Author Archives: ljjanezich

Capitol Hill Restoration Society Endorses Hine Project, With Reservations – Final Report Backs Away From Previous Criticism of Height and Mass

by Larry Janezich

CHRS has released testimony it will present to the Zoning Commission on Stanton-Eastbanc’s application to change the zoning on the Hine site.  The final report of the CHRS on the project states, “In the main, CHRS supports the application but still has concerns about some elements of the plans….”

The report then takes issue with the design of the 7^th and Pennsylvania Avenue building, calling it “inappropriate and incompatible with the historic district.”  And, “CHRS strongly urges that this building’s design be revisited and made more compatible with historic Capitol Hill.

The report goes on to express reservations about the connecting structure between the two buildings fronting Pennsylvania Avenue, which it calls “completely incompatible with the historic character of Capitol Hill, and in particular, of Pennsylvania Avenue….”  Further, “CHRS insists that this structure be redesigned.”

While the report reiterates criticisms of the design of the 7^th and Penn office building and the connecting structure which CHRS raised before HPRB in April, oddly, the report is silent on the size and massing of the project.  In testimony before HPRB last April, CHRS called the 7^th  and Penn building “too big, too tall, and too massive” and asked “that the seventh floor be dropped and the sixth floor set back at least as far as the seventh is now.”  Subsequently, ANC6B negotiators were successful in reducing the height of this building by removing the mechanical penthouse and eliminating the top set-back floor – less than what CHRS called for in April.  The April testimony concluded with a request that HPRB revisit and reconsider its earlier decisions regarding the height and mass of the portion of the development between C Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

In another part of the report, CHRS states that they believe the preservation of the flea market has been adequately addressed by Councilmember Wells’ Eastern Market legislation working its way through City Council, stating flatly, “The Trust will close 7^th Street to provide for the flea market.”

Finally, the report slams last week’s DDOT Transportation report which recommended a substantial reduction in the project’s underground parking, calling it flawed and a “great disappointment.”  The report goes on, “Unfortunately DDOT…has decided to wait until just a few days before this hearing to throw a hand grenade into the room.”  CHRS has long supported the substantial parking provided by the developer which was subsequently approved by the city council.  The report states, “It is astonishing that DMPED and the Ciy Council can approve the parking and then DDOT, at the eleventh hour, can veto it.”  It calls on the Zoning Commission to disregard the Transportation Report.

Gary Peterson, Chair of the CHRS Zoning Committee, will present the report to the Zoning Commission.

Tonight, the Zoning Commission holds the first of what is likely to be two hearings on the application of Stanton-Eastbanc for a change in zoning for the Hine site.  The meeting will be at 6:30pm at One Judiciary Square, 441 4th Street, NW, Washington, DC.  The hearing is open to the public and likely to be well-attended.  It will be webcast live at dcoz.dc.gov.  Click the second button from the bottom on the right column.

A Divided ANC6B Endorses The Hine Project – Developer Makes Additional Benefit Concessions

by Larry Janezich

A divided ANC6B gave conditional endorsement to the Hine project on Tuesday night, voting 6 – 4 to agree to a package of benefits and amenities negotiated with the Hine developers by Commissioners Frishberg and Pate.

Those supporting:  Frishberg, Pate, Garrison, Oldenberg, Metzger, and Flahaven.

Those opposed:  Critchfield, Glick, Campbell, and Green.

Additional benefit concessions made by the developer since the Planning and Zoning Committee meeting last week include $75,000 to support a playground in the park bounded by Pennsylvania Avenue, 8^th Street, D Street, and 9^th Street, SE.  In addition the developers agreed to allocate no less than 2,000 square feet of non-subsidized space for community oriented non-profits.  Finally, the developer agreed to provide subsidized office space for the ANC.  The latter has been a pet project of Commissioner Garrison, who groused at last week’s Planning and Zoning Committee meeting that he didn’t understand why negotiators had failed to win this benefit for the community.

Hine Subcommittee Chair Frishberg moved to approve the benefits package and endorsement, stating that the process had not been ideal, but had been dictated by what the city did.  “DMPED (Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development) got a great deal for city – not so great for neighbors.”  He said he still believed this will be “a benefit to the community and the benefits package is fair and more productive than others I’ve seen.”  He cited inclusion of an on-site day care center for at least 24 children, $50,000 improvements to Metro Plaza, as well as ANC meeting space and allocation of space for non-profits.

Subcommittee Vice Chair Brian Pate supported the deal saying, “I’ll stand by the benefits package and continue to work to mitigate the impact of the development on the community.”

A broad spectrum of the community – some 50 residents – beyond what has been characterized as the nearby neighbors, turned out for the meeting.  Seventeen rose to express concerns ranging from the height and mass, how candidates for child care would be selected, traffic, parking, and the flea market.  Two attendees spoke in favor of the project.

Among the commissioners other than the negotiators, Garrison and Flahaven voiced their support for the project, both saying they regretted the reduction in height at 7^th and Pennsylvania Avenue achieved by the negotiators and cited the need for the ANC to have a strong voice before the Zoning Commission hearing on Hine on Thursday.  Flahaven said the benefits package was a good balance between the interests of the neighbors and the interests of Capitol Hill.  Commissioner Metzger cited the need for more density and neighbors.  Commissioner Oldenberg said she had been disappointed in the initial benefits package unveiled last week, but as revised by the additional concessions of this past week, she could support it.

On the other side, Commissioner Glick announced his opposition saying the benefits package for the community fell short.  Francis Campbell said the project “is too damn big – it is too much in too small a space.”

Frishberg had the last word wrapping up the debate by acknowledging community unhappiness with the agreement and the project.  He noted that he had not supported this developer – that he had favored the “campus plan” among the finalists who bid for the development.  But, he said, “the City Council voted for (Stanton-Eastbanc).”  He expressed frustration that the ANC had beaten its head against the HPRB and gotten “almost nothing,” noting that it was they who are supposed to safeguard the community.  “This is not the (benefits package) I would have written…but if we walk away, we don’t know what we’ll get.  I don’t think I can walk away because there is a risk on the other side.”

After agreeing to support the package, the ANC voted to reject a request from Frishberg to authorize the expenditure of $2,500 for legal advice to help negotiate the Construction Management Agreement between the developer and the community.   The motion failed on a 5 – 5 tie.

Those who supported the motion:  Frishberg, Pate, Critchfield, Flahaven, and Campbell.

Those opposed:  Garrison, Oldenberg, Metzger, Glick, and Green.

Thursday night, the Zoning Commission holds the first of what is likely to be two hearings on the application of Stanton-Eastbanc for a change in zoning for the Hine site.  The meeting will be 6:30pm at One Judiciary Square, 441 4th Street, NW, Washington, DC.

Editorial:   The ANC6B Vote on Hine Tuesday Night

by Larry Janezich

Tuesday night, ANC6B will vote on its conditional support of the Hine Development.  It will be the last opportunity for public input at the community level before the Zoning Commission hearing on the issue on Thursday.  Despite the Eastern Market residential community sending ANC negotiators back to the developer with instructions to take more height off the 7^th and Penn Office building and despite wider community concern about the fate of the flea market, the negotiators were unable to get further concessions from the developer on either of these issues.  It appears, in fact, that the flea market didn’t come up and that the ANC is relying on a speculative legislative solution proposed by Councilmember Wells which purports to make the flea market a non-issue before the ANC and the Zoning Commission.

What the community is getting from the developer in return for the impact of the development on the neighborhood is precious little: a minimal height concession on the 7^th and Penn building, $50,000 in landscaping for Metro Plaza, and a subsidized childcare center somewhere for a minimum of 24 children.  It doesn’t seem like much, and it isn’t.  The developer appears to believe that by providing the benefit of 34 additional affordable housing units above what is required that they have done enough – maybe more than enough.

Unless the community can convince the ANC otherwise, it is likely to vote to endorse the project, despite recent letters from the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing raising concerns about specific transportation and affordable housing issues, and despite the reservations of the once-Stanton-supporting Capitol Hill Restoration Society.

Ideally, ANC6B would vote down the conditional endorsement of the project and go to the Zoning Commission without a position and say that the developer has failed to address the major concerns of the community and ask the Office of Planning to require mediation by an outside mediator before any zoning change.

By not requiring more of its ANC representatives – who after all, were negotiating on behalf of Councilmember Wells, who pledged to support whatever position the ANC takes – the community has shortchanged itself.  It can redeem itself Tuesday night at the 7:00pm ANC6B meeting at Hill Center.

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.

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 7^th 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.