Monthly Archives: June 2012

June 8, 2012 · 8:52 am

Eastern Market Advisory Committee, Others, File For Party Status for Zoning Hearing on Hine

Eastern Market Advisory Committee, Others, File For Party Status for Zoning Hearing on Hine – Move Affords Greater Opportunity to Express Concerns

by Larry Janezich

The DC Zoning Commission maintains an Interactive Zoning Information System featuring copies of all relevant documents concerning pending cases, including applications for party status, reports from government agencies on the project, letters of support and opposition for the project, and links to video of public government meetings concerning these cases.

Party status before the Zoning Commission gives entities granted it, more standing before the Commission, more time to present their case, and the right to cross examine witnesses and others with party status.

The link to the Office of Zoning Case Report on Hine is here:  http://app.dcoz.dc.gov/Content/Search/ViewCaseReport.aspx

Individual documents and exhibits, including applications for party status, letters, and reports can be viewed here:

http://app.dcoz.dc.gov/Content/Search/ViewExhibits.aspx

Some of the items of particular interest include:

20B – HRPB Staff Report and Recommendations

20F2 – Stanton-Eastbanc’s Assessment of the Hine Site Development Impacts

49 – Application for Party Status in Opposition from Marcel LaFollette for Eyes on Hine

124 – Application for Party Status in Opposition from Flea Market Manager Mike Berman

125 – Application for Party Status in Opposition from Hine School North Neighbors

126 – Application for Party Status in Opposition from EMMCA

127 – Application for Party Status in Opposition from Eastern Market Advisory Committee

132 – DDOT Transportation Report on the Hine Development

134 – Office of Planning Report on the Hine Development

139 – Hine School North Neighbor Expert Witness Report

Interestingly, CHRS which was strongly critical of the design, height, and massing of the project before the Historic Preservation Review Board, does not intend to file for party status and will present its case in the five minutes allotted to organizations.  CHRS also strongly endorsed Stanton-Eastbanc’s bid to develop the Hine site.  CHAMPS, the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, has filed an application for party status in support of the project.

Links to videos of public government meetings include:

Zoning Commission Public Meeting of February 13, 2012;

HPRB Public Meeting of June 30, 2011;

HPRB Public Meeting of April 28, 2011.

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June 6, 2012 · 12:31 am

City Agencies Raise Concerns About the Hine Development – ANC Committee Forwards Hine Subcommittee Report Without Taking Position

City Agencies Raise Concerns About the Hine Development – ANC Committee Forwards Hine Subcommittee Report Without Taking Position

by Larry Janezich

On Tuesday night, Chair Francis Campbell’s ANC6B Planning and Zoning Committee voted unanimously to forward recommendations on the Hine Development to the full ANC6B without recommendation.

ANC Commissioner Ivan Frishberg, Chair of the Hine Subcommittee, said that he was in “a really difficult spot” with respect to approving the recommendations, which he basically supported.  Frishberg cited a number of outstanding issues which came to light this week:

1)     An Office of Planning report which came late today, recommending design changes in the project;

2)     A Department of Housing and Economic Development letter raising concerns about the concentration of affordable housing in the project’s North Building and other concerns;

3)     A “fairly harsh” DDOT report  recommending less parking for the project, rejecting the developer’s plan for unloading 55 trucks on 7th Street, and raising concerns about parking for affordable housing residents of the project’s North Building.

4)     The Construction Management Plan, which has not yet been submitted to the developer and which has yet to be subject to negotiation and discussion.

Frishberg argued that these issues might become more clear in the week remaining before the full ANC6B is scheduled to take up the recommendation.  “I’m not comfortable in sending these recommendations forward to the full ANC”, Frishberg stated.  Also, “In principle, the (Memorandum of Agreement) reflects the agreement we have with the developers, but it needs additional discussion.”

Hine Subcommittee Vice Chair Brian Pate pointed out that reducing the parking in accordance with DDOT recommendations would jeopardize the 50 half-cost parking spaces the developer will make available to flea market vendors on weekends.

One of the major community issues, adequate space for the weekend flea markets, appears to be on its way to resolution.  Commissioner Pate referred to a weekend market tent plan drawn up to Oheme Van Sweden Landscape Architects which would accommodate 250 tents, more than currently comprise the combined total of the weekend flea markets on the Hine site and the vendors on the plazas and sidewalks around Eastern Market.  Logistical issues and accommodating the concerns of the “brick and mortar” 7th Street merchants need yet to be worked out, but Pate was confident they could be.

ANC6B, at a Special Call meeting which immediately preceded the Planning and Zoning Committee meeting, agreed to a resolution of support for Councilmember Tommy Wells’ Eastern Market legislation, which addressed several other flea market concerns raised by residents, vendors and the two weekend flea market managers.

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June 5, 2012 · 4:25 pm

DDOT Calls Hine Traffic Analysis “Incorrect and Fundamentally Flawed” – Developer Must Resubmit before Zoning Change

DDOT Calls Hine Traffic Analysis “Incorrect and Fundamentally Flawed” – Developer Must Resubmit before Zoning Change

by Larry Janezich

Yesterday, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) issued its analysis of Stanton Eastbanc’s submitted Traffic Impact Study (TIS), conducted by Symmetra Design, and concluded that the “analysis provided by the Applicant [Stanton Eastbanc] is incorrect and fundamentally flawed.”  The developer must either make changes to the Impact Study or the design and intended uses for the development in order to obtain approval from DDOT.

DDOT said they believe the mistakes in the TIS yields an analysis which is “not reliable” – i.e., that the TIS forwarded to DDOT as part of Stanton-Eastbanc’s zoning application which found the development would have no adverse transportation effects requiring  mitigation cannot be used by the Zoning Commission in its deliberation.   DDOT goes on to say that the assumptions upon which the report was based were either poorly documented or biased in the direction of understating the effect of the development.

Perhaps most significant, the plan for unloading 55 foot trucks on 7th Street was found unacceptable.  This effectively means that an underground loading dock for 55 foot trucks will have to be incorporated into the development, or the planned grocery component of the site will not happen.

The report also takes issue with the parking, saying the amount of parking is twice the amount of the potential available demand, and points to issues regarding parking for the residents of the North Building.  These residents are potentially eligible for Resident Parking Plan (RPP) parking, but, the report notes, the privatization of C Street will make it ineligible for the program.

At this point, SEB may resolve some of DDOT’s concerns by eliminating parking spaces.  Even if they choose to do so, however, this move will not address or resolve all of the concerns DDOT raised regarding the TIS’s systematic low-balling of trips to and from the site.

When properly computed, DDOT states that the developer will have to suggest mitigation for traffic effects on the surrounding neighborhood.  At this point, it is likely that a Zoning Commission hearing will move forward, but without a proper Transportation Impact Study, the Commission will not be able to make a final decision.  Moreover, because the ANC is now placed in the position of approving a Memorandum of Agreement without knowing the full scale of adverse traffic effects, the Zoning Commission may direct the developer back to ANC negotiations if it finds that the more complete study furnished to them requires mitigation.

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June 4, 2012 · 11:00 am

The Week Ahead….

The Week Ahead……

by Larry Janezich

Monday, June 4

CHRS Forum on Hine School Project at 7:00pm at Hill Center featuring presentation by Stanton-Eastbanc on modifications to the design resulting from negotiations with ANC6B representatives.  7:00pm.  The Hill Center.

Tuesday, June 5

Planning and Zoning Committee meets at 7:00pm on Memorandum of Agreement detailing which community requests have been agreed to in negotiations between ANC6B representatives and Stanton-Eastbanc developers regardomg the Hine project.  St. Coletta’s of Greater Washington.  (This meeting will be preceded by the Special Call meeting listed below.)

Tuesday, June 5

ANC6B holds a Special Call meeting on recent weekend-flea-market-related amendments added by Council Member Wells to his legislation to establish a new governing structure for Eastern Market.  The Special Call meeting will allow ANC6B to refine its prior position with respect to the changes in the bill, including the incorporation of 7th Street from C Street to Pennsylvania Avenue in the Eastern Market Special Use District, and giving the current weekend flea market managers right of first refusal in the future management of the markets.  6:00pm.  St. Coletta’s of Greater Washington.

Wednesday, June 6

ANC6B’s Transportation Committee meets to hear a DDOT presentation on the Capitol Hill Transportation Study and traffic calming plans on 17th Street, 19th Street, and Independence Avenue, SE.  6:30pm.  Payne Elementary School, 1445 C Street SE

Thursday, June 7

DC City Council Committee of the Whole’s first hearing on Eastern Market legislation.   1:00pm.  Council Chambers of the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave, NW.

Thursday, June 7

AnC6B ABC Committee Meets at 7:00pm in Hill Center.

Yes! Organic Market is applying for a Class B Retailer’s license with a tasting permit Sunday through Saturday, 8:00am – 10:00 pm, for its new store location on 8th Street.

Beuchert’s Saloon (coming this fall to 623 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, when the Old Capitol Hill Art and Frame Shop) will re-emerge as the saloon it once was in the 19th Century.  The owners are applying for a Class C Retailer’s Restaurant License (lunch, brunch, and dinner Sunday 9 a.m.- 2 a.m., Monday thru Thursday 11 a.m.- 2 a.m., Friday 11 a.m.- 3 a.m., and Saturday 9 a.m.- 3 a.m. with seating capacity for 47 patrons, total load of 61, and summer garden with 20 seats).

Bachelor’s Mill/Back Door Pub on lower 8th Street (south of the freeway) wants to extend its hours to 4:00am Sunday through Thursday, and to 5:00am, Friday and Saturday.

Belga Café wants to open earlier – 8:00am instead of 10:00am – seven days a week.

Thursday, June 7

ANC6B holds a Special Call meeting on Belga Café’s application to extend its hours, immediately following the ANC6B ABC hearing above.  Hill Center.

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June 1, 2012 · 10:08 am

ANC Tries to Take Flea Market Off the Table Before Hine Zoning Hearing – Market Managers Skeptical About Proposed Solution

ANC Tries to Take Flea Market Off the Table Before Hine Zoning Hearing – Market Managers Skeptical About Proposed Solution

by Larry Janezich

ANC6B has scheduled a Special Call meeting on Councilmember Tommy Wells’ Eastern Market legislation for next Tuesday.  The purpose is to consider and sign off on the bill prior to the City Council’s Committee of the Whole hearing on the legislation next Thursday.

The ANC is hoping this will resolve one of the thorniest issues coming before the full ANC6B meeting on June 12 and the Zoning Commission hearing on June 14 as part of Stanton-Eastbanc’s application to change the zoning of the Hine site.  There is widespread unhappiness in the Capitol Hill community over the scaling back of the flea market which will result from construction of the 560,000 square foot Hine development which will occupy almost all of the space currently used by the weekend flea market vendors.

The legislation proposes to address this problem by creating an “Eastern Market Special Use District,” which will include the 700 block of the to-be-reopened C Street, 7th Street between North Carolina Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue, and the sidewalks and plazas around and adjacent to Eastern Market.  The use of the Special District would be under the control of a newly formed Eastern Market Trust, intended to be the new governing body for Eastern Market.

Last Wednesday night, at a meeting in Hill Center hosted by the Coalition for Smarter Growth, Stanton Partner Ken Golding alluded to a drawing prepared by project architect Amy Weinstein, which lays out a plan for the weekend flea market encompassing 7th Street between North Carolina and Pennsylvania Avenue, the plaza in front of the Natatorium next to Eastern Market, and the Metro Plaza.  Stanton Development has not yet released that drawing, and it is unclear that they will do so, but Golding cited it as providing ample space for the market.

Councilmember Tommy Wells has asserted to flea market vendors, “The legislation does not displace current vendors or reduce Eastern Market in any way – the opposite is true. The flea market [managers] would now have a new right-of-first-refusal to continue in their space and preserve the diverse nature of the market.”

Sunday flea market manager Mike Berman says that “rushing a political solution is not the answer.  What it does is let the developer off the hook.”  In addition, Berman believes, that although the legislation gives him and Saturday flea market manager Carol Wright the right of first refusal, the bill will ask them to rebid on the markets they created, and under terms that remain unknown.  In addition, he said, the bill: 1) fails to guarantee the size of the future weekend markets, 2) fails to define what the flea market will be, 3) fails to define how much space on the plaza the developer will control, and 4) leaves the process for closing 7th Street on weekends uncertain.

The Special Call meeting on the Eastern Market legislation will be held at St. Coletta of Greater Washington, 1901 Independence Avenue SE, on Tuesday, June 5, 2012, at 600pm.  It will be followed by the ANC Planning and Zoning Committee which will consider the Memorandum of Agreement between the ANC and Stanton – Eastbanc which ANC negotiators Ivan Frishberg and Brian Pate were able to reach with the developer.

Last Thursday, the ANC Hine Subcommittee voted to send the negotiators back to the developer with a list of additional instructions.  Commissioner Norm Metzger is expected to challenge the parliamentary validity of those additional instructions on the basis that they had not been considered or approved by the full ANC.

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