ANC
6D
65 I Street SE
Present:
Commissioners Assalaam, Litsky, Moffatt, Siegel, Skolnik, Sobelsohn,
Williams
The meeting was convened at 7:00 pm
1.
Agenda
Motion:
Approval of the agenda was moved by Commissioner Sobelsohn, seconded by
Commissioner Skolnik, and approved without objection.
2.
Community Comment
Gene
Solon spoke about several issues, including voting rights for DC, and
congratulations to Commissioner Williams on her re-election. He also said he was sorry that Commissioner
Assalaam lost.
3. Public Safety
Officer
Tolbert of PSA 104 gave the crime statistics for the area, and said that in
comparison to the rest of the city, Southwest is doing well, and is one of the
safest districts in District 1, with no recent homicides. He reminded people
once again not to leave anything in their cars, and said that juveniles are the
main problem. He said there are now
prescribed patrol areas, around Carrollsburg Square and Arena Stage.
4. New Office of Planning Staff
Commissioner
Litsky introduced Jeff Davis, the new Ward 6 planner in the Office of
Planning. He announced a Ward 6
workshop on December 6th at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre. He said a group of businesses is looking at
creating a BID for the M Street corridor.
5. Old Business
Paul
Tummonds of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, attorneys for the developer, and
Phil Esocoff, the project’s architect presented plans for the renovation of
Marina View Towers, 1100 6th Street SW, across from Arena Stage and next door
to the proposed Waterfront development.
The project will go before the Zoning Commission on February 15th. There are currently two buildings, on M
Street and K Street, and the Applicant plans on building two additional
buildings in what are now parking lots on the M Street and K Street sides. There will be a garden in the middle of the
project, and there will be below ground garages. The project will be bicycle accessible, even including a bike
lane in to the garage. They are
planning to repair the windows and concrete on the existing buildings. They have held three meetings with tenants
and community at Arena Stage, and plan to keep one building open during the
renovation project.
Commissioner
Skolnik asked about the specifics of a discounted rental rate for tenants
remaining during the construction, and was told that they have not yet figured
it out and are still working on it. He
also asked about affordable housing in the new development and was told that
there will be 11,500 square feet of affordable house, which will be available
at up to 80% of AMI. He was told that
more detailed information would be provided to him.
Lee
Adams, president of the Marina Towers Tenants Association, said that they are
working with the developer, but are concerned about maintaining the tenants’
rights, and said they will be requesting help to make certain their rights are
upheld. She expressed concern about the
status of the public garden and how it will affect the safety and well being of
the tenants. Mr. Esocoff responded that
the garden will be available to the tenants of all four buildings, and will be
open to the public during the day.
Commissioner Moffatt asked whether about how open the space would be,
saying that the parking lots were now open and people could walk through
them. Mr. Esacoff said that the garden
would be “defensible space,” open but secure.
Commissioner
Williams said that while community benefits included affordable housing, the
apartments were formerly rent-controlled and would no longer be, and the City
was losing 255 rent controlled units.
She said that her experience with buildings being turned into condos
from rental units is that the tenants come out on the losing end, and that
there will be a huge battle. J. Graham
Brook, of Fairfield Residential, the project’s developer, said that there will
be a buyout package before the set down at the Zoning Commission, which has not
yet been filed because they are still working on the plan. They want to move
forward as quickly as possible, but need to get the existing tenants down below
50% before they can proceed. They have
to empty four or five columns of people at a time, and then move the remaining
tenants into one building.
Commissioner
Litsky said that eight members of the Southwest community had met with
representatives of NCRC, Forest City and Charles E. Smith. They included three ANC Commissioners—Max
Skolnik and Mary Williams, in whose SMDs the project is located, and Chairman
Andy Litsky, Naomi Monk, Marge Maceda, representing SWNA, Ruth Hamilton, Robert
Sockwell, a former BZA chair, who was invited because of his expertise, and
Roger Wilkins. The four-hour meeting
presented the first opportunity to sit down to discuss public benefits in light
of the expiring PUD.
Commissioner
Skolnik said that it was a long and fruitful meeting. He said that the developers had agreed to many things:
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Proposed retail had been woefully inadequate, and
they agreed to raise the minimum amount of retail from 110,000 sq. ft. to
160,000 sq. ft.
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They also provided assurances that they would work on
a shorter timeline, and the first buildings would be completed within three
years.
§
Additionally, they pledged to work with MPD and the
PSA on the public safety issues relating to the construction, and safe access
for the residents living North of the construction.
§
They committed to providing office and meeting space
for community organizations.
§
They will make the project LEED-certified.
§
They agreed to implement a RLARC home buyership program
for Southwest residents.
He
said that this was not a final meeting, but the first of many. He said the issue of the grocery store had
not yet been resolved, and it was still a possibility that the community could
lose a supermarket, but that the developers were making a best effort with
Safeway. He said that the issues of
setbacks, heights and massing were also unresolved.
Commissioner
Litsky said that the supermarket would not necessarily be Safeway, and that if
Safeway chooses to stay it would be fine, but the issue is not Safeway but a
market, and they had asked the developer to build a building to be occupied by
a market after Safeway leaves if Safeway does not want the expanded space. The current PUD does not require a
supermarket if one opens south of the freeway and anywhere in Southwest
including Buzzard’s Point. He said that
if there is no market at the Mall it will impact property values, and the
community must stand firm on eliminating the language that gives them an out on
the market. He said he could not feel
more strongly about that aspect of the plan.
He reiterated that there will be more opportunities to meet with the
developers.
Commissioner
Moffatt expressed his concern that the issues of massing and setbacks were not
addressed. The issue of a special
shuttle bus or circulator bus being used during construction and was raised, as
well as whether there would be increased private security at the site as
well. Commissioner Williams added that
this had to be addressed with MPD because the developers cannot control public
sidewalks. Commissioner Litsky said
that this was not an amenity, but an expectation that the neighborhood will be
safe and that people will be gotten from north to south. It is both an MPD and developer responsibility,
and no permits will be given unless there is a community buy-in on a security
plan.
Commissioner
Williams said there was disagreement about whether a pot of money should be
going to job training, saying that she felt another job training program was not
needed. She said she would rather see
the money going for education and education-related programs.
Commissioner
Assalaam asked why the ANC is negotiating with private organizations, and asked
why other groups in the community were not included. He asked why availability of community space was being limited to
only a few groups. Commissioner Skolnik
said that the community space would be available to everyone, and Commissioner
Williams said that they would not accept anything as a “gift” from the developers. Commissioner Litsky said the community
meeting space would be for 200 people, and the office space was tacked on. Mr. Sockwell said that the three new
projects—Waterfront, Town Center, and Marina View Towers—should be working
together on security, for while private security has limits, they have to
protect citizens during construction.
The community he said should look to traditional resources for meeting
space, including the recreation center and the schools, because the project’s
retail space should not be compromised.
He said that meeting space could be within residential buildings.
Ms.
Monk said that the developers have had meetings with MPD and are continuing to
do so, and Marge Maceda added that they took the initiative in going to the Circulator
people about the bus routes. Ms. Maceda
added that she disagreed with Commissioner Williams about giving money to
education because the schools had money and job training was needed. Commissioner Williams responded that she was
looking for a way to provide immediate and direct assistance.
There
was a discussion of how the people on the negotiating committee were selected,
with Ms. Monk saying that Commissioners Skolnik and Williams were elected by
the people of the SMDs to represent them, Andy Litsky was the ANC Chair and
Marge Maceda was the elected head of SWNA.
Commissioner Williams said she had nominated Robert Sockwell because of
his expertise. Jennifer Budoff of NCRC said that it had selected the initial
six people based on elected representatives and community activity. The ANC was given the opportunity to add
additional perspectives, and Mr. Sockwell and Mr. Wilkins had provided
invaluable insights. Commissioner Skolnik said that it was impossible to get a
100% representative group, but this was a good group, and Commissioner Williams
added that she had even represented Gene Solon on his issues relating to the
opening of 4th Street.
Dick
Westbrook said that he had served on the RLARC board for three years and he
believed that RLARC had to charge market rate land, and there should be a legal
opinion on the legality of the land swap as it is structured. Commission Assalaam agreed, saying that
they’re in violation of the law, had changed the law illegally, and giving the
land away.
Anthony
Noble of Holland and Knight and Amy Phillips of Monument Realty presented again
their proposed alley closing on Squares 700 and 701, between M and N and Half
and 1st Streets SE. The
square footage of the alley spaces, which are on land being purchased from
WMATA, is 10,701 sq. ft., of which about 50% will be deeded back to WMATA, from
whom the developer will purchase FAR.
They
have proffered a package of community benefits including LEED certified, to 20%
affordable housing at 80% of AMI, local and first source hiring, the use of
LSBDE companies, a $500,000 contribution to air conditioning at Amidon School,
and taking responsibility for the construction of the expansion at the Navy
Yard Metro stop. The package had been
referred to the Development Committee at the last ANC meeting. Ms. Phillips said that Monument Realty has
been active in Southwest and became interested in Amidon School while it was
building Potomac Place, and the air conditioning project was something they
have wanted to do. She said that while
it might be closing, it will be used as a “swing” school for many years. She said that if the closing of the school
is imminent, the project could be moved to another school.
Deb
Moss, Development Committee chair, who said that, while the developer was
planning to undertake the Amidon project anyway, it was a worthwhile project,
and the committee had voted to recommend that the ANC accept the proffer as
satisfactory for Southwest residents.
Ms.
Phillips said that it was a project that Monument wanted to do, and this
project gave them the funds to do it.
Ms. Phillips said she wanted to work with the ANC to develop a program
to set aside residences for current Southwest residents who want them. She said they working with the Anacostia
Waterfront Corporation to develop retail that will benefit total community.
Motion: Commissioner Sobelsohn moved that a delegation be established of
three ANC members to negotiate outstanding issues of the proffer with Monument
Realty. It was seconded by Commissioner
Siegel. Mr. Skolnik moved to amend the
motion by adding two members of the Development Committee to the
delegation. The amendment was accepted
without objection.
Commissioners
Siegel, Skolnik and Sobelsohn were appointed to serve as the ANC members of the
delegation.
Vanessa
Ruffin said that the community has lost a valuable resource in its arts spaces,
and that consideration should be given in negotiations to restoring studio
space for local artists.
The
motion passed 5-0-2, with Commissioners Williams and Assalaam not voting.
5. New Business
ANC
Move
Commissioner
Litsky reported that the Corcoran is about to close on the Randall School
building, and while the Corcoran people thought the ANC could stay longer, it
turns out that the Commission has to be moved by November 20th. After consultation with Carol Mitten and the
Corcoran staff, the ANC was negotiating with Bethel Church, across from
Randall, but on the 11th, they backed out of the agreement. The
Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and OPM hurriedly went on a search for
space, and found that there was space at 25 M Street SW, which is now vacant
except for the first floor. There will
be no charge for rent on the space, which will be open during city hours. Motion: Commissioner Litsky moved to
allocate up to $400 for moving expenses. The motion was seconded by
Commissioner Sobelsohn.
Commissioner
Litsky said he based the figure on paying moving people $15 per hour, and the
cost of renting a truck. Commissioner
Williams suggested using people from the low-income community to facilitate the
move. Commissioner Skolnik pointed out that the ANC budget has $3000 budgeted
for office expenses, so the allocation is within the budget. The motion passed 6-1, with Commissioner
Assalaam voting in opposition.
6. Approval of Minutes
(Commissioner
Moffatt left the meeting at 9:15)
Motion: Commissioner Sobelsohn
moved approval of the May minutes. The
motion was seconded by Commissioner Skolnik, and passed 4-2, with Commissioners
Williams and Assalaam in opposition.
Motion:
Commissioner
Sobelsohn moved approval of the June minutes.
The motion was seconded by Commissioner Skolnik and passed 3-1-1, with
Commissioner Assalaam in opposition and Commissioner Sobelsohn abstaining.
Motion:
Commissioner
Sobelsohn moved approval of the September minutes. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Skolnik and passed 3-1-1,
with Commissioner Assalaam in opposition, and Commissioner Sobelsohn
abstaining.
Motion:
Commissioner
Sobelsohn moved approval of the October minutes. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Skolnik and passed 3-1-1,
with Commissioner Assalaam in opposition, and Commissioner Sobelsohn abstaining
7. Treasurer’s Report
Commissioner Skolnik gave the Treasurer's Report for September
11-October 16. A copy of his report is
attached to these minutes. ANC 6D has
$47,694.69 in current funds, including an allotment from the DC Government in
the amount of $4,821.64. The savings account
has $5,120.31, including an interest payment of $2.61. The report includes expenses submitted for
approval staff salary, $554.10 (Check #285), state withholding taxes to DOES
for $29.25; to DCPS for rental of Amidon School, $41.34 (Check #786); and to
Roberta Weiner for petty cash $100 (check #287) Motion: Commissioner Skolnik made/Commissioner Sobelsohn
seconded a motion to approve the November report and to authorize payment of
the expenses. The motion passed 5-0-1. With Commissioner Assalaam voting in
opposition.
Motion: Commissioner Skolnik moved acceptance of the ANC budget
for FY 06-07. It was seconded by
Commissioner Sobelsohn and passed 6-0.
Commissioner Skolnik reported that the ANC had been audited by the
DC Auditor and the Commission was given a “clean bill of health,” with three
minor issues: there had been no budget submitted for FY 04-05; there had been
credit card purchases, which have been eliminated; and the bank statements,
which had been sent to the Treasurer’s home, are now being sent to the office.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:43 pm.