U Street Neighborhood Association - November 2008

President’s Remarks, Lynn Coffin, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
o CSNA is considering having a Presidential Inauguration event in the 14th & U Street area, but plans are still in development. We will keep the community apprised of events as they unfold.
o The CSNA Annual Holiday Party will be held on December 11, 2008, at Nelly’s at 900 U Street, NW. The theme of the party is “Dine, Shop, Experience your Neighborhood – It’s All Here!” A silent auction of items donated by various neighborhood businesses will be held at the party.
o Election of CSNA Officers will be held at the December Holiday Party. Nominated officers include: President – Bryan Martin Firvida; Co-Vice President: Christine Szathmary and Kristin Smith; Secretary: Jon Kardon; Treasurer: Chuck Baxter
o There is a new restaurant at 1924 9th Street called “Little Ethiopia” that is applying for a liquor license. CSNA has not yet decided whether to weigh in on the application process; but, because the ANC has not had a quorum for several months we may choose to. There is an ABC hearing on 12/29 for the application.

• Treasurer’s Report, Chuck Baxter, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
o There is a total of $14,210.74 in the CSNA account. $9,728.50 is available for general use, and $4,482.24 is available for Dog Days.
o Industrial Bank is now charging CSNA a monthly fee to maintain the CSNA bank account.
o CSNA voted 10-0-0 in support of looking into fees and rates at other banks. Scott Pomeroy agreed to inquire about fees and rates at CityFirst Bank.

• Membership Update, Phil Spalding, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
o No update provided

Discussion / Presentation

• Ombudsman for Public Education – Gabrielle Rojo

o Mr. Rojo informed the community that the Mayor’s Office of the Ombudsman for Education serves to take complaints, comments and suggestions about DC Public Schools, Charter Schools, and the University of the District of Columbia, and address these comments through an informal, neutral and conficential process. He encouraged people to call the office not only for complaints, but to also use the office as a community resource for information and policies. The Office of the Ombudsman for Public Education is one piece of a large strategy to reform the DC Public Schools, advocating a fair process for people to have their issues addressed. Calls can come from anyone, including parents, community members, and businesses. The office may be reached by phone at (202) 741-8777.

• Green Team Neighborhood Investment Fund Grant Application, Scott Pomeroy

o The “Green Team” is a program that has been effectively managing the maintenance and safety in public spaces within the CSNA boundaries, in addition to other areas such as Shaw and Columbia Heights. The Green Team is operated by the Columbia Heights/Shaw Family Support Collaborative. Many of the employees of the Green Team are ex-offenders that have been successful in long term employment as Green Team employees, and several of them have advanced to jobs beyond the Green Team. The Green Team is applying for a grant from the Neighborhood Investment Fund for the Green Team’s operations in the area between 11th and 16th Street, and Mass Ave. to U Street. The amount of the grant that is requested is $250,000. For other areas in which the Green Team operates, other sources of grants and funding are being sought out.
o By a vote of 12-0-1, CSNA voted to endorse the Green Team’s Neighborhood Investment Fund Grant Application for a $250,000 grant in the area between 11th and 16th Street, and Mass Ave. to U Street.

• Proposed Development at 1800 – 1818 14th Street (14th and S) – JBG (developer) and Shalom Baranes (architect)

o JBG has planned a development from 1800 – 1818 14th Street, on the west side of 14th Street between S and Swann Streets. The site currently consists of 5 existing buildings and 3 surface parking lots. The southernmost building, the former Whitman Walker Clinic offices and originally the Hudson Apartments, was constructed in 1909 and is a contributing building to the Greater U Street Historic District. The other buildings and lots are not contributing to the historic district. The site is zoned C-3-A, and is within the Uptown Arts Overlay.
o The proposed building is at a 5.0 FAR, with 75 feet height, and 8.5 additional height for mechanical penthouse space. There would be 17,000 SF of retail at grade, and 6 floors of 120 – 130 residential units above the retail. There will be 2 levels of below-grade parking, with 90 total parking spaces.
o The residential entry will be on S Street, through the original entrance to the Hudson Apartments building.
o The entrance to the parking garage will be from the 20’ alley to the west of the site.
o The main materials of the façade are terra cotta masonry, glass, and metal
o The building is stepped back on the alley-side of the building, and the materials change from masonry to glass at the height of the setback.
o The developer is seeking LEED Gold or LEED Silver certification
o The project does not include an affordable housing component.
o The project will either be rental apartments or for-sale condominiums, depending on market conditions
o The developer is seeking four areas of relief from the Board of Zoning Adjustments (BZA):

1. Lot Occupancy: Zoning requires a maximum of 75% lot occupancy on residential floors. In this site, on the floors that extend into the historic building, there is a 78% lot occupancy. On the floors above the historic building, there is a 65% lot occupancy.

2. Parking: Zoning requires 65 residential parking spaces and 40 retail parking spaces, for a total of 105 parking spaces. The developer is proposing a total of 90 parking spaces, which is 15 less than required by zoning.

3. Setback: The arts overlay requires a 45 degree setback on the rear of the building at the height of 50 feet. The developer is seeking a few feet of relief on the setback.

4. Penthouse Height: There is 8.5’ of mechanical penthouse space that is permitted by zoning. The elevator structures slightly exceed the 8.5’ at the elevator locations. These elevators are setback from 14th Street.

o Jean Homza expressed a concern that there is not enough parking in the neighborhood and requested that the building have more parking than is currently designed. The developer responded, stated that the city is changing its strategy towards having parking space maximums, not minimums, and that since the site is near a Metro station, they would like to encourage residents and customers to use the Metro and walk, rather than drive. In addition, it is not feasible to excavate below the historic building, and it is too costly to excavate to a third level of parking.
o Scott Pomeroy and Jean Homza expressed concern that the building is replacing office use with residential use. They expressed the need for a daytime presence in the neighborhood that could be achieved through more office or retail space. In response, the developer said that the Arts Overlay Zoning prioritizes commercial and residential use, and the uses proposed in their development are in line with what the Zoning and the Office of Planning have strategized for the neighborhood.
o Phil Spalding expressed concern that the 14th Street façade, largely a glass façade that overlooks a very noisy, busy street with nightlife, and that there will likely be complaints by residents about noise. In addition, Phil expressed concern with the relationship of the glass façade to the historic building. These concerns could be mitigated with more masonry and less glass on the 14th Street façade.
o Bryan Martin Firvida asked the developer whether they have considered having 2-3 floors of commercial space to have more of a daytime presence. Bryan also expressed that he agrees with Phil that there should be more brick and less glass on the 14th Street façade.
o In response to comments about the façade, the architects expressed that they intended to use building materials in a new, modern way, with terra cotta masonry and glass on the residential levels, and metal panels on the retail level. They would like to take advantage of being in the arts district and be more dynamic, and not static, in the design of the façade.
o Scott Pomeroy questioned whether bedrooms would be located on the front of the building, and he encouraged an interior design that considers the outside noise from the street. The developer responded that floorplans are still under consideration and that there may be a combination of both interior bedrooms and bedrooms fronting 14th Street.
o CSNA voted by a vote of 13-2-2 to forward specific comments and concerns discussed during this presentation to the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) and to the Board of Zoning Adjustments (BZA). The letter to HPRB would address the massing and design concerns, while the letter to BZA would address the general support of the four variances and concern with parking.

• Status of Proposed Curb Cut for the Utopia Project (1900 Block of 14th Street) – Phil Spalding
o CSNA is on record with the Historic Preservation Review Board to oppose the curb cut on the sidewalk of 14th Street for loading/service access in the Utopia project, and instead is in favor of using the alley for a service/loading access.
o Councilmembers Jack Evans and Phil Mendelson went before the Board of Zoning Adjustments (BZA) to support the curb cut.
o HPRB and DDOT were prepared to opposed the curb cut, but after the Councilmembers became involved, the BZA passed the design with the curb cut.
o DDOT had written a report that opposed the curb cut, but this report disappeared from public records.
o CSNA voted 16-0-1 to submit a letter to BZA and HPRB re-affirm its opposition to the curb cut. The letter shall include a reference to the DDOT report.

• Temperance Alley Dwellings
o The Public Welfare Foundation presented to CSNA last month about the alley dwellings behind the 1200 block of U Street, on Temperance Alley. There would be 10 residential units for residents of up to 70% of Area Median Income. CSNA had concerns with the dwellings being located on the alley due to concerns about safety, security, trash collection, and the absence of raised sidewalks. There has also been a long-standing prohibition on the new construction of alley dwellings.

o Lynn Coffin prepared the following text, which CSNA voted 15-0-2 in favor of writing a letter:

1. CSNA supports the creation of more affordable housing in the Greater U Street area. To that end, CSNA supports building housing with front doors opening onto 12th Street where Public Welfare Foundation has existing surface parking. Such a project would significantly restore the fabric of the corner of 12th and U Streets.

2. CSNA is eager to work with the Public Welfare Foundation to create more affordable housing opportunities on the Foundation’s 12th Street parcels. CSNA would support variances needed to ensure that a sufficient number of affordable homes are built directly facing 12th Street.

3. CSNA opposed the development of housing in the parcels interior to the 12th Street block.

• Status of Request for Police Deployment Statistics
o Bryan Martin Firvida obtained a data report of police Calls for Service in the last 60 days within PSA 305, with an average of 39 calls per day. The data does not refer to deployment numbers. CSNA is still waiting deployment numbers, and has requested assistance from the Office of Councilmember Graham to obtain these numbers.
o John Solomon expressed that there should be a list of community’s concerns that the police can monitor while on their shifts. He also expressed that there is a lack of involvement by community members from the western half of PSA 305 at the monthly PSA 305 meetings.
o CSNA voted 14-0-0 to go on record with MPD 3D that the monthly PSA meetings be split into East and West districts to reflect how MPD has split the districts. The western portion of the district should meet prior to each monthly CSNA meeting at 6 pm on the second Thursday of each month at the True Reformer Building.

Committee Business and Regular Reports

• Councilmember Jim Graham Update
o The Adams Morgan / U Street Link is going to be phased out and replaced by a circulator route in 2009. The exact route has not been officially determined.

• ANC1B02 Update – Phil Spalding
o There is a new business application at Union Row for a deli/liquor store. The are two obstacles to the business achieving a liquor license: 1) a cap on the # of B licenses in the city, and 2) a prohibition on either A or B licenses being located within 400 feet of each other. #2 is problematic because Yes! Organic is within 400 feet.
o 908 T Street is going back to HPRB, and is no longer adding a third floor.
o The Gibson opened next door to Marvin’s
o The Shaw Dog Park at 11th Street and Rhode Island Ave. opened.

Committee Business and Regular Reports

o Business Development: Jean Homza – This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
o Public Safety: John Solomon – This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
o Clean & Green: Brooke Clagett – This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
o Historic Preservation: Ernest Springs – This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
o Transportation: Cheryl Cort – This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
 There is a proposal for the reconfiguration of 15th Street, but the final design has not yet been determined.

Questions, Comments, Concerns