Monday, 05/21/2018
Bloomingdale Civic Association meeting
St. George’s Episcopal Church, 160 U Street NW
Officers present: Teri Janine Quinn, Robert Brannum, Angela Prentice, Sherry Howard, Bertha Holland, Scott Roberts
Unfortunately, the meeting started a bit late. It took some time to get inside the church. Thanks to the church for its assistance!
58 V Street NW zoning relief
The property owners of 58 V Street NW are seeking a special exception for nonconforming structure requirement for a rear deck. A motion was made to approve the zoning exception; it was seconded. The motion passed, 15 in support, 0 in opposition.
Public safety
PSA 501 Sgt. Brown provided info on the summer crime initiative, which has six beats in PSA 506 and 507. A neighbor asked about the continued loitering at the northwest corner of North Capitol Street NW & Florida Avenue NW.
DCity Smokehouse Block Party on 07/14/2018
The restaurant wants to hold a block party on Saturday, July 14, 2018, 11am to 6pm.
Ms. Quinn said that the party would be on 2nd Street NW between Florida Avenue NW and Randolph Place NW. The street would be closed. The business would be open during the party. Neighbors asked questions about hours of the street closure, Port-A-Potties and after-event clean-up. She advised that DCity Smokehouse will be hiring a firm to do the post-event clean-up.
A motion was made to support DCity Smokehouse’s block party. Motion passed 15 to 0.
DDOT
Ms. Quinn said that there has been ongoing interest in traffic calming on 1st Street NW. Does it make sense to do roundabouts, etc.? She asked when Bloomingdale would get some commitments from DDOT regarding traffic calming.
Wesley Dawson, the DDOT community engagement person, introduced himself. DDOT’s Leon Anderson and Mike Goodno were also introduced. Mr. Anderson met in September 2016 with Ms. Quinn, Ms. Prentice and Ms. Howard. DDOT committed to look at five things back then:
- Curb extensions (bump outs) – they were talked about for 1st & V Street NW
- Speed cameras
- Pavement markings (zipzag lines)
- Weight restriction signage
Mr. Anderson said that he thought that DC Water would work with DDOT, but that discussion went cold. Raised crosswalks can interfere with the function of being a collector street. Roundabouts at 1st & V St NW would require DC Water would have to do some reconfiguration. Ms. Quinn noted that DDOT has not investigated any other 1st Street NW intersections.
Mr. Anderson said that DDOT would be able to pursue traffic feedback signs (speed red flashing display devices). He said that the community feedback was against implementing zigzag line. That statement was questioned.
Ms. Quinn asked Hakeem Rogers to advise the Mayor that DDOT was not making any commitments after nearly two years. “It is unacceptable that DDOT is not committing to anything.” She expressed frustration. “Is the director of DDOT aware that this would be your response tonight?”
ANC5E06 Commissioner Katherine McClelland mentioned that Florida Avenue NW traffic would be diverted to 2nd Street NW as a result of the DC Water project. Kelly Cislo of Ward 5 Councilmember McDuffie’s office commented that discussions are underway now on this issue.
Mr. Dawson reported that new signal heads will be installed at 1st & Rhode Island Avenue NW, which will take until the end of the summer to implement. Site visits have occurred. He said that a timed pedestrian crosswalk at 1st & T St NW is to be installed. Time phasing will be addressed.
Thaddeus Thaler briefly discussed his interest in having rush hour parking restrictions removed along North Capitol Street. Mr. Dawson said that DDOT would need to perform its own study and that it would take 30 to 45 days.
150 S Street NW
The developer and owner of the property want to raze the entire church and construct four new rowhouses for a total of eight units. The DC Preservation League has filed a historic landmark nomination. The developer is seeking to have the BCA support the removal the landmark nomination. The proposed project would provide a total of 12 offstreet parking space. The developer advises that the project that would include the original church building would not include any offstreet parking.
Dr. Holliday said that preserving some of the church would provide a potential compromise. She said that she may ask the HPRB to preserve the front and west facades and the first 15’ of the roofline. A neighbor expressed infrastructure concerns. The church developer said the decision to be made by the HRPB would be merely to vote up and vote down the historic landmark. There would be no discussion about only preserving part of the church.
Paul Cerruti spoke passionately about the history of the church. He said that he opposes the raze of the church because it would create a void in history of the neighborhood.
Bryan Smith lives next door to the church. He supports the removal of the historic landmark nomination.
Joe Levesque made a motion to support the nomination of the St. Paul’s Methodist Church South. Here is the text of his motion: “I move that the Bloomingdale Civic Association support the St. Paul’s Church Historic Landmark nomination, HPRB# 18-09, to preserve the historic structure, and to honor and pay tribute to the prominent church leaders and their African American congregants who advocated for decades for civil and equal rights for Bloomingdale and Washington, DC.” The motion was seconded. Motion carries 12 to 8.
1600 North Capitol Street NW PUD extension request
Holland and Knights’ Chip Glasgow distributed the hefty PUD extension document.
ANC5E06 Commissioner Katherine McClelland expressed frustration about the short notification by the developer.
The developer is asking for another two-year extension of the PUD. There is also a request to convert four residential units – the entire cellar level – to retail units. Ms. McClelland said that perhaps a one-year extension would be better than a two-year extension. Mr. Glasgow said that Joe Mamo would be agreeable to the one-year extension.
Mr. Glasgow advised that Joe Mamo elected to become the “responsibility party” for environmental remediation — transferred from Exxon-Mobil. He identified Monty Berhane as the contact for the site. Mr. Berhane contact info:
- 703-750-6810 Ext. 128
- Monty@capitolpetro.com
Mr. Brannum made a motion to accept the one-year PUD extension for the PUD for the 1600 North Capitol Street lot. The motion failed.
Pat Mitchell expressed frustration. She advised that she does not support the requested PUD extension. Bloomingdale has not seen the amenities that were promised. She stated that the amenities do not get triggered until there is a Certificate of Occupancy.
There was another motion to approve the request for a one-year PUD extension. This motion was seconded. Pat Mitchell offered a friendly amendment that the amenities package would have to be honored with 90 days of the PUD extension being approved.11 in support, 0 in opposition.
Dr. Holliday created a motion to encourage a 2nd level of parking. Motion passes 11 to 0.
79-81 U Street NW zoning relief
The developer and owner of the two adjoining lots at 79-81 U Street NW presented their need to obtain a variance from a 5’ side yard requirement. They presented letters of support from nearby neighbors. A motion was made to support the zoning relief; motion seconded. Motion passed 10 to 0.
Community representatives and other end-of-meeting stuff
Hakeem Rogers reports the Mayor has adopted a child.
Meeting ended at 09:40 pm.
Motion summary
| Motion # | Motion | Results of motion |
| 1 | A motion was made to support the special exception for nonconforming structure requirement for a rear deck for 58 V Street NW. | Motion passed 15 to 0 |
| 2 | A motion was made to support the DCity Smokehouse block party. | Motion passed 15 to 0 |
| 3 | A motion was made to support the landmark nomination for 150 S Street NW — St. Paul’s Methodist Church South | Motion passed to 12 to 8 |
| 4 | A motion was made to approve the request for a one-year PUD extension for the Joe Mamo development project. | Motion passed 11 to 0 |
| 5 | A motion was made to encourage a 2nd level of parking at the Joe Mamo development project. | Motion passed 11 to 0 |
| 6 | A motion was made to support the zoning relief for a 5’ side yard requirement for 79-81 U Street NW. | Motion passed 10 to 0 |