1820-1822 Jefferson Place: Long-delayed Expansion to Move Forward

It was seen by DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) in 2009 and got approval from the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) in 2010, but the project to expand 1820-1822 Jefferson Place NW is only now under contract. So it was necessary for the owners to go back to HPRB for review. They also had to request that the BZA extend the special exceptions they had received for rear yard requirement and lot requirement, which had expired in May 2014.

From HPRB case document

So, attorney Cynthia Giordano of Saul Ewing LLP had to visit the June 11 meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle to request a letter stating the ANC had no new objections to the project. The ANC had endorsed it several years ago.

The two addresses are actually a single conjoined office building. They were separate buildings when built 125 years ago and still have two separate entrances.

The proposal is to build a six-story (plus basement) office building to the rear of
the historic building. There will be not effort to make the addition blend into the existing structure -- it will look like a different building.  

The property today

The ANC unanimously agreed to accept the project as presented, except to agree with a recent recommendation by the Dupont Circle Conservancy that the proposed roof decks on the structures be set back.

According to BZA documents, special exceptions were granted for insufficient rear yard setback and for failure to provide sufficient parking spaces given the increase in the size of the building. Rear yard setback was granted in part with the rationale that considerations of privacy, light, and air to the neighbors to the rear were not important in this case, as the buildings to the rear are not residential. They are office buildings or buildings converted to retail uses, like nightclubs or liquor stores.

According to zoning regulations, the developers should have to provide nine parking spaces. They will only provide three. The parking exception was given on the rationale that additional parking could not be provided without substantial hardship to the developers, meaning, they would have to excavate in a small space underneath a historic structure.

See the letter that ANC2B sent to the BZA and HPRB endorsing this project here.

See the HPRB report on this project here.

The documents concerning this project's zoning application can be viewed by following this link and putting case number 18064 into the case bar.

ANC2B's Zoning, Preservation and Development (ZPD) Committee will have its regular monthly meeting tonight, July 7, 7pm, at the Dupont Circle Resource Center (9 Dupont Circle). On the agenda will be the controversial project by St. Thomas' Parish Episcopal Church (1772 Church Street) -- see most recently the SALM blog post of June 27.

Cheater's Guide to "Dream City" -- Part 5 (The Uprising)

This is the fifth installment of a series (see the first installment here) summarizing the 1994 book Dream City: Race, Power, and the Decline of Washington, D.C.by Harry Jaffe and Tom Sherwood. This book has recently been republished as an ebook and a paper book. HBO has plans to use material from the book to make a movie about the life of Marion Barry.

Chapter 4: The Uprising

"Everyone thought Washington was riot-proof," said John Hechinger, first chair of the appointed city council. The black middle class was too big, and military muscle too close.

Martin Luther King was in Washington five days before his assassination. He addressed an overflow crowd in National Cathedral.

"...[I]f nothing is done between now and June to raise ghetto hope, I feel this summer will not only be as bad, but worse than last year," he said (Kindle location 1098).

The same evening President Lyndon Johnson said he would not seek the nomination to a second full term as President.

King was assassinated in the early afternoon of April 4. Word spread, people were stunned.

Activist Stokely Carmichael came out of the storefront offices of the Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee (SNCC), two blocks north of the intersection of 14th and U Streets NW. He led a crowd south down 14th Street, demanding stores close to honor King. Cooler heads try to calm the situation.

Rioting broke out. People looted and set fires on a massive scale. By 10:30, Carmichael had fled the rioting for the night.

The police chief had gone to a Cherry Blossom Festival event, and the ranking officer in charge was at the Washington Hilton, where Vice-President Hubert Humphrey was making a speech. A decision was made not to call in the military that night, or the next day until 4pm.

Carmichael returned the next day, brandishing a gun before the press.

"Stay off the streets if you don't have a gun, because there's going to be shooting," he said.

After that, he mostly stayed out of sight.

Smoke rose over downtown. The federal government shut down in the mid-afternoon. There was an enormous traffic jam leaving the city, hampering police and fire. Stores on 14th and 7th Streets NW and H Street NE were looted and set ablaze. Rioters obstructed firefighters. "Most of the twelve people who were killed during the rioting died in burning stores." (l. 1272)

"The looters sacked stores at 14th and G Streets, two blocks from the White House, before police drove them out of the central business district (l. 1281).

Marion Barry "had become one of the primary conciliators during the uprising. The city's leaders, both white and black, thought that Barry was one of the few people who could appeal to the looters.... Compared to a crazed teenager with a Molotov cocktail, Barry was a moderate... (l. 1306).

Barry worked with Giant supermarkets to get food to people in the riot-torn areas. No Giant store had been set on fire. "Five Safeway stores, Giant's main rival, had been reduced to rubble" (l. 1322).

Mayor Walter Washington instituted at 5:30 pm to 6:30am curfew. Federal troops were stationed along main streets and insections, "but the alleys belonged to the arsonists" (l. 1343). Troops used tear gas but did not fired weapson. After a few days, the curfew was lifted and the troops went back to their barracks.

"In countless ways, the city of Washington never recovered from the uprising. People will always define the city's history as 'before the riots' and 'after the riots'. The greatest changes took place in the city's political arena. Power shifted to the black majority, and though Marion Barry was not a major playing during the uprising, he would be a primary beneficiary..." (l. 1355).

White southern congressmen asked repeatedly why the looters weren't shot. The Cherry Blossom Festival was cancelled. The city council held hearings in African-American neighborhoods and heard continued anger.

Carmichael returned and tried to take over the SNCC office on behalf of the Black Panthers. Workers from Barry's group, Pride Inc., and their allies defended the office. Carmichael soon left the US.

"Why do we go on patting each other on the back like a mutual admiration society when this thing isn't over yet? It's not just the 6,300 people who were arrested, but a whole lot of people in this town are angry and just waiting 'til the troops leave," Barry said (l. 1439).

He also said: "When the city rebuilds the riot corridors, if you don't let my black brothers control the process -- and I mean all the way to owning the property -- it might just get burned down again" (l. 1440).

Barry "was invited into the coalitions and committees that grew out of the efforts to heal the city's wounds" (l. 1444).

The last words in this chapter are: "Marion Barry started to take his place among the city's power brokers" (l. 1455).

In this chapter, the authors recommend (l. 1116) the following out-of-print book about the 1968 14th Street riots: Ten blocks from the White House: An anatomy of the Washington riots of 1968by Ben W. Gilbert and the staff of the Washington Post.

Cheater's Guide to Dream City continues next week

Further installments will appear on successive Fridays. All posts will be cross-posted on the ad-hoc "Cheater's Guide to Dream City" blog.

Full disclosure: I have a commercial relationship with Amazon. I will receive a very small portion of the money people spend after clicking on an Amazon link on this site.

This is a great book and well worth reading in its entirety.

Cheater's Guide to 'Dream City' -- Part 4 (Pride)

This is the fourth installment of a series (see the first installment here) summarizing the 1994 book Dream City: Race, Power, and the Decline of Washington, D.C.by Harry Jaffe and Tom Sherwood. This book has recently been republished as an ebook and a paper book. HBO has plans to use material from the book to make a movie about the life of Marion Barry.

Chapter 3: Pride

In 1967, Williard Wurtz was U.S. Secretary of Labor. He was concerned about summer unrest in Washington fueled "by poverty and hopelessness among black Americans in the big cities."

"The philosophy was simple: Federal funds would be applied to cure the root problems and symptoms of the inner-city poor" (Kindle location 833).

Meanwhile, on May 1, 19-year-old Clarence T. "Fat Nasty" Brooker was shot in the back by police answering a complaint from a store owner. His treatment was delayed and he "died a few hours later of massive internal bleeding"  (l. 856).

His friend, Rufus "Catfish" Mayfield, a juvenile ex-con, testified that police had shot Brooker in cold blood, but the coroner ruled it a "justifiable homocide" (l. 861).

Mayfield's testimony brought him to the attention of Marion Barry, who had recently resigned from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to create a local political movement of his own.

"Barry's dilemma was not unlike Willard Wirtz's: Neither truly understood the culture of these urban black men. Most had dropped out of school. many had police records, and more than a few were gang members and carried guns. Marion Barry was a former small-town Eagle Scout who'd made it through nineteen years of schooling" (l. 879).

"... Mayfield agreed to be Barry's guide. He taught him the dialect of the street, the walk, the mannerisms, the culture" (l. 882).

Barry found another ally in Carroll Harvey, the director of the DC government's office of community renewal, in working to calm tensions.

Wirtz went to a church near where Brooker was shot to unveil a new jobs program. The announcement met with a reaction of hostile silence, organized by Barry. Barry insulted Wirtz and his program in the church. But outside the church, he offered to talk. Wirtz accepted.

Barry and allies quickly developed an alternative proposal.

"They wanted to set up an independent company that would hire teenagers hanging out on the corners to clean the ghetto streets. The daring aspect was that few believed that street toughs would work for a wage. Barry's proposition challenged the conventional wisdom" (l. 942).

"... The first deal -- between Marion Barry and the white liberal establishment -- was struck. He would maintain peace in the streets, and the liberals would foot the bill, whether it paid for a job-training project or a political campaign to come. This fundamental transaction was the cornerstone of Barry's political machine" (l. 948).

Barry and allies established Pride, Inc., with Mayfield was chair. His police record enraged House Republicans, but the federally-funded street-cleaning program went ahead.

President Lyndon Johnson's DC home-rule law failed in 1965. In 1967, another proposal was working its way through a hostile Congress. As part of the proposal, Johnson decided to appoint Walter Washington mayor. Washington successfully insisted on control of the police against White House and Congressional opposition.

"House District Committee chair John McMillan wasn't pleased. When Walter Washington sent his first budget to Congress, McMillan thanked him by delivering a truckload of watermelons to the District Building" (l. 1001).

Johnson also appointed John Hechinger, who headed a chain of hardware stores bearing the family's name, to be chair of the city council.

Barry criticized the appointments. "They should be people who could get elected if there were an election. These men couldn't make it for dog catcher," Barry said (l. 1030).

Pride, Inc.'s pilot street-cleaning program was a success, and Wirtz gave them another $1.5 million.

At the same time, Rufus Mayfield was developing his own following as a community organizer. Barry came to see him as a competitor and edged him out of Pride, Inc.

Soon after, civil rights leader Stokely Carmichael came to DC. Carmichael saw Barry as a collaborator with DC's white ruling class.

Speaking to Barry, Carmichael quoted Che Guevara: "... the duty of revolutionaries is to lead the revolution" (l. 1081).

"A few months later, Carmichael would see how hard it is to control a real revolution" (l. 1082).

Cheater's Guide to Dream City continues

Part 5 of "Cheater's Guide" will appear today, Friday, July 4, 2014. Further installments will appear on successive Fridays. All posts will be cross-posted on the ad-hoc blog Cheater's Guide to "Dream City".

Full disclosure: I have a commercial relationship with Amazon. I will receive a very small portion of the money people spend after clicking on an Amazon link on this site.

This is a great book and well worth reading in its entirety.

1201 T Street: "It's Kind of an Eyesore"

The new homeowner of 1201 T Street NW bought the house in December 2013. He didn't realize he needed special permission to replace his front walk (facing T Street) and side patio (facing 12th Street). So he went ahead and started to take them up. That's when he got a stop work order slapped on the window of his house, right above the half-removed side patio.

The offending patio

The house is located within the U Street Historic District, so any exterior changes or renovations must get the blessing of D.C.'s Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB).

Before that, the homeowner should seek the endorsement of the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC). That's what brought him to the last meeting of ANC 1B/U Street on June 16.

"It's kind of an eyesore," the homeowner said of the partially-completed project.

The side patio facing 12th Street is now 10 feet by 15 feet. HPRB took a look at it and said they would only allow 5 feet by 5 feet. In addition, the homeowner had to prepare a plan which specified the type of material that would be used, and the color.

The committee discussed the member of HPRB staff who was assigned to the case. This particular committee member is known for especially zealous enforcement of historic district guidelines.

"That's why you're getting five by five," one committee member said.

The committee unanimously passed a motion to endorse the homeowner's proposal to complete the project. The motion also supported the homeowner's desire to have a patio larger than five by five.

The committee's recommendation will go to the full ANC for approval. It will probably be considered at the next meeting, which is scheduled for Thursday, July 10, at 7pm, at the Reeves Center (14th and U Streets).

Online records indicate 1201 T Street was bought in December 2013 for $1.125 million.

UPDATED: Lux Lounge Landlord to Terminate Lease after Shooting

UPDATE (July 2, 7pm): A tweet from D.C.'s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) says Lux Lounge's liquor license was summarily suspended today.

Douglas Development, the landlord of 649 New York Avenue NW, will terminate the lease of Lux Lounge, it was announced at the meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Committee (ANC) 6E/Shaw last night (July 1). Lux Lounge was the site of a large-scale brawl that started inside the club and ended in a shooting. The shooting occured just outside the club after the brawlers were ejected at about 3:30am Saturday morning (June 29), according to a report in the Washington Times.

Screenshot of Lux Lounge Website

According to information disclosed at the ANC meeting, one person was shot in the melee, one was injured with a broken bottle, and one person was left unconscious.

After the incident, DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier invoked emergency police powers to order the club closed for 96 hours.

ANC6E Commissioner Rachello Nigro (district 04) said at the meeting that Douglas Development had given Lux Lounge the legally-required 120 days notice to vacate the property.

Dupont Underground Developer to Expand Own Residence

Julian Hunt, Founder and Chairman of Arts Coalition for Dupont Underground, will also take on the job of renovating and expanding his own home studio at 1504 Swann Street NW. Hunt is an architect and principle at Hunt Laudi Studio.

1504 Swann Street now

Hunt appeared and spoke June 11, at the last regular monthly of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle. He appeared before the ANC with his wife, Lucretia Laudi, also an architect. She is President of Hunt Laudi Studio.

Hunt and Laudi's appearance before ANC2B was only to inform on their plans -- they will have to come back, probably more than once, because their home will require ANC endorsement of petitions to both DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) and the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA). 

HPRB will have authority to review because the property is located within the U Street Historic District. 

Hunt explained they have lived at the property for about 17 years. Recently, their neighbors did a by-right expansion of their home to the property line. This cut off light and air to their property, as they are on the north side of a party wall. So, the owners of 1504 Swann Street wish to expand their own property to a height roughly the same as the other buildings on the street.

Two aspects of the project may not fly easily through the permit process. First, The architects desire a higher roof deck on their expanded property. Second, the property already occupies 100% of the lot it stands on, so it is already in violation of zoning regulations.

No votes were taken on the project at the June 11 meeting, nor did commissioners express any opinions.

Hunt Laudi Studio has also been in the news as the designer of the Metro Memorial Park. Mayor Vincent Grey broke ground on the project on June 22. 

Dupont Underground was the subject of the SALM blog post of April 4.  See an article from the same date by the blog Urban Turf here.

What's the Deal with the Census Forms in the Mail?

Tens of thousands of DC and Maryland homes have received or soon will receive an envelope in their mailboxes marked "Your response is required by law". That's because the part of DC west of 7th Street NW, plus much of Montgomery County, Maryland, has been chosen as the venue to test new technology in preparation for the 2020 Census.

The orange dotted line shows the area to be surveyed

"It's the only area of the country that's actually doing an actual census," Al Millikan of US Census Bureau told Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC)  6E/Shaw on June 3.

At the ANC6E meeting on June 3, Al Millikan of the US Census Bureau appeared to announce the availability of temporary jobs, full or part time, of several months' duration, paying $17 an hour or more. He said that DC west of 7th Street, starting at New York and Pennsylvania Avenues in the South and extending all the way north to the city line, was being surveyed.

"There's going to be use of technologies -- I-phones, GPS -- that really haven't been used in the past census," Millikan said.

"In 2020, there might be a possibility of people able to fill their Census forms online," he also said.

Census employees would start being sent out about July 10 to contact people who had not responded on-line to the survey before July 1, Millikan said.

Millikan could not answer several questions ANC Commissioners had. For example, he failed to answer, twice, the same question from two Commissioners: Is participation mandatory?

"Everyone is expected to respond to the Census," was the closest he got to an answer.

Nor was Millikan particularly clear in response to a question about how the US Census Bureau was going to get the word out about the Census test, or about how Census enumerators will arrange to get access to high-rise buildings.

Millikan remarked that hiring preference was given to people who lived in the Census area. Someone asked Millikan, twice, if this meant that applicants from DC's three other quadrants were not eligible for Census jobs. After the second attempt, Millikan mentioned that he had interviewed people from Northeast and Southeast for jobs. While this did not directly answer the question, it seemed to indicate that all four quadrants were welcome.

The welcome screen of the census test

I received a notification from the Census in the mail and have just finished participating. It takes about 15 minutes.

My suggested improvement: To respond, you have to type in a URL from a piece of paper. The census bureau could provide an alternate shorter address formed with the help of a URL-shortener.

See a press release about the 2014 field test for the 2020 Census here. The field test also has a web page here.

ANC6E has a Youtube Channel, on which they post meetings in their entirety. See Millikan's appearance by clicking on this link and starting at time 9:00.

ANC6E is having its July meeting tomorrow night, July 1, at 6:30pm, at the Northwest One Library (155 L Street NW). See the agenda here. ANC6E will have its next regularly scheduled meeting in September.