Some News You Might Have Missed: Burgers – Playground – Parking Enforcement – Eastern Market Leases
by Larry Janezich
Eastern Market BRGZ
Update on new Eastern Market Burger Joint…
Owner Brandon Gaynor tells curious passersby that he hopes to have a soft opening the first week of August, depending on his ability to get air conditioning up and running by then. EAT BRGZ’ concept involves serving a “complex burger” – mixing and blending the ingredients into a locally- sourced chicken, beef, or veggie patty before cooking. The plan anticipates 15 seats in the restaurant and another 45 banquet seats – read high end aesthetically pleasing benches and tables – alongside the restaurant on the sidewalk on C Street.
Update on temporary playground on Eastern Market Metro Plaza…
The Department of General Services has announced they will break ground on Monday, July 22, the interim playground scheduled for installation in the Northeast parcel of Eastern Market Metro Plaza. Construction on the permanent playground will begin the first week of December, and take about 18 months. The temporary playground will be incorporated into the permanent facility.
More citizen parking enforcement…
Mark Sussman, co-founder of How’s My Driving app appeared before ANC6A last week to tout the new application aimed at helping clear streets of certain illegally parked cars. The app allows users to snap a photo of an illegally parked vehicle blocking a crosswalk or a bus/bike lane and then determine how many unpaid citations the vehicle has. The goal is to connect that information with the city’s enforcement infrastructure to initiate an enforcement response to a violation by repeat offenders. The developers are not there yet regarding the enforcement connection. The project was launched by Sussman and software engineer Daniel Schep. Sign up for the beta here: https://hmdapp.io/
Eastern Market Leases…
Eastern Market South Hall merchants and the Department of General Services edge closer to an agreement on long term leases – and a solution to a problem which has vexed merchants for years. Eastern Market legislation requires that rent for Eastern Market leases be set at market rate. After meeting with the Merchants on May 21, DGS offered the merchants an opportunity to move forward to long term leases with 1) rents established by a prior DGS conducted appraisal, 2) the merchant’s own appraisals which would be used in conjunction with the DGS appraisal to determine a final rent rate, or 3) open their books and agree to a rent that reflects a reasonable percent of gross sales. The merchants were given until July 1 to respond. According to Market Manager Barry Margeson, nearly all the vendors have decided to have their own appraisals done and will have until September 2 to complete that process. DGS will consider both sources and decide on setting the terms of the leases.
In related news, DGS has set a July 22 deadline for contractors to respond to the Request for Proposals to produce a study and comprehensive plan for Eastern Market for the next five years.
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 
How’s my driving ap scares me. All we need is more people on the phone while driving. My sister will never walk again. she was T-boned by a guy on his phone.
This app is really more for pedestrians and cyclists. The name is slightly misleading. Might be better named “Am I a jerk parker?”
Sorry about your sister. That really sucks!
What, another study on the future of the Eastern Market? How many have we had in the last 20 or 30 years? Perhaps that is the future of the market, more studies.
When will the interim playground be completed if breaking ground this Monday, July 22? (Ed. note: CHC will update with this info next week.)
Am not in the least a fan of illegally parked cars – especially if they are a safety threat or such as DC city employees who use residential guest passes or 2 week passes from MPD for their daily commuter parking while violating residential parking rules, but how about if Mr. Sussman creates an app to report dogs off leash in our local park, someone smoking weed in public, or kids just selling cold bottles of water on the Mall. Open Pandora’s box and see what comes out.
There are quite a few examples of its use on other local blogs. Those examples show that there are cars out there with 10s of thousands of dollars in *outstanding* tickets who are still doing the same behavior, because nothing is enforced. So the intent is not to police your neighbors. It actually seems pretty useful to hold Parking Enforcement and our court systems accountable when there is one bad apple consistently infringing on the rights of everyone else in the neighborhood.
Please, take a moment to get to know new technology before dismissing it for the wrong reasons.
The city has unpaid parking ticket enforcement mechanisms, details here, https://dmv.dc.gov/service/failure-pay-ticket If these mechanisms are not working, complain about it, make them work. What we don’t need are a horde of app-toting Barney Fifes running around.
Councilperson Charles Allen is proposing a similar idea, to appoint citizen busybodies to enforce parking regulations, a sort of municipal Red Guard. I suggest they be required to wear Mao jackets whilst photographing their neighbors’ cars.
Hi there,
You know what makes existing processes and mechanisms work even better? A little bit of competition. I’m really not sure what your objection is, other than that you don’t want other citizens to be able to report you (not you, specifically, just anyone). Is that it? Do you feel the same about reporting suspicious behavior that might prevent a crime? Is it the severity of the crime that makes you opposed to this or do you believe crimes committed in cars should be overlooked?
I think some crimes are a whole lot worse than other crimes. I could care less about illegally parked cars. If the city isn’t enforcing laws and regulations it’s the responsibility of our elected officials to hold government agencies accountable.
I happily pay taxes but I am not happy to see high tech vigalantes helping the city enforce the law. On the otherhand, it might be a lot of fun ratting out people I don’t like.
How about if we require everyone, dog walkers, bicyclists, scooterists (is that a word?), runners, stroller pushers, and ordinary pedestrians to wear a city-issued numbered placard. Then Mr. Sussman’s “How’s My Annoying?” app can be used to report everyone for everything.
That’s funny. And also right on target.