ADVISORY NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSION 1B
Government of the
Minutes
Thursday, November 6, 2008, 7 PM, 1200 U Street NW
The regular monthly meeting of
ANC1B was held on Thursday, November 6, 2008, at 7:00 pm in the True Reformer
Building, Commissioner Smith being present as Chair, and Commissioner Nadeau
present as Secretary. Other Commissioners present: Akinmboni, Moss and
Spalding.
Due to a lack of quorum the
agenda was not followed as presented on paper.
Items that did not require a vote would be addressed first.
Officer’s Reports
There
were not any officer’s reports given.
Treasurer’s Report
Commissioner Spalding did not
give a treasurer’s report due to the lack of quorum at the meeting.
Committee
Reports
Chairman
Smith spoke about the Design Committee.
The Design Committee looks at development coming up in the area and any
issues with the District’s Department of Transportation. The committee is open to community members,
especially those that are computer literate.
All interested parties can visit www.commissionersmith.com, and click on
the link at the bottom of the page for the design committee. Chairman Smith is
also looking for a community member to chair the committee.
Commissioner
Moss gave a mini report on the Public Safety Committee. The committee has been working with Lt. Jova
and the 3rd District Police Department. They are planning to develop a safety plan
for the entire Commission. There is a
need for community input for the 3rd District public safety
plan. The Public Safety Committee
meeting is held the 1st Tuesday of each month at the DC Housing
Finance Agency at 7pm. Chairman Smith
added that there was a fatal shooting on 11th and Harvard Streets a
few days ago. He was talking with Commissioners
in 1A because his single member district borders 1A. The Public Safety Committee should look into
getting input from bordering ANCs.
Events
and Announcements
Commission
Chairman
Smith asked the newly elected ANC Commissioners to introduce themselves to the
community. Commissioners elect Juan
Lopez (1B07) and E. Gale Anderson Holness (1B11) were in attendance. Smith also stated that he expected
Commissioner elect Ferer to attend the meeting as well. He stressed to the new Commissioners that a
lack of quorum has been an issue for the past few months, and there is a need
for strong Commissioners on the Commission.
Smith
also announced that every year members of Fidelity Lodge #20 a member of the
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia provides
Thanksgiving baskets for needy families.
Last year they gave out twenty baskets.
The 9:30 Club assisted Fidelity Lodge by donating turkeys for the
baskets. Chairman Smith asked for the
community’s assistance in identifying families in need and donating items or
funds for baskets.
Commissioner
Spalding announced that he printed out lists of the new 2009-2011
Commissioners. He then read the list to
the community. The list will be posted
to the ANC1B website.
Commissioner
Nadeau announced the following:
·
The
Public Service Commission is having a PEPCO hearing on Saturday, November 8,
2008 at 11am. The meeting will be held
at 1333 H Street, Suite 700.
·
The
Department of Housing and Community Development is having a series of needs
assessment hearings. The meetings will
be held on November 13th at 12:30pm and 6:30pm, November 20th
at 6:30pm, and November 25th at 6:30pm. The hearings are being held at multiple
locations, so if you are interested in attending see her after the meeting.
·
With
the help of Councilmember Jim Graham and the Office of Property Management, the
ANC has secured 500 square feet of utilities only office space in the Reeves
Center. The space will be available in
the spring.
Community
Chief
Saunders of the 14th and Newton Streets Fire Department was at the
meeting. He introduced Lt. Henderson and
other members of the fire department.
Chief Saunders said that he brings members of the department with him to
meetings because they are the people that respond to emergencies. He reminded community members to turn their
clocks back and to switch smoke detector batteries if they have not done so
already. He stated that hard wire smoke
detectors will go out if your electricity goes out, so the batteries in those
need to be changed as well. If
assistance is needed with changing batteries visit www.fems.dc.gov or call
202-727-1600 (fire prevention division).
You can schedule a time and a member of the department will come assist
you. You can also schedule to have a
smoke detector installed in your home.
You must fill out form number 129 for this because there is a limit of
one smoke detector installation in each home.
Two
members of the Metropolitan Police Department were also in attendance. They attend meetings to see what is on the
agenda, to meet business owners, and to address any public safety issues of the
community.
Rosetta
Li the Executive Director of Asian American LEAD attended the meeting. Asian
American LEAD is an organization that serves low income Asian Americans as well
as residents from Africa. There is also
after-school programming for children ages K-12. There is a luncheon on Friday, November 21,
2008 that the Commission and community are invited to attend. Asian American LEAD is located at 1343 Girard
Street, NW.
Wanda
Ealy the new Branch Director of the Boys and Girls Club of 14th
Street was there to introduce herself to the ANC and the community. Ongoing announcements for the Boys and Girls
Club will be on the listserv. The grand
opening for the new learning center will be on November 18, 2008 if
Councilmember Jim Graham is available.
There will also be a volunteer meeting that same day at 7pm.
Anthony
Wells a trustee of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge was in attendance to answer any
questions of the ANC and the community about parking during the Grand Session
from December 8-15, 2008.
E.
Gale Anderson Holness announced that on Saturday, November 22, 2008 the Council
of Churches of Greater Washington will give away 1500- 2000 Thanksgiving
baskets to families in the area. The
Mayor, Harry Thomas, and Councilmember Jim Graham will be in attendance.
Presentations
BZA, HPRB, DDOT Applications
Commissioner
Moss gave an update on applications in her single member district. HPRB has approved the conceptual design of
1903 3rd Street. The Howard
Theatre will go before HPRB this month, and she submitted a letter in support
of the conceptual review. The Howard
Towne Center has been meeting with potential developers. They are down to three developers and the
process is moving forward. Chairman
Smith asked about the Howard University Master Plan. Commissioner Moss said that nothing has been
released about it. The Master Plan is a
document that Howard University develops every 10 years on the campus and all
of its properties. Smith stated that the
development and start of the Georgia Avenue Great Streets Initiative has been
held up because of the Howard property on Georgia Avenue.
ABRA Licenses
At
7:34pm Commissioner Spalding said that because there was not a quorum people should
be allowed to exit because the Commission is not going to be able to take
action on items.
Chairman
Smith indicated that if anyone wanted to leave, they could leave at any time. He also said that several Commissioners have
decided to do their own things. As
Chairman, he feels that the Commission must do as much as it can to provide as
much information as possible to the community including when a quorum is not
present by addressing some of the agenda items so voices of the community can
be heard.
A
member of the community asked, “Does that mean action items of the agenda will
not be discussed tonight?”
Smith
replied that he did not have a problem discussing those items, but he does not
control the board and majority rules all the time. Commissioner Spalding stated that those who
have agenda items and expected a vote may not get it. For liquor licenses, if the ANC does not have
a quorum and does not act on these licenses tonight, then the ABC Board will
consider that the ANC has no objections.
Chairman Smith stated that by addressing these agenda items the
Commission does not have to be the only group to protest items or liquor
licenses. Individual residents can
protest liquor licenses as well. The ANC
does hold great weight, but in our failure as a Commission not to provide a
quorum tonight, we cannot act on those things.
Commissioner
Nadeau asked if there were any licenses that the Commission planned to protest.
Commissioner Spalding replied yes.
Nadeau then asked if those licenses could be reviewed. Commissioner Spalding replied no and asked
why they needed to be reviewed.
Commissioner Nadeau rephrased her question and asked if the licenses
that would not be protested could be reviewed.
Chairman Smith replied yes.
Commissioner Spalding asked Smith if he wanted him to review the
list. Smith said yes, for the benefit of
the community.
Spalding
then went through the section of individual liquor licenses.
- International Grill has applied for
substantial changes to their operations and to the hours of
entertainment. There is a
preexisting voluntary agreement.
Commissioner Spalding has contacted the lawyer, but has not heard
anything. In order for this to
happen, the voluntary must be amended.
The license cannot be changed while the old voluntary is
standing. The Commission might be
able to protest the license despite not having a quorum.
- The Republic wants to make an amendment to
the voluntary. The amendment is
necessary, but can be postponed until next month.
- Solly’s has a petition date for December 8,
2008. It is possible to take action
on this license at the December 4th meeting.
- LeDroit Park Market, Nicholas Deli, 11
Market, U Mini Mart, Whitelawn Market, Daily Fish of the Chesapeake,
Mercadito Ramos Supermarket, High Market, 727 Market, Chuck’s Market,
Fairmont Market, and Sonia’s Market are all B license renewals. He has not received any requests to
protests these renewals. Some
comments need to be made on a few, but otherwise the Commission will not
be protesting any of these.
- There is a new application for Little
Ethiopia Restaurant. They are
asking for a stipulated license.
Commissioner Spalding was going to ask that this be tabled, but
without a quorum no action can be taken.
Chairman
Smith recapped the list and determined that International Grill is the only
pressing item that needs a vote.
Commissioner Spalding agreed.
A
community member asked, “Can someone who has thoughts about a license(s) voice
them despite no quorum?”
Chairman
Smith stated that he was sure if that would be appropriate because there was
not a quorum, and the ANC could not take any action. He asked the community member if he spoke
with the Commissioner for his area, and if he knew his Commissioner. Commissioner Spalding said he that if the
resident sent him a letter about problems with a license, he would post it to
the listserv. He also questioned the
reason for hearing any problems that a resident might have if the Commission
was not taking action on anything.
Chairman Smith indicated that he was trying to best serve Commissioner
Spalding’s constituency. The resident
then asked, “If a quorum is not achieved at the next meeting, what
happens?” Chairman Smith stated that if
a group of individuals can protest a license without the ANC. The ANC is not the absolute determining
factor in a license being approved.
There have been times when the ANC has protested as well as a group of
five residents from a neighborhood. The
ABC Board will listen and hear community residents. He emphasized that the ANC does have great
weight when they do protest, but if the resident has a protest, it should be
sent to the ABC Board, and the protest will be considered. The resident asked if he could speak anyway. Chairman Smith granted him two minutes. Commissioner Spalding stated his discomfort
with the situation because the Commission would not be voting on the
issue.
Bill
Riggins a resident of the 1900 block of U Street shared his problems with
Solly’s application. He stated that he
lives very close to the tavern and the noise is no different than the noise you
will hear from any bar in the area. His
concern arises because he can hear noise from the patio of Solly’s in his
house, so he is opposed to an extension of hours. The combination of noise from both Solly’s
and Vinoteca makes it worse. During
earlier hours the patio is mellow, but during the evening hours as people drink
more the noise level increases. Mr.
Riggins just wanted to be on record and wants the ANC to protest this
license. This is a nice neighborhood,
and he does not want it to become like Adams Morgan. If bars are allowed to have patio hours until
12am or 1am it will turn into Adams Morgan.
Chairman
Smith thanked Mr. Riggins. Smith
recommended that he speak with the owner of Solly’s. The ANC cannot vote due to a lack of quorum,
but should he decide to protest he can do it with a group. Smith also stressed that residents must
remember that U Street is a commercial street.
When you move close to a commercial street, there will be noise and
debris that follows.
Commissioner
Spalding objected to the situation. If
they are going to take up things, they should have presentations by the owners
and go through the whole process. He
stated that he did not understand why they heard these comments if a vote was
not being taken. He questioned why
Solly’s did not make a presentation.
Spalding also asked if they were going to continue popping around the
agenda listening to what residents had to say about everything. Chairman Smith stated that the gentleman
asked to speak, and he reluctantly offered him the opportunity to speak. Solly’s did not ask to speak this evening as
of yet. He was not going to ask Solly’s
to give a presentation if he was not ready to do so. Finally, the people we serve include businesses
and residents, if we deny them any say we are wrong. Commissioner Spalding was not denying people
a right to speak. He is just
uncomfortable with the fact that they are not taking action on anything. Smith stated that they did not take action; they
just heard what the man said.
Recommendations were offered to mediate the situation. Smith stated that his goal as Chairman is to
serve the community as best he can. He
cannot be responsible for those who did not attend the meeting. The Commission
can hear from the community and be better prepared.
Grant Applications
Grant applications could not be
heard due to the lack of quorum at the meeting.
New Business
Commissioner Nadeau
recommended adjourning the meeting. She also asked if she could report on the
parking hearing that she attended and testified. Chairman Smith stated that at any time a
motion can be made and seconded, but at this time a motion to adjourn cannot be
made because there is not a quorum. He
will take suggestions on what to do next.
Commissioner
Nadeau agreed to make the motion to adjourn after her presentation. Nadeau announced that Councilmember Graham
introduced legislation regarding a performance parking pilot zone which is
currently in effect in Columbia Heights and other parts of the District not in
Ward 1. This effectively allows a
neighborhood of mixed commercial and residential use to adjust parking meter
usage and RPP zoning so that there is a balance of parking for residents and
commercial visitors. The legislation calls
for community input, and Commissioner Nadeau recommends that the Design
Committee takes this. She will also
assist the Design Committee with this issue.
The hearing took up a number of issues because this legislation is meant
to be a model for the District.
Commissioner Nadeau testified in support of this legislation because in
her single member district her constituents would benefit greatly from
adjusting RPP and parking meters for a better balance in residential and
commercial parking. She also testified
that in ANC 1B Commissioners prided themselves on working to find a balance
between business and residential zones.
She has already received a lot of community input via the listserv, and
hopefully others will get involved.
Chairman
Smith apologized to the community for the lack of quorum. Commissioner Nadeau added that the January
meeting would be rescheduled because the regular date is scheduled for January
1, 2009.
The
meeting was suspended at 7:50pm.