CAPITOL HILL CORNER

Planning and Zoning Committee Chair Francis Campbell (third from left) leads the vote to send requests for Hine development design changes to the full ANC

ANC6B to Take Up Requests for Hine Design Changes/Benefits & Amenities – Schedule Released Leading Up to Zoning Commission Hearing

by Larry Janezich

Tuesday night, ANC Commissioner Francis Campbell’s Planning and Zoning Committee voted to forward initial requests for design changes to the Hine project as well as a list of initial requests for benefits and amenities to the full ANC.  Following consideration at next Tuesday’s ANC meeting at Hill Center, the ANC’s Hine Subcommittee, chaired by Commissioner Ivan Frishberg,  will begin negotiations with Stanton/Eastbanc to achieve these goals.

Additional benefits, amenities, and mitigations are being worked on by the Subcommittee’s working groups: i.e., Design, Transportation, Open Space, and Retail.  The Subcommittee will meet later this month to consider these additional issues.

The first group of requests regarded changes in the project’s design:

1.  Lowering of the residential building at 8^th and D and redesigning the façade to be more “outstanding;”
2. Redesign the corner of 7^th and Pennsylvania Avenue to create a focal point through greater articulation at street level;
3. Lowering the height of the 7^th and Pennsylvania Avenue building;
4. Reconsideration of the entrance to the office building to ensure an outstanding façade on Pennsylvania Avenue;
5. More open and public use space in the Plaza.

The motion to forward these requests to the full ANC was agreed to 6-1, with Commissioners Campbell, Critchfield, Frishberg, Pate, Metzger and resident member Wildermann voting for the motion and Commissioner Oldenberg voting in the negative.

The second group of requests concerned “big ticket” benefits and amenities:

1. A greater percentage of local retail than offered in the current application;
2. More exterior open space for public use;
3. Interior community use and meeting space;
4. Subsidized non-profit office space;
5. Developer support for an infant and toddler care facility to be run by a third party.

A motion to forward these requests to the full ANC was agreed to unanimously.

There is strong sentiment among ANC commissioners and members of the community that the façade of the 8^th and D Street building fails to achieve the distinction that the signature buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue require; further consideration of this issue awaits the developer’s response to similar concerns by the Historic Preservation Review Board.  The developers are scheduled to present new drawings to the Board on March 23.

Other major issues which are expected to be addressed in the near future include the height of the office building on 7^th Street, the interior courtyard, space for the weekend flea market, and maintaining of a buffer between the project’s retail component and nearby residences in the neighborhood.

The proposed schedule for further consideration of the project and management of negotiations with the developer is as follows:

March 13         Developers submit a design revision to HPRB to respond to requests made in HPRB’s preliminary review in 2011

March 20         Hine Subcommittee meets to review the proposed list of mitigation issues and additional benefit/amenity issues for the April ANC cycle

March 29         Hine Subcommittee continues work from the March 20 meeting, including consideration of a response to the design revisions presented to HPRB

April 3             Planning and Zoning Committee considers recommendations on full amenities and benefits list, mitigation list and recommendations to HPRB

April 10           ANC6B considers recommendations from Planning and Zoning Committee

April 26           Hine Subcommittee meeting on tentative agreements with developers

May 1              Potential action from Planning and Zoning Committee

May 8              Potential action from the ANC

May/ June       Possible Hine Subcommittee and ANC special call meeting to    prepare for Zoning Commission hearing

Late June         likely beginning of Zoning Commission hearing

Shadow Studies – Winter

Shadow Studies – Summer

Developer Releases Winter/Summer Shadow Studies on Hine Development

by Larry Janezich

Stanton/Eastbanc has released projections of how the sun’s shadow will affect the surrounding streets and buildings in summer and winter.   The studies are required by the Planned Unit Development appication necessary to change the zoning of the Hine site in order to accommodate greater height and density.  Consideration of the height issue by community organizaitions has been delayed pending receipt of the studies.  Consideration of the scale and mass continues to await the arrival of the three dimensional model of the project and the surrounding blocks scheduled to be available in mid March.   The ANC6B Hine Subcommittee working group on design will meet at 5:00pm today, to continue its work on design issues given this new information.

For additional information on shadow studies, click here:  http://www.3rddimension.ie/news/equinox-shadow-studies/

ANC6B Working Group Wrestles with Hine Design Issues – Delays Considering Height Issue Pending Forthcoming Shadow Study

by Larry Janezich

Last Tuesday night the ANC6B Working Group on the Hine Design met to consider recommendations to improve the design of the Hine project, but deferred consideration of the height issue until the results of the shadow study are made available, possibly later this week.  The shadow study is required by the Zoning Commission as part of Stanton/Eastbanc’s application to change the zoning of the site permitting a building height up to 90 feet.  A private consultant, hired by Stanton/Eastbanc, will determine what shadows the building will cast by time of day and time of year.

At the meeting, working group leader Gary Peterson called the height of the proposed development “the elephant in the room.”  Former ANC6B Commissioner Ken Jarboe noted that the building on 7^th Street is two stories higher in the current plan than it was in the proposal which the city selected when awarding the bid to Stanton, making it three stories higher than the building housing Le Pain Quotidian across the street.  Jarboe said, “[e]ven with a step down of the building toward C Street, building to the property line creates a canyon effect.”  Peterson agreed with this, saying that “there’s something wrong with the height.”  ANC6B Commissioner Dave Garrison differed, however, saying “it doesn’t look like a canyon to me.  I’m hard pressed to say this is a canyon.”

Also at the meeting, the façade of the 7^th Street building came under fire for the windows all being the same size and the confusing attempt to break the single building into three sections to make it look less monolithic and more human in scale.  While the working group seemed to agree with these goals, the feeling was strong that the design efforts to do this were unsuccessful.

Peterson put to rest the idea that the development might be set back from 7^th Street to encompass a view of Eastern Market from the Metro plaza as “a dead letter,” saying the National Planning Commission and the Historic Preservation Review Board were opposed.   He also shot down any idea of having an entrance or exit to underground parking on D Street or Pennsylvania Avenue, saying because the city will oppose a curb cut, “it’s not going to happen.”

The group will meet next on Thursday, March 1, when the shadow study might be available.    Peterson said he hoped it Stanton/Eastbanc would put it on the Hine website for viewing by the community.  There was no discussion at the design working group of the 3-D scale model, reported by Stanton Eastbanc to be delivered from China mid-March.

The next meeting of ANC’s Subcommittee on the Hine PUD process will be on Wednesday, February 29, at 7:00pm in Hill Center.