Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6D

Ron McBee, Chair

November 8, 2010

Business Meeting

St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church


Minutes


As Approved by ANC 6D on December 13, 2010


Present: Commissioners Hamilton, Jorgensen, Litsky, McBee, Moffatt, and Sobelsohn.

Commissioner McBee called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.

1. Agenda.

Commissioner Sobelsohn moved/Commissioner Siegel seconded to approve the agenda as proposed.  Commissioner Jorgensen moved/Commissioner Sobelsohn seconded to amend the motion to add, to the agenda, discussion of street closings for the Nation’s Triathlon and the DC Triathlon.  Without objection, the motion was so amended.  The motion to approve the agenda, as amended, passed 6-0.  Commissioner Hamilton did not vote.

2. October Minutes.

Commissioner Sobelsohn moved/Commissioner Siegel seconded to approve the proposed October 18, 2010 minutes.  The motion passed 6-0.  Commissioner Hamilton did not vote.

3. Action Items.

   a. Public Space.

      1) 4th and M Intersection Safety.

Commissioner Litsky moved/Commissioner Moffatt seconded to request the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) to “permanently restrict parking on the south side of M Street, SW directly east of the curb cut from the exit to 430 M Street.”  The full text of the motion is attached to these minutes.  Commissioner Sobelsohn moved to amend the motion to delete hyphens, each time they occur, between “ANC” and “6D.”  Without second or objection, the motion was so amended.  The motion passed 6-0.  Commissioner Hamilton did not vote.
 
Commissioner Jorgensen moved/Commissioner McBee seconded to request the First District, Metropolitan Police Department, to assign, for a minimum of one week and for at least two hours per day, a police car to the intersection of M and 4th Streets, SW.  The full text of the motion is attached to these minutes.  The motion passed 7-0.

      2) Street Closings.

         a) Permanent: Water Street.

Shawn Seaman, Project Director for Hoffman Struever Waterfront (HSW), asked the ANC to support HSW’s plan permanently to close Water Street, SW.  Seaman promised to develop a way to preserve safe bicycle travel along or parallel to Maine Avenue during construction, and to support a public easement for Water Street that lasts until there’s a “shovel in the ground”--at least through December 2012.  Commissioner Litsky moved/Commissioner Jorgensen seconded as follows: “Be it resolved, that in support of the timely redevelopment of the Southwest Waterfront that ANC-6D supports the closure of Water Street, SW, and portions of 7th Street, SW, 9th Street, SW, M Place, SW and N Street, SW, as shown on the Surveyor’s plat attached to this approval, provided that provisions are made for reasonable access for continuing leaseholders and slipholders at the Southwest Waterfront and provided that such access does not require the continued use of Sixth Street, SW south of M Street for any regular vehicular access other tha
n that serving local residences or involved in public safety activity.”  Commissioner Sobelsohn moved to amend the motion to delete the hyphen between “ANC” and “6D,” and to replace the phrase “Surveyor’s plat attached to this approval” with the phrase “Surveyor’s plat attached to this resolution.”  Without second or objection, the motion was so amended.  The Water Street surveyor’s plat is attached to these minutes.  Commissioner Sobelsohn moved/Commissioner Siegel seconded to amend the motion further to add, after the phrase “slipholders at the Southwest Waterfront,” a comma and the phrase “both during and after redevelopment construction” followed by a semicolon; to delete the “and” immediately before the phrase “provided that such access does not require”; and to add, after the phrase “safety activity,” a semicolon and the phrase “and provided that a way be implemented, before groundbreaking, to preserve safe bicycle traffic parallel to or on Maine Avenue during construction.”  The amendment passed 7-0.
 The main motion, as amended, passed 6-0.  Commissioner Moffatt abstained.

         b) Temporary: 2011 Triathlons.

Charles Brodsky presented a request for road closures to accommodate the DC Triathlon 5-11:30 a.m. June 19, 2011, and the Nation’s Triathlon 6 a.m.-1:30 p.m. September 11, 2011.  Neither triathlon will come into the residential portion of ANC 6D.  Organizers report no community complaints for their 2010 triathlons.  Commissioner Jorgensen moved/Commissioner Sobelsohn seconded to write a letter in support of street closures requested by the triathlon organizers.  Copies of the proposed triathlon routes are attached to these minutes.  The motion passed 7-0.

      3) 200 C Street Public-Space Permit.

In DDOT Tracking Number 55860, DDOT is considering an application to occupy public space in order to pave a driveway and a wheelchair ramp and to erect bike racks, a planter box, trash cans, streetlights, bollards, and benches, all at a federal building, 200 C Street, SW.  Commissioner Sobelsohn moved/Commissioner Litsky seconded to support the public-space application.  The motion passed 7-0.

   b. Landmarks and Zoning.

       1) Landmark: St. Paul AUMP Church.

Karen Mills, Pastor of St. Paul African Union Methodist Protestant (AUMP) Church, 401 I St., SE, presented her church’s historic-landmark application, which the Historic Preservation Office will hear November 18.  Built in 1924, the first church designed by R.C. Archer, Jr. (DC’s second licensed African-American architect), the AUMP Church retains the same bricks and façade it had in 1924.  Commissioner McBee moved/Commissioner Hamilton seconded to support the designation of St. Paul’s AUMP Church as a historic landmark.  The motion passed 7-0.

      2) Zoning: Comprehensive Zoning Regulations Review (case #08-06).

Commissioner Sobelsohn described the Zoning Commission’s review of chapter B-13, “Green Area Ratio,” scheduled for hearing Monday, December 20.  According to the Zoning Commission notice, the proposal “provides general rules for a city-wide requirement for green site design that will vary by zone.”  Commission Sobelsohn added that the Zoning Commission plans to announce its proposed industrial-zone requirements by the end of November, low-density residential requirements in January, and high-density residential requirements in February.

Commissioner Sobelsohn described the Zoning Commission’s review of chapters B-15, B-16, and B-17, scheduled for hearing Monday, November 15.  According to the Zoning Commission notice, the proposal would replace the current citywide requirement that new construction provide a minimum number of car parking spaces with a citywide requirement that new construction provide a minimum number of bicycle parking spaces, and establish in some instances a maximum permitted number of car parking spaces.  Commissioner Sobelsohn moved/Commissioner Moffatt seconded to send a letter to the Zoning Commission asking it to keep the record open in this matter until Monday, December 20.  The motion passed 5-1, with Commissioner Siegel opposed.  Commissioner Litsky did not vote.

   c. Alcoholic Beverage Licenses.

Commissioner Sobelsohn moved/Commissioner Siegel seconded to add, to its September 2010 protest of the CN alcoholic beverage license #26504 renewal for Zanzibar on the Waterfront, 700 Water St., SW, the grounds of peace, order, and quiet; and residential parking needs and vehicular and pedestrian safety.  The motion passed 7-0.  Commissioner Sobelsohn moved/Commissioner Jorgensen seconded to authorize the following to represent ANC 6D at hearings on the Zanzibar license renewal: ANC 6D chair, ANC 6D Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Committee chair, the ANC 6D01 commissioner, and “any members of the community who indicate they want to serve as witnesses in support of the ANC6D protest.”  The motion passed 7-0.

Regarding Boomerang Boat Tours LLC, ANC 6D ABC Committee chair Coralie Farlee reported that the DC ABC Board had vetoed certain provisions of the “Voluntary/Cooperative Agreement” the ANC approved at its October 18, 2010 meeting; that Dr. Farlee had revised, to include those vetoed provisions, the “Community Cooperation Agreement” the ANC approved at its October 18 meeting; and that Dr. Farlee had signed, on behalf of the ANC, the revised Boomerang Boat Community Cooperation Agreement.  The revised Community Cooperation Agreement is attached to these minutes.

   d. ANC Budget.

Commissioner Jorgensen moved/Commissioner Moffatt seconded to approve a proposed Fiscal Year 2011 ANC 6D budget.  The proposed budget is attached to these minutes.  The motion passed 5-0.  Commissioners Hamilton and Sobelsohn abstained.

4. Presentations and Announcements.

   a. Presentations.

      1) CSX Virginia Avenue Railroad Tunnel.

Stephen Flippin, of CSX Corporation, updated CSX’s plans to enlarge its railroad tunnel under Virginia Avenue, SE.  Flippin promised that CSX would hold town meetings between January and June 2011 to hear community concerns regarding the project.

      2) 11th Street Bridge Project.

Bryon Johnston, of Stratacomm, provided a progress report about replacing the 11th Street bridges in Southeast.  He projected opening of two new freeway bridges by November 2011 and of a new “local” bridge by mid-2013.

   b. Announcements.

      1) Committee Appointment.

Commissioner Litsky announced his appointment of Brad Soule to replace Susan Carpenter on the Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee.

      2) Next ANC Meeting.

Commissioner McBee announced that ANC 6D’s next two public business meetings would start at 7 p.m. Monday, December 13, at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, 600 M Street, SW; and 7 p.m. Monday, January 10, at Arena Stage, 1101 6th Street, SW.

5. Adjournment.

Commissioner Sobelsohn moved/Commissioner Hamilton seconded to adjourn.  Without objection, the motion passed.  The meeting adjourned at 9:59 p.m.