CAPITOL HILL CORNER

 

The Week Ahead…

by Larry Janezich

Monday. November 5

CHRS Historic Preservation Committee meets at 6:30pm, 420 10^th street, SE.

Tuesday, November

Election Day – ANC6B has five contested seats and five seats which are not being contested.  The outcome of these races could determine much about how the Capitol Hill community evolves and develops.  Ward Six Councilmember Tommy Wells, whose constituents include the residents of ANC6B, is not up for election in this cycle.  Wells is exploring a possible run for mayor in two years. 

Wednesday, November 7

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

ANC 6B Planning and Zoning Committee meets at 7:00 pm, in the cafeteria at St. Coletta of Greater Washington, 1901 Independence Avenue SE.  One item on the short agenda is to hear a presentation from organizers on the 2013 Cupid’s Undie Run, Saturday, February 9, 2013.

The P&Z Committee meeting will be followed by Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6B’s Special Call meeting to consider its response to the Zoning Commission on the Hine School Redevelopment.  The Special Call meeting is scheduled at 7:45pm, in the cafeteria at St. Coletta of Greater Washington, 1901 Independence Avenue SE.  On Wednesday, October 31, 2012, the applicant, Stanton-Eastbanc, LLC, filed an additional submission with the Zoning Commission https://www.yousendit.com/download/WUJiV28yRStPSHhFQmNUQw.  At its special call meeting, ANC 6B will consider its response to the applicant’s submission.

Thursday, November 8

ANC6B’s ABC Committee meets at 7:00 pm at Hill Center.  On the agenda are several items of interest to residents near Barrack’s Row.  These include a new retail wine and beer license for DCanter, the boutique retailer which will soon replace the Backstage Performing Arts Store at 545 8th Street, SE; a voluntary operating agreement for Balkan Concepts, operator of the new Serbian restaurant at 523 8th Street, SE, next to the new Chipotle; and a request from Hank’s Oyster Bar, 633 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, to extend hours one day on Sunday, December 9, 2012, from 12:00 am to 2:00 am.

CHRS Zoning Committee meets at 7:30 pm, 420 10th street, SE.

 

The Li’l Pub Goes On the Block and Is Under Contract – CVS Bids to Expand

by Larry Janezich

The Li’l Pub is on the way out.  Building owner Herb Lehner has entered into a contract to sell the property to the adjoining CVS.  It was offered to the long time lease holder Howard Schurr, proprietor of the Li’l Pub, but he declined to buy.  If the deal goes through, CVS will reportedly use the additional space to expand its pharmacy. 

The Li’l Pub is widely recognized as an iconic and authentic neighborhood bar with a diverse clientele and one of the last hold outs against a wave of renovated and redeveloped faux-traditional and theme-oriented restaurants catering to young professionals and congressional staffers.  Featuring inexpensive drinks, pool tables, and a killer juke box, the pub – with only a dozen or so seats at the bar – has a city-wide reputation far larger than the collective enthusiasm of its regulars.  It will likely soon join the long list of divey neighborhood favorites which have given way to the economic realities of Capitol Hill’s changing demographics.            

Lehner is a long time Capitol Hill real estate developer and has developed and renovated many properties on Barracks Row and Capitol Hill since 1969.  Many of the buildings on 8th Street at one time were owned by Lehner, including what was the Patio Cafe and is now the Old Siam, as well as the building housing Café 8, the former Ellington’s Café.  Lehner also owned much of the block on 8^th Street, just below I Street, closer to the Navy Yard.

 

Library of Congress Shelves Plans for Scholars’ Residence on East Capitol

by Larry Janezich

The Library of Congress (LOC) has cancelled plans to build a new Scholars’ Residence on East Capitol Street.  Capitol Hill Corner’s inquiry to the Library about the status of the Scholars’ Residence project proposed for 601 East Capitol Street, SE, resulted in the following response: 

“The Library has been working to build a program that would make extended periods of research and collaborative work with the Library’s collections and staff more affordable for young scholars and information professionals from around the country. The vision had originally been a bricks and mortar approach, but we have recently explored alternate means to achieve that goal and have decided on a different programmatic approach.”

According to a spokesperson, the statement has not been “issued” per se, since the Library had not previously issued any statements about the plans, but the stakeholders have been notified about this decision.  According to the spokesperson, “this was really a decision motivated by wanting to make extended research with our collections more affordable, and the recognition that there is more than one way to go about doing that. We believe we’ve identified a better solution than a building, and are looking forward to announcing more details in the near future.”

The Library of Congress Scholars’ Residence was expected to open for business in the spring of 2015.  The project envisioned 50 new rooms providing temporary housing for recipients of LOC fellowships and scholars on sabbatical while engaged in research projects at the Library.  

The federal government purchased the property in 1991 and converted the lower floor of the two building to a child care facility.  The upper floors have remained vacant.  It appears that the child care facility will remain in place. 

The website for the project with additional details about the original proposal (www.loc.gov/rsc) has been taken down.

Coffee and the Hurricane – Peregrine (per’e-grin,-gren); 1. Foreign; alien; 2. Roving/wandering; migratory

by Larry Janezich

Peregrine Espresso, open until 2:00pm today, was the beneficiary of the attention of new media photojournalist student Amy Brothers, whose project this week is “Coffee and the Hurricane.”  Brothers is pursuing a Master’s degree in new media photojournalism at the Corcoran College of Art and Design. 

She interviewed always friendly Peregrine barista Randy Kindle this morning.  Last week, her project featured Capitol Hill Books.  That video is already posted and can be viewed here:  https://vimeo.com/user13264144.  The interview with Kindle will be posted shortly. 

According to the Corcoran website, the Master of Arts in New Media Photojournalism is the first program of its kind, addressing the challenges facing photojournalism today and encourages experimentation with new ways of story-telling, documentation, and editing, and explores the latest digital practices taught in conjunction with the enduring fundamentals of visual reporting, editing, and ethics.

 

 

Maslin Trust Fund tops $35,000 – Fund Raising Effort Continues with On Line Donations, Events in November and December

by Larry Janezich

Funds raised so far for the family of TC Maslin, who suffered traumatic head injury in a mugging in August near Eastern Market have exceeded $35,000, according to CHAMPS representative Chuck Burger. 

The efforts of the community to help the family have been diverse and are on-going, and involve numerous volunteers and businesses.  Burger credits CHAMPS – the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce – and “Celebrate Capitol Hill” – a business non-profit which raises funds for worthy causes in the community, for organizing the fund raising endeavor.  

According to Burger, it was the Eastern Market merchants who first stepped up to help the family, and more than $10,000 of the total raised was in contributions to money jars placed with 26 merchants in and around Eastern Market by CHAMPS and Celebrate.  CHAMPS also set up an on line donation feature on its website. 

As CHAMPS and Celebrate looked for other ways to help the Maslins, Burger approached Daniel Holt, President of Brent PTA and together they hatched the idea to utilize the annual Brent Fall Festival as a vehicle to that end.  Renamed the Brent Fall Safety Festival, the community coalesced to turn it into a fund raiser for the Maslins in four weeks’ time.  The October 21^st event drew 1,000 residents including over 400 children.  Over 50 Capitol Hill organizations and business participated. 

“We were trying to raise money,” Burger said, “but the best result was the community-building nature of the effort.  It got people introduced to each other.”  Burger expects to build on this to make the Safety Festival an annual event for Ward Six, featuring a different aspect of public safety each year.  “Safe living is an important element in the quality of life on Capitol Hill – we intend to look for projects we can raise money for next year.”

Burger cited for special note the efforts of the following key organizing volunteers:  Barbara Rich, American Legion; Bessie Belcher, Brent Elementary; Carlson Klapthor, Brent Elementary; Daniel Holt, Brent Elementary; Kate McDonough, Capitol Hill Village; Dee Dee Branand, Coldwell Banker; Elsa Huxley, Coldwell Banker; Jack Pfeiffer, CHAMPS & Celebrate Capitol Hill; Joe Reid, Coldwell Banker; Kirsten Oldenburg, ANC6b04; Naomi Mitchell, Councilmember Tommy Wells’ Office; Johnson Law Group; William Phillips and Associates. 

Current and future fund raising events for the Maslin Family Fundraising Campaign:

Ongoing – On Line Donations on the CHAMPS website at:  http://www.champsdc.org/

Early November – Celebrate Capitol Hill’s Reception for Sponsors, Contributors, and Volunteers (TBA)

Tuesday, December 11th, 2012 (Evening) – Tune Inn’s Special Maslin Fundraiser

TC Maslin’s wife, Abby, blogs about her experiences at http://loveforthemaslins.blogspot.com. 

CHAMPS/Celebrate has released the following list of participants in the fund raising activities: 

Sponsors, Contributors, and Publicity & Jar Campaign Business Participants

EVENT SPONSORS   CSX, Acacia Mortgage, American Legion Post, Boogie Babes, Capitol Hill Exxon, Capitol Hill Village, CHAMPS, Coldwell Banker, Frager’s Hardware, Hill Rag, National Capitol Bank, Nationals, Sonoma, Uber, Xavier Cervera Restaurant Group.

Contributors of Raffle Prizes:  Aqua 2, Atlas Theater, Capitol Hill Wine and Spirits, Cava, CHAW, Folger, Fusion Grill, Grey Moogie Press, Hanks Oyster Bar, House Calls on the Hill, Judith V May, Photographer, Maid Pro, Nationals, Pound , Ringling Brothers Circus, Schneider’s, Tabula Rasa, Top of the Hill (Pour House), Uber, Xavier Cervera’s Restaurants.

Publicity & Jar Campaign Business Participants:  Bowers Fancy Dairy Products, Calomiris Fruits & Vegetables, Canales Delicatessen, Canales Quality Meats, Capitol Hill Bikes, Capitol Hill Poultry, Capitol Hill Produce, Dawn Price Baby, Eastern Market Grocery, Fairy Godmother, Fine Sweet Shop, Frager’s Hardware, Groovy, Howl to the Chief, Labyrinth Games Shop, Market Poultry, Metro Mutts, Monkey’s Uncle, Pound the Hill, Roland’s Corner Market, Southern Maryland Seafood, The Hill Center, Tortilla Café, Tune Inn, Tunnicliff’s Tavern, Union Meat Company, LLC.

Wednesday, October 24

ANC 6B Outreach and Constituent Services Taskforce meets, 7pm – 8:30pm, Hill Center. 

The agenda includes:

Presentation on the state of the tree canopy in the District

City programs and initiatives

Pruning and tree removal in Ward 6

Tree boxes. 

Also on the agenda:

An update on vacant and blighted properties

Nothing of major import to ANC6B scheduled so far this week.

But……

A New Xavier Cervera Venue Begins to Take Shape from the Old Hawk & Dove – photos courtesy of Maggie Hall

This will be Cervera’s seventh Capitol Hill restaurant (Lola’s, Molly Malone’s, the Chesapeake Room, Senart’s Oyster & Chop House, Pacifico, The Box Car Tavern) with two more planned for the Southwest Waterfront. 

Zoning Commission Puts Off Final Order on Hine – How Did We Get Here?

by Larry Janezich

Monday night, the Zoning Commission considered the Hine project for some 54 minutes, during which the commission asked the developer – Stanton-Eastbanc – for additional information; asked ANC6B for a final report; and put off issuing a final order for and approval of the Hine project until the commission’s November 19 meeting.

Commissioners want to know why the developer can’t provide for 55 foot trucks to turn around in the loading dock and why there isn’t more complete information on First Source local hiring intentions.  In addition, the commission wants more specific language regarding the developer’s cash donations for improvements to Eastern Market Metro Plaza and a playground in the park bordered by the 800 block of D Street; they want to marginally lengthen the period the affordable housing will remain affordable before becoming market value properties; and they are also seeking clarification of language regarding how bike racks will be treated in the Memorandum of Agreement with the ANC.

Thornier issues like the arrangements for the flea markets and governing of the newly reopened C Street were pushed off to be worked out by other entities.  Commissioner Peter May who had requested an update on the project’s Floor Area Ration (FAR), stated that although the new figures showed an increase, the project was a “reasonable density, overall.”  

A number of community members – and a minority (4) of ANC6B commissioners – believe that the community received relatively little in terms of benefits and amenities from the developer.  Many lay this at the doorstep of ANC6B, but perhaps more responsibility lies with Councilmember Wells – who had several opportunities to influence this development in a direction more favorable to the neighborhood.  Unlike fellow Councilmember Jack Evans, who, like Wells, has expressed an interest in running for mayor, Wells chose not to make demands on the developer before voting on the Land Disposition Agreement.  In contrast, Evans intervened effectively on behalf of the community in Eastbanc’s other controversial project, the West End Library, insisting on the construction of a new library and fire station, and Eastbanc was forced to agree.  When prodded to intervene on behalf of the community in the case of Hine, Wells responded that he would leave the resolution of height and mass issues to the PUD process and the Zoning Commission. 

Also unlike fellow Councilmember Mary Cheh, Wells elected not to testify on behalf of the community before the Zoning Commission.  To do so would have been a highly unusual move and one that Jack Evans criticized as “inappropriate.”  At the same time, Evans can point to the major concessions a councilmember can achieve prior to consideration by the Zoning Commission, and shown a willingness to use that power.  When asked at a community meeting if he would testify before the Zoning Commission on Hine, Wells declined and said he would endorse whatever ANC6B could agree upon with the developer. 

Some critics of the ANC6B’s agreement with the developer suggest the ANC negotiators did not fully use this grant of authority and settled for too little.  And it is true that when ANC6B negotiators Brian Pate and Ivan Frishberg accepted the burden Wells placed on them, they accepted responsibility for the outcome as well.  Without the Councilmember’s active participation, the Stanton-Eastbanc negotiator and then-Eastbanc Vice President Joe Sternlieb – political fundraiser for Mayor Fenty’s primary and general election campaign, co-founder of DC Vote, and now head of the Georgetown BID – had little incentive to make major concessions.  (It is interesting to note that the Fenty Administration awarded two plumb projects to Eastbanc: the West End Library – initially a no bid award until neighbors forced a competitive bid process eventually won by Eastbanc – and the Hine School Development.)

As the process has unfolded, the Zoning Commission appeared – to this observer – less and less engaged with the community organizations and the issues they brought before them.  Some of the Zoning Commissioners appeared to have little familiarity with the submissions from parties, appearing to read them for the first time during the hearing.  And while stressing the need to give “great weight” to the ANC in this matter, the Commission appeared to be paying them lip service rather than giving them their due as the elected officials representing the community.  This attitude seems to often characterize ANC dealings with city agencies.  From the Office of Planning officials, who appear to be helpful to the community without being of any help whatsoever; to the HPRB, who listen politely to community concerns and then give an unqualified thumbs up to greater height and density; to the Alcohol Board of Control (ABC) officials, who allow the ANC to be bypassed by well-placed and well-connected applicants; to the Department of Transportation officials, who often take the ANC for granted. 

Yet some of the responsibility clearly lies with the ANC.  Oddly the coalition of six ANC commissioners who voted to endorse the Memorandum of Agreement with the developer on Hine included the ANC’s three most conservative members: Garrison, Oldenburg, and Metzger, plus three recently elected reformers: Frishberg, Pate, and Flahaven.  Metzger is retiring and one of the two candidates for his seat is a vocal Hine opponent, Randy Steer.  Frishberg and Pate both have opponents who are making the Hine issue central to their campaigns.  Oldenburg, Garrison, and Flahaven are running unopposed on the ballot, though a write in campaign has been launched against Oldenburg.  Flahavan has recently said that while he does not plan to run for councilmember next cycle, he cannot rule it out either. 

After all is said and done, the community will have lost a middle school (closed with only token public input, and arguably with little input solicited from the families Hine was serving at the time), lost a reasonably sized and reasonably dense Hine Development project, lost much of the flea market as we know it and lost much of the diversity and character which has been the fabric of our neighborhood.  And readers will remember that the many here supported the more attractive and better funded proposal of another developer for the Hine Development in the first place. 

As Tommy Wells contemplates and organizes his run for mayor, he may well want to reflect on how well he has performed as a steward of one of the most beloved and best known areas of his own Ward.