Bowser Announces Target Dates for Vaccinations for Next 3 Eligible Population Groups
By Larry Janezich
Posted January 4, 2020
Mayor Bowser held a Situational Briefing today and announced target dates for vaccinations for DC residents 65 and older, specific categories of essential workers, and DC residents with chronic medical conditions/all other essential workers.
Currently, vaccinations are being provided to the Phase 1a population – workers in health care settings who are directly or indirectly exposed to infectious materials and unable to telework – including:
Workforce in acute care hospitals, specialty care hospitals, long-term care facilities, intermediate care facilities, emergency medical services, frontline public health settings, home health aides, outpatient settings, dental settings, and pharmacy settings.
DC Health has launched https://vaccinate.dc.gov/ to provide a portal to make it easier for healthcare workers to get vaccinated. As other population groups become eligible for vaccinations, the portal will be available to them.
Other takeaways from the briefing:
16,989 people have received the COVIC-19 vaccine in DC, with 58% of providers reporting
Total doses delivered to DC: 40,075
Additional doses to be delivered per week: 4,200
There are two vaccines available. A key difference is when you receive the second dose.
Pfizer: 21 days after the first dose
Moderna: 28 days after the first dose.
After the second dose, it takes up to 14 days for the vaccine to become effective.
Washingtonians are encouraged to take the first vaccine that becomes available. Those vaccinated should continue to wear masks, social distance and practice good hygiene.
Mayor Bowser tweeted this request to residents of DMV to avoid downtown mid week. Here’s more on the city’s preparation for upcoming First Amendment Demonstrations this coming week http://bit.ly/3rPnKZH
The so-far-informal city wide caucus of ANC commissioners held its latest meeting on December 28. The group unanimously elected former ANC6B Chander Jayaraman – who first called for a city wide meeting – as the coordinator of future meetings, with a title to be determind. The group will meet next on January 11th for a briefing from MPD and the Department of Homeland Security on security preparations for the January 20 Inauguration.
On a calmer note, this was the scene on 7th Street, SE, mid day on Saturday as the Eastern Market flea market returned to normal after the holidays.
The Week Ahead…Mayor Bowser Asks Residents to Avoid Downtown Tuesday/Wednesday
by Larry Janezich
Posted January 3, 2021
Tuesday, January 5
ANC6B Planning and Zoning Committee holds a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.
Update on Boys and Girls Club Term Sheet extension and modification. DGS Representative Erica Dukes and Sarosh Olpadwala Sarosh Developer representative Joel Kelty.
514 Archibald Walk, SE – Zoning Adjustment Application. Special exceptions to convert an existing residential parking garage to a two-story, attached, principal dwelling.
1507 E Street, SE – Zoning Adjustment Application. Special exception to construct a three-story rear addition and a third floor addition to an existing principal dwelling unit.
514 9th Street, SE –Zoning Adjustment Application. Special exception to construct a second story addition to an existing one-story principal dwelling unit.
314 10th Street, SE – Zoning Adjustment Application. Special exception to construct a two-story addition, with cellar, to an existing two-story principal dwelling unit.
921 G Street, SE – Historic Preservation Application. Concept review for dogleg infill and partial one-story rooftop addition.
Wednesday, January 6
ANC6B Transportation Committee holds a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.
1165 3rd Street, NE, Zoning Adjustment Application – special exceptions to construct a three-story rear addition to an existing attached dwelling unit.
Public hearing – Zoning Commission hearing on proposed zoning regulation amendments concerning penthouses. Hearing date: Jan. 21, 2021.
Thursday, January 7
ANC6B Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee holds a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.
BR Fine Wine & Spirits, 801 Virginia Avenue, SE (corner of 8th and L Streets, SE. Application for a New Retailer’s Class “A” Liquor Store. Hours of operation: Sunday through Saturday, 9:00am – 11:00pm.
ANC6C Transportation and Public Space Committee holds a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.
NoMa Benches – Public Space Application for installation of sixteen 6-foot benches in the public space at three locations: (1) eight benches at 175 N Street NE (Metro entrance); (2) three benches at 1140 3rd Street NE by the Uline Arena; and (3) five benches at 1050 First Street NE. The benches are similar to existing benches already used in the NoMa neighborhood and in
Press House Artwork (301/331 N Street NE) – Public Space Application for the artwork structure along N Street NE associated with the Press House project located at 301/331 N Street NE. The artwork consists of three structures with maximum heights of 3.8, 2.8, and 3.9 feet above proposed grade. The overall construction permit for the project has been approved and issued.
Boiling Crab Sidewalk Cafe (400 H St NE) – Public Space Application – Follow up on last month’s discussion of the new application for an unenclosed sidewalk cafe at the Boiling Crab at 400 H Street NE. The proposed 1,073 sq. ft. cafe will face 4th Street NE. Submitted plans indicate a total of 16 tables, or 48 seats total. Other elements include string lights and railings.
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Councilmember Charles Allen at participated virtually at this afternoon’s swearing in ceremony for ANC Commissioners.
Ward Six Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners Sworn in Today
by Larry Janezich
Ward Six Councilmember Charles Allen swore in Ward Six Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners today, in a virtual ceremony broadcast live on the DC Council cable television channel 13. Ward Six has five ANCs, 6A – 6E.
An Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) is a non-partisan, neighborhood body made up of locally elected representatives who serve without pay. There are 40 ANCs and each ANC is divided into Single Member Districts, each represented by a single commissioner. There are about 2,000 residents in every ANC.
The ANCs’ main job is to be their neighborhood’s official voice in advising the District government (and Federal agencies) on things that affect their neighborhoods. District agencies are required to give the ANC recommendations “great weight.” Moreover, District law says that agencies cannot take any action that will significantly affect a neighborhood unless they give the affected ANCs 30 days advance notice. This includes zoning, streets, recreation, education, social services, sanitation, planning, safety, budget, and health services.
The ANCs may also initiate recommendations for improving city services, conduct neighborhood improvement programs, and monitor resident complaints.
A list of the commissioners from the four ANCs comprising or abutting Capitol Hill follows. The eight commissioners designated with an asterisk are newly elected – the rest are incumbents. At the bottom of the list is a link to a Hill Rag article by Liz O’Gorek with profiles of the newly elected commissioners.
“Replace the Emancipation Memorial with Stepping into his Shoes” is in a fire call box at 7th and East Capitol.
Laura Lyster-Mensh laura@lmwriter.com a local author and podcaster, is searching for the Fearless Girls 2020 artist(s) to interview them, anonymously or pseudonymously, for a podcast she hosts called the Auldton Laughing Club Podcast.
She says, “Something about these pieces speak to me almost personally, as their topics and energy feels very of this moment and this place. They have changed how I walk around and what I see, and I am grateful.
I would love to find others who are watching for these pieces, and to identify others, and if possible the artist(s).”
So far, protest sculptures have been spotted at 5th and Constitution, NE; 6th and Independence, SE; 7th and East Capitol; 4th and East Capitol; 2nd and E Streets, SE; and 3rd and Independence, SE.
The Week Ahead… And More Protest Art from Fearless Girls 2020
Monday, December 28
ANC6A Transportation Committee holds a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.
Public Space Permit Application – Modernization of Goding Elementary School including paving, landscaping, fixtures, projections. Representatives from DCPS will present details of the project and discussion.
Traffic Safety Assessment Request for 1300 North Carolina Avenue, NE, and 1300 A Street, NE, including consideration of request for raised crosswalks and/or speed humps.
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The Duck and the Peach Cafe opened on Monday last – the Cafe and Dining Room will open on December 26. Owner Hollis Silverman (seen here in deep background) says, “I’m going to serve food that will taste really really good … healthy-ish … simple ingredients, seasoned well.”
The Duck and The Peach – New American Restaurant Near Eastern Market Is Open
by Larry Janezich
The Duck and the Peach at 300 7th Street, cattycorner from Eastern Market, opened its doors on Monday for a preview period leading into the Christmas holiday.
They are serving their day menu of breakfast and lunch items from the Cafe until 3:00pm today. Closed on December 24 and 25, the restaurant reopens on Saturday, December 26 at 10:00am with regular hours for Cafe and Dinner service with limited patio seating. Takeout and delivery will be available 5 days a week (closed Monday and Tuesday).
Regular Café hours will be 8:00 am – 3:00 pm, 5 days a week starting December 26 (except 10:00am open on the 26th). Dinner will be from 5:00pm – 8:00pm, starting December 26. The Duck and the Peach will be open on New Years’ Eve for regular business hours, and will open Jan. 1, 2021 at 10am.
Metropolitan Wellness Center – sign-less since last summer’s demonstrations – occupies the rear second floor office above the Barracks Row Popeyes.
Barracks Row Medical Marijuana Dispensary Will Move to Northwest
by Larry Janezich
ANC6B was notified last week of the pending move of Metropolitan Wellness Center (MWC) – Barracks Row’s medical marijuana outlet –to 433 Massachusetts Avenue, NW. The new location in Mt. Vernon Triangle was formerly occupied by a Le Pain Quotidion franchise which closed in June of 2019. The new MWC will provide cannabis flowers, cannabis concentrates and a line of edible products as well as home delivery services to registered patients in Washington, DC.
Capitol Hill Corner asked MWC co-owner Corey Barnette for comment. Barnette said the move had been in the works for a year because MWC had outgrown its current 850 square feet of retail space. “We’re still growing, he said, “but there are some customers we can’t serve.” Also, there’s competition from two dispensaries which have opened – one in Ward 7 and one in Anacostia. The company looked at M Street but zoning won’t allow them to open there; they looked at H Street, but found the same square footage problem they have on Barracks Row.
“Fortunately,” Barnette said, “we found a place on Massachusetts Avenue, NW, with 3,000 square feet on the first and second floors. It will be cleaner, allow a more robust inventory, and be less cramped and crowded.”
Asked when the move will take place, Barnette said “As soon and the city allows it – ideally in February.”
MWC was founded by co-owner Mike Cuthreill, the current co-managing director, in 2011. He met Barnette in 2011, a fellow applicant for a dispensary license. Barnette received a cultivator’s license, Cuthreill a dispensary license. During the early days of operation, MWC struggled with a limited patient and product base, and Barnette came in as a partner.
Barnette is an entrepreneur with extensive experience investing in small businesses with growth potential. He received an M.B.A from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tennessee Technological University. He has lived in DC since 1999.
Councilmember Charles Allen mentioned last week that the new SW Libary would open soon, so CHC checked it out. The lights were on inside the building but you couldn’t get close enough to see what else was going on inside.
Approaching Bartholdi Park from the West on Pennsylvania Avenue, CHC discovered an additional botanical critter overlooked in last week’s Photos from the Past Week. This is a Travis Wevill, found just inside the NW entrance to the park.
Eastern Market was pretty quite around noon on Wednesday as the first snow of the season arrived.
On Thursday, Director of the DC Department of Health Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, led a host of DC officials in getting athe Covid 19 Pfizer vaccine on live television.
And a new protest sculpture appeard in the fire call box at 2nd and E Streets, SE. No indication who the artist is. (Thanks, Bob Gellman)
This looks interesting. I know. It’s not the best time to be out and about. Fortunately, you can see the exhibit on line here: https://www.caphillartleague.org/
The Week Ahead … and Some Photos from the Past Week
by Larry Janezich
Posted December 20, 2020
The Week Ahead…
It’s pretty quiet heading into the holidays.
Best wishes for the holiday season and the New Year from Capitol Hill Corner.
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ANC6B Lawyers-Up to Protest Liquor License for Sports Betting on Pennsylvania Ave SE
by Larry Janezich
Posted December 20, 2020
ANC6B has authorized the expenditure of up to $14,000 in attorney fees for representation before the Alcohol Beverage Regulatory Administration’s (ABRA) scheduled protest hearing on a liquor license for a proposed sports betting outlet on Pennsylvania Avenue, SE. The hearing will probably take place next February.
ABRA doesn’t have anything to do with the gambling license which is governed by DC Lottery. The owners of Handle-19 – the city’s first retail sports gambling venue – correctly say they can open a gambling house without a liquor license.
But, the rules say you can’t just open a gambling joint – you have to have something else there as well, like a restaurant or a bar. And if you want to serve alcohol – which often goes hand in hand with betting – you need a liquor license.
Residential neighbors near 319 Pennsylvania Avenue – the planned future home of Handle 19 – are fighting tooth and nail to prevent the place from opening. They urge protesting the liquor license on the grounds of peace, order, and quiet, including the noise and litter provisions of the DC Code as well as residential parking needs,vehicular and pedestrian safety, and the effect of the establishment on real property values. They stress the outlet’s proximity to several schools and day care centers.
They hope that denying a liquor license will make the location so unattractive the owner will look elsewhere. The attorney says, not, that they will open retail sports betting with or without alcohol.
ANC6B voted 6 – 2 – 1 in November to join the protest, with Commissioners Waud and Holman in opposition. ANC6B’s Alcohol Beverage Control Committee Chair Chander Jayraman told the ANC on December 17, this is a high profile, precedent-setting case involving the first retail sports betting establishment in the city. He said that the neighbors and the ANC had not been able reach agreement with the owners regarding neighbors’ concerns in mediation required by ABRA, and the matter will go forward to the protest hearing. He outlined three possible outcomes:
ABRA could deny the liquor license
ABRA could approve the liquor license
ABRA could approve the liquor license with operating conditions
When the city council approved sports betting for the city, it did not put any restrictions on where they could be located. Maybe they didn’t anticipate they would open on commercial strips adjacent to residential areas, and maybe they did, but didn’t care.
Last Thursday night, the ANC authorized up to $14,000 for attorney fees for the protest hearing on Handle 19, pending an agreement between other protestants clearly delineating the decision making hierarchy. That motion passed 7 – 0 – 0.
The design team says the concept they are proposing maximizes the available expansion options.
The concept envisions adding underground space which would benefit from skylights in the expansion toward South Caroling and a light well at the peak of the building which would spill light to all three lower stories. See below.
Ths sectiopn view shows the top current main floor, the lowered street level floor, and the new below grade lower floor.
Layout for the new below grade Lower Floor
Upper Floor
Here’s a bird’s eye view looking Northwest showing the Southwest corner entry. The current main entrance would remain a public entrance. Also shown is skylight on the roof and skylight on the south side of the building at berm level.
First Look at Concept Designs for Renovation of SE Library
by Larry Janezich
DC Libraries Executive Director Richard Reyes-Gavilan hosted a virtual community meeting Wednesday night on the plan to rehabilitate, renovate, a preserve SE Library. He opened the meeting saying that the design team had come up with a great solution to preserve the historic framework of the SE Library while also expanding it.
CM Charles Allen joined the meeting, calling the effort “an amazing opportunity and a challenging opportunity”. Allen said, “One thing we’ve learned during the pandemic is how important community anchoring spaces in our lives are”, and cited both the library and the Eastern Market Metro Plaza across the street (currently under reconstruction). He said, “My job is to make sure the dollars are there,” noting that the new SW branch of DC Libraries would open soon.
With a goal of increasing library space from its current 8,292 square feet to 18,500 square feet, the concept design anticipates dropping the existing street level floor a few feet and adding a new lower level floor below that and expanding that floor toward South Carolina Avenue. This floor will have considerable space for children and family activities.
The street level floor will have conference rooms and meeting spaces.
The main floor will continue to serve adults.
The ground floor would be entered through a new universally accessible entrance from South Carolina Avenue at the SW corner of the building. The current main entrance would remain a public entrance as well.
The new concept, designers say, will significantly increase incentives for people to spend time in the library. The expansion will provide:
30% more meeting/conference space
50% more computer space
50% more space for books
Triple the space for adult seating
Quadruple the space for children and families
Currently, the plan is in the Design/Regulatory Approval stage which will last into 2022. Construction will start in late 2022 and the library will reopen in the spring of 2024.
Next steps: builders will continue discussions with regulatory staff, finalize the concept design and start schematic designs, and continue community engagement. The next community meeting will be scheduled in the spring.
As part of the holiday display, the Botanic Garden is exhibiting large-scale animals made entirely from botanicals. This Swallowtail Butterfly is at the entrance to Bartholdi Park. Signage next to the exhibit tells you what plants were us(Thanks to Carole Green for the tip.)
A Ruby Throated Hummingbird is at First and Independence on the Botanic Garden grounds.
There are three more. This model of a Lesser Long’nosed Bat is front and center on the plaza in front of the main building.
Tucked away on the west side of the plaza and close to the building is this remarkable Bumblebee.
And in the mirror position on the east side of the plaza is this colorful Blue-tailed Day Gecko.
The plaza of the Botanic Garden at dusk.
The Week Ahead…Community Meeting on SE Library & Photos from Last Week
Monday, December 14
ANC 6A Community Outreach Committee holds a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.
1608 East Capitol Street, NE. Zoning Adjustment Application for a special exception from the minimum vehicle parking requirements to convert an existing, detached, two-story, carriage house to a principal dwelling unit .
229 8th Street, NE. Historic Preservation Application concept review for a new twovstory accessory structure/garage. The accessory structure will have a green roof to take advantage of the DC Riversmart Incentives for rainwater collection on site.
1101 H Street, NE. Informational presentation on a new construction project of a six story and basement building with 57 residential units, ground floor retail and basement parking. An existing façade on H Street NE, that was constructed prior to 1958 will be preserved. The applicant will be seeking special exception for construction on a lot in excess of 6000 sf., and also seeking Zoning relief for residential and retail loading as project does not have adequate alley access to meet these requirements.
240 11th Street, NE. Historic Preservation Application for a a third story roof addition and three-story rear addition.
Community Meeting on Renovation of Southeast Library. DC Public Libraries will hold a virtual meeting at 6:30pm.
The design team will present concept designs and gather community feedback.
This meeting will take place on WebEx. Please use this link to join: https://bit.ly/2KgqJJv If prompted, use password “library2020”.
Thursday, December 17
ANC6B will hold a virtual Special Call meeting to consider a letter to DDOT on the Kentucky Avenue Advisory Bike Lane Project and an Executive Committee Meeting to set the agenda for the January full meeting of the ANC. The virtual meetings will begin at 7:00pm.
The Department of General Services (DGS) will host a virtual briefing on the renovation of Eastern Market Metro Plaza Park at 1:30pm.
Community participation is invited during the discussion of artist Jay Coleman’s “Joyful Hands,” the public art concept selected for Parcel 4 (Metro Entrance) of park.
Below are both the link to the web conference and dial-in number.
Please join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 