As expected, at its public hearing on January 13, 2021, the DC Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) voted 4-0-1 (one seat vacant) to approve special exceptions to lot occupancy and minimum vehicle parking requirements for building of the new Lamond-Riggs Library at 5401 South Dakota Avenue NE. The BZA case number is 20392.

The lot occupancy limit in the R-2 zone in which the library sits is 40 percent. The former library occupied 47 percent of the lot. The new library will occupy 49.5 percent of the lot. The library is required to have 11 parking spaces. The former library technically met that requirement, but one space was a noncompliant handicap parking space and one space had limited access because of where it was located next to the library’s dumpster. The new library will have 9 vehicle parking spaces, which will include a fully compliant handicap parking space.

The library received letters in support of the requested relief from ANC 5A (the ANC in which the library sits) and ANC 4B (the affected ANC just across the street from the library). The DC Office of Planning also submitted a report in support of the library.

Because the relief requested included a reduction in the required number of vehicle parking spaces, the DC Department of Transportation required a transportation demand management plan with three elements: (1) four long-term bike spaces for library employees; (2) six short-term bike parking spaces; (3) and a bike repair station adjacent to the short-term bike parking accessible to the community and library visitors. Library representatives agreed to those conditions.

With this issue out of the way, the library team can now move on to construction. Designs for the new library are available on the project website at https://www.dclibrary.org/newlamondriggs.

As noted several times on the blog, there is a lot of construction activity along the corridor. Razing of the old Lamond-Riggs Library is ongoing. Construction is ongoing on the second phase of Art Place at Fort Totten just across the street from the library on South Dakota Avenue NE. Just to the north of the library across Kennedy Street NE, EYA is constructing new townhomes at the southeast corner of South Dakota Avenue and Riggs Road NE. And fencing has gone up around the closed KFC/Taco Bell and former Dakota Liquors on the corner of 3rd Street and Riggs Road NE where a new Chick-fil-A will be built. I have been told that the Chick-fil-A construction team has advised neighboring businesses that razing of those buildings will be taking place soon, though they did not provide an exact date.