ADVISORY
NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSION 1B
Government
of the
DRAFT
Minutes
Thursday, February
4, 2010,
7:00 PM,
The regular
monthly meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1B occurred on Thursday, February
4, 2010, at 7:00 pm in the
Chairperson
Anderson Holness called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness then made the following announcement:
We
ask that you silence your cell phones.
By “silence” I mean either put them on “silence” or turn them off if you
are able. The vibration and rings
interfere with our recording and we sometimes lose valuable information.
ü This meeting is audio-recorded for the
public record and the draft minutes of the meeting, which will be published on
our website within one week.
ü We welcome and encourage public
comment at appropriate points in the meeting.
Normally, we will ask for public comment on issues before the Commission
before any motion is offered for official action. Once a motion has been made and seconded,
comment and discussion is confined to Commissioners.
ü We ask that all those making
presentations, asking questions, or making comments speak loudly and clearly
for the benefit of our recording device.
You can come forward and sit at the witness table and make sure that
your comments are picked up. Please state
your name, residence address, and what organization you represent. If you are representing yourself as a
resident, rather than an organization, please say so.
ü For the accuracy of our public
records, we ask that all those making presentations, asking questions, or
making comments complete the very brief speaker information form located on the
sign in table at the back of the room.
Please give the completed form to our Staff Director, Jim Irwin, either
before or after you speak to the Commission.
The purpose of this form is to assure correct spelling of your name in
the minutes, accurate address and accurate statement of representation.
Thank you for
your attendance, participation and cooperation.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness called attention to the new ANC 1B brochure which was now
available. It provided a contact list of
commissioners and other information on Commission activities.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness observed the presence of a quorum at 7:04 PM.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness asked Commissioners to introduce themselves.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness thanked Commissioner Brianne Nadeau for her service as
Chairperson in 2009.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness called attention to the agenda for the meeting. She said a time frame for the consideration
of issues had been added. She noted that
people would often leave before the meeting was over, so she was trying to
contain the meeting to one-and-a-half hours, so that everyone would be able to
participate and be a part of the meeting, and would not leave until all had
been heard. She hoped that everyone
would be able to abide by the time limits that had been set. She said that Mr. Jim Irwin, Staff Director,
would serve as time keeper and would let speakers know when their time was
almost up. She thanked everyone for
coming and participating.
Election of Design Committee Chair
Chairperson
Anderson Holness noted that the election of the Chair of the Design Committee
had been deferred from the January meeting.
She opened the floor for nominations.
Commissioner
Muhammad nominated Mr. Tony Norman. He
said Mr. Norman was very active in the community and was a member of the Lower
Georgia Avenue Task Force. There will be
a lot of redevelopment on lower Georgia Avenue, especially around Howard
University. Mr. Norman had also been a
member of and active in the Commission’s Design Committee last year.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness asked if there were other nominations.
There was
none.
Commissioner
Muhammad moved that Mr. Tony Norman be elected Chair of the Design Committee by
acclamation.
Commissioner
Raia seconded the motion.
Commissioner
Nadeau asked if the Commission could hear from Mr. Norman.
Mr. Norman
said that he had worked on the Design Committee with Commissioner Thomas. He was the Vice President of the Pleasant
Plains Civic Association, and had worked on a number of issues and projects in
that capacity. He had worked closely
with Commissioners Moss and Akinmboni.
He had served on the Columbia Heights Development Board. He said Commissioner Nadeau had been very
helpful on the McMillan issue and ANC 1B had been one of the first Commissions
to provide support when she was Chair early in 2009.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness asked if there were any other questions. There being none, she called for a vote on
Mr. Norman’s nomination.
Mr. Norman
was elected Design Committee Chair 6-0-1, with Commissioner Nadeau abstaining.
Presentations
U.S. Census Bureau – 2010 Census
Chairperson
Anderson Holness called on Ms. Sharon Moore of the Census Bureau to make a
presentation. She observed that 2010 is
a census year and it was extremely important that everyone participate in the
census. Ms. Moore would provide
important information on this.
Ms. Moore
said she was a recruiting assistant with the Census Bureau. She said that she administers the test to
qualify applicants for census jobs.
These jobs pay from $16.00 to $21.50 per hour. She said they were currently looking for
sites to administer the test, spaces that would accommodate up to 20 people. They were also looking for organizations to
help distribute recruiting brochures and to help spread the word about census
jobs and participation in the census.
She said the most important thing was for everyone to fill out the
census survey when it arrived around April 1st, sign it and return
it.
Commissioner
Thomas asked whether the informational brochures and tests were in any other
language than English. Ms. Moore said
they had brochures in Spanish and they were also recruiting Spanish-speaking
individuals to administer the test. She
said there were two Census Bureau offices in Washington, D.C. Her office was called D.C. East. People could contact her at 301-244-1060,
which was her office number. Her personal
cell phone number, for people who had sites suitable for testing, was
312-933-6822.
5th Annual Marathon and
Half-Marathon
Ms. Diane
Thomas, of the Greater Washington Sports Alliance, said their offices were
located at 18th and Eye Streets, N.W, but that they would soon be
relocating to ANC 1B and moving into space in the Solera Building at 14th
Street and Florida Avenue N.W. They are
a non-profit organization which organizes sports events for Washington,
D.C.
They operate
the National Marathon, which runs in March every year. This year, it will run on Saturday, March 20th. The Marathon route will run through ANC 1B
down Harvard Street N.W. Streets will be
closed for about an hour forty-five minutes.
The National Marathon is a competitive race. Runners must qualify.by having run previous
races and posted qualifying times. In
the ANC 1B area the first runner will enter about 7:30 AM and the last runner
will leave about 9 AM. They will have a
station at SunTrust Plaza at 18th Street N.W. and Columbia Road
N.W. They will be handing out
commemorative T-shirts and they hope that people will come by to pick up a
T-shirt and watch the runners go by.
Commissioner
Muhammad said that, to him, SunTrust Plaza was in another country and he asked
whether, next year, an event could be scheduled in ANC 1B.
Ms. Thomas
said yes, absolutely, they could have stations anywhere along the marathon
route. She said that SunTrust was the
title sponsor of the race, which was why one station was established at the
Plaza. Any group interested in organizing
a station could contact the Alliance through the website and sign up.
Commissioner
Nadeau moved that ANC 1B send a letter of support for the National Marathon.
Commissioner
Ferrer seconded the motion.
The motion
was adopted unanimously, 9-0.
Officers Reports
Secretary’s Report – Minutes of January,
2010 meeting
Commissioner
Moss moved that the draft minutes of the January 2010 meeting be approved as
submitted.
Commissioner Ferrer
seconded the motion.
The motion
was adopted unanimously, 9 yes, 0 no.
Treasurer’s Report
Commissioner
Ferrer presented the Treasurer’s Report and noted two corrections: the date of the report is January, 2010 not
January 2009, and the statement that no checks were written in January 2010 is
not correct. The two checks that were
cashed in January, 2010 were also written in January 2010.
Commissioner
Ferrer said that expense reimbursements to be approved totaled $386.54 for
office supplies, postage, printing of the ANC 1B brochures, and six months post
office box rental. Receipts for all of
these expenses have been submitted.
Commissioner Ferrer
moved that reimbursement to James Irwin for these expenses in the amount of
$386.54 be approved by the Commission.
Commissioner
Muhammad seconded the motion.
The motion
was adopted unanimously, 9-0.
Commissioner
Ferrer moved that the Treasurer’s Report be approved with the two corrections
he had noted.
Commissioner
Moss seconded the motion.
The motion
was adopted unanimously, 9-0.
Public Safety and Public Safety
Committee Report
Commissioner
Muhammad thanked Commissioner Moss for her service as the previous Chair of the
Public Safety Committee. He said he had
big shoes to fill and every single month Commissioner Moss has been there for
the community and for ANC 1B.
As the new
Chair of the Committee, Commissioner Muhammad said he planned to have the
Public Safety Committee represented in all eleven single-member districts
(SMDs) in ANC 1B. He plans to attend as many public meetings as
possible. He will also meet with the
leadership of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and DC Fire and Emergency
Medical Services (DCFD) on a consistent basis regarding public safety
issues. He will be giving a detailed
report on the serious public safety issues that have developed in ANC 1B during
the past month, identifying them by SMD and ANC Commissioner.
In ANC 1B02
(Commissioner Raia), there was a house fire on January 8th at 1020 W
Street N.W. The fire was put out, but
one person was transported to a nearby hospital with burns. On January 11th, police who were
taking a stolen auto report observed the vehicle passing them and stopped it,
making arrests.
In ANC 1B03
(Commissioner Muhammad), on January 12th, he met with Councilmember
Graham, Commander Jacob Kishter of MPD, Inspector Medina, the D.C. Housing
Authority Police Chief, and others regarding public safety issues at Garfield
Terrace.
On January 14th,
the D.C. Attorney General, Peter Nickels, announced a multi-agency task force
targeting property owners and tenants who harbor illegal drug activity and
making strides to combat drug nuisances.
The task force is relying on the drug nuisance abatement law which
allows the Attorney General to seek court orders allowing tenants to be evicted
or requiring property owners to expend resources to abate drug nuisances.
[Part of
Commissioner Muhammad’s report was inaudible due to audio interference.]
In ANC 1B04
(Commissioner Thomas), on January 25th, on the 1200 block of W
Street N.W., there was a home invasion.
Three roommates were robbed inside their home at gunpoint by three
intruders.
In ANC 1B01
(Commissioner Moss), after an extensive investigation, a search warrant was
executed in the 2000 block of 4th Street N.W. The location was operating an illegal
gambling house and two arrests were made.
On February
3, PSA 305 had their meeting. Five new
plainclothes officers are assigned to the Third District to work on auto theft
cases. Each officer is assigned to
different PSAs. Sergeant Crystal Beslo
is in charge of these officers.
In ANC 1B07
(Commissioner Lopez), on February 3rd, homicide detectives were
investigating the death of a man that occurred on the 2800 block of 14th
Street N.W., as the result of a domestic dispute. The victim was identified as 28 year old Ty
Angelo Jackson of the [inaudible] block of Alabama Avenue S.E.
Also on February
3rd in ANC 1B07, the 3rd District Armed Robbery Tac Unit
observed a gunman on the 1400 block of Fairmont Street N.W. After a brief foot pursuit, the individual
was apprehended and a high-powered weapon with several rounds of ammunition was
recovered.
On February
23rd, MPD will host a public vice seminar where MPD will discuss the
successes of the MPD district vice units and ongoing drug issues that plague
D.C.
On February
26th, Commander Larry McCoy, former Commander of the 3rd
District, is being honored for 31 years of service to MPD. He retired on January 7th.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness thanked Commissioner Muhammad for his extensive report and
expressed the hope that in the future, he would provide a written report to the
Commission that could be distributed to the community so that people would know
what is going on in their PSAs.
Commissioner
Moss said that Lieutenant Jova, the MPD representative for PSA 305, advised
that a lot of gang members are about to be released from prison and will be
infiltrating back into the community, so residents, especially in LeDroit Park,
should be aware of that. Also, MPD is
working with Metro Transit Police on robberies around the 12th and U
Metro stop where the perpetrators are escaping into the Metro.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness commented that one of the speakers scheduled for the March
Commission meeting is the new Director of the Mayor’s Office of Ex-Offender
Affairs.
Commissioner
Lopez asked if Commissioner Muhammad could provide e-mail notice to Commissioners
when public safety incidents occur in their SMDs.
Commissioner
Muhammad said he would do that by e-mail, text message or phone call, depending
on what Commissioners preferred.
Commissioner
Moss said she wanted to put on record special thanks to MPD and the Vice
Division for clearing out the gambling house.
It had been a real problem for residents of LeDroit Park, and they
wanted to give MPD credit for a job well done.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness thanked Commissioner Muhammad for his report and said it would
be received for informational purposes, which meant that the Commission did not
have to approve it.
Design Review Applications and Design
Committee Report
1916 9th Street N.W.—Application
for Variance and Special Exception
Commissioner
Raia provided background on this application.
He said that for many years the building at this location had been
commercial, but the current owner has found out that the property is actually
zoned residential.
Mr. William
Basiliko, owner of the property, said that when he purchased the property, the
office Zoning Commission website map showed it as zoned commercial. He found out that it was actually zoned
residential when he applied for a permit last October. He said he planned for the building to be
multi-use. First, it would be an art
gallery for upcoming local D.C. artists, people who show their work in Busboys
and Poets, restaurants, gyms. They
really do not have a place to show their work, so his goal was to have a place
for them to show their work at a nominal fee.
He would take 20%, which is very low, meaning that the artists would
receive 80% of all sales. The second use
of the building would be as a community center, to provide space to community
organizations for meetings and events.
For example, the lady from the Census Bureau could use space to administer
the employment test. The fee for the use
of the space would be a donation to an educational program in D.C. He would not be getting any money from the
use of the space. The user would
identify a worthy program, decide how much to give to it, and then provide him
with a receipt and some information about the program they have donated
to. The third component of the building
is to be a green building [inaudible due to audio interference].
Commissioner
Nadeau commented that it was this Commission that had discovered the error in
the zoning map. She asked Mr. Basiliko
what plan he had for trash disposal for big events or community use of the
space.
Mr. Basiliko
said that the contract with a user would require the user to be responsible for
removing their own trash.
Commissioner
Nadeau asked what the situation was for loading and unloading art and other
objects.
Mr. Basiliko
said that the building was landlocked and that he would have to load and unload
from the front. The goal was to have a
large variety of artists, so there would be a small amount of art from each
individual artist and not a lot of loading or unloading from any one party.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness commented that she had attended a meeting at the Department of
Transportation regarding truck routes in the city. One of the things she had recommended to them
was that there be a certain time frame for trucks to come into the area, and to
prevent truck traffic during the morning and afternoon rush hours. That was something that might be helpful in
this situation.
Commissioner
Nadeau suggested that the letter from the Commission include a recommendation
that loading or unloading occur only between rush hours.
Commissioner
Moss asked if Mr. Basiliko had consulted with his neighbors about the project,
especially considering he was landlocked, and had he received any positive or negative
feedback.
Mr. Basiliko
said the neighbors were all very positive about having a business there other
than another restaurant. They saw it as
something that would bring additional business into the neighborhood, which
would be good for their businesses.
Commissioner
Moss asked if artists would work on-site or would they just bring their
products to the gallery.
Mr. Basiliko
said they would bring their product to the gallery, but he was hoping to be
able to offer art classes for kids in the community and already had two people
signed up to teach classes.
Mr. Lynn
Johnson, residing on Westminster Street N.W., said he was the president of the
Westminster Neighborhood Association. He
wanted to convey a couple of concerns to the Commission. He said that the property was in fact zoned
R-4, although the maps had shown it as C-2 for years. The error was regrettable, but the reality
was that the property was zoned R-4 for a reason. The property had residential buildings on
three sides. The zoning was changed to
R-4 21 years ago.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness asked if Mr. Johnson had a specific question. She realized that he wanted to provide the
Commission with background, but what the Commission wanted was for him to get
to a specific question on the issue.
Mr. Johnson
said that the Westminster Association would request that the community center
definition be very narrowly defined.
They had concern about the disposal of trash. The second concern they had was that if a
variance was granted, it would then stay with the building even if it were
sold.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness said that one standard she wanted to set was that when the
floor was opened to the community, she wanted people to ask questions. Comments could go on forever.
Mr. Basiliko
said that he was asking two things: a
special use exception. The building had
been a hair salon for over forty years.
He was asking to change that to an art gallery. He had to keep it an art gallery. He could not change the use. He was also asking for a variance so that he
could enclose the back area of the building and increase the interior space.
Mr. Scott
Pomeroy asked if Mr. Basiliko would consider alternatives to his trash
plan. He said a commercial establishment
is required to provide trash and recycling service, so having patrons be
responsible would not be a legal solution.
He said there were a number of possible solutions that were legal.
Mr. Basiliko
said that he would.
Mr. Jamie
Pearson asked how the trash would be handled since disposal of trash could not
be imposed on patrons.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness said that question had already been answered.
Mr. Pearson
said that he was also making a plea to Mr. Basiliko to take the trash disposal
issue more seriously.
Mr. Basiliko
said he did take the issue very seriously.
He said he would have recycling in the basement for the trash from the
gallery. He knew that garbage was an
issue and he was willing to look at alternatives.
Commissioner
Raia said that, with reference to Commissioner Nadeau’s concerns, he would work
with Mr. Basiliko to develop an agreement governing the operation of the
business.
Commissioner
Raia moved that ANC 1B support Mr. Basiliko’s application for zoning variances
and a special exception.
Commissioner
Moss seconded the motion.
Commissioner
Nadeau offered an amendment to include in the letter of support that the
Commission requests a cooperative trash plan with the businesses in the area
and that the owner meet with the Westminster Neighborhood Association.
Commissioner
Raia said Mr. Basiliko would meet with the community. He said maybe he did not understand
Commissioner Nadeau’s amendment. His
motion was to support the application.
Before the motion was, he will enter into an agreement with the
community on the trash plan. It does not
have to be in the support letter to the Zoning Commission.
Commissioner
Nadeau said that it should be included.
Commissioner
Raia disagreed.
Commissioner
Nadeau said that if nobody supported her amendment, she would withdraw it.
Commissioner
Raia’s motion was adopted unanimously, 9-0.
Dogs by Day and Greenpets
Commissioner
Thomas asked that this matter be deferred to a later meeting.
321 T Street N.W.—Review of Conceptual
Design
Commissioner
Moss introduced Mr. James Phillips, the architect for 321 T Street N.W., which
is located in the center of historic LeDroit Park. The conceptual design for this residence will
be going before the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB). He has consulted with the neighbors on both
sides.
Mr. Phillips
said the project is a single-family structure, which is abandoned. The design for which they are asking support
would remove formstone from the front of the building, construct a rear
addition and replace all windows. [Some of Mr. Phillips’s comments were
inaudible.]
Commissioner
Moss added that the owners were asking for a variance in the rear.
Mr. Phillips
said they were not asking for a variance.
They were asking the Commission’s support because the structure is
historic. Any time a rear addition is
proposed for a historic structure, HPRB needs to approve.
Commissioner
Moss said she understood that variance referred to zoning, but for clarity and
for constituents who asked her, was there a variance in relation to the
project.
Mr. Phillips
said there was no variance in relation to the project.
Commissioner
Moss said, because of the economic situation, there was a lot of concern about
whether the project was financially viable and would be completed. She said the community needed as much
commitment as possible that this project would go all the way through.
Mr. Phillips
said that he was the only architect, and the only commitment that he could
guarantee is that they will be issued a permit.
He said it was the owner’s house and to his knowledge it was fully
funded.
Commissioner
Moss asked the owner, Mr. Grayson, if he could acknowledge her concern
regarding the financial viability of the project.
Mr. Grayson
said he could submit a financial statement to Commissioner Moss showing the
finances in place to complete the project.
Commissioner
Moss noted that such a statement was not legally required, but Mr. Grayson’s
offer was greatly appreciated, and if it was OK with him, while not sharing
details, she would provide a general assurance to the neighbors on both sides
that the financial statement demonstrated the viability of the project.
Commissioner
Moss asked if he was the owner, or was there another owner.
Mr. Grayson
said there was another owner in addition to himself.
Commissioner
Moss asked if both owners were on the project and had clarity that the project
was going through.
Mr. Grayson
said yes.
Commissioner
Moss asked Mr. Grayson to provide the name of the other owner when he provided
the financial statement.
Commissioner
Moss moved that ANC 1B support the conceptual design of 321 T Street N.W. as
presented by Mr. Phillips.
Commissioner
Muhammad seconded the motion.
The motion
was adopted, 8-0-1, with Commissioner Nadeau abstaining.
Broadcast Center One PUD – 7th
Street N.W. – Motion for two-year extension and amendment
Commissioner
Moss said that Mr. Steven Cassell, the attorney for Broadcast Center One PUD,
was present to request support for an extension of the project. This development is a centerpiece in her
single-member district. Radio One is
expected to be a primary anchor tenant for the project. In addition, negotiations are before the
Council for the United Negro College Fund to locate their headquarters at this
site.
Mr. Cassell
said that Broadcast Center One was moving forward after going through two very
difficult years. They were ready to
begin construction on the project and had a contract with Turner Construction
in late October, 2008 when the economy went bad and the banks stopped lending
money. The banks told him that they
would not lend if the project was not 100% leased. At that time, they had 60,000 square feet
leased to Radio One and TV One, but 35,000 square feet of additional office
space and the apartment building were not yet leased. They began looking for additional tenants and
the United Negro College Fund became a possibility. By May of 2009, the project had become the
UNCF preferred site. At the same time,
Radio One expressed interest in expanding their office space to 85,000 square
feet, which meant that the project did not have enough square footage to accommodate
both tenants. The application for an
extension and amendment of the PUD is due to the fact that the project was
redesigned in the last two months; now the office footprint was expanded to
160,000 square feet and the apartment building was reduced by the same
amount. The apartment count would be
reduced from 180 apartments to 133, but the 25% affordable unit rate would
still be maintained. There would still
be retail opportunities on 7th Street.
Commissioner
Moss moved that ANC 1B support Broadcast Center One’s application for a
two-year extension and amendment of its PUD.
Commissioner
Muhammad seconded the motion.
Mr. David
Corson observed that there had been several groundbreaking deadlines which had
been passed and he asked when groundbreaking for the project would actually
occur.
Mr. Cassell
said the project had been going on for several years and no one had more
project fatigue than he did. There had
been several times when they thought they were ready to go and circumstances
beyond their control prevented that. He
said that it was not possible to announce a groundbreaking date while they were
in the middle of negotiations, but now that UNCF had decided to move in to the
project, he could announce that, contingent on construction financing, the
groundbreaking would be in June or July, 2010.
Mr. Corson
asked how the community would be informed about the status of the project.
Mr. Cassell
said they would be more than happy to communicate the progress of the project
to the community and whatever the Commission thought was appropriate for
communication would be acceptable to them.
Mr. Patrick
Williams asked what would happen, what penalties would be imposed, if the
project did not meet deadlines or maintain established dates.
Mr. Cassell
said there were deadlines established in their lease agreement with Radio One
and TV One, and the agreement with UNCF, along with the agreement with the
Deputy Mayor’s office, so any extensions have to be approved and are subjected
to very serious scrutiny as to whether it is an extension due to circumstances
beyond their control or something that was a failure to execute on their
part. He said the project had now been
underway for five years, and there was an extreme sense of urgency on the part
of the developer and the partners to get the project completed.
The motion
was adopted unanimously, 9-0.
Liquor Licenses and ABC Committee
Report
Commissioner
Raia said there was no ABC Committee report.
He announced that the ABC Committee would be meeting on February 18,
2010 at 7:00 PM. He said he would
determine the meeting location tomorrow and would ask Mr. Irwin to distribute
an announcement through the community listserves.
MASA 14 – 1825 14th Street
N.W. – Retail Class C License – Application for Substantial Change
Chairperson
Anderson Holness noted that the Commission was attempting to adhere to a time
frame as noted on the agenda. She said
Mr. Irwin would be holding up a sign to note when time was almost up and she
asked that speakers respect the time.
She said that people’s time was extremely important and they did not
want to keep people at a meeting all night.
Mr. Andrew
Kline, representing the owners of MASA 14, said they were present to discuss a
proposed rooftop inside and outside at MASA 14.
He referred to a drawing to describe the second floor interior addition
and exterior rooftop deck. He said that
the second floor addition provided a natural sound barrier. The height of the adjacent building creates
an additional wall. The open area would
be to the front. The nearest residence
is about 160 feet away on Swann Street.
Behind the business are commercial establishments.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness called for questions from the Commission. There was none.
Mr. Latif
Guler, representing the applicant, asked to add some information. He said that the original building, 100 years
ago, had a rooftop beer garden. He cited
an InTowner article that said in 1902, the Washington Post had selected the
building as one of the coolest places in D.C.
He said the building was historical, dating back to the 1890s and that
they were trying to make it one of the coolest places in D.C. again.
Commissioner
Raia said that the community had come to him and he had met with the community
and the applicant to discuss their plans.
He said he had seen their plans and knew Mr. Guler’s objective with the
deck. MASA 14 already has a voluntary
agreement, but there is community
concern about the hours of operation for the deck, which makes it his concern.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness said that, before she entertained a motion from Commissioner
Raia, she would ask for questions from the community.
Mr. Joel
Larson, said he lived in the 1400 block of Swann Street, not in the area of ANC
1B, but in the residential area referred to by Mr. Kline. He asked what address Mr. Kline had used to
calculate the 160 feet distance. He said
he knew the figure was less than 160 feet and would be even lower when new
residences were constructed across the street.
He asked if Mr. Kline stood by his 160 feet figure.
Mr. Kline
said he did stand by the 160 feet, based on a crude observation using Google
maps.
Mr. Larson
asked if it was not true that the residential density had greatly increased
over the past 50 to 70 years since the previous usage of the building. Was it not true that there were no longer
automobile warehouses on 14th Street? Now there were condos.
Mr. Guler
said they acknowledged that there had been a change, which was why they had cut
down the original project by 60 percent. [The remainder of the exchange between
Mr. Guler and Mr. Larson is inaudible due to extraneous audio noise.]
Chairperson
Anderson Holness noted that people were saying they were not getting
information in their communities. There
are community meetings outside of the Commission meetings, and generally, by
the time these matters come to ANC 1B, they should be resolved and what the
Commission should be doing is voting on them.
She recommended that business applicants attend community meetings and
discuss their plans with residents so that they will be informed before they
come to the Commission meetings. She
said community groups included the LeDroit Community Civic Association, the
Pleasant Plains Civic Association, and other civic associations. She recommended that applicants go to the
civic associations first so that when they come to the Commission, the
questions will not be as lengthy and residents will have more information.
Commissioner
Raia said that MASA 14 had come before the community group regarding the
development of the rooftop deck and were coming to the Commission regarding the
ABRA license.
Mr. Ron
Richard, 1340 T Street N.W., asked what MASA 14 would do about reducing noise
to prevent it from disturbing residents after hours. He said that was his main concern, in
addition to the presence of the alley, which was also a source of noise.
Mr. Guler
said that the second floor structure they were building would create a natural
sound barrier. He said any additional
noise would be directed to the front of the building, to 14th
Street. The architect was also working
on additional green sound barriers for the deck. In addition, his building was surrounded by
three-story buildings, which provided additional sound barriers. He doubted there would be any additional
noise to the back of the building.
Mr. Ramon
Estrada, ANC 2B09, said he was the ANC Commissioner who represented the
residents who live on Swann Street N.W., and who would be affected by MASA 14’s
expansion. He asked what adjustments
were being made to closing hours.
Commissioner
Raia noted that the sidewalk café hours were up to midnight.
Commissioner
Estrada asked if the same hours would apply to the roof deck.
Mr. Guler’s
response was inaudible due to audio interference.
Commissioner
Estrada asked what the increase in seating capacity would be. Mr. Guler said an addition 70 seats would be
added, increasing total capacity to 320 seats.
Commissioner
Estrada said he noted that the indoor space on the second floor had a bar and
additional seating. The residents were
concerned about how the doors to that space would be managed. Would the people inside be kept inside after
the roof deck closes?
Mr. Kline
said the people in the second floor interior space would be dining. They would not be carrying drinks or walking
around.
[The
remainder of the exchange between Mr. Kline and Mr. Estrada was inaudible
because of audio interference.]
Commissioner
Estrada asked if there would be outdoor music.
Mr. Kline said there would be no outdoor music.
Ms. Kuk-ja
Kim, 1330 13th Street N.W. asked a question regarding indoor seating
capacity that was mostly inaudible due to audio interference. Ms. Kim also asked if the second floor roof
deck doors would always be closed. Mr.
Guler said he would work with Ms. Kim to address her concerns regarding the
roof deck doors and come up with a solution for them.
Ms. Heather
Harter, 1316 T Street N.W., asked if Mr. Guler planned to have just tables for
dining on the roof, or more of a bar situation.
Mr. Guler
referred to the drawings of the addition.
He said they would be constructing a kitchen on the second floor and
they wanted people to come there to dine.
Ms. Harter asked
about having the rooftop deck open until 3:00 AM. She asked if there would be restaurant dining
until 3:00 AM.
Mr. Guler
said that right now they were serving food until 1:00 AM on weekdays and 2:00
AM on weekends. He said the hours would
be the same.
Ms. Kim noted
that Mr. Guler had said that the hours of operation for the rooftop deck were
still being negotiated. She asked if the
hours of operation had now been established.
Mr. Guler
said that they had not met with the community and that this was their first
meeting.
Mr. Kline
said that was not correct; they had met with the U Street Association; they had
had trouble meeting with Commissioner Raia because of his schedule, but had met
with him on Monday, and now they were meeting with the Commission.
Ms. Kim asked
if there had been discussion at the U Street Association regarding the ABC
license, or was it just about the preliminary architectural design.
Mr. Kline
said that the U Street Association meeting focused mainly on the HPRB process.
Mr. Lincoln
Lieber, 1332 T Street N.W., said that everyone liked the design of the addition
and the restaurant, but had the Commission taken into account the precedent
that would be set by allowing a rooftop deck that would significantly change
the character of the neighborhood?
Chairperson
Anderson Holness answered yes.
Mr. Ed Weber,
1400 block of Swann Street N.W., asked if the restaurant had such a large
volume of dining business after 12 midnight that they needed an additional 70
seats on the second floor.
Mr. Guler
said they were a dining destination, not a nightclub, so they want to build
capacity.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness said the next question would be the last, as the Commission
had spent more time on this issue than planned.
Mr. Tony
Cord, 1133 14th Street N.W., commented that the Donovan House Hotel
is located next to his condominium building.
It has launched a successful rooftop operation which has enhanced the
neighborhood and the general quality of life.
Commissioner
Raia said that MASA 14 already had a voluntary agreement which stipulates their
hours on the inside, so there is no issue on the inside hours. There are issues with the deck and the
noise, and with the doors being open,
which is undetermined at this point.
Commissioner
Raia moved that ANC 1B protest MASA 14’s application for a substantial change
to its license on the basis of peace, order and quiet, so that the voluntary
agreement may be amended so that it matches the business model that they are
currently trying to become by the expansion.
Commissioner
Muhammad seconded the motion.
Commissioner
Raia said that, in negotiating the voluntary agreement, he would not negotiate
for the roof deck to be open past midnight.
He would like it to close earlier than midnight.
The motion
was adopted 8-1, with Commissioner Nadeau voting no.
Mr.; Kline
asked that, in dealing with the Commission, a couple of other Commissioners be
designated to work with him. He said
Commissioner Raia seemed to be busy and it was difficult to get in contact with
him, so he wanted to have someone they could work with.
Commissioner
Raia said he completely disagreed with Mr. Kline.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness said Mr. Kline would have to work with Commissioner Raia as he
could.
Mr. Kline
said he would copy Chairperson Anderson Holness on everything to see that they
got a response.
Bella, 900 Florida Avenue N.W., New
Retail Class C Restaurant License
Chairperson
Anderson Holness said this application was for a Class C Restaurant License
with entertainment, including dancing and live bands.
Commissioner
Raia said that no one from the business was present at the meeting. However, he
had met with them three times, most recently yesterday, due to the fact that
they have a stop-work order on their business.
He talked with the owner and his representatives about a voluntary
agreement. They are willing to enter
into a voluntary agreement. They will
have a CR license, which means they have to serve a certain percentage of food,
with the entertainment endorsement.
Commissioner
Raia moved that ANC 1B protest the application of Bella for a Class C
Restaurant License on the basis of peace, order and quiet, and authorize him to
negotiate a voluntary agreement.
Commissioner
Muhammad seconded the motion.
Commissioner
Moss said that she had heard feedback from residents about this new business,
and she encouraged Commissioner Raia to communicate to the representatives that
they need to show up and take questions from the community as well as the
Commission. There is some concern that
no one knows who the owners are, whether they have experience as restaurateurs. We want them to be visible and engaging with
the community.
Commissioner
Raia agreed. He said he understood that
the cuisine would be Italian/African.
Mr. Scott
Pomeroy asked if the owners would be attending the ABC Committee meeting.
Commissioner
Raia said he did not know and did not speak for them. He said he could ask them.
Mr. Pomeroy
said that they should be asked to attend the meeting so that they could present
themselves to the community.
Commissioner
Ferrer asked if there was a particular reason why the owners did not appear at
the Commission meeting.
Commissioner
Raia said that as far as he knew, they had been asked to attend.
Commissioner
Nadeau asked why the Commission should not just protest the license outright
rather than trying to negotiate with them.
Commissioner
Raia said because we did want to negotiate.
He asked what protesting outright would do for the Commission. They would still get their license. ABRA would not refuse to give them a
license. The Commission has never had
the power to stop a license.
Commissioner
Thomas referred to the Chairperson’s remarks about businesses going to
community association meetings to inform residents of their proposals. She said she thought the same should apply to
attending committee meetings. Business
owners should attend committee meetings to provide information and answer
questions.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness agreed.
Commissioner
Raia said that when he talked with businesses, he suggested that they attend,
but sometimes community associations did not invite them to their meetings.
Commissioner
Akinmboni said that business applicants should be going to the residents in the
neighborhoods where they are located and taking the initiative to provide
information and consult with those residents.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness agreed, and said that this was necessary so that the community
could be involved, ask questions and get information. The community could ask questions at the
Commission meetings too, but what she was saying was that community
associations and the neighborhoods should be the first point of contact for
businesses
Commissioner
Ferrer said that the Commission was in the position where it protested the license
and ABRA overruled it, or it protested unless the business entered a voluntary
agreement, in which case the Commission had some negotiating power with them.
Commissioner
Raia said that protesting on the basis of peace, order and quiet would give the
Commission negotiating power on how the licensee runs the establishment. He said that he had asked ABRA if the
Commission had the power to stop a license and had been told no.
Commissioners
Akinmboni and Nadeau said the Commission did have such power.
Commissioner
Raia said only if the Commission wins the case and that has not happened.
The motion
was adopted, 6-3, with Commissioners Akinmboni, Lopez and Nadeau voting no.
Ulah Bistro, 1214 U Street N.W. –
Application for Substantial Change to License
Commissioner
Raia said that no one from Ulah Bistro was present. He said he had spoken with the owner. Ulah Bistro is one of the outstanding
restaurants on U Street. The owner has
already requested the half-hour prior which the law states that he is supposed
to stop the entertainment. He already
knows that his doors will be closed. The
Commission does not have a voluntary agreement with Ulah Bistro because it is a
well-run establishment. No voluntary
agreement is needed.
Commissioner
Raia moved that ANC 1B support Ulah Bistro’s application for a substantial
change in its license.
Commissioner
Muhammad seconded the motion.
Commissioner
Akinmboni asked why the owner had not appeared at the Commission meeting.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness said that was a question Commissioner Akinmboni might want to
ask the owner.
Commissioner
Raia said they were invited and he would have to ask.
Commissioner
Moss asked if the Commission had not approved sidewalk seating for Ulah Bistro
in 2009.
Commissioner
Raia said that the Commission had supported that also.
Commissioner
Moss said there were condos across the street on 12th Street and
asked if there were any issues with sound or noise.
Commissioner
Raia said they had not had an entertainment endorsement and he had never had
any issues or complaints. That was why
the Commission had supported every request they had made, because they were
responsible. There had been issues with
Indulge, but not with Ulah. Ulah has had
its doors open, but understands that if they have music, they must keep the
doors closed.
Commissioner
Moss said that the Commission walked a fine line between restaurateurs and
entertainment. The city was becoming a
mini-Manhattan, accommodating more and more of a club atmosphere. She wanted to be sure that residents in the
area were comfortable with another establishment playing music.
Commissioner
Nadeau asked if the Commission did not currently have a voluntary agreement
with Ulah Bistro.
Commissioner
Raia said no, they did not.
Commissioner
Nadeau asked if all Commissioners were aware that if the application were
supported, the entertainment endorsement would transfer to a new owner.
Commissioner
Raia said that would be true if they maintained the same exact grounds.
The motion
was adopted 6-1-2, with Commissioner Nadeau voting no and Commissioners Moss
and Thomas abstaining.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness thanked Commissioner Raia for all the work he was doing for
ANC 1B.
Grant Applications and Grants
Committee Report
Extension of African American Holiday
Association Grant Period
Commissioner
Moss said that, as a result of the December snowstorm, the African American
Holiday Association had been unable to complete its program as funded by the
Commission. They have not been able to
use all the funds or carry out all the projects. She said she was requesting an extension of
the grant period so that they could carry out another project on February 13th.
Commissioner Moss
asked Ms. Ayo Handy Kendi if she had been able to carry out some projects and
expend some funds as proposed in the grant application.
Ms. Kendi
said she had.
Commissioner
Moss asked if she had receipts for those expenditures.
Ms. Kendi
said she did and she had provided them to Mr. Irwin.
Commissioner
Moss moved that ANC 1B support an extension of the grant funds for the African
American Holiday Association.
The motion
was seconded by Commissioner Akinmboni.
Commissioner
Lopez asked when the grant had been approved.
Commissioner
Moss said in December, 2009.
Commissioner
Lopez recommended that the auditor be consulted first, because the grant
application had specifically stated what the grant was for, and now the grant
would have to be resubmitted and get the auditor’s agreement.
Commissioner
Moss said that Gottlieb Simon had been consulted and that he had recommended
going forward with the grant extension.
She said it was important to be in compliance with the requirements,
which was why Ms. Kendi was providing a report and receipts to date.
The motion
was adopted unanimously, 9-0.
Columbia Heights Village Together
Grant Application
Commissioner
Akinmboni introduced Mr. Mack Thompson, Director, to describe the grant
application.
Mr. Thompson
said this year will be the fifth Tournament of Games. It was started in the 14th and
Girard Park by the Columbia Heights-Shaw Family Support Collaborative as an
organizing tool for the design process regarding the renovation of the
park. The tournament was so successful
and had so many people participating that it has continued every year
since. He said the CHSFSC continues to
support the tournament with funding, but does not sponsor it. ANC 1A also supports it, but they only
provide grants once a year. In addition,
the Tournament has lost support from the general contractor for the park
renovation, who has completed the work on the park. He said the grant would benefit residents of
ANC 1B08, 1B06, 1B07, 1B03, and 1B09.
Those were the areas where participants in the Tournament came from. Last year, they had about 330 participants,
and at least 150 came from these ANC SMDs.
Commissioner
Moss thanked Mr. Thompson for organizing a program that targets young people
and keeps them out of harm’s way. She
noted that there was no line-item budget and that the request was for $900.00
for “manpower/labor.” She asked Mr.
Thompson to provide details of how many people would be hired and what amounts
they would be paid.
Mr. Thompson
said they did not hire by the hour. The
payments were in the form of a stipend for judges, facilitators and
coordinators. They would be hiring six
people.
Commissioner
Lopez asked how the stipends would be recorded and submitted to the Commission.
Mr. Thompson
said they would have a receipt that would show a person received a certain
amount of money on a date for a specific purpose.
Commissioner
Raia suggested that the form being used by the African American Holiday
Association be adapted for use by this grant.
Commissioner
Muhammad commented that Mr. Thompson had done a fantastic job over the years
that he had known him.
Commissioner
Akinmboni moved that ANC 1B support the grant application of Columbia Heights
village Together for $900.00.
Commissioner
Muhammad seconded the motion.
Commissioner
Moss asked that the motion be amended to include a request for a specific
budget for the $900.00.
Commissioner
Akinmboni agreed to amend her motion to include the requirement that a budget
for the $900.00 expenditure be included.
Commissioner
Lopez asked when the event would occur.
Mr. Thompson
said Saturday, March 6th.
Commissioner
Lopez noted that the date was not specified in the grant application and asked
that the application be amended to include the event date.
The motion
was adopted 8-1, with Commissioner Nadeau voting no.
Arose Youth Development Letter of
Support
Commissioner Akinmboni said that Arose Youth
Development had wanted a letter of support for a grant application, but the
deadline had passed by the January meeting.
She wanted the Commission to approve a generic letter of support for
Arose Youth Development that could be used for future grant opportunities,
since these opportunities sometimes came up at short notice and there was not
time to submit them to the Commission individually.
Commissioner
Akinmboni moved that ANC 1B write a letter of support for Arose Youth
Development for fiscal year 2010.
Commissioner
Nadeau seconded the motion.
The motion
was adopted unanimously, 9-0.
New Business
There was no
New Business.
Community Events and Announcements
Commission Announcements
Commissioner
Thomas said that, now that the Commission had new committee chairs and new
committee members, she hoped that there could be a system for announcing when
and where committee meetings would be held.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness said that committee meetings could be announced through the
Commission website.
Commissioner
Akinmboni asked who the members of the Grants Committee were.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness said that the membership of the Committee was open to
volunteers from the community.
Commissioner
Muhammad announced that the South Columbia Heights Neighborhood Association, of
which he is the president, would be meeting on Wednesday, February 17th,
at 7:00 PM, at the Josephine Butler Parks Center, 2437 15th Street
N.W. This will be a joint meeting with
Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) PSA 304.
The guest speaker this month will be Dr. Pierre Vigilance, Director of
the D.C. Department of Health.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness announced that ANC 1B11 would be holding its monthly meeting
on Monday, February 8th, weather permitting. The guest speaker was Maybelle Bennett, of
Howard University, to discuss zoning issues.
She will also be speaking to the Commission at the March meeting. The other guest was the new Director of the Mayor’s
Office of Ex-Offender Affairs. The
meetings are held at the Kelly Miller/LeDroit Senior Center. On the third Saturday of the month, ANC 1B11
will have its monthly empowerment meeting at the same location.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness announced that there is a new informational brochure for ANC
1B available with contact information for commissioners and information on
Commission activities.
Commissioner
Thomas announced that the V-W Task Force had met last night with Councilmember
Graham, CSOSA and others. The task force
meetings will resume on a regular basis and will be scheduled in the evenings
instead of the in the mornings so that more residents of V, W Streets and
Florida Avenue can attend. This is a
good forum for exchanging information about crime, public safety issues and
other issues in that area.
Commissioner
Muhammad asked that he be notified of the task force meetings so that he could
attend and also include people from that neighborhood in the Public Safety
Committee meetings to improve the exchange of information about public safety
issues.
Commissioner
Moss announced that the Mary Church Terrell Foundation and Howard University
will be holding a forensic challenge seminar.
ANC 1B has provided grant funds to enable the seminar to take
place. It will be held on Saturday,
February 20th, between 11 AM and 3:30 PM at the Howard University
Blackburn Center. The Forensic Challenge
is in the form of a debate, a revisiting of the debate between Booker T.
Washington and W.E.B. DuBois.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness noted that a memorial service was scheduled for Friday,
February 5th for the late Howard University President Emeritus Dr.
Cheeks. However that service has been
cancelled due to weather and will be rescheduled at a later date. Dr. Cheeks did a lot for Howard University
and for the community.
Commissioner
Lopez asked when the next Public Safety Committee meeting would be.
Commissioner
Muhammad said that PSA 305 met on the first Tuesday of the month and PSA 304 on
the third Wednesday of the month.
However, Commissioner Muhammad was in the process of visiting all the
various PSA and community meetings around ANC 1B, hoping to get 12 to 15 people
to join the Committee, and he would be announcing a meeting time and date once
that process had been completed.
Commissioner
Raia announced that the ABC Committee would be meeting on February 18th
at 7:00 PM. He would be able to announce
the location tomorrow. The MidCity
Business Association would be briefing the Committee on the hospitality
program. An agenda would be posted.
Commissioner
Lopez asked when the ANC 1B office would be open.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness said that arrangements were in process, and the opening would
be announced on the website once a firm date could be established. She expected to have an open house and a
ribbon cutting when the office was opened.
Chairperson
Anderson Holness thanked everyone for a very orderly meeting and noted that the
meeting had only gone overtime by 30 minutes.
She hoped that they would be able to cut it down to an hour and a half
in future.
Commissioner Raia
moved that the February 2010 meeting of ANC 1B be adjourned.
Commissiner Ferrer
seconded the motion.
The motion
was adopted unanimously and the meeting was adjorned at 8:58 pm.