Advisory
Neighborhood Commission 6D
Chairman
Andy Litsky called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
1. Approval
of agenda
Commissioner Sobelsohn made/Commissioner Siegel
seconded a motion to approve the proposed agenda. Without objection, on request of Commissioner Skolnik, the agenda
was amended to (a) add reconsideration of the ANC’s May motion on the Old
Friendship Baptist Church; (b) add liquor-license-renewal applications of
Cantina Marina and H2O; (c) delete discussion of committee structure. The motion to approve the proposed agenda,
as amended, passed 6-0, with Commissioner Moffatt not voting.
2. Community
concerns
a. Gene
Solon read a printed statement.
b. Sara
Livingston discussed traffic on P St., SW.
She also distributed copies of an ANC 6D “fact sheet” she had prepared.
c. Ron McBee
spoke about proposed redevelopment of the Old Friendship Baptist Church site.
3. Police
report
From Police Service Area 104, Sergeant Harvey
reported that, except for thefts from autos, neighborhood crime has dropped
since this time last year. He also
reported that the police have made no final determination regarding the death
of Arvin Sharma. Sharma’s body was
found in the Anacostia River April 25th, over a week after he
vanished just after leaving The Lime, a liquor-license applicant at 1924 Half
St., SW. Finally, Sgt. Harvey reported
on a late-night party Saturday, June 11, at H2O on the waterfront. He called it an “unscheduled event” and a
“chaotic situation,” which drew 5,000 cars, and to which the police committed
30 officers. Peter Jones, the mayor’s
Ward Six Neighborhood Services Coordinator, promised to convey to the mayor
commissioners’ concerns about the event—including noise, traffic, and
assaults—and to report back at the ANC’s July 11 meeting.
4. Approval
of minutes
a.
April 11.
Commissioner Skolnik made/Commissioner Sobelsohn seconded a motion to
approve the April 11 minutes.
Commissioner Sobelsohn made/Commissioner Moffatt seconded a motion to
end debate. The motion to end debate
passed, 5-2, with Commissioners Assalaam and Williams voting no. The motion to approve the April 11 minutes
passed 5-2, with Commissioners Assalaam and Williams voting no.
b. May 9. Commissioner
Williams moved to table discussion of the May 9 minutes. The motion failed for want of a second. Commissioner Sobelsohn made/Commissioner
Skolnik seconded a motion to approve the May 9 minutes. Without objection, on the motion of
Commissioner Sobelsohn, the May 9 minutes were amended as follows: (1) on page
3 under item 8, change the designation of each of the following four sub-items
from 1-4. to a.-d.; (2) on page 4, renumber items 9-11 as 10-12; and (3) on
page 4, under item 10.[new 11b]., in the third sentence, replace “Robert
Siegel” with “Roberta Weiner,” so it reads “reimbursement to Roberta
Weiner.” As amended, the motion to
approve the May 9 minutes passed 5-0, with Commissioners Assalaam and Williams
abstaining.
5. Millennium
Arts Center
The ANC heard plans for the Millennium Arts Center
(the former Randall School building) from Konrad Schlater, of the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development;
and from Kathryn Keane, deputy to the director of the Corcoran Gallery of
Art. The building has about 140,000
square feet. The ANC currently has its
office and holds its meetings in the building.
Schlater noted that, in February 2005, the mayor
signed a contract to sell the property to the Corcoran for $6.2 million. The contract requires that the Corcoran and
any future owner devote at least 90,000 square feet of the building to the
arts. Before completion of the sale,
the artists currently on-site must be
relocated. This will probably take all
summer. The city is urging the Corcoran to use part of the site for residences,
which would have to include some “affordable housing.” Schlater promised to (a) report back to
the ANC on who paid $1.5 million to induce the prior lessee to vacate and
release all his legal interest in the property; and (b) give the ANC ample
notice of the date to vacate, plus help finding new (or interim) office and
meeting space.
Keane predicted it would
take at least one year to study the site and estimate renovation costs.
She promised that, after
renovation, the building would have space for artists currently on-site
and also for community
activities, including ANC offices and meetings. But the Corcoran would
devote most of the space
to a satellite facility for its College of Art. With $17,000 annual tuition
(and many scholarships),
the College currently has 350 undergraduates and 1,000 other students.
She promised to report
back on what percent of the property the Corcoran will devote to the
College.
She also promised that the
Corcoran would consider helping to provide one or more neighborhood
schools with arts education. Finally, she expressed the Corcoran’s
openness to residential
development on the
property, and promised to make sure any such development was “acceptable”
to the neighborhood.
6. October
Marine Corps Marathon
Bret Schmidt, Operations
Coordinator of the Marine Corps Marathon, reported on the Sunday,
October 30, 2005
marathon. The marathon will start in
Arlington and attract about 30,000 runners.
The first is expected to
cross into ANC 6D by 9:30 a.m.; the last must leave Washington by 1:45
p.m. The marathon will use the HOV lanes of
I-395. He expects little impact on ANC
6D or on
I-395 weekend traffic.
7. Department
of Motor Vehicles’ Move to Southwest
Stan Edwards, Associate
Director of the DC Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), and Lucinda
Babers, DMV Deputy
Director of Operations, reported on DMV’s plans to move to Southwest. The
DMV currently splits its
central operations between 65 K St., NE and 301 C St., NW. DMV’s 65 K
St. lease expires soon,
and the owner plans to demolish the building on November 1, 2005.
Since
May 2004, the DMV has contemplated consolidating and moving its
headquarters. According
to
Babers, DMV started scouting specific sites in January 2005. On March 31, DMV signed a lease to
move its entire central operations (except
ticket adjudication) into the old United Way building at 95 M
St.,
SW, next to the Anthony Bowen School.
The DMV plans to move by stages, starting in early July
and
ending by mid-October 2005.
Edwards claimed DMV had kept the city administrator
informed of its plans. But at the ANC
meeting, both Mary Ann Floto, of the mayor’s Office of Community Affairs, and Peter
Jones, of the mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services, denied advance
knowledge of the move. ANC 6D
commissioners and the ANC office began receiving informal notice on May
31. Some commissioners first learned
about it June 10. Written notice came
on June 13, the date of the June ANC meeting.
For
130 employees and 560 daily visitors (170,000 per year), the new facility will
have 80
parking
spots, 15 for employees and 65 for visitors.
Because 95 M St. overlaps part of the
Half
Street inspection station, DMV will cut a driveway between the two sites. DMV also
plans
to reduce a traffic island on M St., SW.
On June 13 DMV started making “curb cuts”
around
the United Way building.
When questioned as to the advantages of 95 M St.,
Edwards and Babers said only that it was “best suited to our needs.” Pressed for specifics, they pointed out its
proximity to the Half Street inspection station. But they also admitted that very few people would visit the two
facilities on the same day, and that if many did the 95 M St. location would
have inadequate parking. One
neighborhood resident noted that inspection-station employees currently use
the 95 M St. parking lot. Edwards promised to provide statistics predicting how
many visitors would likely use both facilities on the same day. According to Babers, reopening the West
Virginia Avenue inspection station—perhaps as early as August 2006—will relieve pressure on the Half Street
station. Edwards expressed DMV’s
openness to community off-hours use of the 95 M St. parking lot, but cautioned
that any such use needed the approval of DMV’s legal division and office of
risk management. He denied that anyone
at DMV has contacted anyone planning the new baseball stadium regarding using
the 95 M St. lot for ballgame parking.
Chris
Delfs, the Ward Six Neighborhood Planner for the Department of Transportation
(DDOT),
admitted that DDOT has yet to do a full
traffic study on the implications of DMV’s move to 95 M St.
At the end of their presentation, Edwards promised
to return with plan drawings before the next meeting of the ANC. Babers
promised to contact the ANC in “a couple of days to set something up.”
8. Fort
McNair wall demolition
Justin Taylor, project manager for the Army Corps
of Engineers (ACE) at Fort McNair, presented a plan to demolish a section of
the wall marking the fort’s historic boundary, in order to make room for a new
physical fitness center. The wall went
up in the 1980s to replace an earlier wall.
ACE plans to demolish 20%, or about 150 feet, of the present wall. Demolition and the new construction will
block views from inside the fort looking out, but, Taylor claims, have no
effect on views from the outside looking in.
Commissioner Moffatt moved to oppose any change to the current
wall. The motion failed for want of a
second Commissioner Sobelsohn
made/Commis-sioner Skolnik seconded a motion to support, with a letter to the
Advisory Council, Fort McNair’s proposal to demolish part of the wall, on the condition
that the fort erect something to indicate the part of the traditional boundary
line where the wall had been. The
motion passed 4-2, with Commissioners Moffatt and Siegel voting no and
Commissioner Williams abstaining.
9. Waterfront
Metro station canopy
Jane Morrissey of the Washington Metropolitan Area
Transit Authority (WMATA) made a presentation regarding the canopy WMATA is
building around the escalators at the Waterfront
Metrorail station. WMATA hopes to start
construction by July 15 and to finish by September 21. WMATA plans to do much of the work outside
peak hours. Morrissey promised that
WMATA will post signs, and also individually contact Commissioners Skolnik and
Williams (whose districts include the station), warning the commissioners and
the general public when to expect noise.
10. Electric
rates
Carol
Randolph of Walls Communications, Inc.
made a presentation about the removal of caps
on
electric rates and the introduction of competition in electricity
providers. She offered to arrange
community
workshops on conservation tips, how to read electric bills, and how to choose
electricity
suppliers. She also reminded the ANC of a residential
electric-rate discount for senior citizens.
11. Capital
Gallery development public-space permit
Damona
Smith Strautmanis of Boston Properties made a presentation about the Capital
Gallery
project
at 600 Maryland Ave., SW. Scheduled for
completion by April 2006, Capital Gallery will be
a
312,000-square-foot multi-tenant office building. Commissioner Skolnik made/Commissioner
Sobelsohn
seconded a motion to send a letter to DDOT’s Public Space office in support of
Boston
Properties’
petition for a permit to erect twelve light fixtures, two benches, and two
signs on the plaza
in
front of the building. The motion
passed 6-0, with Commissioner Williams not voting.
12. Liquor
license applications
At 1924 Half St., SW, The Lime would occupy the
space formerly held by Pier 9. Its
owners would like ANC support for a permanent liquor license and have agreed to
sign a voluntary agreement (a copy of which is attached to these minutes). Commissioner Assalaam made/Commissioner
Skolnik seconded a motion to support a permanent liquor license for The Lime in
exchange for the owners’ signing the voluntary agreement. Without objection, at the suggestion of
Commissioner Litsky, the motion was amended to include the following changes in
the voluntary agreement: (1) in the first paragraph, changing the date of
execution to reflect the date the agreement is actually signed; and (2) in the
first “Whereas” paragraph, changing the phrase “an Stipulated [sic] Liquor
License” to “a Permanent Liquor License.”
The motion passed 6-1, with Commissioner Sobelsohn voting no. Commissioner
Moffatt made/Commissioner Sobelsohn seconded a motion to file a formal protest
of The Lime’s liquor-license application, pending execution of the voluntary
agreement. The motion passed 6-0, with
Commissioner Assalaam abstaining.
Commissioner Sobelsohn made/Commissioner Skolnik seconded a motion to
designate Commissioner Assalaam as the ANC’s official representative on this
license application at the Alcohol Beverage Control Board. The motion passed 7-0.
Commissioner Williams made/Commissioner Litsky
seconded a motion to designate Commissioner Skolnik as the ANC’s official
representative on the following hearings at the Alcohol Beverage Control Board:
(1) Cantina Marina, on June 15; and (2) H2O, on June 22. The motion passed 7-0.
Commissioner Sobelsohn made/Commissioner Skolnik
seconded a motion to extend the the meeting to 10:17 p.m. The motion passed 6-1, with Commissioner
Moffatt voting no.
13. Old
Friendship Baptist Church
At its May 9 meeting, ANC 6D approved a motion to oppose
the Old Friendship Baptist Church redevelopment proposal then pending before
the Zoning Commission. Having voted in
favor of that May 9 motion, Commissioner Skolnik made a motion to reconsider. Commissioner Sobelsohn seconded the
motion. The motion to reconsider passed
4-3, with Commissioners Assalaam, Skolnik, and Williams voting no. Commissioner
Sobelsohn made/Commissioner Siegel seconded a motion to substitute, for the
motion to oppose, a motion to support the pending redevelopment proposal on condition
that the Zoning Commission approve the applicant’s request for permission to
lease the church structure to a nonprofit organization for nonresidential
use. The motion to substitute failed on
a vote of 3-3, with Commissioners Moffatt, Siegel, and Sobelsohn voting yes;
Commissioners Assalaam, Skolnik, and Williams voting no; and Commissioner
Litsky abstaining. The ANC took no
further action on the original motion to oppose the pending redevelopment
proposal.
14. ANC 6D
website
DC Access will charge $261 for a year of website
hosting: $15 per month for the standard package, $5 additional per month for 10
e-mail addresses, $50 to set up the arrangement, and a 10% discount. Commissioner Sobelsohn made/Commissioner
Siegel seconded a motion to appropriate $261 for the first full year of ANC 6D
website hosting by DC Access, including 10 e-mail accounts. The motion passed 7-0.
Commissioner
Moffatt raised a point of order regarding the time of the meeting.
Commissioner
Williams made/Commissioner Skolnik seconded a motion to extend the
time of the meeting to 10:45 p.m. The motion passed 5-2, with Commissioners
Moffatt and
Sobelsohn
voting no.
15. DC
Emergency Medical Services
Victoria
Nance and Chinua A. Walker of the American Federation of Government Employees
Local 3721 reported an ongoing crisis in the city’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
Nance and Walker urged the ANC to support a bill, pending in the city
council, to increase funding for EMS
staff and training.
16. Treasurer’s report
Commissioner Skolnik, as treasurer, reported having
filed ANC 6D’s quarterly report. He
also gave a monthly treasurer’s report for May 9-June 13, 2005, a copy of which
is attached to these minutes ANC 6D has approximately
$43,000 in current funds.
The monthly report included $711.90 for six expense
items for the period May 9-June 13.
These expenses cover (a) petty cash, (b) office supplies, (c) staff
wages, and (d) postage. Commis-sioner
Skolnik made/Commissioner Sobelsohn seconded a motion to accept the treasurer’s
report and approve the six expense items.
The motion passed 6-0, with Commissioner Williams not voting.
17. Truck
traffic along P and 4th Streets, SW
Commissioner Assalaam made/Commissioner Litsky
seconded a motion to formally remind the police department to enforce the law
prohibiting truck traffic along P St. and 4th St. SW. The motion passed 6-0, with Commissioner
Williams not voting.
18. Audience
comment
A
Waterside Towers resident expressed concern about tour buses that line up in front
of her
apartment
complex and leave their motors running.
Commissioner Litsky promised to contact
Brian
Heller at Arena Stage to suggest Heller ask the tour-bus drivers to obey the
city’s no-idling
law
and turn off their engines.
19. Adjournment
Commissioner Sobelsohn moved to adjourn. Without objection, the meeting adjourned at
10:46 p.m.
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