Three), and Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward Five), urging them to vote for the resolution.

The neighborhood was formerly a part of Ward Two. It was redistricted into Ward Six after the 2010 Census. Residents successfully resisted a previous attempt to change their parking permits. See the SALM blog post of May 14 for more details. 

Meanwhile, neighboring ANC 2F/Logan Circle is mobilizing against the plan. At its regular monthly meeting on May 14, voted unanimously to send a letter to the DC Council "making the Council aware of ANC 2F’s opposition to all proposed or pending legislation that would grant Ward 6 residents the ability to park in Ward 2."

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Shaw Car Owners Ask to Retain Ward Two Residential Parking


"This issue is not dead yet," said Rachelle Nigro of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6E/Shaw. "We'll fight to the very end for my constituents."

Ward Six, north of New York Avenue
The issue is the residential parking permits (RPPs) of about 1,100 car owners living north of New York Avenue NW in Shaw, surrounded on three sides by other wards (see map). Up until 2011, these car owners lived in Ward Two. As a result of redistricting, they now live in Ward Six. They have lobbied successfully to retain Ward Two RPP up until now. Currently they are resisting an attempt by the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) to change the street signs in their area so that they will be required to have Ward Six stickers on their windshields to park on the street.

Nigro said the majority of people in this area wished to retain Ward Two residential parking permits. She said she would need to have some organized show of support, like an online petition, to demonstrate this.

The ANC passed a resolution at its regular monthly meeting May 6 asking the city council, and specifically Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward Six) to introduce the necessary legislation to implement this. The resolution passed with one vote against, by Commissioner Marge Maceda (district 05).

Ashamed of Ward Six?

Earlier, during the debate, Maceda asked Nigro: "Are the people in your area ashamed of being in Ward Six?"

"No, it has nothing to do..." Nigro began.

"It certainly is," Maceda said.

A member of the audience resisted Maceda's tendency to interrupt.

"I've been living in this neighborhood all my life...," the audience member began.

"And it's changing," Maceda said.

"Excuse me, let me finish," the audience member said. "One of the things that's happened now is this new little piece of carve-out. If I go one block east, I'm in Ward Five. If I go one block north, I'm in Ward 1. If I got four blocks west, I'm in Ward Two. I can't even go to a restaurant, my cleaners, and park there anymore."

At the end of the debate, Nigro said of the request for legislation: "If it works, great. If it doesn't, we will just move forward as Ward Six, but at least we're trying our best."

Who needs Georgetown?

ANC6E Chair Alexander Padro (district 01) said he expected City Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward Two) to oppose the legislation because he doesn't want more people parking in Georgetown.

"We don't need to go to Georgetown anymore to go to restaurants and clubs," an audience member said. "We've got our own neighborhood now. We just can't park there."

ANC6E has a Youtube channel, on which it posts its monthly meetings in their entirety. The discussion on this matter can be seen on video 00048 here, starting at 5:15.

See a current map of Ward Six from the D.C. Office of Planning here.

(Map from D.C. Office of Planning website)

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Ward One Church and Community Parking Task Force "Summit" June 10

At its regular monthly meeting on May 1, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1B/U Street heard plans for meetings -- both public and private -- by the Ward One Church and Community Parking Task Force. The task force will have a town meeting-style "summit" at Cardozo High School (1200 Clifton St NW) at 7pm on June 10. Members of the public are invited to this meeting.

"We hope you'll come with solutions," ANC1B Commissioner E. Gail Anderson  Holness (district 11) said.

St. Augustine Catholic Church, 15th and V Streets
Among the people scheduled to participate, Holness said, are Dr. Earl D. Trent Jr. of Florida Avenue Baptist Church (623 Florida Avenue), Father Patrick Smith of St. Augustine Catholic Church (1419 V Street), Rev. Dr. Winston C. Ridley, Jr. of The Greater First Baptist Church (2701 13th Street), Rev. Dr. Paul H. Saddler of the Twelfth Street Christian Church (1812 12th Street), and Chief of Staff Calvin Woodland from the office of D.C. City Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward One).

"We tried to include people from all the quadrants of Ward One," Holness said. 

Holness also announced there would be a meeting at 7pm on May 22 for members of task force and ANC1B Commissioners only. A location for the meeting had not been set at the time of Commissioner Holness's announcement.

Holness announced the creation of the task force at the April 3 regular monthly meeting of ANC1B -- see SALM blog post of April 7. At that time, the subject of the task force was announced to be facilitating parking on Sundays at the 67 churches around Ward One.

At the May first meeting, Holness said the task force was working on a variety of issues, including parking, but also including public safety, senior housing, and taxation.

"A lot of people don't understand what churches do -- how they benefit the community," Holness said.

In preparation for the meeting, Holness said an online survey was being prepared on the website Survey Monkey. Participants would be invited to the survey via email.

Monday, April 7, 2014

Ward One Task Force on Community and Church Parking Created

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street will participate in a Ward One-wide task force on community and church parking. ANC1B Commissioner E. Gail Anderson Holness (district 11) made an announcement about the formation of the task force at the ANC's monthly meeting on April 3.

Florida Avenue Baptist Church
"These problems are not new," Holness said. "They've just become more intense."

Commissioner Holness announced the office of City Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward One) had formed the task force to address how to facilitate parking at churches across Ward One on Sundays and at other times of religious worship. Holness said she expected the task force to meet three or four times. The first meeting will be within the next two weeks, and there will be a town meeting. The task force will issue a final report.

"We want the final report to reflect the entire community," Holness said.

Task force membership

Holness said eight Ward One pastors would serve on the task force. She named several of them, including Dr. Earl D. Trent Jr. of Florida Avenue Baptist Church (623 Florida Avenue NW) and Father Patrick Smith of St. Augustine Catholic Church (1419 V Street).

Holness also asked for "a commissioner other than me" to participate in the task force. Commissioner Dyana Forrester (district 06) volunteered to do so. Forrester said she has attended Florida Avenue Baptist Church.

Forrester compared D.C. police tactics concerning churches and parking to suburban police tactics in the same context.

"In Maryland and Viriginia, police help. They don't write tickets," Forrester said.

Holness on the traffic scene

Holness took the opportunity of the announcement to touch on several traffic-related issues. They included bloggers who complain about suburbanites coming on Sunday to park near historical churches, while not complaining about suburbanites who drive into D.C. from Monday to Friday and park on local streets.

She compared weekday commuters to Sunday church visitors: "Many people who come in on the weekends have lived here at one time."

She also commented on bicyclists.

"I'm 57 and I ride a bike," she said.

However, Holness went on, bicyclists received too much consideration because they do not bicycle in inclement weather.

"You don't see bikes when it snows, when it's raining," she said.

Concerning the historic churches in Ward One, Holness said: "They were here before many of the new residents came. They will be here after they are gone."

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

ANC1B Achieves Quorum, Rejects Lower Parking Minimums

Neighborhood Advisory Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street achieved a quorum at its meeting last night (March 25). The meeting was necessary to deal with business that had to be put off at its meeting of March 6 because ANC1B failed to have a quorum -- see SALM blog post of March 10.

Six Commissioners are enough for a quorum
The ANC voted on liquor licenses, historical preservation and zoning cases, and resolutions about transportation and education. Future blog posts will have some details.

No to lower parking minimums

The ANC rejected a recommendation made in February by its own Transportation Committee (see SALM blog post of March 4) to endorse the reduced parking minimums in D.C.'s proposed zoning update. Under the proposed update, developers of multi-unit apartment buildings would be obligated to provide one parking space for every six residential units in areas well-served by public transit. As it stands now, these developers are often obligated to provide one space for every three units.

During the discussion period before the vote, Commissioner Deborah Thomas (district 04) said the problem was the tickets residents get. When Thomas gets home in the evening, she must "ride around about 50,000 times" to find a place to park her car. Thomas said that, even though she has a resident parking sticker, she often gets tickets for parking in the only on-street parking spaces remaining in the evening, because they are too close to corners or to fire hydrants. Drivers with resident stickers should not get tickets for this reason, Thomas said.

Commissioner Dyana Forester (district 06) said lowering the parking minimums would reduce ANC leverage to compel developers to provide parking.

"We won't be able to weigh in," she said.

The vote was 4-2 against endorsing the new parking minimums.

Voting in favor of endorsing the new parking minimums: Commissioners Ricardo Reinoso (district 05) and Zahra Jilani (district 12).

Voting against endorsing the new parking minimums: Commissioners Thomas, Forester, Juan Lopez (district 07), and ANC Chair James Turner (district 09).

Taking attendance

The following commissioners attended the meeting in full: Reinoso, Forester, Lopez, Turner, and Jilani.

Commissioner Thomas arrived 40 minutes late.

Commissioner Marc Morgan (district 01) arrived on time but left the meeting more than 30 minutes prior to its conclusion.

The following commissioners did not attend the meeting: Jeremy Leffler (district 02), Sedrick Muhammed (district 03), Tony Norman (district 10), and E. Gail Anderson-Holness (district 11)

Below is ANC1B Commissioners' attendance record for the last five  meetings, based on my observation. Just like airlines, I define "late" as arriving more than 15 minutes behind schedule. Meetings usually last between two and three hours.

  • Morgan (01): Three present, one absent, one early departure*
  • Leffler (02): Two present, three absent
  • Muhammed (03): One present, four absent
  • Thomas (04): One present, three absent, one late**
  • Reinoso (05): Five present
  • Forester (06): Two present, two absent, one late***
  • Lopez (07): Three present, one absent, one late****
  • Washington (resigned, 08): Two present, one absent
  • Turner (09): Four present, one absent
  • Norman (10): Three present, two absent
  • Anderson Holness (11): Three absent, two late*****
  • Zilani (12): Five present
* missed at least 30 minutes of meeting
** arrived 40 minutes late
*** arrived 20 minutes late, left same meeting after 90 minutes
**** arrived 25 minutes late
***** arrived 90 minutes late twice




Tuesday, March 4, 2014

ANC1B Committee Supports Reduced Parking Minimums

The Transportation Committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street voted, 4-2, to endorse the reduced parking minimums in D.C.'s proposed zoning update. The vote took place at a meeting on February 20. The recommendation will now go to the full ANC for approval.

Logo from the zoning update blog
Cheryl Cort, Policy Direction of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, told the committee about the new parking minimums. As the law stands now, developers of new residences are generally obligated to have one parking space for every three residential units. If the proposed zoning update becomes law, the parking minimum will be one space for every six units in areas well-served by public transit.

"Well-served by public transit" is defined as less than one-half mile from a Metro station or a quarter-mile from major bus lines (e.g., the 16th and 14th Street lines).

This minimum is a change from an earlier proposal, which would have eliminated parking minimums altogether in areas well-served by public transit.

"One space for six units is below where the market is producing parking," Cort said.

The proposed change would also eliminate downtown parking minimums entirely, and require buildings with 50 parking spaces or more to have at least one space for car-sharing services.

See an information sheet about the proposed new parking minimums from the Coalition for Smarter Growth here.

The full ANC will probably consider the committee's recommendation at its next meeting, scheduled for Thursday, March 6, at 7pm, at the Reeves Center (14th and U Streets)

Thursday, February 27, 2014

2100 Vermont Ave: 19 Microunits, No Parking

Richard Foster Architects has proposed a design for a six-story mixed-use building at 2100 Vermont Avenue NW. It would contain 19 rental units of between 430 and 716 square feet apiece. There will be no parking spaces. Residents will promise not to seek an on-street resident parking permit as a condition of their lease.

The property today as seen from V Street
The Design Review Committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street heard a presentation from Richard Foster Architects about this proposed building at its meeting of February 25. The presenters are in search of at least four zoning reliefs and special exceptions from D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA). If ANC1B endorses the zoning-related requests, they will probably travel more easily through the bureaucracy.

However, the initial reaction of the committee was less than enthusiastic.

Parking and other issues

The presenters described the 3,000-square-foot lot as "landlocked", meaning that all sides abutted either another building or a sidewalk without a curb cut for a parking ramp. Even if a sidewalk curb cut were made, it would be impossible to design a ramp to basement parking that would be wide enough for a car and also fit on the compact lot.

In addition to requiring tenants not to seek a residential parking permit, the presenters said they would coordinate with D.C authorities to put a block on the address at the permit-issuing office.

As the law stands today, the building would be required to have one parking space for every three residential units.

The committee asked about bike storage at the property. The presenters said bike storage was planned in the basement. To access the storage, the committee pointed out, tenants would have to carry their bikes through the lobby, through a doorway, down a circular staircase, and through another doorway, to access the storage area.

The ground floor would have room for 2,100 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, with doorways facing both V Street and Vermont Avenue.

The plan is for 19 rental units in the building. There would four units each on floors two through five. They would be between 430 and 490 square feet. On the sixth floor, there would be three apartments, the largest of which would be 716 square feet.

BZA approval will be required because the building is slightly (four inches) taller, and covers slightly more (1.2%) of the lot, than zoning permits. In addition, the building as designed would not meet requirements for a rear yard for retail, and for roof setback.

Committee vetoes design

The Design Review Committee was reluctant to endorse the zoning-related requests. The members of the committee simply did not like the design, which was largely floor-to-ceiling windows, broken up by six-floor-high white columns. When time came to make a motion about the proposal, no one on the committee wanted to.

"You are packing as much as you can into a tiny site," said committee member Joel Heisey.

"Is this viable as a smaller building?" he asked.

The presenters said it was not.

Heisey compared the design to a "1960s office park building". Other committee members seemed to agree the design was lacking, especially the exterior "skin" of the building.

After some discussion, one of the presenters said: "We are more than willing to look at some skin alterations."

The presenters said they do not yet have a date for their BZA hearing, so there would be time to reconsider the design and return with an altered design.

The next scheduled meeting of ANC1B's Design Review Committee is on Monday, March 17, at 6:30pm, at the Thurgood Marshall Center (1816 12th Street).

(Photo credit: Google Street View)

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Tonight: ANC1B Hearing about S Street Parking Proposal

The Design Review Committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street will hold a meeting tonight, Tuesday, February 25. On the agenda for discussion will be a proposal to study having a parking facility at 1325 S Street NW. The property is currently used by the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation.

1325 S Street (Google Street View)
This is the first time the proposed facility is on an ANC1B meeting agenda.

The meeting starts at 6:30pm at the Thurgood Marshall Center (1816 12th Street).

This idea was endorsed by ANC 2F/Logan Circle at its last meeting -- see SALM blog post of February 6. ANC2F abuts the property on its south side. See a post about the proposal on ANC2F's web site here, and a .pdf presentation about the plan (starting at page 8) here.

The idea was brought up by a community member during the concluding "new business" portion of ANC1B's last meeting on February 6. At that time, ANC1B Chair James Turner (district 09) expressed disappointment that ANC2F had not chosen to consult ANC1B before releasing the plan. But he said ANC2F had not overstepped over its authority.

"They abut. They have a right," Turner said.

At a separate meeting of ANC1B's Transportation Committee on February 20, Turner said the ANC might consider doing a joint resolution with ANC2F on the proposal. Turner emphasized the proposal was at its very beginning, and the property would have to be declared surplus property by the D.C. government and sold, and there would have to be a traffic pattern study before any proposal could move forward.

Turner also said D.C. City Councilmember Jim Graham (Ward 1) had come out against the proposal.

Another Transportation Committee member spoke against the proposal as well.

"We understand that parking is a problem but more parking is not a solution," he said.

Today's meeting will be the first Design Review Committee meeting under its new chair, Lela Winston. Winston was selected as the chair at ANC1B's February meeting.

See the full agenda for tonight's meeting here.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

ANC2F Champions More Parking in ANC1B

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle last night endorsed a plan to study setting up more parking -- in a neighboring ANC.

ANC2F would like more parking here.
1325 S Street NW is D.C. city government property and used for parking and other purposes by the Department of Parks and Recreation. The property borders on ANC2F on its south side. But it is located in ANC 1B/U Street.

The Community Development Committee (CDC) of ANC2F thinks it would be an ideal place to put additional public parking. Last month the CDC recommended "the full ANC endorse the exploration of public parking options by the City Council for the lot". Last night, February 5, the full ANC approved the committee's report -- agreeing that plans to explore the possibility should go forward.

"It's a very very very early stage of the process," said ANC2F Commission Walt Cain (district 02). Cain is the chair of the CDC.

"There's a lot of conversations that need to happen," Cain said.

The proposal brought several people across the border from 1B into 2F to speak against the idea.

"I have an email from [D.C. City Councilmember] Jim Graham saying that he is opposed," said one man.

Another local resident said ANC2F was advocating the construction of a parking garage in ANC1B. Commissioner Cain said there were many options, and ANC2F was not advocating the immediate construction of an above-ground parking garage. Later, Cain said among the many options was a below-ground parking garage with a park over it on the ground level.

Other residents suggested property developers JBG, one of the authors of the plan, was hoping to gain ANC support in order to get its hands on a valuable property without adequate community input.

"The community doesn't have the opportunity to get on board about what's going on there," one resident said.

Sherri Kimball, constituent services director for D.C. City Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward Two), said ANC2F's plan was "a suggestion". She also said there was a rumor that the lot might be included in the Reeves Center land swap deal, rendering the current debate pointless.

There is a Powerpoint presentation about the plan on the ANC2F web site (available here, starting with slide 8).

(Photo credit: Google Street View)

Friday, December 20, 2013

Ghana Cafe: ANC2F Meeting Accomplishes Nothing

A committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle had a long and acrimonious multi-sided debate about the Ghana Cafe (1336 14th Street NW) during its December 18 meeting. In the end, not much changed, except everybody was more aggravated. The committee voted to recommend to a continuation of the current ANC2F protest against Ghana Cafe's request for an amendment to its liquor license.

Ghana Cafe moved to 14th Street in 2009
Ghana Cafe seeks an entertainment endorsement on its liquor license. This will allow it to host live music.

The meeting got ugly. In the end, Ghana Cafe owner Tony Opare called members of ANC2F's Alcohol Policy Committee (APC) "racist", after he was denied the opportunity to continue the long and repetitious argument with committee members and protesting neighbors.

Both sides seemed to feel they would lose some important part of the argument if they were not allowed to have the last word, even if that meant repeating what they had said only a few minutes before.

There had been an attempt at mediation by D.C.'s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA), but it apparently was going nowhere. The real issue seemed to be that the protesting group of neighbors plainly wished to demonstrate that Opare had not lived up to agreements in the past, which damaged his credibility and made negotiating another agreement a waste of time.

"There is no evidence that he'll live up to his agreement," one neighbor said.

The protesting neighbors all live on the 1400 block of Rhode Island Avenue. Many of them live in an abutting property.

The protesting neighbors provided a long and well-documented list of occasions where the existing settlement agreement had not been honored. For example, the agreement calls for no parking in the area behind the Ghana Cafe. The protesting neighbors presented 13 photographs of 13 different days in June 2013 when Opare parked his personal car in the area.

Opare said that he had gotten a permit from the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) to park in the space. The committee explained that, permit or not, he had signed an agreement saying he would not park in the space. Opera argued that, once he received the DDOT permit, he was allowed to park there.

The debate ranged over a wide variety of issues, including noise, vermin control, trash collection, valet parking, deliveries, the content of Ghana Cafe's website, and the sale of Ghana Cafe Sauce at the P Street Whole Foods.

Opare did not help his own case by making statements which were demonstrably false, like when he claimed that D.C. health inspectors had recently come to his restaurant and "found nothing wrong".

"We passed with flying colors," he said.

It took committee members a few short minutes on their smartphones to find records showing Ghana Cafe had been cited for three critical violations of health code regulations on December 11 and six critical violations on July 31.

ANC2F Commissioner Jim Lamare (district 05) eventually came to the defense of Opare and the Ghana Cafe, saying that the neighbors were seeking to put him out of business. Lamare was the sole vote against continuing the ANC protest against Ghana Cafe's entertainment endorsement request. The vote was three for and one against, with Commissioner John Fanning (district 04) abstaining.

Fanning is the chair of the liquor-licensing affairs committee.

The full ANC2F will probably take up the matter of the Ghana Cafe again when it next meets. The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 8, 2014, at 7pm, at the Washington Plaza Hotel (10 Thomas Circle).

The conflict between Ghana Cafe and its neighbors about the entertainment endorsement on its liquor license was the subject of the October 10 SALM blog post.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

ANC2F to Protest Ghana Cafe Entertainment Endorsement

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle voted unanimously on October 2 to protest the application by the Ghana Cafe (1336 14th Street NW) for an entertainment endorsement to its liquor license.

(Luis Gomez Photos, used by permission)
The move came after neighbors from an abutting property on the 1400 block of Rhode Island Avenue told the ANC the Ghana Cafe had not been following the terms of its existing settlement agreement in the areas of vermin control and parking in the rear of the property.

"Don't endorse the new agreement until they comply with the first agreement," a neighbor said.

The neighbor said they had filed a formal complaint about the Ghana Cafe to DC's Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (ABRA).

The proprietor of the Ghana Cafe said he had been complying with the settlement agreement. He said the ANC had no reason to protest the entertainment endorsement and was just protesting for the sake of doing so.

Prior to the neighbor's complaint, it was indicated, ANC2F had had a amicable negotiation, with the Ghana Cafe agreeing to certain limitations on hours of entertainment operation, types of entertainment, and hours of loading and unloading.

What sort of entertainment Ghana Cafe might provide was not discussed.

The ANC authorized its liquor licensing affairs committee to negotiate with the Ghana Cafe about the issues of pest control, parking, and noise from the property's ventilator. If the problems are resolved, the ANC will withdraw its protest.

ANCs often officially protest attempts to renew or modify liquor licenses as a way to maintain leverage in negotiations, but eventually withdraw their protests if an agreement is reached.

The Ghana Cafe is in the middle of the block of 14th Street that will be the prime target of ANC2F's planned rat summit, which will take place on October 17 at 7pm at the Washington Plaza Hotel (10 Thomas Circle).

Monday, October 7, 2013

14th & Wallach: ANC1B Unanimous in Favor

Madison Investments and allies completed their trip through the Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) system on October 3 when ANC 1B/U Street voted unanimously to support its projected mixed-use building at 14th and Wallach Streets NW.

From August 19 design committee meeting
ANC1B will produce documents in support of the development when it appears for consideration before DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) and Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA).

Details about the nature of the multiple zoning reliefs and other contentious issues are available here.

Efforts at outreach

Sia Madani of Madison Investments made one last appearance before ANC1B to outline his efforts to get community sign-on to the project. Efforts included community outreach to, and soliciting letters of support from, "almost every single Wallach Place resident" and two neighborhood associations. Flyers about the project were also delivered to every house within a four-block radius of the project site.

Parking was a prime concern. As a result, future residents of the building will be restricted from getting residential parking permits. There will also be 36 spaces of bike parking.

Wallach Street residents also were eager to see commercial operations other than restaurants and bars on the first floor retail space. To that end, discounted rent for retail stores will be offered. There have been expressions of interest from two pet stores, a yoga studio, and a pilates studio. Members of the community urged Madani to encourage a hardware store to open.

Madani repeated the intention to own the building and rent out units, as opposed to selling it as condos.

"We're going to own this as an apartment building," he said.

Other locals on the project

Several attendees spoke up in favor of the proposed development. In addition, Commissioner Zahra Jilani (district 12), in whose district the development will be, read statements of support from other members of the community and ANC Commissioner Emily Washington (08), who was unable to attend the meeting.

Jilani also read a statement from the U Street Neighborhood Association. It does not support the proposal for a variety of reasons. They include the negative impact of the building's design and height on community space.

A member of the Shaw Dupont Citizens Alliance asked that the developers be extra vigilant in connecting with the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) on the issue of denying resident parking permits to building residents.

Of the twelve members of the ANC1B, seven were present to vote unanimously for the project. They were: Chair Tony Norman (10), Jeremy Leffler (02), Sedrick Muhammad (03), Ricardo A. Reinoso (05), Dyana Forester (06), James Turner (09), and Jilani.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Morrison-Clark Asks for 15-minute Parking Spaces

The Morrison-Clark Inn (1015 L Street NW) is asking that two parking spaces on its L Street be converted to 15-minute loading zones for customers. The entrance to the Inn will move from the 11th Street side to the L Street side after current renovations and construction are complete. The new spaces will be in front of the planned entrance.

Renovations on L Street Side of Morrison-Clark
Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2F/Logan endorsed this request without stipulation. The request will now go to the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) for approval.

There are currently two spaces on the 11th Street side of the Morrison-Clark that are marked as 15-minute loading zones. ANC2F will write a separate letter to the DDOT asking that these spaces be returned to metered parking in return for the two spaces on L Street.

Gene Weissman of Architecture, Inc. made the presentation to the ANC. He said all permits were in place for the project except this one.

A neighbor asked why the residents of the surrounding area did not receive notification of the hearing. ANC Commissioner Greg Melcher (district 06) explained normal DDOT procedure is to notify the ANC only, which DDOT did. Public notice is not required.

Melcher's district includes the Morrison-Clark and surroundings.

Some neighbors who are unhappy about other aspects of the renovation used this opportunity to express their displeasure. Neighbors said they had never seen an amended set of plans for the renovation, and they still don't know how tall the finished buildings will be.

The vote in favor of the two 15-minute spaces was unanimous, 8-0.

Friday, September 6, 2013

7th & R: 105 Apartments + Retail, 40 Parking Spaces

Shaw 42 Developers told Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6E/Shaw about plans for a proposed multi-story building to be erected on the corner of 7th and R Streets, NW. The building will be near the corner of Rhode Island Avenue and across the street from Shaw/Howard University Metro station.

Artist's rendition of the proposed building
The empty site now
The presentation by Marullus Williams took place at ANC6E's regular monthly meeting on September 4. Williams said construction was planned to start in 2015 and conclude in 2017.

Parking always an issue

The planned building will have 105 rental units and retail space, and 40 parking spaces for both purposes. The developers have not decided how many spaces will be allocated for residents, and how many for retail, Williams said.

The presentation led to a debate about the appropriate number of parking spaces for the neighborhood, given the changing demographics of the neighborhood and the current shortage of spaces. Commissioners and member of the public made statements on both sides of the parking issue. Some urged more parking in the development. Others advocated making this new development near Metro less car-centered.

"Being close to a metro station will not alleviate parking problems," said Commissioner Kevin Chapple (district 02).

ANC6E then voted to recommend to Victor L. Hoskins, DC Deputy Mayor for Planning and Development, that the Parcel 42 development have at least two levels of parking. No specific number of parking spaces were recommended. The vote was 5-1. Commissioner Marge Maceda (05) voted against the resolution.

Affordable housing

The building will be only rental units -- no condos.

Of the proposed 105 units, 21 will be designated as affordable housing. Fourteen units will be priced as to be affordable to those at 50 percent of Average Area Median Income (AMI). Four will be priced for those at 30 40 percent of AMI. Three units will be priced for those at 20 30 percent of AMI.

Recent census statistics state that AMI overall in the District of Columbia is $75,807.

[NOTE: See comment below for an explanation of Area Median Income and what it would mean for the cost of apartments in this building. Thanks to commenter for setting me straight.]

There was no discussion of exactly how much an apartment might rent for, or about the cost of parking spaces.

The average unit size will be 700 square feet. Two bedroom units will be 1000 square feet. The building will be divided nearly equally between efficiency, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom rental apartments, according to Williams.

This piece of land, called "Parcel 42", was the site of a long-term protest about affordable housing in the summer of 2010, described here and here

Retail

Two retail operations have been chosen for the development.

One is Old City Farm and Guild, a garden store currently operating at 925 Rhode Island Avenue. Old City Farm and Guild will also move and do business on the land while the planning process is in progress.

The other is NURISH, described as "a restaurant and culinary entrepreneurship incubator". The operation will have an educational function for those who wish to enter the retail food industry. The developers have not decided how many seats the restaurant portion of the establishment will have, or the amount of free or paid parking.

Design

The architect will be Sasha Rosen of Georgetown-based R2L Architects. Rosen has recently attracted attention as the architect behind the restoration and development of the Wonder Bread building on the 600 block of S Street in Shaw.

Bernard Demczuk, African-American studies expert and Assistant Vice President for District Relations at George Washington University, made an enthusiastic presentation about the work he is doing on the project. Demczuk described his vision of the building's lobby, which will also function as a map and museum of the 7th Street corridor and its contribution to local African-American and Jewish history.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

14th & Wallach: +60 Apartments, 9 Parking Spaces, 5 Zoning Reliefs

Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1B/U Street will soon act on multiple zoning relief requests for a new multi-story, mixed-use building to be situated on the northeast corner of Wallach Place and 14th Streets NW. ANC1B Design Review Committee heard an initial presentation by the developer at its regular monthly meeting, held on Monday, August 19, at the Thurgood Marshall Center, 1816 12th Street NW.

Parking

How the Building Will Look
Wallach Place and 14th Now
Developers Madison Investments and PGN Architects told the committee that there will be only nine parking spaces for more than 60 apartments. To go ahead with so little parking will require special permission, or "relief", from DC's Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA). Under current rules, a developer might be required to provide more than 25 parking spaces. However, there are plans to change DC's zoning rules to eliminate this requirement as part of a major rewrite.

Sia Madani of Madison Investments told the committee that tenants are less likely to want a car, and more likely to require bike parking.

Some discussion at the meeting centered on requiring that tenants agree not to apply for a residential parking permit, perhaps as a term of their lease. No request was made by ANC1B to require this, and the developer did not offer to do so.

This is the second major proposed development near 14th Street in the last few months to have very little parking planned and to discuss the possibility of requiring tenants to pledge not to apply for a residential parking permit. At a recent ANC2F meeting, there was some discussion about whether such a requirement would be enforceable or even legal.

Other zoning relief

The building will require five separate zoning reliefs. Among other issues that will require zoning relief are building setback, total space usage, and the location and design of the loading dock.

The building setback as currently designed meets setback requirements in most respects, the developers said, except for one upper floor.

The loading dock was a matter of long discussion at the meeting. It might face 14th Street and present an impediment to vehicular and bicycle traffic.

The building height will exceed 100 feet, but will not require zoning relief. It will have retail space on the ground and second floors. Above that, there will be more than 60 new apartments (down from an initial plan of 75 smaller apartments), averaging about 600-650 square feet each. Thirty percent of these will be efficiency apartments, 50 percent one-bedrooms, and 20 percent two-bedrooms.

The developers told the committee that they plan rental units, not condos, and they are planning to be the long-term owners of the building.

"We are not looking to flip," Sia Madani said.

Next Steps

The presenters pledged additional community consultation. They said they had already consulted homeowners on Wallach Place, who were concerned about what type of retail establishments might inhabit the first two floors. A Wallach Place resident said the residents favored, for example, a hardware store, rather than a restaurant or a bar, in the building.

The developers will make an official presentation at next month's meeting of ANC1B's Design Review Committee. The meeting is scheduled for September 23 at 6:30pm at the Thurgood Marshall Center. At that time, the committee will vote on whether to recommend that the full ANC support the multiple zoning relief requests.

The full ANC will then vote on the matter, probably at its following meeting, scheduled for October 3 at 7pm at the Reeves Center (U and 14th Streets).

Both meetings are open to the public.

ANC Commissioners present at the meeting were Design Review Committee Chair Tony Norman and Zahra Jilani. Norman is the Commissioner from district 09, and is also the chair of ANC1B as a whole. Jilani is the Commissioner for district 12, in which the planned building is located.

UrbanTurf has also written about this meeting.