ANC1B Commissioner Resigns, Special Election to Be Held if Necessary

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

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

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

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

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

St. Thomas Parish Church Gets Conditional Endorsement from Dupont ANC

"That was a little more civil than I've become accustomed to," said a supporter of St. Thomas Parish Episcopal Church (1772 Church Street NW) on the way out of the last regularly monthly meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle on March 11.

Proposed church design as seen from across 18th Street

The ANC had just passed a conditional endorsement of a design for both a proposed new church at the corner of 18th and Church Streets as well as multi-unit residential buildings next door. (A 39-page .pdf of the endorsed design is available for download here.) A series of SALM posts explaining the progress of the proposal since last February --  against stiff community opposition -- is available here.

Many of the points of disagreement about the project seemed to have been resolved -- as much as possible -- in numerous previous meetings between the interested parties, including, most recently, a meeting of ANC2B's Zoning, Preservation and Development (ZPD) Committee the previous week.

Presentation at the meeting

ANC2B Chair Noah Smith (Commissioner for district 09) opened the section of the meeting devoted to St. Thomas by asking for a shorter presentation that the one presented at the ZPD Committee meeting, with an emphasis on the outside of the structure.

Architect Laurence Caudle of Hickok Cole Architects seemed to think that it was necessary to see the inside to understand the outside. The ANC and roughly 80 members of the community in attendance saw some renderings for the inside as well the outside, all projected on a wall on the side of the auditorium at the Brookings Institution (1775 Massachusetts Avenue) where the meeting took place. Caudle explained the rationale behind both components (i.e., the church and the residential) of the project.

"We've really scaled down the building," Caudle said.

Commissioner Justine Underhill (district 07) then put forward the formal motion to approve the resolution as drafted and distributed at the meeting. (ANC Chair Smith apologized that the 75 paper copies of the resolution he had printed were slightly less than the amount needed for everyone at the meeting to have a copy.) St. Thomas is in Underhill's ANC district.

About the resolution, Underhill said: "This is something we have worked hard to craft."

"It is not a rubber stamp," she said.

"We're saying that [the project] does not necessarily echo the neighborhood," said Smith.

The resolution

The resolution states the ANC supports the proposal "if and only if" conditions stated in eight separate bullet-pointed paragraphs are met, including:

• Alterations to "the corrugation of the Church Street buildings' facades", "the rhythm of the Church Street buildings' roof lines", "the church and residential exterior", "the articulation of the residential bays", "the small, dark window panes", and "the horizontal terra cotta panels"
• the residential building should not appear to be taller than 59 feet, meaning, tests should be done to make sure any roof structure over this height is not visible from the street
• a setback or other solution to offset anticipated addition congestion caused by traffic coming and going to 33 additional parking spaces in a proposed underground parking garage with an entrance in an alley off 18th Street
• continued consultation with the community about zoning, "quality-of-life", and traffic

The text of the resolution is available about half-way down this page.

Commissioner and community discussion

Not everyone loved the newest compromise. Commissioner Mike Feldstein (District 01) called the design of the church "ugly" -- at which several members of the audience shouted "here here!" in approval. A member of the community, while supporting the ANC resolution, commented sarcastically on the church design: "If you google Best Buy, I'm concerned there will be copyright infrigement."

Another community member said: "This does not fit in."

A representative of the Dupont Circle Citizens Association (DCCA) said the residential component was "incompatable" with the area and "wholly inappropriate in the Dupont area or anywhere in the L'Enfant city". The DCCA asked the ANC reject the design completely.

Other commenters said the problems of the alley space were not yet addressed. Another commenter objected to "lack of green setback at the pedestrian level".

But more frequently the comments were summed up by one Church Street resident: "I don't like this resolution but I can live with it. That is the essence of the democratic process. I wish there were something more we could do with the church design."

Other former categorical opponents to the project came to the microphone and said they could live, however reluctantly, with the ANCs resolution on the design. Some thanked the newly-elected Underhill for her work.

The leadership and advocates of the church sat silently through the entire process. Finally, as the ANC was gearing up for a final vote, Smith asked if anyone from the church wanted to say anything. A man identifying himself as the chair of the church's building committee asked the ANC to support the resolution as written and thanked Underhill.

The vote

Commissioner Feldstein felt that two sentences recommending specific changes to the design and materials went into "too much detail". The ANC considered two separate motions by Feldstein, each to delete a sentence. His motion to delete the first of the two died for lack of a second. His motion to delete the second of the two sentences failed, two votes to seven.

After that, a motion to pass the resolution granting conditional endorsement to St. Thomas Project passed by a vote of seven to zero, with two abstentions. The abstentions were Feldstein and Commissioner Stephanie Maltz (district 03).

This endorsement now moves to DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) for consideration. Assuming the historic preservation aspects of the project are eventually agreed on, the project will be back before the ANC, probably more than once. The ANC has agreed to help negotiate a memorandum of understanding about details of the construction project, like hours during which construction work will be permitted. In addition, the project will almost certainly require zoning relief, which will give the community and the ANC another opportunity to examine the project.

(photo credit: detail from documents presented to ANC2B by developer CAS Reigler)

Dupont ANC Holds the Line on 14th and U Pedestrian Space

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle has voted to protect the crowded sidewalk space near 14th and U Streets NW. At its regular monthly meeting March 11, ANC2B voted to recommend that The Wydown Coffee Bar (1924 14th Street) be required to array proposed sidewalk tables to allow a gap ten feet wide for pedestrians on the 14th Street sidewalk, just south of U Street. Wydown had made a request at the meeting for an eight-foot gap, scaled back from its original proposal of a six-foot gap.

ANC2B Chair Noah Smith (Commissioner for district 09) said, "While we
normally ask for ten feet, we are instructed to consider requests on a case-by-case basis."

Wydown is in Smith's ANC district.

There is currently a gap of 13.5 feet between the front of Wydown and the planter boxes that border 14th Street (see photo). Wydown's owners said the planter boxes were not in the design for the space when they agreed to occupy the property.

The ANC publicly reviewed the precedents. Last summer, ANC2B voted to dramatically scale back a sidewalk space request from the nearby branch of Taylor Gourmet (1908 14th Street NW) for outdoor serving space -- see SALM blog post of July 15, 2014. Smith also noted the case of Doi Moi restaurant (1800 14th Street) -- most of their tables create a ten-foot gap but they were allowed a few tables at eight feet.

Members of local community organizations spoke against reducing the gap.

"I think with that precedent you are going to have to be very conservative," said Ramon Estrada, President of the Dupont Circle Citizens Association.

"Fourteenth Street is almost impossible to traverse without going Indian-file," said Tom Bauer of the Dupont Circle Conservancy. (Bauer made it clear that, in this case, he was speaking for himself only, not for the organization.)

The commissioners were split. Commissioner Daniel Warwick (district 02) said he would vote in favor of more sidewalk space for Wydown, i.e., in favor of a smaller gap.

Commissioner Nicole Mann (district 08) agreed: "I don't think it's a huge issue."

Commissioner Mike Silverstein (district 06) thought the density of the location required special consideration: "This is about as busy as area as can be. I'm not sure whether I'm comfortable with eight feet."

Smith's original resolution supported an eight-foot gap. Silverstein made a motion to change the eight-foot gap to a ten-foot gap. Silverstein's motion to amend the original proposal passed, six votes to three. Then a motion to pass the entire resolution as amended passed, eight votes to one, with one abstention. Warwick was the vote against both the amendment and the entire resolution as amended.

ANC2B's recommendation will now go to the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), which has final authority over the commercial use of public space.

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

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

Wonder Bread Factory in 2013

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shaw ANC Tries to Solve Persistent Liquor-Licensing Problem

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6E/Shaw is trying to develop a solution to a chronic city-wide liquor-licensing problem. The problem is: restaurants "morphing" into nightclubs late in the evenings, meaning, restaurant proprietors clear away the tables, turn up on the music, and serve mostly or completely alcohol into the wee hours of the morning. Fear of these stealth nightclubs is what drives many objectors to restaurant-category liquor licenses -- see, for example, the May 16, 2014, SALM blog post about a proposed Florida Avenue establishment.

(photo credit below)

In response, ANC6E, with the help of the liquor-licensing lawyers they deal with, has developed a new template for settlement agreements between the ANC and restaurant proprietors. These agreements often dictate to what hours a liquor licensee may operate, as well as where and when they can feature live or recorded music.

The ANC6E template allows the counter-parties to these agreements to feature live music on a limited number of occasions. They may have live music at all weekend brunches and New Year's Eve. In addition, they are allowed twelve private parties with live music every year. After that, they are allowed six further instances of private parties every year which must be applied for as a "one-day substantial change" to the liquor license at DC's liquor-licensing authorities.

DC liquor-licensing rules limit the number of one-day substantial changes for an establishment to six per year. They involve additional paperwork, often notarized, to file with DC liquor-licensing authorities, as well as an additional fee of up to $300 per instance, all of which is probably a sufficient deterrent to filing for one unless absolutely needed.

The advantages seem to be: the restaurants have the flexibility to feature music late weekend mornings (when late-night noise and rowdy behavior is not an issue) and host a limited number of wedding-related events, office parties, etc., without having to petition the ANC for each event. On the other hand, the ANC gets a guarantee that late-night music and dancing will not be a regular occurrence.

Most recently, ANC6E used this template to come to a settlement agreement with, and endorse the liquor license of, Ottoman Taverna (425 I Street NW, at the corner of 4th and I Streets). The endorsement came at ANC6E's last regularly-scheduled meeting on March 3. Attorney Steve O'Brien of Mallios & O'Brien represented the applicant and said that the existing template made it much easier to negotiate the new agreement.

"It took me three minutes to prepare this version," O'Brien said.

O'Brien also told the ANC the new establishment would have inside seating for 166 and planned a sidewalk cafe with a capacity of 74. Service would continue until 2am weekdays and 3am weekends inside, and 11pm weekdays and midnight weekends outside. There would be no recorded music outdoors.

ANC6E's liquor-licensing affairs committee had review and recommended approval of the settlement agreement and endorsement of the liquor-licensing application, and the full ANC voted unanimously in favor, with one abstention.

Ottoman Taverna will be the third establishment in the same block by restauranteur Hakan Ilhan, joining Alba Osteria (also 425 I Street NW) and L'Hommage (450 K Street). L'Hommage received its liquor license endorsement and signed a settlement agreement with ANC6E last month based on the same template -- see SALM blog post of February 12.

(photo credit: from sfweekly.com. Labelled for reuse on Google Images.)

How Many People Can Live in a Logan Circle Row House?

At its regular monthly meeting March 4, Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle heard from Logan Circle residents who believe a neighboring row house at 1517 12th Street NW was about to a used as a rooming house. The neighbor asked ANC2F to pass a resolution asking DC's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) to deny the owner a rooming house permit, should one be applied for. The ANC did not vote on the matter as requested, but passed a resolution asking DCRA to give the matter "special attention".

The property last Saturday

A neighbor reported that the property had been advertised as a shared house for eight people on Radpad and Craigslist, with leases beginning March 1. These ads (which no longer appear) advertised an open house on February 18. According to the neighbor's written statement to the ANC:

...I and three other neighbors in the area went to an open house on the property. That is when we discovered that the new owner had converted the single family row house into a shared house with 9 or 10 bedrooms -- 2 bedrooms on the first floor (where the dining and living room were), 3 bedrooms on the second floor, 3 bedrooms on the 3rd floor and another unit in the basement, which they decribed as for 2 people. There is one kitchen on the first floor and one in the basement and 3.5 bathrooms (1 is attached to a room). Each room was being rented from $995-$1095/mo. (Each room had a piece of paper taped to it with a dollar amount written on it.)

Neighbors take action

The neighbors did some research on DCRA regulations with the help of the ANC and the office of DC Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward Two). They discovered the legal occupancy limit for a two-unit single family house is eight -- six in main unit, two in the basement -- but could not operate as a rooming house without a business license and an inspection. Furthermore, the owner had a license that would have allowed him to rent the house to a single family only. On February 23, he applied for a two-family rental license, the neighbor's written statement says. DCRA records also show that the first recent permit for electrical work on the property was issued on February 27.

The neighbors lobbied DCRA who issued a Compliance Notice to the owner, also on February 27. DCRA also monitored a March 1 open house and passed out copies of the Compliance Notice to people coming to view the house by appointment.

"It's not a legal unit at this point," said a neighbor.

"We're very concerned about the safety and integrity of the house," said another.

An abutting neighbor reported that the fireplace in the house had recently been used, and smoke had come into the neighbor's house -- indicating that the fireplace was not adequately vented. There was some question whether the owner had gotten the necessary permits for improving the house.

"[W]e are very concerned that the excessive occupancy and density of a 1870s rowhouse presents issues that must be closely examined, such as the burden on public utilites, sanitation, parking, etc.," the neighbors statement to the ANC says.

"I don't think we're doing anybody a favor putting nine to twelve people in there," Sherri Kimbel told the ANC at the meeting. Kimbel is a Logan Circle resident who is also Director of Constituent Services at Councilmember Evans' office.

ANC not quite sure what to do

"It's sort of a bad message if we take action," said ANC2F Chair John Fanning (Commissioner for district 04). Fanning worried about the precedent such an action would set.

"I think that the precedent we are setting is that we are insisting that people follow the rules," said Commissioner Pepin Tuma (district 03).

A motion to send a letter as requested by the neighbors -- that is, to ask for the denial of a rooming house license -- was not made by any Commissioner or voted on. Instead, the ANC unanimously voted to send a letter to DCRA asking them to give the matter their "special attention". Chair John Fanning also promised to follow up personally with phone calls.

1517 12th Street is in Fanning's ANC district.

The house seemed unoccupied as of last Saturday, March 7.

CORRECTED: Prestige Restaurant Patio Space at 11th and O Streets Endorsed

CORRECTION (5:30pm, 3/9/15): When originally posted this article (and the March 4th post referenced below) erroneously said the planned outdoor space was on the corner of 11th and Q Street, not O Street. A reader corrected. Apologies for the error.

David Dale of Dale Management and Development came before Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle last week and convinced it to revise a decision on outdoor space for a proposed mixed-use building planned for 1337 11th Street NW, the southeast corner of 11th and Q  O Streets NW. Dale's request and subsequent decision occurred during the last regularly-scheduled meeting of ANC2F on March 4. 

How the space looked two days ago

The previous week, Dale had appeared before the Community Development Committee (CDC) of ANC2F -- see SALM blog post of March 4. At that time, Dale asked for endorsement of a plan that would brick over the entire space between the north side of the building and the sidewalk, and then set a decorative fence and hedge around it. This would create an area which was ideal for a restaurant patio, with seating for perhaps 50-60 people. Dale said previously he's had expressions of interest in the space from "household-name chefs who I cannot divulge".

The CDC refused to endorse Dale's request as submitted. Instead, they modified his plan and passed a resolution endorsing a smaller space -- roughly 65 percent of what Dale asked for. Over Dale's objections, the CDC's plan located the patio entirely on the western part of the requested space, toward 11th Street (right of photo), away from the neighboring residences on Q O Street.

Dale came back before the full ANC to explain why the CDC decision was unacceptable for him. The CDC's resolution, as written, would prohibit Dale from using a fire exit door that opens onto the east side of the proposed patio space (see left of photo). DC regulations require that such a door open onto a paved area. The door would be a requirement should a professional kitchen want to operate in that space.

Dale came back with an revised proposal, designed both to allow him to both have the required fire door as well as meet the CDC's desire to have roughly 65 percent of the originally-proposed space bricked over. The result was the creation of a patio with an irregularly-shaped green space in the northeast quarter, which would hold two newly-planted trees and an herb garden.

 "It is the exact number of square feet that was approved," Dale said.

There was some discussion about whether endorsing the design of the patio, as Dale had submitted it, obligated the ANC to endorse a future public space permit by a restaurant tenant.

"We're buying into the notion of some café space," said Commissioner Kevin Deeley (district 08).

"I don't think this is an implicit approval of outdoor space," said Commissioner Kate Gordon (district 01).

The ANC considered sending the decision back to the Community Development Committee. Dale told the ANC he had put $1.2 million into the renovation of the property and he needed to move forward.

"I have to be able to show something built to a restaurant tenant," Dale said. "I can't just hang on forever."

The full ANC approved Dale's proposal as presented without audible dissent. Dale will now take the ANC's endorsement to the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), which has authority over public space issues, for a final decision.