Monthly Archives: October 2015

Las Placitas Scheduled to Open November 1^st in New Lower Barracks Row Location

ANC Clears Liquor License

By Larry Janezich

The three Amaya brothers (Isadoro, Roman, and Jose)  owners of Las Placitas Restaurant, hope to reopen the popular restaurant at its new location at 1100 8^th Street, SE, on November 1.  The news was announced Tuesday night at ANC6B’s October meeting where an application for a liquor license for the restaurant was before the Commission.  The application was approved by a vote of 9 – 0 – 1.

Las Placitas had occupied the space at 517 8^th Street for 24 years and 360 days, making it one of the oldest existing restaurants on Barracks Row.  The Amayas lost the lease at that location this month and the neighboring Matchbox restaurant will expand into the space.  The new restaurant will seat 78 – 40 inside and 38 at a sidewalk café  alongside the restaurant.

The Week Ahead….And Hill East’s Curbside Café Out – Pretzel Bakery In

by Larry Janezich

Hill East’s Curbside Café Out – Pretzel Bakery In

Curbside Café will close the doors of its brick and mortar operation at 257 15^th Street at the end of October and The Pretzel Bakery just down the street at 430 15^th Street, SE, will relocate to the space.  The move will allow the bakery to offer sit down dining, but it is unclear whether the move will affect the bakery’s menu.  Curbside Café which opened in October of 2013 has over time reduced its operating hours to Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  A representative told CHC that business on the weekends is ok, but that the area lacks sufficient foot traffic to justify remaining open during the week.  The Payne Elementary School directly across the street occupies a city block which might otherwise hold residences with potential customers.

The bakery – owned by Sean Haney – will be the third attempt at establishing an eatery at the former site of the notorious New Dragon carry-out, long a 15^th Street trouble spot.  (Curbside was preceded by The Creperie which briefly thrilled the neighborhood before falling victim to internal management squabbles.)

Re-establishing retail on 15^th Street has been problematic.  The commercial strip – a hold-over from another era – once boasted a Safeway, a tavern, a small department store, at least two convenience stores, laundromats, two liquor stores and various other enterprises.  Little retail space remains as multi-unit residential projects soaked up the strip’s commercial space.

The Week Ahead….

Tuesday, October 13

1. ANC6B meets at 7:00pm in Hill Center

Among items on the agenda:

Virginia Avenue SE, concept/new construction of 4-story building (consent agenda).  See CHC post here: http://bit.ly/1jcn90s

Presentations by Forest Hayes, Associate Director, Department of General Services, on the status of the Eastern Market Weekend Flea Markets

Restaurant liquor license for Las Placitas, 1100 8th Street, SE.

Rock ‘n Roll DC Marathon (March 2016)

Letter to Stanton-Eastbanc on Hine Development Construction Problems

DDOT Navy Yard/Union Station Circulator Proposal on Elimination of Stops

Letter to Mayor Bowser on Events DC RFK Study Process

Letter to WMATA on Trains Skipping Stadium Armory Metro Station

Resolution on DC Homelessness

2. O. Wilson Elementary School Community Safety Walk (before PSA 104 public meeting), 6:00pm , meet at TD Burger, 257 K Street, NE, to walk through the community problem spots.
3. PSA 104 meeting at 7:00pm, JO Wilson Elementary School, 660 K Street, NE.  For maps and additional information on Ward Six PSAs, see here:  http://1.usa.gov/1LBL0g6
4. Public Meeting for Linden Court, NE, Alley Safety Improvement Project, 6:00pm, H Street Country Club, 1335 H Street, NE. DDOT invites the community to a presentation of the plans and schedule for the Linden Court NE Alley Safety Improvement Project.

Thursday, October 15

1. ANC6B Outreach and Constituent Services Task Force meets at 7:00pm, Hill Center.
2. PSA 108 meets at 7:00pm, Liberty Baptist Church, 527 Kentucky Avenue, SE. For maps and additional information on Ward Six PSAs, see here:  http://1.usa.gov/1LBL0g6
3. Special Community meeting on restoration and renovation of Virginia Avenue Park, 7:00pm, Hill Center. Department of Parks and Recreation representatives will meet with the community on proposed plans for Virginia Avenue between 2^nd and 9^th Streets, SE.  The plans will be implemented by CSX at the completion of the Virginia Avenue Tunnel Project.

Asst. Chief Grooms Defends MPD’s Response to Violent Crime on H Street Nightlife Destination

by Larry Janezich

Assistant Chief Diane Grooms came to ANC6A Tuesday night in response to an ANC request that MPD address what the MPD is doing about the rash of violent crime on or near the popular but gritty H Street, NE, nightlife destination.  Grooms was a high-level stand in for First District Commander Jeff Brown who is on leave owing to a death in the family.

Grooms sought to assure the ANC and the 50 or so residents in attendance that Chief Lanier is devoting considerable resources to address crime city-wide as well as in and near PSA 104 which includes H Street, NE.  Multiple MPD resources are involved in the effort, including the Gun Recovery Unit, the Narcotics and Special Investigations Division (NSID), and the Criminal Interdiction Unit (CIU).  She said that MPD also devotes additional resources to nightlife areas – up to ten officers on an as needed basis.  Some of the nightlife areas she mentioned include Adams/Morgan, China Town – and H Street, NE.  In addition, she said, the Chief has authorized overtime in every one of the eight MPD Districts.

Much of the crime in the H Street area, Grooms said, is from teenage and pre-teenage youths who come from Trinidad and congregate at locations such as the Sherwood Recreation Center and along Benning Road, including the Starburst Plaza which she termed “the ground zero for distribution of synthetic drugs.” Grooms said that a typical robbery involves a group of 2 to five who knock the victim down and steal property and then take what she termed the main route out of the area – Benning Road.  MPD devotes a lot of resource3s to this corridor, she said.

With respect to recent homicides on or near H Street, she noted the recent killing of an alleged potential robber by his would be victims (case closed), a fatal 800 block of H street stabbing on a Metrobus in which an arrest has been made, and a Third Street, NE, homicide which she described as a revenge killing (still pending).

Grooms referenced the criticism levied against Chief Lanier for disbanding the vice squads and consolidating them in the NSID, saying that the centralization had resulted in “tons of arrests” involving distribution after refocusing the unit’s efforts away from lower level drug users and possessors of marijuana, heroin, and crack cocaine: “the system is flooded with people who need help rather than locking up.”.  CM Charles Allen and the MPD Union have both criticized Lanier for centralizing the seven individual vice units into one citywide drug unit.

Detective Sergeant Andrew Struhar of NSID followed Grooms, pointing out some of the drug sale hotspots on or near H Street, naming Starburst Plaza, “Rose’s Liquor,” the CVS in Hechinger Mall, Rhode Island Avenue and Benning Road.  He noted 44 arrests recently for distribution of drugs along Benning Road and cited a number of heroin arrests in the 12^th and 13^th block of H Street.

Struhar said that the best thing the community can do to help MPD is to provide information, urging residents who observe drug sales to email MPD here:  NSID.drugcomplaints@dc.gov  Regarding when to email, he said, “Juvenile in parks smoking marijuana?  No.  Call 911.  Sale of drugs from houses or on the streets – email MPD.”

For the First District’s part, Acting Captain Tony Charland – who spoke in Brown’s absence – addressed the resources under the First District’s Command, citing the H Street detail now operating on a ten hour shift as well as the two members of the Mountain Bike Unit which currently patrol a ten block area centered on 8^th and H Streets, NE, and the neighborhood to the south.

Charland said that the MPD has the presence and a plan to address crime – and emphasized that the key thing is communications and that “has to involve the community.”  He said that the number of calls MPD receives establishes the priority regarding devotion of resources to an area: “It’s not necessary to have police on every corner – communications allows MPD to find ways to be creative regarding community policing.  If you see something that doesn’t look right for your community, we need to know.”  He urged residents to emails him directly at Antonia.Charland@dc.gov

In the short time remaining for questions after the presentations, ANC6A Commissioner Omar Mahmud        told Grooms that residents feel a general sense of lawlessness and that people don’t feel safe because of the number of quality of life crimes such as gambling and public urination.  He said people are uneasy with the neighborhood and there is the sense that it is regressing.  He told Grooms that MPD needs to address the low level crimes that make them feel that way.

Grooms agreed that gambling needed to be addressed, but cited the difficulty of enforcing nuisance crimes such as public urination which has to be witnessed by an officer.  Grooms also noted that the department is undergoing a large number of retirements – especially at the managerial level – and that those vacancies are not expected to be replaced until a new promotion policy is in place sometime next spring.

Summing up, Groom urged residents not to hesitate to call 911 whenever they sense something amiss; “That’s what we’re here for.  If it doesn’t seem right, act on it.”  She said that the criminal population is small and involves a small number of people repeating crimes and that the police are trying to focus on that.

Major Residential/Retail Project Coming to Lower Barracks Row

By Larry Janezich

The long-awaited development of lower 8^th Street, SE, moved a large step forward Tuesday night, with the announcement of a four story mixed use residential/retail project planned for the NW corner of the Virginia Avenue/8^th Street intersection, on lower Barracks Row.   The site is currently a parking lot, notable for the large mural promoting local shopping which overlooks it.

Alon Street, partner at Northfield Development, appeared before ANC6B’s Planning and Zoning Committee – chaired by Commissioner Nick Burger – seeking the committee’s endorsement of the developer’s Historical Preservation Application for the concept.  Peter Fillet Architects is designing the project.

The project will comprise 22 condos on three floors and a penthouse level with the first floor primarily devoted to retail. The developers envision the retail connecting Barracks Row with the Navy Yard, and their current thinking is that a local restaurant (perhaps one currently residing on Barracks Row) will occupy the NW corner of 8^th and Virginia Avenue.

The typical floor plan will have about seven units with bay windows.  Developers plan 3 two bedroom units, 3 studio units, and 16 one bedroom units “geared for the affluent customer” according to Peter Sands, VP of Northfield Development. The plan includes four penthouse units with individual terraces.   The building will be built as a matter of right – meaning no zoning adjustments and thus no PUD will be necessary.  There will be 11 ground level parking spaces – required by city regulations for the project.  The project will front on three streets:  8^th street, Virginia Avenue, and L Street.

The developers anticipate breaking ground next March, and assert an aggressive 12 – 16 month construction timeline.

The committee voted to forward the historic preservation application to the full ANC6B’s consent calendar by a vote of 10 – 0.  The full ANC6B meets next on October 13, at 7:00pm in Hill Center.

by Larry Janezich

CHC is not sure what this means yet, but the announcement has an air of finality about it..

Agua 301 is the owners’ restaurant in The Yards featuring contemporary Mexican cuisine.  See here:  http://www.agua301.com/

The Week Ahead…And Armed Robbers Hit Spike Mendelsohn’s Eatery at 3^rd and PA Ave SE

President Obama’s One-Time Lunch Spot Held Up at Gunpoint

by Larry Janezich

Good Stuff Eatery – celebrity chef Spike Mendelsohn’s popular casual fast food hamburger joint at 303 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE – was robbed at gunpoint Saturday night by two masked men.  President Obama brought White House staff members here for lunch in 2011, and First Lady Michelle Obama has been a frequent patron of the restaurant.

MPD Captain Antonio Charland reported: “On Saturday, October 3, 2015 at 10:45PM, members of the First District responded to the “Good Stuff Eatery” located at 303 Pennsylvania Ave, SE for the report of a Robbery.  A complainant in this case stated that two (2) male suspects entered the rear of the establishment wearing ski masks and displayed a handgun.  The complainant further states that the two (2) suspects then robbed the business of cash.  The suspects made good their escape and were last seen entering a 4 door dark colored sedan.  There were no injuries related to this robbery.”

Mendelsohn owns three nearly adjacent restaurants on the block: Good Stuff Eatery, We The Pizza, and Béarnaise.  There are additional Good Stuff Eatery outlets in Crystal City, Georgetown, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (really).

The Week Ahead…

Tuesday, October 6

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

Among items on the agenda:

801 Virginia Avenue, SE, concept/new construction of 4-story building

Raze Permits, 1620 and 1622 E Street, SE

Rock ‘n Roll DC Marathon (March 2016)

Letter to Stanton-Eastbanc on Hine Development Construction Problems

PUD Subcommittee Report regarding benefits and amenities sought for several developments within ANC6B for which zoning relief is being requested.  City regulations require developers to compensate the community for the impact that greater density and mass associated with zoning changes have on the community.  The ANC will negotiate the compensation in the form of benefits and amenities on behalf of the community.

2. ANC 6C Parks and Events Committee meets at 7:00pm, at Kaiser-Permanente Capitol Hill Medical Center, 700 2^nd Street, NE.

Agenda not available at press time.

3. North Lincoln Park Association (NLPNA) meets at 7:30pm, Maury Elementary School, 13^th and Constitution Avenue, NE.

Wednesday, October 7

1. ANC6B Transportation Committee meets at 7:00pm in Hill Center.

Among items on the agenda:

Virginia Avenue SE, Streetscape & CSX Virginia Avenue Tunnel project

DDOT Navy Yard/Union Station Circulator Proposal on Elimination of Stops

Center City Public Charter School request for removal of the eastbound Metrobus stop on East Capitol at 15th Street, SE.

2. ANC6C Planning and Zoning Committee meets at 7:00 pm at Kaiser Permanente Capitol Hill Medical Center, 700 Second Street, NE.

Update:  Among items on the agenda:

400 K St. NE (BZA 18979) – Revised application of Tiblez Adal for a variance from the nonconforming structure requirements allow a substantially-completed two-story carriage house to be adaptively restored as an artist studio in the R-4 District at premises 400 K Street N.E.

301 & 331 N St. NE (non-voting) – Informational presentation by Foulger-Pratt Companies on a future 301/331 N St. NE PUD application and HPRB concept plan for 301 N St. NE

301 Florida Ave. NE (ZC 15-22) (non-voting) – Informational presentation by 301 FL Manager LLC on its application for the consolidated review and approval of a Planned Unit Development (“PUD”) and related zoning map amendment to rezone the Property. The Property has a land area of approximately 8,720 square feet and is a triangular lot with approximately 203.7 linear feet of frontage on Florida Avenue, N.E. to the northeast, approximately 178.8 linear feet of frontage on N Street, N.E. to the south, and approximately 97.5 linear feet of frontage on 3rd Street, N.E. to the west. The Property is the only lot in Square 722N and is currently improved with a one-story building and associated surface parking, surrounded by a variety of uses including low- to high-density residential, industrial warehouses, and commercial uses.  Applicant proposes to raze the existing building to build a mixed-use building composed of retail and residential uses. The Project will have a density of 7.57 floor area ratio, will include a total of approximately 66,010 square feet of gross floor area, and will have a building height of 101 feet (eight stories).

Thursday, October 8

1. ANC6A meets at 7:00pm and Miner Elementary School, 601 15^th Street, NE.

Among items on the agenda:

Update from Mayor Bowser’s Office

Department of Energy & Environment Anacostia River Sediment presentation

Letter of support in favor of the Events DC proposal to construct a playground on the 2000 block of C Street, NE according to the plans provided to the ANC.

Letter to the Zoning Commission in support of an extension of the order permitting redevelopment of the H Street Connection site at 901 H Street, NE, with a mixed-use residential and retail structure.

2. The ANC6B ABC Committee which usually meets on this date will not meet. The only item of business is a request for a restaurant liquor license for Las Placitas’ new location at 1100 8th Street.  Since the request appears to be non-controversial, the ANC will consider it at its October 13 meeting.

Christ Church To Receive New Crown

by Larry Janezich

Christ Church has contracted with Wagner Roofing to replicate and replace the eight spires, restoring the church’s crown to the profile it had in 1891.  In recent years, some of the spires have visibly deteriorated and one has been removed having presented a safety hazard.  The new spires will be fabricated from lead coated copper and installed by Thanksgiving.

Asked what would happen to the old spires, a Church representative said that they would be sold to members of the congregation, some of whom will use them as decorative features for home and garden.

Christ Church was founded in 1794 and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1969.  The Protestant Episcopalian congregation originally met in a tobacco barn on New Jersey Avenue near D Street S.E.  The original 45 X 36 foot church at the present location was started in 1806.  The four story bell tower with four spires on top was added in 1848-49 and the parish hall was built in 1874.  In 1891, a fifth story was added to the bell tower as well as a front vestibule, leaving the G Street façade as it appears today.

In addition to the 2.5 acre site of the church at 620 G Street, SE, Christ Church owns Congressional Cemetery at 18^th and E Streets, SE.