Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6D
Ron McBee, Chair
October 18, 2010
Business Meeting
St. Augustine’s
Episcopal Church
Minutes
As Approved by ANC 6D by a vote of 10 -0.
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 Hamilton seconded to approve the
agenda as proposed. Commissioner Sobelsohn moved/Commissioner Hamilton
seconded to amend the proposed agenda to add discussion of (a) proposed
bylaws amendments, (b) policy proposals based on the recent ANC 6D retreat, and
(c) Community Outreach Committee appointments. Without objection, the
agenda was so amended. The motion to approve the agenda, as amended,
passed 6-0. Commissioner Litsky did not vote.
2. September Minutes.
Commissioner Sobelsohn moved/Commissioner Siegel seconded to approve the
proposed September 13, 2010 minutes. The motion passed 6-0.
Commissioner Litsky abstained.
3. Action Items.
a. Development and Zoning.
1) The Yards Parcel D.
Representing Forest City Washington, Alex Nyhan gave a presentation about
Forest City’s “Parcel D” site, at the corner of 1st and M Streets, between M
and Tingey Streets, SE, in the Southeast Federal Center Overlay District.
This LEED Silver project will have 225 apartments (20% “affordable” to
residents earning 50% of the area median income) and
between 76,000 and 110,000 square feet of retail, including a supermarket of
50-55,000 square feet. Forest City expects groundbreaking in January 2012
and a project opening in late 2013. On December 2, 2010, the DC Zoning
Commission will hear Forest City’s petition for two variances and two
exceptions. Commissioner Siegel moved/Commissioner Sobelsohn seconded to
support this petition, specifically for a (1) variance for a curb cut on M
Street, to lead to a new 32-foot-wide internal private street; (2) variance to
erect 4 to 5-foot-wide balconies on the 4th Street side of the building, overhanging
a planned 20-foot-wide sidewalk; (3) special exception to permit a building
height of 110 feet; and (4) special
exception for dual roof structures. Commissioner McBee moved to amend the
motion to add authorizing Commissioners Siegel and Sobelsohn to represent ANC
6D before the Zoning Commission on this matter December 2. Without second
or objection, the motion was so amended. The main motion, as amended,
passed 7-0.
2) Inclusionary Zoning.
On October 21, 2010, the DC Zoning Commission will consider case #04-33D, a
text amendment regarding an inclusionary-zoning exemption for federal and
DC-funded affordable-housing developments. Commissioner Sobelsohn
moved/Commissioner Litsky seconded to advise the Zoning Commission as follows:
“We urge the Zoning Commission to rule that Inclusionary Zoning automatically
applies to an exempted development once its federal or District program
controls end. Otherwise Washington, DC risks losing its income diversity
and someday following other East Coast cities as places where only the very
rich or the very poor can live.” The motion passed 7-0.
Commissioner Sobelsohn moved/Commissioner Litsky seconded to further
advise the Zoning Commission as follows: “We also urge an amendment to
sub-section 2602.3(e) to delete Southwest from a blanket exemption from the
chapter on Inclusionary Zoning. Southwest is the only entire quadrant so
exempted. Our quadrant deserves the protection of Inclusionary Zoning
as much as do Southeast, Northeast, and Northwest. Otherwise our quadrant
could lead the city in losing its income diversity and becoming a place where
only the very rich or the very poor can live.” The motion passed 7-0.
b. Transportation: L’Enfant Plaza Metrorail Station
Name.
Commissioner Sobelsohn moved/Commissioner Hamilton seconded to urge the DC
Department of Transportation and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit
Authority (WMATA) to add “Banneker Park” to the name of the Metrorail station
currently called “L’Enfant Plaza.” The motion failed in a tie vote:
Commissioners Hamilton, Moffatt, and Sobelsohn voted in favor; Commissioners
Jorgensen, Litsky, and Siegel voted against; and Commissioner McBee abstained.
c. Public Space: Temporary Closure of 6th Street, SW.
Desirée Urquhart of Arena Stage described Arena’s plan to close 6th
Street, SW, October 23, from M Street to K Street, SW, from midnight Saturday
morning to 11:59 Saturday night for Arena’s Homecoming celebration.
Urquhart pledged that Arena would (1) ask for trash pick-up in the Town
Center West Park each day from Saturday October 23 through
Monday October 25; (2) make and post flyers alerting residents of The View to
the vehicle-access limits imposed by the temporary closure of 6th
Street; (3) forward information to ANC 6D regarding the October 23 rerouting of
WMATA bus routes; and (4) investigate providing additional recycling bins at
the event. As part of its celebration, Arena Stage will
distribute 700 free tickets to performances and tours October 23. Commissioner Sobelsohn moved to welcome Arena
Stage back to Southwest. The motion
failed for want of a second. Commissioner Litsky moved/Commissioner
Sobelsohn seconded to support Arena Stage’s one-day closing of 6th Street, SW. The
motion passed 7- 0.
d. Liquor License: Boomerang Boat.
Alcohol Beverage Committee chair Coralie Farlee presented Boomerang Boat Tours
LLC’s application for an alcoholic-beverage license. The Boomerang Boat
will dock at Gangplank Marina, 600 Water Street, SW, and pick up passengers at
Georgetown and Diamond Teague Park for transit between those two points.
Commissioner Jorgensen
moved/Commissioners Siegel and Moffatt seconded to recommend that the
Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission grant the Boomerang an alcoholic-beverage
license for that route, based on a “Voluntary/Cooperative Agreement” and a
“Community Cooperation Agreement,” copies of both of which are attached to
these minutes. The motion passed
5-1, with Commissioner Sobelsohn opposed and Commissioner Hamilton not voting.
4. ANC Administration.
a. Treasurer’s Quarterly Report.
Commissioner Jorgensen moved/Commissioner Moffatt seconded to approve the
treasurer’s quarterly report for July-September 2010. A copy of that
report is attached to these minutes. The motion passed 6-0.
Commissioner Hamilton did not vote.
b. ANC Bylaws & Policies.
1) Bylaws.
Commissioner Sobelsohn moved/Commissioner Siegel seconded to make the following
amendments to Article VII of the ANC 6D bylaws:
a)
Amend subsection 1 b) to read: “b) Alcoholic Beverage Control, to consider
issues relating to liquor licenses.”
b)
Amend section 3 to read:
“Section 3. Each committee shall consist of seven members, one from each single
member district, to be appointed by and to serve at the pleasure of the
commissioner representing that district. Appointments shall take effect
on a commissioner’s announcement of that appointment at a public ANC 6D
business meeting. Committee members’ terms shall end at the end of the
term for which the appointing commissioner was elected.
To represent a particular single member district on a committee, each
commissioner shall appoint one of his or her constituents. If for two
consecutive ANC 6D public meetings a committee seat remains vacant, the ANC has
the power at that second meeting to appoint any ANC 6D resident to fill that
vacancy. Commissioners shall serve as alternate or interim committee
members, entitled to vote at committee meetings their appointees do not attend
or (if the seat is vacant) until they or the ANC has appointed someone to that
seat. Except that they have no vote, commissioners not attending a
committee meeting as an alternate or interim committee member have the same
right to participate in committee meetings
as do committee members.”
c)
Amend section 9 to read: “Section 9. Committees shall require a quorum to adopt
any recommendations. It shall satisfy this requirement if a meeting is
attended by either a majority of the committee’s members then serving or the
committee chair and one other committee member. There shall be no voting
by proxy.”
d)
Amend section 10 to read:
“For a committee recommendation to be properly before the ANC, by four days
prior to the ANC meeting considering that recommendation the committee must
have forwarded its recommendation in writing or by electronic mail to the commission secretary, to commission staff, and
to the commissioner whose single member district includes the business or resident
to which the recommendation relates. At that meeting, the committee
chairperson or his or her designee shall present any recommendations to the
commission.”
Commissioner Moffatt moved/Commissioner Sobelsohn seconded to amend the motion
by replacing the sentence in section 3, paragraph 2, that starts “Except that
they have no vote” with the following: “Commissioners attending a committee
meeting but not as an alternate or interim committee member have the same right
to participate in committee meetings as do committee members, except that they
have no vote.” Without objection, the motion was so amended.
Commissioner Sobelsohn moved/Commissioner Siegel seconded to include, in
the bylaws amendments, an effective date of November 10, 2010. Without
objection, the motion was so amended. As amended, the main motion passed
6-0. Commissioner Hamilton did not vote.
2) Policies.
Commissioner McBee moved/Commissioner Moffatt seconded to adopt the following
policies for ANC 6D; related to--
a) All
new ANC 6D businesses.
ANC 6D will send a form letter to every new business coming into our ANC, the
letter to be signed by the ANC 6D commissioner whose district includes the site
of the new business. The letter will include an invitation to meet with
that ANC commissioner to work on a “Community-Business Partnership Agreement.”
b)
Public-space applicants.
ANC 6D hereby adopts, as ANC 6D policy, that, before supporting the public-space
permit applications of businesses that apply to make exclusive ongoing use of
ANC 6D public space, ANC 6D will have a “Community-Business Partnership
Agreement” with those businesses. These agreements’ content will vary
depending on the particular business.
c)
Alcoholic beverage licenses: ANC 6D hereby adopts, as ANC 6D policy, that ANC
6D--
1--
Will oppose applications for new liquor licenses in ANC 6D until and unless ANC
6D has a voluntary agreement with the applicant. If, by the protest
deadline, we have no voluntary agreement, we will protest the license, while
sending the applicant a letter to clarify that the protest is technical,
preserves our rights, and does not reflect determined opposition. ANC 6D
will decide, on a case-by-case basis, based in part on a list of incidents from
the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, whether to require voluntary
agreements before supporting applications for liquor-license renewals.
2--
Voluntary agreements will omit clauses that (a) express ANC 6D “concerns” or
(b) commit the applicant to obey the law (such as illegal-drug laws or ABRA
regulations).
3--
Will work towards side agreements with new liquor-license applicants, covering
promises that could prompt Alcoholic Beverage Control Board rejection of the
entire voluntary agreement.
The motion passed 4-2 with Commissioners Jorgensen and Litsky opposed. Commissioner Hamilton did not vote.
5. Presentations and Announcements.
a. Presentations.
1) Water Street Closing.
Representing P.N. Hoffman, Shawn Seaman (Southwest Waterfront Project director),
attorney Christine Shiker (of Holland & Knight), and consultant Elinor
Bacon made a presentation about the proposed permanent closing of the current
Water Street, SW. Seaman claimed that “good urban design” requires Water
Street’s closing, because otherwise Hoffman’s planned large-but-narrow
Waterfront buildings, with their axes perpendicular to Maine Avenue, wouldn’t
fit. At the same time, he argued, “Water Street serves no function as far
as reducing cars on Maine Avenue.” Seaman pledged that, although Hoffman
seeks Water Street’s official closing as of summer 2011, Hoffman would secure a
public easement through December 2012, keeping Water Street open until then,
after which Hoffman would break ground and close Water Street forever.
Seaman also pledged that, through construction and afterwards, Hoffman
would preserve access to Maine Avenue for those who live aboard boats on the
Southwest Waterfront. Finally, Bacon promised to bring, to the November
ANC meeting, a letter of support for Water Street’s closing from the District
Department of Transportation, as well as a traffic-impact study Hoffman has
commissioned about Water Street’s closing.
2) Up With People.
Brandon Serna, Marketing and Promotion Coordinator for Up With People, Denver,
CO, made a presentation about the Up With People program “Stand for Peace,”
which raises funds for schools.
b. Announcements.
1) Committee
Appointments.
Commissioner Siegel announced his appointment of Ross Dillard to the Community
Outreach Committee. Commissioner Siegel moved/Commissioner Sobelsohn
seconded to appoint Dillard chair of that committee. Commissioner Moffatt
moved/Commissioner McBee seconded to postpone consideration of the motion until
the ANC’s November 8 meeting. The motion to postpone passed 4-2 with
Commissioners Siegel and Sobelsohn opposed. Commissioner Hamilton did not
vote.
2) Next ANC Meeting.
Commissioner Siegel announced that ANC 6D’s next public business meeting will
start 7 p.m. Monday, November 8, at the Courtyard by Marriott, 104 L St., SE.
6. Adjournment.
Commissioner Sobelsohn moved to adjourn. The motion passed without second
or objection. The meeting adjourned at 10:53 p.m.
Attachments
1. “Voluntary/Cooperative Agreement” with Boomerang Board
2. “Community Cooperation Agreement” with Boomerang Boat.
3. Treasurer’s Quarterly Report for July-September 2010.