Monthly Archives: February 2013

The Week Ahead….

by Larry Janezich

Tuesday, February 26

ANC6B Executive Committee meets at 7:00pm in Hill Center to set the agenda for the March monthly ANC6B meeting.

Wednesday, February 27

Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee meets at 7:00pm in North Hall, Eastern Market.Wednesday, February 27

Community meeting to hear developer’s plans for a new 80 unit residential building at 1550 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, currently a used car lot, 6:30pm, at New York Pizza, 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE.

Thursday, February 28

ANC6B Zoning Regulations Task Force meets at 7:00pm in Hill Center to continue consideration of recommendations for the re write of DC Zoning Regulations. 

Thursday, February 28

DC Council on Human Services hearing on management of DC General Shelter at Reservation at 6:00pm at DC General Shelter, 1900 Massachusetts Avenue, SE.

Capitol Hill Restoration Society Update:  Secret Session, Capitol Place Micro-grants, The Blue Castle, Community Gardens

by Larry Janezich

Capitol Place Micro-grants

The Capitol Hill Restoration Society’s Board of Directors met last night and immediately moved to convene in secret session excluding staff, volunteers, CHRS members, and press.  The secret session lasted some 45 minutes.  There was no word what was discussed, but it might have been about the disposition of the $250,000 that the CHRS was awarded in the settlement of the PUD application for the Dreyfus (now Fisher Development) Capitol Place property on H Street, N.E.  The developer agreed to fund two micro-grant programs for a total of $250,000:  $150,000 for façade improvements to homes of nearby neighbors, $80,000 for energy conservation grants for nearby neighbors and $20,000 for CHRS to administer the grants.  The foot print for eligibility for grants is the blocks between 2^nd and 4^th Streets and F and H Street, NE.  The CHRS Board is clearly interested in using the $20,000 in administration funds toward expansion of the Capitol Hill Historic District northward to H Street.  The current northern boundary of the historic district is F Street, NE.  Board President Janet Quigley announced that Larry Pearl, Chair of the CHRS Grants Committee, “is reviewing the information” on the Capitol place micro grants.  An update on the micro-grants will be provided to the CHRS membership at the CHRS Winter Members Forum at 6:30pm, Wednesday, February 27, at Maury Elementary School. 

The Blue Castle

According to Historic Preservation Committee Chair Shauna Holmes, the representatives of Madison Marquette, developers of the “Blue Castle” on lower 8th Street near the Navy Yard, have quietly begun to reach out to community organizations opening lines of communication in anticipation of the redevelopment of the historic Car Barn into a large scale mixed-use project that will help connect lower 8^th Street to the historic Capitol Hill neighborhood to the north.

The 100,000 square foot property at 770 M Street SE was purchased in 2005 by Preferred Real Estate Investments Inc. of Conshohocken, Pa., for $20.2 million.  Leases for the three charter schools who were then operating out of the building ran until 2012.  In 2008, Preferred Real Estate Investments sold the property to Madison Marquette for $25 million.  The company announced that the building would be developed into a mixed use project with restaurants, offices and/or residences, and retail – possibly including a grocery store. 

The “Blue Castle” was designed by architect Walter C. Root in 1891, the Romanesque Revival building was originally known as the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Car House (commonly referred to as the Navy Yard Car Barn). The Blue Castle was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 14, 2006.

Zoning Regs Rewrite Imperil Community Gardens

According to Gary Peterson, Chair of the CHRS Zoning Committee, some 150 alley lots – mostly in the eastern part of Capitol Hill – could become eligible for construction of alley dwelling under changes proposed in the zoning regulations.  Many of these spaces are currently occupied by community gardens, popular with gardeners across the Capitol Hill community.  According to Peterson, there are about 500 alley lots in Ward Six and 200 or so are already developed.  An uncertain number are too small for development.  The remaining 150 to 200 could be developed, and a lot of these are in Hill East.  The greatest impediment for many is that the developer will have to run utilities – water, sewer, and electricity – to the lots, an expensive undertaking.  Some alley lots – where industrial buildings once existed – have utilities, but many do not. 

Two CHRS Board Members Will Retire

Two Board members, Secretary Doriann Fengler and Treasurer Sharon Weiss, have announced they will not seek re-election to the Board in the upcoming elections this spring.  Currently, there is also a vacant member at large slot on the board.  President Quigley has appointed board members Paul Cromwell and Gary Peterson, as well as Hill Center Founder Nicki Cymrot and former board member Cathi Smith to the 2013 nominating committee.  The nominating committee will solicit candidates from the CHRS membership and recommend a slate of officers. 

Historic Preservation Update

The contemporary addition to the Stuart Hobson School and the Heritage Foundation Development will go before HPRB on March 7.  CHRS is still unhappy with the Stuart Hobson project.  The earlier report in this story that the Heritage Foundation plan to wrap the retail around the corner of the building at 3^rd and Massachusetts, NE, and put an outdoor café on Third Street, has been nixed by the HPO staff is in error.  Actually,  the HPO staff report, which was published on February 22, supports the corner seating area at Third and Massachusetts and recommends approval by the HPRB.   The staff has some concerns about the proposed new café space on Third Street which is detailed in the staff report.

The third story addition at 426^th 11^th, objected to by CHRS and the new townhouse in the empty lot at 820 C Street will both go to HPRB at the end of this month.  The owner of 42611^th Street has withdrawn his plan from consideration by CHRS after failing to satisfy its concerns and is taking his chances before HPRB without their input.  Reportedly, the developer of 820 C Street has abandoned the controversial “butterfly roof.”

The Week Ahead….

by Larry Janezich

Monday, February 18

President’s Day.  No trash/recycling pickup Monday.  Pickups will be on Tuesday and Friday. 

Tuesday, February 19

Capitol Hill Restoration Society Board of Directors meets at 6:30pm, Capitol Hill Townhomes, 750 6^th Street, SE.

Wednesday, February 20

ANC6B Outreach & Constituent Services Task Force meets, 7:00pm – 8:00pm, Hill Center.

Thursday, February 21

DDOT Barney Circle-SE Blvd Planning Study Meeting, 6:30pm – 8:30pm, Payne Elementary School, 1445 C Street, SE.  This is the first in a series of public meetings to redesign Barney Circle and environs and to design the conversion of the SE Freeway into a boulevard.

Thursday, February 21

PSA 108 Meeting, 7:00pm – 8:00pm, Baptist Church, 527 Kentucky Avenue SE.

Saturday, February 23

Remembering the 1963 March on Washington, Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 1:30pm, 212 East Capitol, NE.

The Week Ahead….

by Larry Janezich

Tuesday, February 12

ANC6B meets for its regular monthly meeting at 7:00pm in Hill Center. 

On the agenda: 

Zoning adjustment request for converting 200 5th Street, SE, from a dentist office and four residential units to six residential units.  This is a development by Capitol Hill resident Jeff Levine, is scheduled to go to BZA in March.  The ANC Planning and Zoning Committee has sought assurances from Levine that he will attempt to minimize the impact on parking if the expansion is approved. 

820 C Street, SE

Historic Preservation Application for construction of a new townhouse on the empty lot at 830 C Street, SE, where the demolition by neglect was interrupted by city demolition and subsequent tax sale.  Commissioners and neighbors of the project were critical of the lack of outreach and candidness by the architects – and indirectly, the developer.  When the project came before the Planning and Zoning Committee, both commissioners and neighbors also expressed concern about the view from public space of the rear of the house and the fact that architects had no drawings showing the perspective from that view.  At that meeting, neighbors also rose to express objections to the design, construction methods, the extension of the house six feet beyond the rear of the adjacent houses, the butterfly roof, and the likelihood that construction would likely damage the historic properties on either side.  Commissioners emphasized that since the construction is being done as a matter of right, their hands were tied regarding many of the issues raised by neighbors, since their only purview was whether the proposed structure fit into the historic district.  The neighbors were aware that they would have to pursue these issues on their own and were advised by one commissioner that they might have to hire an attorney.  The Committee voted 8 – 0 to take no position pending receipt of an additional perspective from the architect and evidence of further consultation by the architect and developer with the neighbors. 

ANC6B will also consider a letter to DC Department of Energy regarding their concerns about emission limits and health issues related to the Architect of the Capitol’s request to continue operating the Capitol Power Plant at higher emission levels. 

Thursday, February 14

ANC6B Zoning Regulation Task Force meets at 6:00pm in Hill Center.

ANC6B Wants AOC to Justify Higher Power Plant Emissions Request

Will Sierra Club File Suit on Emissions Plan?

by Larry Janezich

ANC6B seems set to ask the DC Department of Energy (DDOE) to force the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) to justify the request to set baseline emission limits for future operation of the Capitol Power Plant – including the planned two new cogeneration burners – at the higher levels experienced during the cold winter years of 2007 – 2008 rather than lower levels of more recent years.  In addition, the ANC is likely to ask DDOE to test air quality near the plant to assess impact on the local health index since DDOE doesn’t currently monitor air quality in the power plant neighborhood. 

At Tuesday night’s ANC6B Planning and Zoning Committee meeting, chaired by Francis Campbell, commissioners agreed that their purview is emission limits and health concerns.  The corollary issue of whether the plant should eliminate the use of coal – a position supported by neighbors of the plant and environmental activist groups including the Sierra Club – is evidently not within the authority of the DDOE and hence, not a question which can be considered by the ANC.  To that end, Councilmember Tommy Wells has introduced legislation to limit or end the use of coal as a fuel in DC. 

The application of the AOC for the higher limits on emissions translates – for opponents – into permission for the AOC to continue burning coal at the plant.  The AOC has indicated that this would only be in emergency circumstances, but this stipulation would not be enforceable. 

The Planning and Zoning Committee agreed by a vote of 8-0 to forward a letter to DDOE on the issue to the full ANC for consideration at the February 12 meeting.  The purpose of the letter, according to one commissioner, is to make sure the AOC doesn’t get more emission authority than it needs and to urge that emissions in the nearby neighborhood are measured and given consideration regarding the impact of the plant on the health of the neighbors and schools in close proximity to the plant. 

Approval of the letter at next Tuesday’s meeting is likely, if not assured.  While DDOE apparently cannot require the plant to eliminate the use of coal, it can require the use of a lower baseline for emissions.  One knowledgeable source familiar with the issue speculated that if the application goes forward as is, the AOC will face a Sierra Club lawsuit.  For additional background see postings on this blog on January 25 and December 18.

The Week Ahead….

by Larry Janezich

February 4, Monday

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

February 5, Tuesday

ANC6B Planning and Zoning Committee meets at 7:00pm at St. Coletta of Greater Washington, 1901 Independence Avenue SE.

Agenda includes:

Variance for conversion of 200 5th Street, SE, from four residential apartments and a dental office to six residential units

New construction for the empty lot (razed by the city) at 820 C Street, SE

February 6, Wednesday

ANC6B Transportation Committee meets at 6:30pm in Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE

Agenda includes:

Discussion of DDOT’s Pennsylvania-Potomac Avenues intersection pedestrian safety study

Update on expansion of Performance Based Parking north of Pennsylvania Avenue, SE

February 7, Thursday

PSA 107 meets at 7:00pm meets downstairs at Southeast Library, 403 7th Street, SE, with Lt. Eddie Fowler

Friends of Southeast Library meets at 5:30pm downstairs at Southeast Library, 403 7th Street SE