Monthly Archives: January 2013

Revision of Zoning Regulations:  Carriage Houses, Alley Lot Houses and English Basements

ANC Narrows Focus on Changes Affecting Capitol Hill Residents  

by Pat Taylor

Thursday night, ANC6B’s Zoning Regulations Revisions Task Force held its second meeting which was devoted to listing and summarizing the proposed zoning regulation changes most likely to affect Capitol Hill residents. 

 A list of the regulation changes of most concern is as follows:*:

•  Alley carriage houses and apartments in rowhouses.   Rowhouse owners will have the right to have a total of 2 “dwelling units” on their lots, providing lot dimensions are large enough.  The second dwelling unit can be in the rowhouse itself, (including English basements) or (new – such as a carriage house on the alley) – as a matter of right).  If the rowhouse owner already has a garage on the alleyway of her/his lot, the garage can be converted to a carriage house (i.e., dwelling unit) as a matter of right [providing certain conditions are met].  If the rowhouse owner already has an illegally rented carriage house, it can become “legal” providing the relevant conditions are met.  The carriage house can be rented; to up to 6 unrelated persons or any number of related persons can live in the carriage house. There is no requirement for off-street parking spaces for occupants of newly built carriage house occupants.  Carriage house occupants, under current DC law, are eligible to purchase Zone Residential Permits.
• Alley lot houses  (especially of interest to Hill East residents).   Under existing code, residences can be built on alley lots as a matter of right only if the lot is located on a 30 foot wide alley (with street access through a 30 foot wide alley).  Residential use is prohibited in narrower alleys.  The proposed new code would allow residences to be built on lots located on narrow alleys, providing some easily satisfied special conditions are met.  Some of those conditions include a minimum alley lot size of 450 square feet;  on lots over 1800 square feet, there are lot occupancy requirements.  The maximum height permitted is 22 feet/2 stories.  There are additional conditions.  There is no requirement for parking spaces on the lot.  [Note: in most alleys, parking is prohibited on the alleyway roadways.]
• Parking – proposed changes:  reduction or elimination of requirements for parking spaces in new buildings close to metro stations and high-service bus corridors and in new alley carriage houses and houses built on empty alley lots.
• “Corner stores” would be allowed as “a matter of right” but with many conditions. These changes are many and complicated.  Here, the devil is in the details.   If you want to learn more, the best source is http://www.dczoningupdate.org/  
• The definition of “residential” has been broadened to include “single dwelling unit, multiple dwelling units, community residence facilities, retirement homes, substance abusers’ home, youth residential care home, assisted living facility, floating homes and other residential uses.” The inclusion of substance abusers’ home and youth residential care home is a major change from the existing code where these were defined as part of Community-Based Residential Facilities  (see below) and subject to certain conditions.
• “Community Based Institutional Facilities” (CBIF) is a new category that replaces the old categories of Community Based Residential Facilities with major changes.  [Note:  it is unclear whether Boys Town would have been categorized as a youth rehabilitation home and subject to conditions, or a youth residential care homes (residential, as allowed as a matter of right.]

The next meeting will be Thursday, January 24, in Hill Center from 7:00 – 9:00pm.  The meeting is open to the public, and residents are encouraged to participate.  That meeting will be devoted to developing comments and recommendations on the proposed zoning changes.  The Task Force will report these to the Planning and Zoning Committee which will make recommendations to the full ANC.  Ultimately the ANC will deliver its comments and recommendations to the Zoning Commission sometime this spring.

* If you are interested in more information on these changes, the best place to find it is on the Office of Planning’s zoning update website:  http://www.dczoningupdate.org/      and click on “document center”   All or at least most of the regulations of interest are in Subtitle C and Subtitle D.

Council Chair Mendelson Speaks to Capitol Hill Residents

More Police or Smarter Policing?  Council Chair Mendelson Pays a Visit to Capitol Hill –

“More Officers Are Not Necessarily the Answer”

by Larry Janezich

Council Chair Phil Mendelson told Capitol Hill residents something they did not want to hear last night.  “There is nothing in the short term the city council can do” to make city streets safer, he told the group of roughly 70 people gathered for ANC 6A’s regular meeting.  “In the short term,” Mendelson said, “this is the administration’s responsibility and the police department’s.”  What the council can do, he added, was remove barriers in the law and increase funding if it is not enough. 

Mendelson’s visit to ANC 6A was prompted by killing of Jason Emma in a suspected robbery near Lincoln Park on Christmas Eve in the 1200 block of C Street, NE.  The ANC, chaired by David Holmes, wanted to know what could be done to increase the number of officers on the street and wanted an explanation of why Mendelson and the city council – except Councilmember Wells – voted in December against additional funds to hire more police officers.

Mendelson responded that more officers are not necessarily the answer to addressing the recent surge in crime in and around Capitol Hill.  DC already has the highest officer to citizen ratio in the country.  He stated that “research shows that swift and certain justice” is the best way to fight crime.  To that end, he cited a number of things city government can do, including prosecuting more quickly, training prosecutors to prosecute gun and violent crime effectively, train police to make better arrests and collect better evidence, encourage courts to require pretrial detention, reduce recidivism, and do more to confront truancy.

Last year, Mendelson said, police hiring had stopped because of “bad budgeting.”  Chief Lanier had failed to take police force longevity bonuses into account in the police department budget request, leaving a shortfall in funding.  The city council vote in December was to disapprove reprogramming fees from traffic photo enforcement, and instead lower the fines.  The Mayor did not want to lower fees and requested the fees be left in place and used to hire additional police.  The council voted against that request.

Mendelson said he expected additional funds for hiring police to be approved next month.  But he added that even with those funds and new police officers it would not mean more police officers in Capitol Hill residential neighborhoods.  Chief Lanier’s request for more officers is to address crime in emerging hot spots such as H Street, NE, Chinatown, and to allocate officers based on the city’s recent population increase. 

Nor would increased funds speed up the hiring of police.  Mendelson said that the optimum police hiring rate is 30 hires a month – “hiring 60 officers a month lowers standards and increases the number of corrupt officers and creates a retirement bubble in the years ahead.”  Both those effects were observed in hiring bulges in 1972-1973 and 1980-1991.  Mendelson says he expects 300 new officers to be hired this year, but also that the force is on the cusp of a retirement bubble.

The council chair stood by his claim that crime statistics have fallen since 2007, although violent crime has risen by 3% over the past two years.

One resident, Catalin Florea, who has analyzed recent crime statistics, spoke in support of some of Mendelson’s claims, noting that homicides have fallen while the number of officers has been stable.  He also noted that DC has the highest police per capita ratio in the country and suggested that dealing with crime is not a question of increased numbers; the city council should push for smarter policing, including surveillance at Metro stops and catching crime when it happens.  (Independently, this author has previously noted that some residents familiar with the 12/26 shooting found police rapid response wanting.) 

Florea also noted the failure of police to make statistics on crimes involving the use of guns available – although such statistics are available and were referred to by Mendelson, and hence must be compiled and available on some level.  Still, the lack of statistics makes in difficult if not impossible to determine the MPD has adopted gun-focused enforcement – that is, an emphasis on responding to and clearing crimes involving the use of guns. 

Some residents raised concerns of police indifference when called for service.  There is anecdotal evidence and occasional reference by officers to a moral problem within the force.  Mendelson observed that the police union contract with the city expired two years ago and has not been renegotiated in a timely fashion because of disagreements between police management and the Fraternal Order of Police.  In addition, a pay freeze has been in effect for several years. 

Mendelson said, “Robberies and homicides are way too high.  Police need to deal with this.”  In response the question as to whether he thinks the police are effective, Mendelson said “yes,’ but he reiterated that the answer to crime is not necessarily more police on the street.”  “Government has to find the best solution that will make people feel safe,” Mendelson told the group.  “People say crime is going up.  Crime is not going up.  It makes no sense in the short term to say we need more officers.  What we can do is support the Chief, support increased use of technology, provide resources to close cases, and be proactive regarding recidivism.” 

It seems clear that Mendelson rejects, at least at this point in time, Ward 6 Councilmember’s contention that more police are the answer to the recent spike in crime on the Hill.  Given Mendelson’s description of how new officers would be allocated even if hired, it seems the desired effect of introducing more patrol officers to the streets of Capitol Hill would be minimal. 

On the other hand, other options such as more cameras; gun-focused enforcement; and incentivizing the police to pursue and investigate crimes that have a connection or common markers (automatic weapons, PCP) rather than as isolated events that occur on a shift and are in need of only the proper paperwork – filed sometimes by a surly or uncooperative officer – are all strategies in need of more discussion.   

Ambar’s First Floor

The Second Floor Overlooks Barracks Row

Weekday Specials from Grandpa’s Recipes

Ambar – Barracks Row Serbian Restaurant – Opens Monday, January 14

by Larry Janezich

Ambar will open on Monday, according to Sibila Hatala, the restaurant’s manager.  Ambar will serve nouveau Balkan cuisine, focusing on dishes from the owner Ivan Iricanin’s native Serbia.  The name “Ambar” refers to the bin where corn is stored after harvest in Serbia.

The menu (in Serbian and English) will offer items not usually available elsewhere on Capitol Hill, for example:  roasted mushroom crepe, beef and goat cheese napoleon, grilled bacon wrapped prunes stuffed with goat cheese, and venison carpaccio.

The wine list is heavy on Eastern European and Adriatic countries and run from $31-$90 a bottle ($8-$10 by the glass).  The wine list includes a helpful wine glossary, explaining the Balkan words describing the wines.  Cocktails, many featuring sljivovic (old plum brandy), are $10.

Ambar is located at 523 8th Street, in space formerly occupied by Jordan’s 8.  The restaurant will initially serve dinner and brunch, but eventually the owner hopes to serve all three meals. Iricanin, is one of acclaimed chef and international restaurateur Richard Sandoval’s partners in two 14th Street restaurants – El Centro and Masa 14.

Chipotle and Building Owner StreetSense Is Accused of Violating Operational Agreement

Chipotle Inadvertently Makes the Case For Banning Fast Food Restaurants on Barracks Row:  StreetSense and Restaurant Reported as in Non Compliance with Operational Agreement

by Larry Janezich

A group of unhappy Chipotle neighbors from Seventh Street, SE, attended Tuesday night’s ANC6B meeting in Hill Center to complain that Barracks Row’s Chipotle and its building’s developer, StreetSense, are not complying with the written agreement negotiated to allow the opening of an otherwise banned fast food restaurant in the 400 block of 8^th Street. 

The group found sympathetic ears on the Commission.  Newly elected Commissioner Philip Peisch, in whose district the restaurant resides, cited “what seems like hundreds of emails over the past eight weeks” concerning the issue.  He specifically cited “noise pollution, broken mechanics, and trash issues.” 

In July of 2011, representatives of StreetSense, the building’s owner and developer, appeared before the ANC in support of an exception to the ban on fast food restaurants for the two adjoining buildings at 413-415 8^th Street, SE.  Negotiations with the neighbors to hammer out an agreement under which the exception would receive ANC support were facilitated by Commissioner Ivan Frishberg, in whose district the restaurant was at that time. 

Linda Elliott, spokesperson for the neighbors, said that they thought they had arrived at a useful agreement and “flowery emails” were exchanged.  On July 12, the ANC voted unanimously to support the request for the exception for Chipotle Mexican Grill.  With ANC support, the exception for the two locations was subsequently granted by the Bureau of Zoning Adjustment (BZA). 

Elliot said, “one and a half years later, despite on-going numerous meetings and phone calls, Chipotle and Street Sense have not lived up to the agreement.” Elliott was armed with documentation – emails, pictures, and audio files – which she promised to turn over to the ANC.

Frishberg said that the Chipotle had been a test case on how to go through the process to add a fast food outlet to a block over-saturated with fast food.  He said he had visited the space behind Chipotle recently, and agreed that they are operating out of compliance with the requirements for the special exception.  “This is a lesson for us,” he said, “as these cases (new applications) come forward.”  Although the restrictions are written into the BZA order, how they can be enforced is a question that has not been answered. 

Commissioner Pate said, “the ANC has been burned,” and suggested a letter to BZA citing the agreement and asking their help in fixing this. 

Part of the agreement with Street Sense was that they would seek to put regular retail into the adjacent site – also exempt from the fast food ban – and seek a second special exception if they wanted to put a fast food venue in the second space.  Street Sense subsequently leased the space to Kraze Burger, which plans to open as a sit down restaurant.  Since this is establishment is opening as a matter of right, they will not come before the ANC until they apply for a liquor license. 

The Commission referred the matter to Commissioner Francis Campbell’s Planning and Zoning Committee for consideration.  StreetSense and Chipotle will be invited to attend next month’s Committee meeting. 

Commissioners Frishberg, Flahaven, Jayaraman, Garrison, and Oldenberg moments before the vote on ANC Officers

Commissioners Campbell,peisch, Opkins, Pate, and Loveland just before the vote for officers

ANC6B Elects New Officers

by Larry Janezich

At the ANC6B meeting tonight in Hill Center, the Commission elected a new slate of officers for the coming year.  A potential challenge for the chair did not materialize, leaving Hill East’s Brian Flahaven elected Chair without opposition.  In like fashion, Ivan Frishberg was elected Vice-Chair for the third successive year, newcomer  Philip Peisch was elected Secretary, former Secretary Brian Pate was elected Treasurer, and another newcomer,  Nicole Opkins – also of Hill East – became Parliamentarian. 

Flahaven has not counted out a run for city council if Councilmember Wells runs for Mayor.  He was credited by the community for his efforts during his first term to keep most of Hill East in Ward Six during the redistricting.   

Later, the ANC voted to endorse the location of a Medstar Urgent Care and Primary Care Practice across from Eastern Market at 228 7th Street, SE. 

The Commission also heard a presentation from a CSX representative regarding the opening of a CSX Community Outreach office located at 861 New Jersey Avenue, SE.  The office has been constructed and will be in operation at least by the time construction on the tunnel replacement project begins, likely by the end of the year.  The office will be staffed by an office manager and assistant, as well as serving as the headquarters for a contingent of CSX Police which will provide security for the project while under construction.   CSX has its own police force of 200 officers which serve in localities across the nation.  The company anticipates assigning three officers to the tunnel project on Capitol Hill.  The company has already liaisoned with local police and the Department of Homeland Security. 

The Week Ahead….

by Larry Janezich

January 7, Monday

ANC6B Transportation Committee meets at 6:30pm in Hill Center to determine priorities for 2013.

January 7, Monday

CHRS Historic Preservation Committee meets at 6:30pm in Kirby House, 420 10^th Street, SE.

January 8, Tuesday

ANC6B meets in Hill Center to elect new officers.  Hill East’s Francis Campbell and Brian Flahaven are running for Chair.  Ivan Frishberg is running – unopposed – for Vice Chair.  Campbell and Flahaven may each have political ambitions beyond the ANC, but Frishberg has gone on the record denying interest in elevation to the city council. 

CSX Opens Community Outreach Office

Otherwise, a CSX representative, Stepehn Flippin has been allotted 20 minutes for a presentation on the opening of the CSX community outreach office.  Despite this show of good will on the part of CSX, and despite their financial support of community endeavors (Barracks Row Fest and the Maslin Fund, to name two), the community and its civic organizations should stay focused on what amenities and benefits the they can expect for the impact of construction of the CSX tunnel, keeping in mind that CSX is the richest railroad company in the country. 

There could be some of the usual nitpicking over the construction of the three unit residential (studio apartments) building at 1311 Pennsylvania Avenue, but it should go through ok. 

Approval of the certificate of need for the MedStar primary care and urgent care facility slated to go into 228 7^th Street, SE, (across from Eastern Market) this fall seems a sure bet.     Commissioners can’t wait to lend their enthusiastic support to this project. 

The costumed Tour de Fat Bicycle Parade to raise money to promote biking had a few wrinkles to iron out regarding the route – which now looks like it will traverse the heart of Southeast Capitol Hill – but it, too, is likely to get approved. 

January 10, Thursday

The ANC6B Taskforce on Zoning Regulation Reform has scheduled an organizational meeting for 7:00pm at Hill Center.  The real work of the task force is likely to start at their next meeting on January 24.  So far, the city has gone to great lengths to appear to involve the public and seek input but the city presenters at an initial briefing for ANC6B late last year seemed ill-prepared and uninformed.  It remains to be seen if the ANC Taskforce – headed by Commissioner Garrison (with council from Gary Peterson, chair of CHRS Zoning Committee, and Ken Jarboe, acknowledged as the most widely experienced former ANC commissioner on the issue) – fully engage on the re-write.

Mendelson on Capitol Hill Crime

January 10, Thursday

Council Chair Phil Mendelson has agreed to speak on recent violent crime issues to ANC6A on January 10 at about 7:45pm, following the election of officers and other routine business.  The Christmas Eve shooting of Jason Emma near Lincoln Park is foremost on neighbor’s minds, and a significant turnout is likely.  According to MPD, the case is still under investigation.  The question of whether additional police in the already heavily staffed PSA 107 versus better policing by the forces already deployed is likely to come up.  The ANC meets at Miner Elementary School, 601 15^th Street, located at the intersection of Tennessee and 15^th Street, NE.

Hawk Commits to SoHo Loft Look with Baroque Accents

Photo: Maggie Hall

ANC6B Commissioners Frishberg and Pate Sworn In In Private Ceremony

Councilmember Wells Administers Oath

by Larry Janezich

ANC6B held an unannounced informal orientation session for new commissioners on Thursday night in their conference room at Hill Center.  During the meeting, according to Parliamentarian Brian Flahaven, Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells, accompanied by COS Charles Allen, “stopped by to swear in Commissioners Frishberg and Pate who were unable to attend the official ceremony on Wednesday.   He also congratulated commissioners present and wished them the best in the new term.”

The meeting was organized by returning commissioners and attended by all commissioners.  The goal of the meeting, according to Flahaven, was to share info about the structure of the commission and various administrative procedures.  He also stated, “Attendees did not take any official actions nor did we discuss pending cases, in accordance with DC law – this was all about getting the new commissioners oriented to the commission, distributing office keys, etc.”

Although the meeting appeared to be without precedent, Flahaven said the meeting was permitted under ANC bylaws and by DC law.  “We modeled it after a similar session that Gottlieb Simon (Director of the DC Office of ANCs) puts on for all new ANC commissioners citywide.  The discussion was administrative in nature and no official actions took place. If we had planned to take official action, the session would have been a commission meeting and would have been subject to public notice. We actually can’t take any official action as a commission until officers are elected, which happens next Tuesday.”

Flahaven and Commissioner Francis Campbell – both residents of Hill East – are seeking the Chair of ANC6B.  Election of officers will be the first order of business at next Tuesday’s meeting.