CAPITOL HILL CORNER

The Week Ahead…..

by Larry Janezich

Monday, October 15

Zoning Commission meets and will issue its final order on the Hine Development.  6:30pm at One Judiciary Square, 441 4th Street, NW.  Access live internet coverage by clicking the appropriate link located near the end of the list on the right side of the page found at:  http://dcoz.dc.gov/services/zoning/commish.shtm

Tuesday, October 16

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

Sunday, October 21

Ward Six Fall Safety Festival, 11:00am – 4:00pm at Brent School.  Proceeds will benefit the Maslin family.  Donations to the Maslin family can be made at the CHAMPS website:  http://www.champsdc.org/

The Week Ahead…..

by Larry Janezich

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

ANC6B Meets at 7pm at Hill Center.

Watch for:

Flea Market.  Vote on resolution supporting closure of the 300 block of 7th Street, SE, for vending purposes during construction of the Hine School Development and letter to Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development on same. 

New Condos in the Historic District.  Vote on Historic Preservation Application for new condo project at 1211 G Street, SE, the old Salvation Army building.

Hine project.  ANC will urge that certain items in the Memorandum of Understanding with the developer regarding the Hine project be included in the Zoning Commission Order on the project, scheduled to be issued on Monday, October 15.  

Letter to the Zoning Administrator regarding change in plan by Douglas Development for the old Kentucky Fried Chicken venue at 1442 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE.

Thursday, October 11

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

Brick and Mortar Merchants Oppose Weekend Closure of 7^th After Hine Construction – Want Tax Break While Hine Project Gets Built

by Larry Janezich

Some 30 brick and mortar merchants on the 200 and 300 block of 7^th Street SE will support closure of 7^th street during the construction of the Hine project, but not beyond.  Perhaps remembering this dismal effect of construction of street car lines on H Street on some businesses located there, the 7^th street merchants are proposing they receive a tax break to compensate them for the proposed weekend closure of the 7^th Street to accommodate the flea markets.  . 

Their position was made public last Tuesday night, when the ANC6B Planning and Zoning Committee considered a resolution sponsored by Commissioner Brian Pate to support closure of the 300 block of 7^th Street, SE, on weekends during the construction of the Hine development for the vending.  The resolution recommends coordinating with Eastern Market and the brick and mortar businesses on the 200 and 300 blocks of 7^th Street, and calls for a fair, open and legal contracting process in any operation of market activities on the street done through the Department of General Services or Eastern Market.  The resolution states that revenues from vending activity resulting from the closure will become part of the revenue stream of Eastern Market.  The Planning and Zoning Committee voted 10-0 to forward the resolution to the full ANC and recommended expedited consideration at the October meeting next Tuesday night. 

The resolution was an about face from an earlier version, also offered by Pate, which failed to pass the committee in September.  That version explicitly moved the current flea market managers to the head of the line of prospective flea market operators. 

ANC6B candidate Steve Holtzman spoke in support of the current operators, saying that they know how to run the businesses and there is no other strategy for keeping the flea markets running. Pate responded that the resolution under consideration was driven by what is possible to get through the committee. 

The resolution was in response to a request from the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Planning for ANC6B’s opinion regarding the application of the current flea market operators – Mike Berman and Carol Wright – to close the street during the construction period in order to locate the flea markets there. 

Berman later expressed his disappointment with the measure, saying that the sole priority of the resolution is to assure Eastern Market has control of the flea markets.  He said of the committee’s action, “They would rather twist the proposed Eastern Market legislation (which also would give preference to the current operators) than acknowledge the communities’ strong desire for the flea markets to continue in a vastly reduce state.”

The full ANC6B meets Tuesday night at 7:00pm in Hill Center.  In the wake of the stalled Eastern Market legislation and the various unknowns involved in the Hine construction process, there is no clear vision yet for how the weekend flea markets, a much beloved neighborhood institution, will be sustained.

The Week Ahead….

by Larry Janezich

Monday, October 1

CHRS Historic Preservation Committee meets at 6:30pm, Kirby House, 420 10^th Street, SE

Tuesday, October 2

ANC6B Planning and Zoning Committee meets 7pm – 9pm, St. Coletta of Greater Washington, 1901 Independence Avenue SE

Agenda includes:

Historic Preservation application for new condos at 1211 G Street, SE

Closure of 300 block of 7^th Street, SE, during construction of the Hine School

Consideration of Stanton-Eastbanc, LLC’s October 1st Procedural Order Proffer

Wednesday, October 3

ANC 6B Transportation Committee Meets 6:30pm – 8:00pm, Hill Center

Agenda includes:

Traffic Study Request to District Department of Transportation (4th & 5th Streets between East Capitol Street & Pennsylvania Avenue SE)

Discussion of 8th Street SE Pedestrian Crossing Signals at E and G Streets SE

Discussion of 8th Street SE Pedestrian Crossing at D Street SE

Proposal to use Performance Parking Community Funds for the park at 8th Street and Independence and North Carolina Avenues SE

Thursday, October 4

ANC6B ABC Committee meets at 7pm, Hill Center

Agenda includes:

Increase occupancy and operating hours for La Plaza, 629 Pennsylvania Avenue SE

Vacant House at 735 12th Street, SE Has Troubled Neighbors for Years

ANC6B Task Force Takes on Vacant Properties

by Larry Janezich

Thursday night, Commissioner Brian Pate’s Outreach and Constituent Services Task Force met in order to continue exploring ways to deal with the ongoing problem of vacant and blighted properties.

On hand were several residents living in close proximity the property pictured above at 735 12th Street, SE; Kim Graziani of the Center for Community Progress; and Reuben Pemberton, program manager, Vacant Building Enforcement, Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.

Residences within 500 feet of a vacant house lose between 2 and 10 percent in value depending on existing conditions, according to Kim Graziani.  By that measure, with up to 2700 vacant or blighted properties in DC, a significant number of DC residents are affected.

Residents often don’t realize that the city does not automatically monitor and deal with vacant buildings.  Regardless of how long a property has been vacant, it doesn’t start being a vacant property until it comes to the city’s attention in the form or a complaint. 

Once a property is identified, Pemberton can impose a tax on it to motivate the owner to fix or sell the property.  The tax is $5 per $100 of the assessed value for vacant houses and $10 per $100 of the assessed value for blighted houses – an annual tax of $20,000 on a $200,000 property in the latter case.

Enforcement can be a problem, according to Pemberton.  Owners can apply for an exemption from the higher tax for a variety of reasons, including economic hardship and good faith efforts to sell or renovate the property.  However, there is a limit on the exemption:  three years for a single owner and five years for a property.  After that, the city could move to condemn and demolish the property, but that is a long process and expensive for the taxpayer.  Pemberton says the purpose of his office is to get that property functional and to turn abandoned properties into assets.  “It’s not our business to tear down properties, we want to save them,” he said.  But making vacant and blighted properties viable depends on many factors: locating the owner, economic realities (location of the property), and availability of a purchaser.

Pemberton stresses that the Mayor is aware of the problem and wants to do something and   Pemberton has taken the initiative, cobbling together a loose task force involving his office along with representatives of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, the Office of Tax and Revenue, and the Department of Housing and Community Development to deal with the worst vacant or blighted houses.

Graziani’s organization – the Center for Community Progress – is a national organization that addresses the issue of vacant properties.  The organization provides advocacy, technical assistance and organizational development services to governments and activists to help implement strategies to prevent and reuse vacant properties.  Graziani lives in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and offered to continue the dialogue both with the ANC Task Force and Pemberton.  For more information:  http://www.communityprogress.net/  At the level of city council, Pemberton cited Councilmember Jack Evans and Muriel bowser as being particularly active on the issue of vacant properties.

To report a vacant or blighted building, email vacantbuildings@dc.gov, or call 202 442 4332.

Marvelous Market Evolves Into The Silver Spork

by Larry Janezich

Seth Shapiro – Managing Partner of “Just Around the Corner LLC” – announced on Monday that after six years as a Marvelous Market, the retail food venue across from Eastern Market would relinquish its association with the Marvelous Market chain and become “the local independent shop we have strived to be all this time.”

Shapiro says, “We have chosen the name ‘The Silver Spork’ and that is a big change, but really not too much will.  We will continue to search for quality products that can be offered in our quick serve environment.”

DC General Counsel Nails Coffin on Changes to Hine Development

by Larry Janezich

The DC General Counsel has found that there is no reason at present to go back to the drawing board on the Hine project.

At a contentious community meeting last May 23, Councilmember Tommy Wells, under pressure from the community,  pledged to ask the DC General Counsel for a legal opinion on whether Stanton-Eastbanc’s expansion of the Hine project beyond what the city initially approved constitutes a violation of the contract with the city which would trigger a rebid of the contract.   The councilmember agreed to do so and to post the opinion on his website.

ANC6B candidate Jerry Sroufe, who is running against current Commissioner Ivan Frishberg for the ANC6B02 seat which includes the Hine project, obtained a copy of the General Counsel’s 14 page opinion and shared it with Capitol Hill Corner.  Sroufe testified before the Zoning Commission against greater height and density for the project.

The “Short Answer” provided by the General Counsel states:  “Neither statutory law, the land disposition and development agreement, nor the zoning regulations provide for a rebid due to changes in design or construction.  Rather the District’s legal framework for land development anticipates changes and provides procedures for changes to be approved or disapproved throughout the development process.

Firstly, the Mayor is required to transmit to the Council for approval any substantive change made in a term sheet after the Council’s initial approval of a development.  To date, no substantive change has been transmitted and, based on available documents, no change has been made to the term sheet.

Secondly, under the agreement between the District and the developer for the Hine site, material changes require approval of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Planning and Development, the Mayor’s delegate; non-material changes do not require approval.

Thirdly, pursuant to its statutory powers, the Zoning Commission, which must approve a planned unit development, has the authority to grant or deny requests for relief from the requirements of its zoning regulations.

Termination of the agreement, by either party, would end the current developer’s development of the project.  Only then might a rebid be necessary.”

City agencies, including the Deputy Mayor’s Office for Planning and Economic Development, the Office of Planning, the Historic Preservation Review Board, and the Zoning Commission have all lined up in support of the project which is the largest commercial development ever undertaken in the Capitol Hill Historic District.  The proposed development generated considerable opposition from nearby neighbors and others who were concerned about the impact of the project on the quality of life in the neighborhood.  It is also fair to say that much of the neighborhood would have preferred a rival bid for the Hine development, one that was smaller, more attractive in the eyes of many, and better-funded.  Since the term sheet has been signed, Stanton/Eastbanc has compiled a laundry list of disappointments for the community:  lost tenants and amenities, including a neighborhood hotel; lost space for the weekend flea market; and greater height and density in the overall project.

The text of the full document, which constitutes a comprehensive review and discussion of the legal steps in the commercial development of city property, can be found in a separate page under the “Pages” directory on the lower right of the CHC homepage, or by clicking the link at the top of the page.

Correction:  The document also appears on Councilmember Wells’ website here:  http://www.tommywells.org/2012/09/posting-of-requ.php.

The Week Ahead…..

by Larry Janezich

Tuesday, September 25

ANC 6B Executive Committee Meeting, 7pm-8pm, Hill Center

Tuesday, September 25

Capitol Hill Restoration Society hears Jennifer Steingasser, Deputy Director of Development Review and Historic Preservation, DC Office of Planning, speaks to CHRS members and the community on what the proposed rewrite of the DC Zoning regulations and what it could mean for Capitol Hill.  7pm-9pm at Hill Center.   During the Zoning Commission on the Hine Project, the Office of Planning was fully supportive of increased height and density for the Hine Project.

Wednesday, September 26

Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee (EMCAC) will meet at 7pm in Eastern Market’s North Hall.  Among items on the agenda is discussion of the closing of the 300 block of 7^th Street for the flea markets.

Thursday, September 27

ANC 6B Outreach and Constituent Services Taskforce meets 7pm to 9pm at Hill.  The taskforce will continue to review its research regarding vacant and blighted housing policy.  In addition, Kim Graziani, Vice President of Community Building for the Center for Community Progress, will speak on the topic.

Sunday, September 29

Hill Center Open House from 10:30am until 2:00pm, featuring commemoration of Civil War era anchor at 10:30am.

Protestors block East Capitol at 9th Street, halting Nazis march to the Capitol

Some demonstrators attempt to turn the protest into a sit down demonstration at 8th and East Capitol

Dedicated protesters appear to invite arrest but later were persuaded to move aside

Metropolitan Police Stand Ready to Clear the Streets

Demonstrators give way to mounted police

Demonstrators show strength of numbers in front of Folger Library

US Capitol Police in riot gear joined Metropolitan Police at 2nd an East Capitol where the march turned south to Pennsylvania Avenue before continuing around the Capitol

Protestors Outnumber Nazis Thirty to One – Photos of the Counter Demonstration

by Larry Janezich

A small group of 12 Neo-Nazis who had secured a demonstration and marching permit elicited a protest of several hundred strong and a large Metropolitan, U.S. Park and U.S. Capitol Police presence of well more than a hundred officers and dozens of squad cars.  Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Paul Quander was on hand to oversee police operations.

The Nazis arrived by bus at Lincoln Park just past noon and were greeted by jeers, taunts and chants from protesters gathered on the corners of 11^th and East Capitol Streets.  The Nazis started out for the Capitol about 12:20pm, with six mounted police clearing their path forward, their flanks lined by Metropolitan Police on bicycles and motorcycles who warned march protestors to stay on the sidewalks.  Protesters halted the march three times on East Capitol, at 9^th, 8^th, and 7^th Streets each time dispersing after hearing a warning that they were in violation and subject to arrest.  Police were ready with paddy wagons and plastic handcuffs but rather than arresting protestors on the final attempt to halt the march, disbursed them with mounted police.