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June 10, 2012 · 11:46 pm

The Week Ahead….

The Week Ahead….

by Larry Janezich

Tuesday, June 12

ANC 6B meets at Hill Center at 7:00pm

Items of interest on the agenda include:

Retail liquor license and tasting permit for Yes Organic Market;

Restaurant license for Beuchert’s Saloon, 623 Pennsylvania Avenue SE;

Hine School Redevelopment, Stanton-Eastbanc LLC, consolidated PUD (Planned Unit Development) and Related Map Amendment

Thursday, June 14

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.

AGENDA

Case Number : Z.C. Case No. 11-24  

Case Name : Stanton-EastBanc, LLC – Consolidated PUD & Related Map Amendment @ Square 901  

Case Summary : On November 23, 2011, the Office of Zoning received an application from STANTON-EASTBANC LLC, on behalf of the District of Columbia, the owner of the subject property (collectively, the “Applicant”). The Applicant is requesting approval of a consolidated planned unit development (“PUD”) and related map amendment for the property located on the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E., between 7th and 8th Streets, which is more particularly described as Lot 801 in Square 901 (the “Property”). The Office of Planning provided its report to the Zoning Commission, dated February 3, 2012, and the case was set down for hearing by the Zoning Commission on February 13, 2012. The Applicant provided its prehearing statement to the Zoning Commission on March 26, 2012. The Property consists of approximately 137,614 square feet. It is currently improved with a building previously used, prior to its closure, as the Hine Junior High School. The Property is zoned R-4 and, through the requested PUD-related map amendment, would be rezoned to C-2-B. The purpose of the PUD and map amendment is to permit the redevelopment of the Property with a mixed-use project consisting of two buildings that will contain a mix of residential, office, and neighborhood-serving retail uses and underground parking (the “Project”). The proposed PUD will have a total gross floor area of approximately 466,247 square feet. The smaller of the two buildings will be located at the northern edge of the Property and is identified as the “North Building”. The larger of the two buildings is identified as the “South Building” and will abut 7th Street, S.E., Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E., a small portion of D Street, S.E. and 8th Street, S.E. The South Building will contain a residential component on 8th Street, an office component on 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue and another residential component on 7th Street that will face the urban plaza. The Project will provide (i) approximately 253,767 gross square feet of residential use, of which approximately twenty-nine percent (29%) will be devoted to workforce/affordable housing, and (ii) approximately 201,907 gross square feet of commercial office and retail uses. Potential uses for below grade retail space under the South Building include a grocery store, drug store or gym/health club. The Project will have a total Floor Area Ratio (“FAR”) of approximately 3.4 and building heights ranging from 47 feet to 88 feet. The Project will be supported by a two-level underground parking garage under the South Building which will contain approximately 320 parking spaces. A second hearing night of Thursday, June 21, 2012 is scheduled if needed.

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June 9, 2012 · 11:07 pm

Update on Fate of Weekend Flea Markets at Hine

Update on Fate of Weekend Flea Markets at Hine – Eastern Market Committee Seeks Party Status at Zoning Hearing To Support Flea Markets

by Larry Janezich

The fate of the weekend flea markets has been one of the issues which galvanized the Eastern Market community with respect to the Hine Development.  Here is a summary of where things stand on the eve of the Zoning Commission’s hearing on Stanton-Eastbanc’s application to change the zoning for the site.  The hearing, scheduled for Thursday, June 14, at 6:30pm, will be one of the last – if not the last – opportunities for public input on the project.

It appears that the zoning hearing will proceed with the fate of the flea markets unresolved.  Generally speaking, the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and the Department of Housing and Economic Development are fine with a 68 tent weekend flea market.

Community members who oppose reducing the size of the flea market have brought political pressure to bear on their ANC representatives and Councilmember Tommy Wells to remedy the situation, and Wells’ response has been to amend his proposed legislation providing a new governing structure for Eastern Market to give the new body (the “Trust”) authority to site the flea markets on 7th Street between North Carolina Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue on weekends.   This end would be accomplished by incorporating 7th Street between North Carolina and Pennsylvania Avenue in the “Eastern Market Special Use District,” which would be under the control of the Trust.  The legislation was fast-tracked and headed for a hearing last Thursday, when the resignation of City Council Chair Kwame Brown resulted in a hearing postponement.

Other developments last week shed light on, or raised new concerns about the fate of the flea markets.

Donna Scheeder, Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee (EMCAC) Chair, filed papers with the Zoning Commission asking for party status for EMCAC to oppose the Hine Development’s public space benefits at the Commission’s June 14 hearing.  Public space benefits refer to the developers’ limited plan to accommodate the flea markets.  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.  Scheeder is Councilmember Tommy Well’s appointee to the Committee and the Committee voted earlier this year to seek party status in the upcoming hearing.  There was some question whether EMCAC’s filing for party status was timely, and it may depend on a waiver by the Zoning Commission to be in order.

EMCAC, which has statutory responsibility for advising city agencies on the preservation and operations of Eastern Market, was one of the organizations which endorsed Stanton-Eastbanc’s bid for the development before the city chose a developer.  That support was contingent on the developers providing space for the flea market and as well as adequate parking for Eastern Market shoppers.  EMCAC’s support for the development began to waiver when the developers began to scale back the amount of space for the flea market, then appeared to firm up once Wells’ legislative solution was proffered.

Details of how the plan could work were revealed at a CHRS community forum on the Hine Development last Monday.  A representative of Oheme Van Sweden, landscape architect for the Hine project, presented an aerial photo taken July 28, 2010, that showed 204 tents including the flea market and all the additional vendors abutting the Market and in front of Natatorium.   The landscaping firm has prepared a plan providing for 250 tents in the new Special Use District, including 68 on C Street, 19 on the Eastern Market Metro Plaza, 163 on 7th Street between North Carolina and Pennsylvania Avenue and in front of Natatorium.  Their count includes tents that not only include weekend flea market vendors, but also those under Market management.  Serious issues regarding logistics and accommodation for the 7th Street ‘brick and mortar” merchants remain and have yet to be addressed.

Although the focus of Scheeder’s application for party status concerns preserving space for the flea market, another issue arose last week which could jeopardize the Market’s interests.  On Monday, the DDOT Transportation Report became available and recommends a substantial reduction of 100 to 125 parking spaces in the total parking available for the project.  Since parking is expensive to build and slow to return a profit, it would seem that the developers would be only too happy to scale back the parking.  The issue is complicated by the developers’ pledge to provide 50 spaces for flea market vendor parking on weekends (at half-price) but reducing the total parking for the project would make this problematic and likely would come at the expense of parking for patrons of the Market.

ANC6B will meet on next Tuesday to vote on whether to endorse the project based on a number of recently negotiated benefits, amenities, and mitigations.  Moving forward without the flea market issue being resolved may have to be an article of faith, and that may be asking a lot of the Eastern Market community.

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June 8, 2012 · 8:52 am

Eastern Market Advisory Committee, Others, File For Party Status for Zoning Hearing on Hine

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.

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June 6, 2012 · 12:31 am

City Agencies Raise Concerns About the Hine Development – ANC Committee Forwards Hine Subcommittee Report Without Taking Position

City Agencies Raise Concerns About the Hine Development – ANC Committee Forwards Hine Subcommittee Report Without Taking Position

by Larry Janezich

On Tuesday night, Chair Francis Campbell’s ANC6B Planning and Zoning Committee voted unanimously to forward recommendations on the Hine Development to the full ANC6B without recommendation.

ANC Commissioner Ivan Frishberg, Chair of the Hine Subcommittee, said that he was in “a really difficult spot” with respect to approving the recommendations, which he basically supported.  Frishberg cited a number of outstanding issues which came to light this week:

1)     An Office of Planning report which came late today, recommending design changes in the project;

2)     A Department of Housing and Economic Development letter raising concerns about the concentration of affordable housing in the project’s North Building and other concerns;

3)     A “fairly harsh” DDOT report  recommending less parking for the project, rejecting the developer’s plan for unloading 55 trucks on 7th Street, and raising concerns about parking for affordable housing residents of the project’s North Building.

4)     The Construction Management Plan, which has not yet been submitted to the developer and which has yet to be subject to negotiation and discussion.

Frishberg argued that these issues might become more clear in the week remaining before the full ANC6B is scheduled to take up the recommendation.  “I’m not comfortable in sending these recommendations forward to the full ANC”, Frishberg stated.  Also, “In principle, the (Memorandum of Agreement) reflects the agreement we have with the developers, but it needs additional discussion.”

Hine Subcommittee Vice Chair Brian Pate pointed out that reducing the parking in accordance with DDOT recommendations would jeopardize the 50 half-cost parking spaces the developer will make available to flea market vendors on weekends.

One of the major community issues, adequate space for the weekend flea markets, appears to be on its way to resolution.  Commissioner Pate referred to a weekend market tent plan drawn up to Oheme Van Sweden Landscape Architects which would accommodate 250 tents, more than currently comprise the combined total of the weekend flea markets on the Hine site and the vendors on the plazas and sidewalks around Eastern Market.  Logistical issues and accommodating the concerns of the “brick and mortar” 7th Street merchants need yet to be worked out, but Pate was confident they could be.

ANC6B, at a Special Call meeting which immediately preceded the Planning and Zoning Committee meeting, agreed to a resolution of support for Councilmember Tommy Wells’ Eastern Market legislation, which addressed several other flea market concerns raised by residents, vendors and the two weekend flea market managers.

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June 5, 2012 · 4:25 pm

DDOT Calls Hine Traffic Analysis “Incorrect and Fundamentally Flawed” – Developer Must Resubmit before Zoning Change

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 7th 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.

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June 4, 2012 · 11:00 am

The Week Ahead….

The Week Ahead……

by Larry Janezich

Monday, June 4

CHRS Forum on Hine School Project at 7:00pm at Hill Center featuring presentation by Stanton-Eastbanc on modifications to the design resulting from negotiations with ANC6B representatives.  7:00pm.  The Hill Center.

Tuesday, June 5

Planning and Zoning Committee meets at 7:00pm on Memorandum of Agreement detailing which community requests have been agreed to in negotiations between ANC6B representatives and Stanton-Eastbanc developers regardomg the Hine project.  St. Coletta’s of Greater Washington.  (This meeting will be preceded by the Special Call meeting listed below.)

Tuesday, June 5

ANC6B holds a Special Call meeting on recent weekend-flea-market-related amendments added by Council Member Wells to his legislation to establish a new governing structure for Eastern Market.  The Special Call meeting will allow ANC6B to refine its prior position with respect to the changes in the bill, including the incorporation of 7th Street from C Street to Pennsylvania Avenue in the Eastern Market Special Use District, and giving the current weekend flea market managers right of first refusal in the future management of the markets.  6:00pm.  St. Coletta’s of Greater Washington.

Wednesday, June 6

ANC6B’s Transportation Committee meets to hear a DDOT presentation on the Capitol Hill Transportation Study and traffic calming plans on 17th Street, 19th Street, and Independence Avenue, SE.  6:30pm.  Payne Elementary School, 1445 C Street SE

Thursday, June 7

DC City Council Committee of the Whole’s first hearing on Eastern Market legislation.   1:00pm.  Council Chambers of the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave, NW.

Thursday, June 7

AnC6B ABC Committee Meets at 7:00pm in Hill Center.

Yes! Organic Market is applying for a Class B Retailer’s license with a tasting permit Sunday through Saturday, 8:00am – 10:00 pm, for its new store location on 8th Street.

Beuchert’s Saloon (coming this fall to 623 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, when the Old Capitol Hill Art and Frame Shop) will re-emerge as the saloon it once was in the 19th Century.  The owners are applying for a Class C Retailer’s Restaurant License (lunch, brunch, and dinner Sunday 9 a.m.- 2 a.m., Monday thru Thursday 11 a.m.- 2 a.m., Friday 11 a.m.- 3 a.m., and Saturday 9 a.m.- 3 a.m. with seating capacity for 47 patrons, total load of 61, and summer garden with 20 seats).

Bachelor’s Mill/Back Door Pub on lower 8th Street (south of the freeway) wants to extend its hours to 4:00am Sunday through Thursday, and to 5:00am, Friday and Saturday.

Belga Café wants to open earlier – 8:00am instead of 10:00am – seven days a week.

Thursday, June 7

ANC6B holds a Special Call meeting on Belga Café’s application to extend its hours, immediately following the ANC6B ABC hearing above.  Hill Center.

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June 1, 2012 · 10:08 am

ANC Tries to Take Flea Market Off the Table Before Hine Zoning Hearing – Market Managers Skeptical About Proposed Solution

ANC Tries to Take Flea Market Off the Table Before Hine Zoning Hearing – Market Managers Skeptical About Proposed Solution

by Larry Janezich

ANC6B has scheduled a Special Call meeting on Councilmember Tommy Wells’ Eastern Market legislation for next Tuesday.  The purpose is to consider and sign off on the bill prior to the City Council’s Committee of the Whole hearing on the legislation next Thursday.

The ANC is hoping this will resolve one of the thorniest issues coming before the full ANC6B meeting on June 12 and the Zoning Commission hearing on June 14 as part of Stanton-Eastbanc’s application to change the zoning of the Hine site.  There is widespread unhappiness in the Capitol Hill community over the scaling back of the flea market which will result from construction of the 560,000 square foot Hine development which will occupy almost all of the space currently used by the weekend flea market vendors.

The legislation proposes to address this problem by creating an “Eastern Market Special Use District,” which will include the 700 block of the to-be-reopened C Street, 7th Street between North Carolina Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue, and the sidewalks and plazas around and adjacent to Eastern Market.  The use of the Special District would be under the control of a newly formed Eastern Market Trust, intended to be the new governing body for Eastern Market.

Last Wednesday night, at a meeting in Hill Center hosted by the Coalition for Smarter Growth, Stanton Partner Ken Golding alluded to a drawing prepared by project architect Amy Weinstein, which lays out a plan for the weekend flea market encompassing 7th Street between North Carolina and Pennsylvania Avenue, the plaza in front of the Natatorium next to Eastern Market, and the Metro Plaza.  Stanton Development has not yet released that drawing, and it is unclear that they will do so, but Golding cited it as providing ample space for the market.

Councilmember Tommy Wells has asserted to flea market vendors, “The legislation does not displace current vendors or reduce Eastern Market in any way – the opposite is true. The flea market [managers] would now have a new right-of-first-refusal to continue in their space and preserve the diverse nature of the market.”

Sunday flea market manager Mike Berman says that “rushing a political solution is not the answer.  What it does is let the developer off the hook.”  In addition, Berman believes, that although the legislation gives him and Saturday flea market manager Carol Wright the right of first refusal, the bill will ask them to rebid on the markets they created, and under terms that remain unknown.  In addition, he said, the bill: 1) fails to guarantee the size of the future weekend markets, 2) fails to define what the flea market will be, 3) fails to define how much space on the plaza the developer will control, and 4) leaves the process for closing 7th Street on weekends uncertain.

The Special Call meeting on the Eastern Market legislation will be held at St. Coletta of Greater Washington, 1901 Independence Avenue SE, on Tuesday, June 5, 2012, at 600pm.  It will be followed by the ANC Planning and Zoning Committee which will consider the Memorandum of Agreement between the ANC and Stanton – Eastbanc which ANC negotiators Ivan Frishberg and Brian Pate were able to reach with the developer.

Last Thursday, the ANC Hine Subcommittee voted to send the negotiators back to the developer with a list of additional instructions.  Commissioner Norm Metzger is expected to challenge the parliamentary validity of those additional instructions on the basis that they had not been considered or approved by the full ANC.

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May 30, 2012 · 1:46 pm

Stanton Stacks the Deck Again to Show Community Support for Hine Project

Stanton Stacks the Deck Again to Show Community Support for Hine Project – Letters to Zoning Commission Fail to Disclose Business Relationships

by Larry Janezich

Since early April, Kitty Kaupp and Stanton Development have been soliciting letters of support for the Hine Development from their tenants, business associates, and friends in the Capitol Hill community.

Most of the letters of support for the project listed on the Zoning Commission’s website are from those who have some business relationship with the developer.  As was the case with the letters of support in favor of Stanton Eastbanc during the selection process before Deputy Mayor’s office, many of these letters fail to state business or personal ties to the developer that would put the writer’s support in proper context.

Some letters from businesses like Randolph Cree, Marvelous Market or Sapore Oil and Vinegar properly identify themselves as retailers in the area, but do not mention that they are tenants of Stanton.  Similarly, Coldwell Banker realtors also do not raise the connection between themselves and Ms. Kaupp, a principal of Stanton who is also a colleague at Coldwell.  In her letter, Mary Lynn Reed says she is an owner of a number of Capitol Hill commercial properties, but does not identify herself as a Stanton partner.

One letter filed with the Zoning Commission inadvertently included a page of instructions, apparently from Stanton, on how to file a letter of support with the Zoning Commission, and requesting that such letters be copied to Kitty Kaupp at her Coldwell Banker email address.  The instructions say that letters should be in the words of the writer and as personal as possible and prominently mention the word “support.”

The instructions go on to provide a list of topics or points that might be included in such letters, including:

High-quality development – a vibrant mixture of housing, office, restaurants and retail

20% of retail space for locally owned business

Will transform and enliven the streetscape

Beautification of the neighborhood

Re-opening of C Street

Architecture harmonious with the surrounding community

LEED Gold

Affordable Housing units

Significantly, there is no mention of supporting the zoning change or exceptions that Stanton seeks, and virtually none of the letters address those subjects.

In all, of the 113 letters of support, there are not more than a dozen that can claim any degree of spontaneity.  Twenty percent of the total is minimal – a single line of support for the project, and most of these submitted over a two day period.  Given that none address the rezoning specifically, it is an open question whether these letters can be counted as support for the developer’s PUD application.  There are also multiple duplicates in the Zoning Commission’s file.  It is unclear how carefully these letters will be scrutinized, or what purpose they will serve in the Zoning Commission’s deliberations.

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May 28, 2012 · 6:26 am

ANC Subcommittee Sends Negotiators Back to the Table with Developers of Hine – First Round Concessions Do Not Mollify Residents

ANC Subcommittee Sends Negotiators Back to the Table with Developers of Hine – First Round Concessions Do Not Mollify Residents

by Larry Janezich

Last Thursday night, ANC6B Hine Subcommittee Vice Chair Brian Pate submitted the final report on what concessions he and Chair Ivan Frishberg had been able to win from Stanton-Eastbanc for the community as benefits, amenities, and mitigation for their proposed Hine development.

The major achievement of the report was the removal of the mechanical penthouse and the top (setback) floor off of the 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue building.  The major failing was that there were no concessions on providing more open space or additional space for the weekend flea markets.

Other details of the Frishberg/Pate proposal included a small subsidized child care facility on or off-site, $50,000 from Stanton-Eastbanc for landscaping at Metro Plaza in connection with the proposed Info Hub being built with Performance Parking funds, a plan for governing the scheduling of events on the to-be-reopened (and privatized) C Street, and no retail on entrance on D Street.

Lead by the resident members of the ANC Hine Subcommittee, a majority of the Subcommittee voted 8-4 to send the negotiators back to win further concessions from the developer.  None of the instructions, however, directly addressed the report’s major failing, lack of any concessions on the part of the developer to provide additional space for the flea market.  While the initial ANC document authorizing negotiations with the developer had much to say on that score and others, Pate displayed a tendency to narrow discussions with the developers to specific details, rather than reopen discussions on the larger issues that have galvanized the community.

Those Subcommittee members who vote for the motion to recommit:  ANC6B Chair Critchfield, Commissioners Campbell, and Carol Green; Resident Members Ken Jarboe, Bill Pate, Steve Sweeny, and Monte Edwards.

Those opposed:  Subcommittee Vice Chair Brian Pate and Commissioners Kirsten Oldenburg, Dave Garrison, and Brian Flahaven.

About 50 residents attended the meeting, and a dozen members of the community spoke at the meeting; all of them highly critical of the proposed development.  In response to the prevailing sentiment, Subcommittee member Roger Tauss of EMMCA offered a motion to recommit the memorandum of agreement with instructions to continue the negotiations on a list of points, including setting back what is now the top floor of the office building, specifying that the child care center be located at 8th and D, and providing a loading dock accessible to 55 foot trucks on 7th Street.  Once it became clear that the motion to recommit held a majority, other members of the Hine Subcommittee added their wish list to the instructions.   Additional language on traffic issues and references to the number of tents for vendors leave the door open for negotiations on the flea markets issue, but it is uncertain that the negotiators are willing to do so.

ANC6B Commissioner Kirstin Oldenburg unsuccessfully sought to weaken the motion to recommit, moving to strike the child care provision (failed for lack of a second), moving to strike the provision to setback the top floor (failed on a 5-7 vote), and moving to strike an instruction to provide that affordable housing residents in the north building have access to the amenities in the south building (failed for lack of a second).

More can be learned about the success of the negotiations from the list of negotiated items which the developer refused to budge on:  lowering the plaza building and the north building, increasing open space or providing public access to the courtyard, providing subsidized office space for a non-profit organization (ANC6B), providing public restrooms, a dog park, and a playground, barring nightclubs from the project, increasing the local retail requirement from 20 to 30 percent, banning bars and restaurants in north building, providing a boutique hotel, and providing a loading dock for 55 foot trucks.  Also falling by the wayside, but one of the top concerns of the neighborhood, was the provision of more space for tents for the weekend flea market.

In response to what is from the community’s perspective failed negotiations and the developer’s rejection of many of their major concerns, one member of the EMMCA Hine Working Group subsequently pushed for new negotiators.  Others urged a renewed lobbying effort targeting Brian Pate and Ivan Frishberg, who now have the additional momentum of Councilmember Well’s endorsement of their efforts.  On the other hand ANC Commissioner Norm Metzger, not present at Thursday night’s meeting, in the aftermath questioned the legitimacy of the motion to recommit.  It is unclear whether Metzger intended his email to his fellow commissioners as a parliamentary challenge.

Judging from the level of interest from the community as evidenced by attendance at recent meetings on the Hine development and the dissatisfaction expressed there, it appears that the degree of support for the developer on the ANC 6B Commission vastly overstates the support for the developer and the project throughout the neighborhood.

The issue will next emerge when the negotiators file an amended report with ANC Commissioner Francis Campbell’s Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday, June 5.  On May 31, Stanton-Eastbanc will brief nearby neighbors on the most recent design changes in response to suggestions from the Historic Preservation Review Board on April 26.  On Monday, June 4, Stanton-Eastbanc will make the same presentation to a public meeting hosted by the Capitol Hill Restoration Society, which has emerged as a strong critic of the size and design of the project.   Emmcablog will provide details on and from these meetings in the near future.

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May 23, 2012 · 12:36 am

Tommy Wells to Ask DC General Counsel for Legal Opinion on Whether Stanton/Eastbanc’s Expansion of Hine Project Constitutes Violation of Contract with City

200 of the Capitol Hill Community Turn Out for Meeting with Tommy Wells on Hine Project

ANC6B Commissioner and Vice Chair of ANC6B Hine Subcommittee Brian Pate Listens to Debate on the Hine Development at Tuesday Night Community Meeting

Tommy Wells to Ask DC General Counsel for Legal Opinion on Whether Stanton/Eastbanc’s Expansion of Hine Project Constitutes Violation of Contract with City – ANC Negotiates Height Reduction

by Larry Janezich

At Tuesday night’s community meeting on Hine project with Councilmember Tommy Wells, Well’s agreed to ask DC General Counsel for a legal opinion whether developer Stanton/Eastbanc’s 15% increase over the project’s square footage beyond what they agreed to in the contract with the city constituted a breach of contract.  Ordinarily, developers have a 5% margin of flexibility in the square footage requirement specified in the agreement with the city council.  Increases in mass and height added since the bid was awarded to Stanton/Eastbanc would seem to violate that standard, triggering a possible renegotiation of contract, or even a new bidding process.

At the same time, ANC6B Commissioner Brian Pate, one of the ANC’s negotiators charged with wringing concessions from the developer on behalf of the community, announced a preliminary agreement with the developer including a reduction in height of the project’s 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue office building amounting to some 17,000 square feet.  It was unclear whether this height reduction would bring the project within the 5% margin of flexibility.

Approximately 200 members of the community turned out for an hour and a half of what proved to be a contentious exchange between Wells and representatives of the community who expressed concerns regarding the height, mass, and design of the Hine project; the future of the weekend flea markets; moving the garage entrance to Pennsylvania Avenue; and the privatization and future control of the programming of the to-be-reopened C Street.  In addition to Wells, the main participants in the discussion were Jonathan Welch, representing the community, and moderator Mark Seagraves, of WUSA and WJLA News.

The issue of accountability dominated the meeting, with residents voicing their expectation that Wells should be held accountable for righting a project many find unacceptable, and Wells repeating his previously announced position that the ANC has legal party status in the Zoning Commission PUD proceedings and that he will stand behind the ANC, but not get between them and the Zoning Commission.

Brian Pate, Vice Chair of ANC6B’s Hine Subcommittee, in addition to the height reduction, also announced that although the negotiations with the developer have not been finalized, the developer had agreed to subsidize a child care center in the development to the tune of $160,000 as well as provide $50,000 in improvements to Eastern Market Metro Plaza.  Pate and ANC6B Commissioner Ivan Frishberg, who chairs the Hine Subcommittee, have been the lead negotiators regarding benefits, amenities, and mitigations with Stanton/Eastbanc.  Wells hinted that DDOT would find the amount of parking provided in the project excessive, contributing to additional traffic in the neighborhood.  That is a ruling the developer’s might welcome, since below ground parking is expensive and has little payoff.

The final report of the ANC negotiators and additional developer concessions will be revealed at this Thursday night’s ANC6B Hine Subcommittee meeting at 7:00pm in Hill Center. Wells, perhaps reading the degree of unhappiness among his constituency at the heart of Capitol Hill where his political career began as an ANC6B Commissioner, suggested that the ANC might have to go back to the developer for further concessions.  Pate suggested that one option for the Subcommittee would to send the negotiators back to the developers with specific instructions.

The Zoning Commission will hold the first of several PUD hearings to consider Stanton/Eastbanc’s request for a zoning change to accommodate the project’s greater height and density on June 14, at 6:30 pm.  The hearing will be in Room 220, 1 Judiciary Square, 441 4th Street, NW.

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