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The Week Ahead….

By Larry Janezich

Monday, April 2

ANC6C Alcoholic Beverage Licensing Committee meets at 7:00pm at Kaiser Permanente, 700 2^nd Street, NE.

Agenda items include.

Allure Lounge, LLC, 711 H Street, NE, Retailer’s Class “C” Tavern – Rooftop Garden / Settlement Agreement Discussion.

VBR Brewing Corporation d/b/a Red Bear Brewing Company, 1140 3rd Street NE, Retailer’s Class “C” Tavern New License Application.

Union Kitchen Grocery 538 3rd Street, NE, Retailer’s Class “B” – Discussion of Noise Issues.

Committee Co-Chair Election.

ANC6B Hill East Task Force meets at 7:00pm, at St. Coletta’s, 1900 Independence Avenue, SE. 

Agenda:

To hear a DDOT presentation on an updated traffic calming plan.

Washington Bach Consort – free “Capitol Cantatas” concert series continues at noon, St. Peter’s Church, 313 2^nd Street, SE. 

Tuesday, April 3

ANC6B Planning and Zoning Committee meets at 7:00pm, at St. Coletta’s, 1900 Independence Avenue, SE.

Among items on the agenda:

445 15th Street, SE – special exceptions from the accessory building gross floor area limitations and from the accessory building rear setback.

1247 E Street. SE – two-year time extension of variance / restaurant use.

500 13th Street, SE – use variance / office use in the RF-1 Zone.

818 Potomac Avenue –  Paving: ADA Curb Ramp, Paving: Curb & Gutter(s), Paving: Driveway(s) New- Commercial, Paving: Leadwalk Only, Paving: Patio (porous concrete/pervious pavers ONLY), Paving: Sidewalk(s), Landscaping: Tree Planting, Projections: Areaway Entrance, Projections: Bay Window(s), Over Head Work: Streetlight(s) Installation.

816 Potomac Avenue, SE – concept/four-story side addition.

Letter to HPO regarding staff level review.

ANC6C Parks and Environment Committee meets at 7:00pm, at Kaiser Permanente, 700 2nd St NE, Room G2.

Among items on the agenda:

NoMA Parks Foundation – Stacie West will provide a status update on parks projects and underpass installations.

Save Good Food Amendment Act of 2017 and Residential Composting Incentives Act of 2017 – Catherine Plume from the DC Chapter of the Sierra Club will provide an overview of both legislations and ask for ANC resolutions in support.

Wednesday, April 4

Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee meets at 7:00pm, North Hall, Eastern Market.

Agenda:

To advise DGS regarding its proposal to contract for the development of a strategic plan for the Eastern Market Special Use area.

ANC6C Planning, Zoning, and Economic Development Committee meets at 7:00pm, at Northeast Library, 7th & D Streets, NE

Among items on the draft agenda:

219 E Street, NE – Application of Sons of Italy Foundation, for a special exception under the non-profit use provisions for an area variance from the gross floor continue a non-profit office use in the RF-3 District.

732 4th Street, NE– Application of Anthony Balestrieri for concept approval for rear and rooftop additions.

732 4th Street, NE– Application of Anthony Balestrieri, for a special exception from the lot occupancy requirements, to construct a three-story rear addition to an existing principal dwelling unit in the RF-1 Zone.

1139 6th Street, NE– Application of Kimberly Ziegler, for a special exception from the upper-floor addition requirements and from the lot occupancy requirements to construct a rear and third-story addition to an existing one-family dwelling in the RF-1 Zone.

Department of Buildings Establishment Act of 2018 – Discussion of legislation that would split the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) into two separate agencies, with the new Department of Buildings responsible for construction and zoning permitting and inspections, as well as enforcement of the housing code.

Rulemaking to amend the definitions for “attached,” “detached,” and “semidetached” buildings, as well as to amend the regulations concerning side yards.

Thursday, April 4

ANC6B Alcohol Beverage Control Committee meets at 7:00pm in Hill Center.

Among items on the agenda:

Torai Grill & Sushi, Inc. t/a Torai Grill & Sushi, 751 8th Street, SE.

1420 Pennsy LLC t/a Trusty’s Bar – 1420 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE.

Monkoor Corporation t/a S.E. Market – 1500 Independence Avenue, SE.

Wine Root, Inc. t/a New Congressional Liquor – 404 1st Street, SE.

ANC6C Transportation and Public Space Committee meets at 7:00pm in Kaiser Permanente Capitol Hill Medical Center, 700 2nd Street, NE, Room G3-G4.

Among items on the draft agenda:

NoMa Farmers Market – NoMa BID and Fresh Farm Markets are planning to start a farmers market at 1st and Pierce Street NE (on a private lot). They will be applying to occupy 10-15 of the metered parking spaces on 1st Street, and/or Pierce Street, between the hours of 7:30am and 3:00pm on Sundays from May-October.

CAVA Grill, 523 H Street, NE – Unenclosed Sidewalk Café Application for a new sidewalk café for a fast-casual restaurant. The applicant presented a preview of their application at the February committee meeting. At the time of the meeting an application had not yet been submitted. The café will be on the 6th St side of Cava and consist of tables with 2 or 4 seats for a total occupancy of 28. No ropes or fencing will surround the café, and a minimum 10 ft. clearance to the nearest obstruction (trees). There will be no awnings or umbrellas.  Alcohol is not served at this location.  Hours of operation will be 11am-10pm, 7 days a week.

Buredo, 111 K Street, NE, New Unenclosed Sidewalk Café – Application for a new unenclosed sidewalk café for a fast casual restaurant.  Hours of operation 11:00am – 10:00pm all week; 16 seats.

DDOT Budget Oversight Hearing April 24 – The Council Committee on Transportation & the Environment will hold a Budget Oversight Hearing on April 24 wherein the District Department of Transportation will testify. Our committee will discuss issues to raise with Council for the hearing.

Friends of Southeast Library meet at 5:30pm, Southeast Library, lower level.

Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee Charges DGS With Flouting Law Budget Oversight Law

By Larry Janezich

Donna Scheeder, Chair of Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee (EMCAC), told City Council members last Monday that DGS – contrary to DC law – is not respecting EMCAC’s legal obligation to advise and provide oversight on Eastern Market’s budget.  Her statement came during testimony before CM Mary Cheh’s Budget and Oversight hearing on the Department of General Services.

According to Scheeder the law requires the Eastern Market Manager to submit the market’s budget to EMCAC prior to the start of each DC fiscal year budget cycle.  “You will note that you have no recommendations from EMCAC because there was no prior submission to EMCAC for review.  What is required in the legislation was not done,” she told the Committee.

Scheeder said EMCAC was told by DGS’s Market Manager by email, that the budget would have to remain internal until it is released to the City Council.  Scheeder added, “DGS’s refusal to follow (the law) is an affront to both our organization and the Council….”

On Friday, March 24, EMCAC did receive was a document designated “Mayor’s Proposed Budget for the Eastern Market Fund,” but, Scheeder said, the document fails to break down the several sources of income and provided no information about what is needed for maintenance and capital improvement expenditures – nor did it include any information about what was budgeted for 2018.  Scheeder told the committee that without out having access to current meaningful budget information, EMCAC has no way to advise whether DGS’s proposed substantial rent increases for the South Hall merchants are justified.

Other issues raised by Scheeder and EMCAC Secretary Monte Edwards include the failure of DGS to provide funds for capital improvements as required by law, DGS’s slow walking of EMCAC’s advice on the need to address security for the 7^th Street open air market – a target for terrorists, Scheeder said – and lack of clarity on DGS’s intent regarding funding for the prospective five year strategic plan.

CM Cheh responded, noting that she had heard the concerns of the South Hall merchants at an earlier oversight hearing on city agencies, adding, “I take it we’re not very good as government in managing operations – I will be talking to DGS about that.  We need to press for repairs and management to make this a good and effective market everybody seems to love.”

CM Allen responded, saying he wanted to focus on how to put together a strategic plan, asking, “Do I need to work with the Chair for funding?”  Scheeder told Allen, that EMCAC doesn’t know the status of any funding for the study, but before funding is allocated, “we need to have a stakeholder’s meeting to talk about the scope of the study and what needs to be included.”

Allen agreed that engaging the community would help chart a path forward and said he would follow-up with DGS Director Gillis about budgeting for the study and about EMCAC’s budget oversight role.

DGS has submitted a request for proposals regarding a strategic plan, but EMCAC has refused to consider it because their advice had not been sought on elements of the request.  See here:  http://bit.ly/2HPlMSg

EMCAC will hold a special meeting at 7:00pm in the North Hall of Eastern Market on Wednesday, April 4, to advise on the DGS proposal to contract for the development of a strategic plan for the Eastern Market Special Use area.

The Week Ahead….

by Larry Janezich

Tuesday, March 27

ANC6B Executive Committee meets at 7:00pm at Hill Center, to set the agenda for the April meeting of the full ANC.

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee meets at 7:00pm, North Hall, Eastern Market

 

DC’s US Attorney Grilled by ANC6B Reps on Rape Stats, Small Crimes & the Injustice of “Simple Assault”

by Larry Janezich

Last Tuesday night, US Attorney for the District, Jesse Liu, appeared before ANC6B.  Liu, on the job just six months, brought half a dozen of her staff, including Doug Klein, Community Prosecutor for the MPD’s First District.

Liu said that her office – the largest US Attorney’s office in the nation – has 300 attorneys and prosecutors and an equal number of non-attorney staff.  As both the local and federal prosecutor for DC, the office deals with local prosecutions extending from misdemeanor drug possession and murders to federal prosecutions on child porn, gangs, financial fraud, and terrorism.

Liu said the office focuses on violent crime and develops strategies to reduce and prevent violent crime.  She said she was committed to interacting with the community.

Liu took questions from the Commissioners and first out of the gate was Commissioner Denise Krepp, who rose from her chair to say, “I’m here because I want to ask you if you’re going to respond to my letter of February 8 regarding statistics on prosecution of rapes.  Do you plan on answering my letter to find out how many campus rapes have been prosecuted?”  Krepp explained that she had had to sue DOJ to get information that 1 out of 48 college campus rapes had been prosecuted, only to have those figures questioned by the District’s US Attorney’s office at a panel discussion of rape which she monitored at George Washington University.

Liu told Krepp that she hadn’t seen the letter and would take a look at it.  Klein reminded Krepp that US Attorneys who attended the GWU panel had informed her that sex complaints are reviewed by two senior prosecutors independently – they look at the evidence, the cooperation of the victim, what is provable in court, and what they can present to a grand jury. “Statistics,” he said,” don’t reflect how cases are reviewed” and “as prosecutors we are ethically responsible to review and prosecute or not”.

For Krepp, the bottom line is that “There are multiple rapes going on in DC and I’m not willing to let the Department of Justice not prosecute them.”

Klein said we will review this and “definitely get back in touch.”  ANC Chair Dan Ridge closed the discussion, asking Krepp to inform the ANC whether she had received a reply by the next meeting.

Up next, Commissioner Jennifer Samolyk told Liu she was concerned that too often MPD seems to be “going through the motions” regarding misdemeanor arrests and once suspects are arrested they are quickly back on the streets.  Liu told Samolyk that the standard for an arrest by MPD is “probable cause” – while the standard for prosecution is “beyond a reasonable doubt.”  Samolyk said that “these small cases are important because they are the ones we deal with on an everyday basis – every day of our lives.”  Liu pointed out that in most cases where a crime is committed by a juvenile, it is prosecuted by the DC Attorney General’s office.

Commissioner James Loots backed up Samolyk’s concern, citing patters of smaller crimes, noting that in one case MPD arrested 12 individuals in his single member district which resulted in no prosecutions.  The pattern of crime, he said, continued.  Loots added that the smaller less high-profile crimes significantly affect the quality of life, and suggested that selective prosecution of misdemeanors might have an effect on an issue which is important for the community.

Commissioner Chander Jayaraman raised the issue of what constitutes “simple assault,” citing his personal experience having been mugged – suffering a broken nose – outside his own house.  He was surprised to see the attack classified by MPD as a “simple assault.”  Klein went through the categories of assault, noting that simple assault can include everything from being spit on to being hit in the face.  Felony assault generally involves a significant injury and hospital stay.  Klein said the definition of simple assault is “a term of art,” pleading that “these definitions precede me.”  Another attorney from the US Attorney’s office interjected that the classification of an assault depends on the circumstances – witnesses, search issues, the jury – “it’s a very fact specific inquiry.”

ANC6B Chair Dan Ridge followed up, wondering why simple assaults don’t go into the daily crime reports.  Klein said that was an MPD statistics issue.

In a related matter, Ridge raised the issue of the nature of “simple assault” at MPD’s Sector 2 (PSAs 104, 107, 108) meeting in Southeast Library on Thursday night.  Captain John Knutsen, MPD, Sector 2, reinforced the position of the U.S. Attorneys at the ANC6B meeting two nights earlier, on how much the classification of an assault depends on the ability of the victim to identify his or her attacker.  In attendance at the meeting were two mothers whose children had been “beat up” recently by other students near Potomac Avenue Metro.  Another mother was present to ask about the lack of an MPD alert regarding a group of up to 20 students who had attacked her son near 10th and North Carolina Avenue.  Her son had been rescued, she said, by a “hero” – a nearby public utility worker.  The woman spoke for all of the mothers and others at the meeting, asking “What can be done?”

Ridge pushed for MPD to put all crimes – including simple assault – on the mpd.press@dc.gov notices to the community listservs, a suggestion endorsed by others at the meeting.  One person emphatically agreed, saying she would rather know about a (currently-unreported simple assault) than a “shoplifting at CVS.”

Knutsen, said he would explore the broader use of the MPD Alerts and offered to share additional information regarding the classification of assaults.  He did allow that “Right now, whatever’s happening is not working” – apparently referring to MPD’s inability to address misdemeanors like simple assault, owing to the technical issues governing the classification of the crime.

The Week Ahead….

By Larry Janezich

Monday, March 19

ANC6D meets at 7:00pm, 1000 5th Street, SE

Among items on the draft agenda:

Presentations:

Office of the People’s Counsel, Cheryl Morse

Office of the Attorney General, Cameron Windham

Unity Healthcare – Update on 555 L Street, SE Location

Southwest Library Update

Chloe – 1331 4th Street, SE: Amendment to Settlement Agreement to permit summer garden w/adjustment of occupancy

Mission – 1221 Van Street, SE: new Tavern liquor license with entertainment and dancing and a summer garden plus a sidewalk cafe

District Winery – 385 Water Street, SE: Amendment to Settlement Agreement to add summer garden and a stipulated license

Letter of Support for New Jersey Ave. Gateway Public Art, Brad Fennell & David Hess Min.

Randall School, 65 Eye St SW, Updated letter of support

Forest City Parking Lot Extension Parcels I, F, H & Q

Southwest BID Expansion

110 M Street, SE: Oath Pizza Sidewalk Café Permit Application

Nats Ballpark & DC United TOPP, authorization for CM

Comprehensive Plan, authorization for CM

Letter to DPR RE Lincoln Capper children’s pool

ANC 6A Transportation & Public Space Committee meets at 7:00pm, 900 G Street, NE.

Among items on the draft agenda:

Announcement that ANC 6A is seeking volunteer committee members.

Review of public space application for a sidewalk café by Loaf Coffee, 101 15th Street NE – 20 minutes

ANC 6A Community Outreach Committee (COC) meets at 7:00pm at Eastern High School, Parent Center, 1700 East Capitol Street, NE (Enter from East Capitol Street)

Agenda:

Committee business.

Tuesday, March 20

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

ANC6A ABC Committee meets at 7:00pm, Alcoholic Beverage Licensing Committee at Sherwood Recreation Center 10th and G Streets, NE

Among items on the draft agenda:

Discussion of license renewal for 7 River, LLC t/a 7 River Mart at 250 11th Street, NE

Wednesday, March 21

ANC6A Economic Development & Zoning Committee meets at 7:00pm, at Sherwood Recreation Center 10th and G Streets, NE

Among items on the draft agenda:

Capital East Apartments – HPRB recommendation on the plans for the rehabilitation and addition of a new roof deck at the Capital East Apartments, located at 816 E Street NE & 518 Ninth Street NE.

1371-1375 H Street NE – Application of DC Super Pack LLC for a special exception to operate an animal boarding use in an existing building in the NC-15 District.

121 Tennessee Avenue NE – Application for special exceptions to construct a two-story addition to an existing one-story rear addition to an attached principal dwelling unit in the RF-1 Zone.

Friday, March 23

Charles Allen holds community office hours at 8:00am, Pretzel Bakery at 15th and C Streets, SE

Sroufe Is Unopposed for ANC6B02 Seat – Kelly Waud Files for Vacant ANC 6B07 Seat

by Larry Janezich

Jerry Sroufe has emerged as the only candidate for the vacant ANC6B02 seat left by the resignation of Commissioner Diane Hoskins who resigned in February owing to the time constraints of a new job.

In a letter to ANC6B Chair Dan Ridge, Sroufe informally notified the commission that he was the only candidate.  Since the filing deadline has passed for filing to run for that vacancy and barring any successful challenge to the names provided on his petitions, the DC Board of Elections will certify ANC6B of Sroufe’s election around March 21.  CM Charles Allen will then swear in Sroufe as commissioner.  That could occur in time for Sroufe to assume office by the next meeting of ANC6B on April 10.  The single member district he will represent is a demanding one, including Eastern Market, Eastern Market Metro Plaza, and the Hine Project.  Sroufe, a long time Capitol Hill resident, is Senior Advisor at the American Educational Research Association.

ANC6B has a second vacant seat, that being for ANC6B07.  Kelly Waud is the single candidate who has picked up petitions of candidacy.  As of mid-day on March 15, Waud has not submitted a petition with the necessary 25 signatures of residents in the single member district.  The filing deadline for submission of petitions ends on Monday, March 26.  Waud has been serving as a resident member of ANC6B’s Transportation Committee.  The vacancy occurred when Commissioner Aimee Grace resigned last month before she relocates to Hawaii.

ANC6B07 is a complex single member district, home to Harris Teeter, the retail businesses on the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue between 12^th and 14^th, Watkins and Chamberlain schools, Potomac Gardens, Hopkins apartments, and much of the proposed Southwest Boulevard.

ANC6B Protests City Agency Undercutting Its Advisory Role on Ebenezer Church Development

by Larry Janezich

Last night, ANC6B voted 6-0 to appeal HPRB’s decision to approve a curb cut requested by the developer of Ebenezer Flats (the ten unit residential complex adjacent to Ebenezer Church at 400 D Street, SE).  The appeal came about largely as the result of the latest instance in which the Commission felt its advisory role in determining what happens in the community had been undercut by another city agency – in this case HPRB.

On February 22, HPRB approved a revised plan for the curb cut on a 6 – 1 vote, ignoring the regular process which would have sent the revisions back to ANC6B for their opinion.  (See here:  http://bit.ly/2p4FG3c)

“It doesn’t matter whether the ANC is for or against an issue,” ANC6B Commissioner James Loots said, “a secret backroom deal between the Historic Preservation Office and the developer is not acceptable.”

Loots charged that when he found out the night before the HPRB hearing that the revised plan would not come back to the ANC, he emailed the Office of Planning to strongly urge following proper procedure and defer a hearing until ANC had an opportunity to weigh in.  Loots said that HPRB “consciously didn’t notify ANC” despite the Chair being notified that the ANC had been by-passed.  He continued, “The contempt and total disregard of the process – it doesn’t matter whether you’re for or against it – the amount of effort we put into this requires they have to listen to us and they didn’t. “

Commissioner Nick Burger agreed, characterizing the HPRB process in particular as “sloppy” compared with that of the Bureau of Zoning Adjustment.  Burger – playing devil’s advocate – acknowledged that he doubted the ANC position on the curb cut in question would have been any different had the matter come back to the ANC.

The ANC subsequently voted 6 – 0 for a Loots motion to request that the Mayor’s Agent – in this case, the Director of the Office of Planning, who is the final authority in the city’s executive branch on Historic Preservation matters – conduct a review and independent hearing regarding HPRB’s failure to notify the ANC and whether factors other than those directly related to historic preservation figured in the Board’s decision to approve the curb cut.

Loots –  an attorney – stressed that his votes on historic preservation applications have been consistently informed by the law and historic preservation requirements.  The Hill Rag reported that some HPRB board members expressed concern that African American churches were being driven out of the community by lack of parking and that it was important to find ways to allow these institutions to exist.   http://bit.ly/2Dqunrg

The ANC then voted 6 – 0 for a Burger motion to send a letter to the Mayor, Council Chair Mendelson, and Councilmember Charles Allen expressing a broader concern about agencies’ failure to adhere to the ANC process and asking for a review of the legal requirements and possible amendments to the governing legislation.

Earlier in the meeting, the ANC approved language expressing opposition to the developer’s DDOT Public space application for the curb cut.  That issue will likely come before the DDOT Public Space Committee at its next meeting on March 22.

The Week Ahead…

Tuesday, March 13

ANC6B meets at 7:00pm in Hill Center

Among items on the draft agenda:

Presentations:

Jessie Liu, US Attorney for the District of Columbia

Amy Mauro, DC Fire and EMS Chief of Staff to discuss DC FEMS Right Care, Right Now initiative

Capitol Hill Classic

816 Potomac Avenue, SE – Historic Preservation application re concept/four-story side addition

600 Pennsylvania Ave, SE – Historic Preservation application re concept/storefront-infill

8^th and I Streets, SE – Public Space application for additional bollards at the Marine Barracks

14^th and D Streets, SE – Public Space application for curb cuts at the Southeast Safeway

400 D Street, SE – Public Space application for curb cut for Ebenezer Church Parking lot

Discussion of “great weight” to given to ANC6B in recent HPRB cases

March for Our Lives — any late breaking issues

Talk of the Hill with Bill Press: DNC Chairman Tom Perez, 7:00pm, Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital 921 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE

Wednesday, March 14

ANC6C meets at 7:00pm, Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE

Among items on the draft agenda: 

Presentations:

Council Member Charles Allen

Right Care, Right Now initiative, D.C. Fire Chief, Gregory Dean

600 H Street, NE – Solid State Books, new class D liquor license

Wunder Garten, 1101 First Street, NE – Settlement Agreement amendment

NoMa Parks update

Leaf Blower Regulation Amendment Act of 2017

Environmental/sustainability issues

201 Massachusetts Ave NE, Union Pub – Public Space application – conversion to an enclosed sidewalk café

659 G Street NE, Ludlow Taylor Elementary School fence

Contemplated PUD proposal for Parker/2nd/K Streets

CHRS Preservation Café:  Sustainable DC and Historic Preservation.  Northeast Library, 330 7^th Street, NE

Thursday, March 15

Sector 2 (PSAs 104, 107, 108) Community Meeting, 7:00 pm, Southeast Library, 403 7th Street, SE

CHRS Zoning Committee meets at 7:30pm, Kirby House, 420 10^th Street, SE, first floor

ANC6B Is Set to Oppose Ebenezer Church‘s Curb Cut & Butt Heads with HPRB

by Larry Janezich

Last Tuesday night, a handful of ANC6B’s Planning and Zoning Committee members voted to oppose a curb cut in the Historic District on Fifth Street, SE, which would permit access to a proposed 16 car parking lot for Ebenezer Church.  That recommendation now goes to the full ANC.  The motion to oppose was made on the basis of not having enough information about the consequences of the curb cut and a desire to preserve interior green space of a block in the Historic District, and included a provision to place the measure on ANC6B’s “consent calendar” at the full meeting.  This means that the issue is likely to be approved en bloc along with several non-controversial measures without further debate or discussion.  Any commissioner, however, can take the measure off the consent calendar for further consideration.

The vote on the motion in Committee was 4 – 0 – 1 against the curb cut with committee chair Nick Burger abstaining.

Commissioners Kiersten Oldenburg said she was “not crazy about the motion,” but explained that she consistently opposes curb cuts in the Historic District.

Commissioner Chandler Jayaraman – who made the motion – said his objection was based on not having enough information about the uses for which the parking lot would be used as well as the desire to protect green space in the interior of a Historic block in accordance with previous precedents supported by the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB).

Two additional nay votes were provided by resident members of the committee.

About a half a dozen nearby neighbors expressed concerns about the project, those objections based on the lack of communication and transparency by the developer, uncertainty about the possible future commercial development of the church, and the perception that the parking lot would have a negative effect on traffic in the neighborhood.  Some neighbors most directly affected, objected to having a parking lot on the other side of their back fences.  A smaller number of neighbors supported the parking lot and endorsed the developer’s efforts to alleviate the shortage of parking in the neighborhood.

Last month the HPRB agreed with ANC6B and opposed the construction of two mechanical parking structures behind the church, but left the door open for a parking space for multiple cars.

The developer took advantage of the opening to alter the plan, removed the parking structures and – with the apparent sanction of the Historic Preservation Office – brought the altered proposal back before the HPRB without referring it to ANC6B for further consideration.  HPRB subsequently approved the parking lot plan and the necessary curb cut by a vote of 6 – 0 – 1.

The developer told ANC that there was no intent to short-circuit the process in by-passing the ANC, since an application for a curb cut to the Department of Transportation would automatically come back before the ANC for consideration.  In fact, Tuesday night’s Committee consideration of the curb cut application was the first step in that process.

After what is likely to be consent calendar approval of the ANC’s opposition to the curb cut at the March meeting of ANC6B, the matter will go to the Department of Transportation Public Space Committee for a public hearing.  Nearby resident Chuck Burger told the ANC Committee on Tuesday night that he had led a small delegation of neighbors to present their objections to the parking lot directly to the Public Space Committee.

It’s hard to predict what the Public Space Committee will do – it will have to weigh a strong endorsement of the curb cut by HPRB against the opposition of the ANC.  In the past DDOT has tended to give ANCs short shrift.

ANC6B has scheduled a discussion regarding its concern about the status of the city’s requirement that ANC opinions be given “great weight” by city agencies at their next meeting on Tuesday, March 13, after the vote on the curb cut.

Hype Café Opens at 12^th and PA Avenue – Here’s Their Coffee Menu/Prices & More Photos

by Larry Janezich

You walk in and notice lots of light, tables and counter space. “Why Hype?” you ask. Proprietor Samuel Mengista says, “It’s the name we came up with to express the effect of the coffee.” Mengista and his fiancée Hanna Tesfamicael opened Hype last Saturday.

At present, the café serves drinks and pastries. A grand opening planned for the end of the month will mark an expansion of the menu to feature sandwiches and injera – the traditional flat spongy bread of several East African countries – with Ethiopian vegetable toppings. Next summer could see the addition of a sidewalk café.

The café is open seven days a week, weekdays from 7:00am until 9:00pm, and Saturday/Sunday from 8:00am until 9:00pm.