Historic Preservation Board Delays Consideration of Hine Issue until April 28
ANC6b Sets Agenda on Hine Massing and Height Concept
by Barbara Riehle and Larry Janezich
On Tuesday night, ANC6b, at its regular March meeting, approved a new plan for receiving community feedback on the redevelopment of Hine School. The Historic Preservation Office (HPO) announced at 5:30pm Tuesday night that the Historic Preservation Review Board’s (HPRB) consideration of Stanton-Eastbanc’s Historic Preservation Application (HPA) will be deferred until April 28, at the request of ANC6b. Originally, HPRB was scheduled to take action on Hine at its March 24 hearing.
Also during the four hour meeting, the Commission approved operating guidelines for “Pacifico” and created a new Standing Committee on Transportation and two new Special Committees. A report on extending the boundaries of the Performance Parking Program to impose additional parking limitations on the streets east of Barracks Row provoked a sometimes heated discussion. (Watch for separate postings on the parking plan and on new committees.)
There has been considerable reaction in the Capitol Hill community to the massing and height concept drawings submitted to HPO by Stanton in support of this HPA. Community commentary on these drawings on the major blogs and listservs following this story can be described as mixed, at best. (See the following: http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/9502/make-capitol-hills-hine-project-better-not-smaller/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newhilleast/ and, of course, emmcablog.org.)
As previously announced, ANC6b will conduct a Special Call meeting – a meeting of the ANC outside of the regular monthly schedule and focused on a single issue – on Tuesday, March 15, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm at St. Coletta’s School, 19th and Independence, SE. Stanton-Eastbanc will present its plans during the first hour, including any changes to the plan since the last presentation on March 2. During the following two hours, developers will take questions and comments from commissioners and community members. A second Special Call meeting – time and place tbd – will be held in April to hear additional community input and for the Commission to vote on its recommendation to the Historic Preservation Review Board. By law, HPRB must give “great weight” to the ANC’s recommendations. The HPRB hearing will follow on April 28.
(EMMCA members will meet on Wednesday, March 16 to discuss Stanton-Eastbanc’s designs. Members will be notified by email of time and location.)
A few nearby neighbors of Hine were on hand Tuesday night to respond to ANC6b Chair Neil Glick’s request for initial feedback on Stanton’s designs, first unveiled at the Commission’s Planning and Zoning Committee meeting on March 1 and presented to nearby neighbors on March 2. Speaking for 8th Street residents in the block just north of Hine, Bill Pate (no relation to Commissioner Brian Pate) called the designs “incompatible” with the area, objecting specifically to the height of the proposed buildings and the loss of light, air and green space in the plans.
Jeffrey Stine, who lives directly across the street from the Hine site said much had been made of the term “smart growth” and questioned whether the term – which is sometimes used to describe extensive massing near metro stations – is appropriate in an historic district. He described the designs as “inharmonious” with the existing neighborhood.
There was brief discussion of resolutions on Hine ANC6b adopted in 2008 and 2009, described by Commissioner Dave Garrison as proposed criteria first for the City’s Request for Proposals (RFP), then for assessing the four proposed developers. Commissioner Kirsten Oldenburg injected that she recalled no discussion of height in the ANC6b’s Resolutions, but the June 2009 Resolution contains 12 proposed criteria, including “Restrict building heights to 60 feet along Pennsylvania Avenue SE, 40 feet along 8th and C Streets SE, and 50 feet along 7th Street SE.”
To view the full PowerPoint presentation by Stanton-Eastbanc, visit http://hineschool.com/sites/default/files/2011-03-02%20%20Community%20Presentation.pdf.
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 