Guest post

On March 22, 2017, Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 5A held its monthly public meeting. This one had the highest attendance of the year. All commissioners were present.

Frank Wilds (5A01); Grace Lewis (5A02); Keisha Cofield-Lynch (5A03); Isaiah Burroughs (5A04); Ronnie Edwards (5A05); Jamaal Lampkin (5A06); Sandi Washington (5A07); Gordon-Andrew Fletcher (5A08).

Office of the Peoples Counsel

Representatives from the Office of the Peoples Counsel (OPC) encouraged the audience to attend the Pepco proposed rate increase hearing hosted by the DC Public Service Commission, located at 1325 G Street NW in Suite 800.  The hearing starts at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 12, 2017.

Those who wish to give testimony should contact the PSC at either (202) 626-5150 or at psc–commissionsecretary@dc.gov by April 7, 2017.  Also, the PCS will accept written comments for the public record until April 25, 2017.

The OPC representatives asked the commissioners for a resolution on the proposed Pepco rate increase. ANC 5A passed a motion opposing the Pepco rate increase.

See: OPC Pepco Rate Request Info (pdf)

Annie’s Ace Hardware

Mr. Thomas Vedrody introduced himself and Annie’s Ace Hardware to the audience. Mr. Vedrody manages the Annie’s Ace Hardware store located at 3405 8th Street NE. The store is a DC Certified Business Enterprise (CBE) that is locally owned and operated.  Furthermore, the staff consists of local residents.

The commissioners provided Mr. Vedrody with the opportunity to address the community as an effort to showcase our neighborhood CBEs.

Annies Ace Hardware Coupon

Ward 5 City Council Update

Mr. Ronan Gulstone, Chief of Staff to Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, addressed the following with the audience:

• Councilmember McDuffie introduced a bill to modify the nuisance property laws to allow civil action an penalties against tenants who are community nuisances.
• The councilmenber anticipates release of the FY 2018 budget to the Council by April 4, 2017. Councilmember McDuffie sent a letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser requesting that funding be made available to renovate the Lamond-Riggs Neighborhood Library in fiscal year 2018 as opposed to fiscal year 2020 as currently planned.

 EYA Presentation

EYA presented on the latest modifications to the 12th and Allison Street project (St. Josephites development).  Some of the modifications include:

• Reduced the number of homes from 150 to 80.
• Introduced side yard and rear yard setbacks.
• Included three acres of dedicated public space with a more formal playground in response to request from residents.
• Introduced duplex and triplex dwellings on Sargent Road and Allison Street NE (replacing the prior 7-dwelling concept).
• Removed from the plan the proposed parking lane along 12th Street.
• Offer grants to offset property tax increase faced by seniors.

Commissioner Cofield-Lynch (5A03), the commissioner for the SMD in which the project sits, moved to support the project. The commissioners voted to approve the project with one commissioner abstaining. Several residents in attendance objected to the commission’s decision to take the vote, stating that at least three of the commissioners were new and Commissioner Lampkin (5A06) explicitly requested more time to review the project because he was not familiar with the details of the project. Commissioner Edwards (5A05) said ANC 5A has followed this project carefully over the past two years and that he personally reviewed all of the comments received. He said a majority of the comments are in favor of the project and that based on the evidence, the decision to take the vote was appropriate.

Cafritz Presentation

Mr. Mark Regulinski of the Cafritz Foundation discussed the Art Place at Fort Totten project. Mr. Regulinski said the facility will be available for build out by its retail tenants by mid-April or May 2017. There will be 520 residential units, with 141 units designated as affordable. Over 500 parking spaces will be available, around 264 for residential units and the remainder for retail.

Long-standing issues were raised by residents concerning the affordable units, parking, and a memorandum of understanding to govern relocation and tenancy of the legacy Riggs Plaza apartments tenants. Commissioner Fletcher (5A08) promised to host a meeting in April to address these and other issues.

ANC 5A Business

The following business was conducted:

• Commissioner Washington (5A07) reported that ANC had a closing balance of $29,185.91.
• Commissioner Fletcher (5A08) announced that the ANC would pursue developing another ANC website separate from its government-provided website at anc5a.org. The commission said other ANCs have taken this approach and have developed websites that meet legal scrutiny.
• The audience suggested that two distribution points be setup for seniors to access official ANC 5A meeting minutes.
• Lastly, a request to receive a copy of each motion before its enactment was made.

Mayor’s Office

Mr. Lionell Gaines, Ward 5 MOCR, reported that the Mayor will submit legislation to establish a Green Bank. According to the DC Department of Energy website, “Green Banks are innovative policy tools that seek to expand renewable energy, lower energy costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create green jobs.”