Reminder: DC Public Library is accepting public comment on requests to rename the Lamond-Riggs Library until April 8, 2022. Whatever feedback you want to give, whether it is leave the name as is, support for one or both of the requested renaming requests, now is the time to let DCPL know. Send comments to lamondriggs.naming@dc.gov. Below is information about the requests copied from https://www.dclibrary.org/newlamondriggs.
Library Naming Request
The Library has received two requests to rename the Lamond-Riggs Neighborhood Library. The Library is inviting the community to provide comments on the two requests. Comments may be submitted via email to lamondriggs.naming@dc.gov. The deadline to submit comments is April 8. The Library’s executive director will review all comments and provide a recommendation to the Library Board of Trustees at an upcoming meeting.
Below are bios for the two individuals whose names have been put forward.
Lillian J. Huff was an activist and organizer who, for nearly 20 years led the quest to attain a library in the Lamond-Riggs neighborhood.
Ms. Huff was a tireless volunteer in the Lamond-Riggs community, devoting thousands of hours to improve education, health care, correctional institutions, community relations with the police force, services to young and elder individuals, and the school lunch and food stamp programs, among other initiatives.
She was instrumental in securing funding from Congress to build the original Lamond-Riggs Library, and, after the library opened in 1983, she served as the first President of the Friends of the Lamond-Riggs Library.
Other roles in which she served her community included Vice President of the Federation of Friends of DC Public Library and President of the Lamond-Riggs Civic Association.
In 1978, Ms. Huff was elected to lead the District of Columbia’s Delegation to the White House Conference on Libraries and Information Services, and was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to serve as the Vice-Chairperson of the Pre-White House Conference on Libraries and Information Services.
Robert Bryant was an African American architect who, along with his brother, Charles, owned Bryant & Bryant, the firm that designed the original Lamond-Riggs Neighborhood Library.
Robert Bryant attended Armstrong Technical High School in D.C. and went on to study architecture at Howard University. He served his country as a US Air Force Architectural Engineer in Clovis, New Mexico from 1954-1956.
Following his service, he and his brother Charles formed Bryant & Bryant, one of the oldest African American architecture firms in the country. The firm had 600 commissions, including such recognizable projects as the University of the District of Columbia’s Van Ness campus, the Lamond-Riggs Library, the Shepherd Park Library, Dunbar High School, and the New Carrollton Amtrak Station.
Throughout their careers, Robert and his brother encouraged learning and diversity. Their firm served as a training ground for many students from historically black universities. Knowing how difficult it was for minorities to enter the architectural field, the Bryant brothers sought, mentored and trained these students.
Robert Bryant moved to the Lamond-Riggs community in 1961, and lived about a block from the Lamond-Riggs Library for many years.
Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association Public Meeting April 4, 2022 7:00 pm
Agenda
1. Welcome/Invocation
2. Officers Report, Minutes, Treasurer Report
3. Updates from Elected Officials & PSA
4. Guest Speakers and Q&A: A. DC Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE), Riversmart Program B. City Administrator Kevin Donahue to discuss budget (recently added)
I noted in this post that at the last ANC 5A meeting, I mentioned the pedestrian fatality that occurred near South Dakota Avenue and Ingraham Street NE in February. I should have added that in response, Laisha Dougherty, chief of staff to Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, stated that the CM’s office is aware of and is trying to address the need for traffic calming on South Dakota Avenue.
Image of South Dakota Avenue & 8th Street NE intersection from google maps
I do know that the CM’s office has been in touch with the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) about the difficulty that a blind resident has crossing at South Dakota Avenue at 8th Street NE (I mentioned this issue in a couple of my ANC meeting recaps). In response to the efforts of residents in that area over the past few years and recent intervention from the CM’s office, DDOT recently decided that a rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB) will be installed at that intersection.
For those unfamiliar with rapid flashing beacons, here’s a video from the federal highway administration explaining their purpose. Here is a one pager from DDOT. As noted in the video, rapid flashing beacons work best in conjunction with other traffic calming measures. There are rapid flashing beacons on Sherman Avenue NW that I am pretty familiar with (see dated image of Sherman Avenue below). Edit: There is a rapid flashing beacon on South Dakota Avenue at Decatur Street NE that I always forget about.
Image of rectangular rapid flashing beacons installed on Sherman Avenue at Girard Street NW from google maps, dated July 2019
Some may confuse the rapid flashing beacon with a hawk signal (which is also known as a hybrid pedestrian beacon). They are two different things. There is a hawk signal installed at South Dakota Avenue and Ingraham Street NE. With a hawk signal, motorists actually get a red signal to stop for pedestrians. With a rapid flashing beacon, motorists see just that, rapid flashing yellow lights indicating that a pedestrian is waiting to cross the road.
Image of hawk signal on South Dakota Avenue and Ingraham Street NE from google maps, dated August 2021
It is not clear when DDOT will install the rapid flashing beacon on South Dakota Avenue at 8th Street. I do not know how DDOT determined that this is the best option there, but hopefully it will help to slow down drivers a bit and get drivers to yield to pedestrians at crosswalks.
Chick-fil-A will apparently have a grand opening at 220 Riggs Road NE tomorrow March 31 (I believe a ribbon cutting will be held in the morning). At the February 2022 meeting of the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association (LRCA), Ward 4 MOCR Anthony Mitchell gave a brief update about DDOT’s plan for the South Dakota Avenue/Riggs Road NE intersection regarding the opening of what is generally considered a popular restaurant with a drive-thru. As we all know, that intersection is already challenging, especially during rush hour. Mayor Bowser had a meeting with DDOT, ANC Commissioner Alison Brooks (4B08), and LRCA president Barbara Rogers back in February to discuss the issue. I reached out to Mr. Mitchell for confirmation of a plan for ensuring safety for road users, particularly pedestrians. He provided the information below.
District Department of Transportation (DDOT) Plan:
DDOT will deploy Traffic Control Officers (TCOs) at the following locations:
First and Riggs
Riggs and South Dakota
Riggs and Chillum
3rd St NE near the entrance
DDOT will place two variable message board signs that say “Congestion Ahead”
Riggs and Chillum
Riggs and South Dakota
DDOT will monitor signal operations in the immediate area and adjust signal timing as appropriate to alleviate immediate impacts.
Chick-fil-A (CfA) Plan:
· Operating hours:
6:30am – 10:00pm Monday – Saturday
Closed on Sunday
· Projected Surge Times:
Breakfast 8:00am – 9:30am
Lunch 11:30am – 2:00pm
Dinner 5:00pm – 8:00pm
· Staffing plan for operations:
CfA surge plan: We will have 8-9 people working the drive through outside, with 3 of them dedicated to directing traffic on the lot. The full complement of staff during that time will be 30+ people.
CfA Communications plan: We will have hand radios onsite to communicate with each other
Mr. Mitchell also said he is also in touch with DDOT “to investigate extending the median as well as removing parking spaces that are immediately adjacent to the 3rd Street NE Walmart entrance/exit.”
I am not sure why it is taking so long to block parking near Walmart’s driveway. That should have been done years ago. It is obvious that the parking dangerously obstructs sightlines. Also, when Fort Totten Square was built in 2015, there were indications that only right turns would be permitted out of the 3rd Street Walmart exit, but of course that never happened. These are just a couple of basic things on a long list of outstanding items long pre-dating Chick-fil-A’s arrival in the neighborhood that need to be done along the corridor. Drivers repeatedly park like this, run the red light at South Dakota Avenue to turn westbound onto Riggs, block the box, make sudden U-turns in the middle of the street that end up turning into three-point turns in traffic, and basically do all manner of ridiculous things. Alas, things move slowly around here for some reason.
Tentative final Ward 5 ANC map created by Ward 5 ANC redistricting task force
In this post, I shared the tentative final map that the Ward 5 ANC redistricting task force created. The task force will vote on the map today at 6:00 pm. Meeting agenda here.
Tentative final ANC 5A map created by Ward 5 ANC redistricting task force
I previously submitted feedback on the task force’s three discussion maps to the effect of (1) keep 5A01 as is; (2) if 5A01 absolutely has to change, keep a sensible grouping of residents on South Dakota Avenue, Galloway, Hamilton, Jefferson, Ingraham, 7th, and 8th together; and (3) keep the residents east of South Dakota together with the residents west of South Dakota. I do not know what other feedback the task force received about 5A01. These were just my thoughts; I am certainly not trying to speak on behalf of all 5A01 residents.
I think the task force attempted to draw a district keeping as much of 5A01 together as possible, but because of the way the streets are designed and the way the census blocks are drawn in this area, the map continues to look strange and not make a lot of sense. You can see a map of the census blocks with populations here.
I continue to believe trying to carve up 5A01 is a fool’s errand (no offense to the task force, they are just trying to do the task they were assigned). The resulting tentative final map is evidence of the futility of this task. In the tentative map, residents on South Dakota Avenue between Hamilton and Ingraham would be in the same SMD as residents in the 400 block of Jefferson Street, but not the same SMD as residents on South Dakota Avenue between Ingraham and Jefferson.
I think the biggest challenge to drawing a sensible map is census block 0095081005, which you can see in the picture below. It is bounded by South Dakota Avenue, Jefferson Street, Chillum Place, Ingraham Street, Hamilton Street, and 11th Street.
Image of census block populations in SMD 5A01
Unless there are going to be manual splits somewhere (and not clear where those splits would be), it is not going to be possible in my mind to draw a map that makes sense. So part of my feedback to the task force remains advocating for keeping all of 5A01 together. I continue to believe there is a strong defensible argument for keeping this SMD as is. (1) It is constrained by census geography (very large census blocks covering multiple streets that cannot be easily split). (2) It is constrained by political geography (the Ward 4/Ward 5 and state line boundaries). (3) It has a natural geographic boundary (Fort Circle Park). (4) It keeps a cohesive neighborhood unit intact.
SMD 5A01 started out with 2,139 residents following the 2010 Census. In 10 years, it has grown by a little over 200 residents. I suspect (but haven’t researched) that some of that growth is from families and families with children moving into the area. Because this SMD primarily consists of single family homes with a few established apartment buildings, I don’t think there is a risk that the population will grow so much as to be super problematic for purposes of representation.
The task force is making allowances for SMDs with up to 2,250 residents, but so far they have decided that 2,389 is just too far outside the max limit of 2,100 residents. I don’t fault them for deciding that. I still think there are good reasons for allowing it.
Proposed Amendment to Tentative Final Map for ANC 5A(link)
Proposed amendment to 5A map by task force member
One amendment affecting this neck of the woods will be proposed at the task force meeting tonight by one of the co-chairs, from what I understand. It would shift roughly 48 residents on the west side of 7th Street (the folks who share the alley with UDC’s campus) to an SMD west of South Dakota Avenue. The folks on the east side of 7th Street would remain in 5A01. The residents across the street from UDC’s campus on the north side of the 500 block of Hamilton Street would remain in 5A01.
The amendment would also shift part of the apartment community along Sargent and Eastern to 5A02, which currently sits south of the park. It looks like the apartment buildings sit in three census blocks (census blocks 0095082000, 0095082007, 0095082008), with one of those census blocks sitting across Sargent/Eastern. The amendment is only proposing to shift two of those census blocks out of 5A01, so part of the apartment community would be in a different SMD from the rest, from what I can tell.
Alternative to proposed amendment to 5A map by task force member
It looks like there is also an alternative to the possible amendment. This alternative is based in part on a map that I shared with the task force as I was playing around with the numbers for 5A01 and 5A08. My thinking was really to take the carveout of 5A01 residents from the discussion maps and group those residents with the other Riggs Park residents directly west of South Dakota Avenue rather than grouping them with North Michigan Park residents catty-corner across South Dakota Avenue. So I drew a partial map focusing on 5A01, 5A02, and 5A08 to see what the numbers might look like. The co-chair played around with those SMDs, plugged in the other SMDs, and came up with this alternative. I do kind of think the alternative (and my conceptual map) suffer from the same problem as all of the other maps though.
Next Steps
The Ward 5 ANC redistricting task force will vote on a final Ward 5 ANC map today. The task force’s report with recommendations is due to the Council on April 1, 2022.
The Council will hold hearings on the ANC maps before they are finalized. The first Council hearing on the ANC boundaries will be on April 7, 2022. Sign up to testify by April 5, 2022. Written comments will be accepted until May 13, 2022. Instructions are in the hearing notice.
ANC 5A held its monthly public meeting on March 23, 2022. Commissioners present: Damion McDuffie (5A01); Charles Lockett (5A02); Diego Rojas (5A04); Ronnie Edwards (5A05) – Chair; Derrick Holloway (5A06); Sandi Washington (5A07) – Treasurer; Gordon Fletcher (5A08) – Vice Chair.
ANC Business
The matter of 1 Hawaii Avenue NE was removed from the agenda.
I could not quite follow what Commissioner Sandi Washington (5A07), treasurer for the ANC, said about the contract for the ANC’s website. Sounded like they need to extend it, not sure though. In any case, it would be nice if the site were updated (it still says that 5A04 is vacant for example, and some of the links are broken or redirect to incorrect pages).
The ANC is establishing a process for recognizing the contributions of residents (or something like that).
Trinity Grill & Social Marketplace is a new neighborhood grocery and restaurant that will be opening at 200 Michigan Avenue NE. The owner, Terrell Bagley, is local, familiar with the neighborhood, having grown up around 12th Street NE. Mr. Bagley stated that he is focusing on using local vendors, so the grocery will have local produce and goods from local bakers. The restaurant portion will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner and will have space for people to work and gather.
The owner is seeking a full retailer Class B license to sell and serve beer, wine, and spirits (this is a change from the original application). He said there will not be a full bar per se, but the idea is to have hand-crafted cocktails. They compared the not bar to the same concept as the one in the Giant on 7th and O Street NW.
One resident asked about the possibility of people hanging around outside the space. The owner and representative responded that the grocery will not sell singles. The owner also stated that he is crafting a security plan.
The commissioners did not have the updated application available to them during the meeting, so a few basic questions could not be answered.
An ABRA hearing is scheduled for April 25, 2022. Petitions are due April 4, 2022. The ANC voted unanimously to support the ABRA application on the condition that they receive a copy of the updated application from the owner, that the owner provides a security plan, and that the application outlines operating hours. (Note: I pulled the ABRA hearing notice. According to that notice, operating hours would be Sunday through Thursday 6am – 11pm, Friday and Saturday 6am – 12am. Hours for alcohol sales would be Sunday through Thursday 10am – 11pm, Friday and Saturday 10am – 12am).
Catholic University Field Lighting Upgrade (5A04)(Cheyenne Range, Catholic University)
Catholic is upgrading the lighting on its baseball and softball field. No action from the ANC is required. Catholic just needs to demonstrate that the university shared the plan with the community and received community input. The lighting will be on for field use at dawn and during late night hours. The LED fixtures will be directed at the field, so university officials believe there should be no impact/spillover to neighborhood homes.
There will be a community field day on April 24, 2022.
A couple of people raised concerns about university event attendees parking in the neighborhood as well as speeding on local roads leading to the parking lots. University officials said they will work on a plan. That might include maybe stationing an official near the entrances and exits to discourage people from speeding and to direct people to the appropriate parking lots. They will see about making sure they communicate clearly where people should be parking, but they are limited in what they can do if people attending events on campus do park in the neighborhood. (Note: There was a lot of discussion about which gates are open when so if you live in that area and care about this, I recommend you reach out to Commissioner Sandi Washington (5A07) and Commissioner Diego Rojas (5A04). The fields are in the single member district (SMD) of Commissioner Rojas, but a couple of the surrounding roads are in Commissioner Washington’s SMD).
The ANC voted unanimously to send a letter of support for the lighting project.
UDC Bertie Backus Food Hub Upgrade (5A01)(Dr. Kamran Zendehdel, Acting Director, UDC Center for Sustainable Development; Michael Whyte, Bertie Backus Food Hub Manager)
UDC is upgrading the Bertie Backus Urban Food Hub (at South Dakota Avenue and Galloway Street NE). Upgrades include installion of a new heating/cooling system, permanent water system, electricity, and a stormwater management system. They anticipate finishing the renovations by May.
Dr. Kamran Zendehdel also stated that the food hub will host a full cycle farmers market this season. They are currently hiring. The market will run from the second week of May until December 1.
In addition, the commercial kitchen will be open by the end of spring.
Earth Day is April 22. Events will be held at the food hub.
Someone asked why they are not using solar power for electricity. Dr. Zendehdel said they would like to have a solar energy system because that is consistent with their sustainable principles. He said they are working with Pepco.
Commissioner Charles Lockett (5A02) asked about opportunities for youth to learn about the food hub and sustainable gardening principles. Dr. Zendehdel said that DC Public Schools does provide field visits for students.
For questions about the food hub, contact Michael Whyte at michael.whyte1@udc.edu
Mayor’s FY 2023 Budget(Drew Hubbard, Interim Director, DC Department of Housing & Community Development)
Details of the mayor’s proposed budget are available at https://mayor.dc.gov/page/fy2023-fair-shot-budget. For information on spending related to affordable housing, view the one pager. There is $500 million proposed for the housing production trust fund, $10 million towards increasing Black home ownership in DC, a proposal to lower the cap on property tax increase for seniors, and $1 million for legal assistance to help with getting clean title to family homes (heirs’ property).
For information on financial assistance for single family home repairs, visit https://dhcd.dc.gov/SFRRP.
DC Department of Parks & Recreation(Christopher Dyer, DPR Community Engagment Manager)
View DPR’s presentation here. Registration for DPR summer camps opens April 4, 2022.
Signatures have been collected to place an initiative on the June 21st ballot that, if approved, would gradually raise the tipped minimum wage until it matches the standard minimum wage by 2027 (eliminating the tip credit that employers may take to satisfy the minimum wage) (Initiative 82). Every registered DC voter (including independents) will have the opportunity to vote on this initiative if it is on the ballot. The DC Board of Elections is currently examining whether enough signatures were collected from 5 percent of registered voters in 5 of the 8 wards.
April 2, 2022, will be the last day for residential and bulk dropoff at Fort Totten Transfer Station for six months while the location undergoes renovation for stormwater managment. Services will be relocated to the trash transfer station at 3200 Benning Road NE during renovation of the Fort Totten location.
On March 30, 2022, North Michigan Park Civic Association president Carmen Williams will have a walk with DPW, DCRA, DDOT, and DBH.
Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie Report(Laisha Dougherty, Chief of Staff)
The Ward 5 ANC Redistricting Committee met on Saturday, March 26 to make changes in response to feedback received on the three discussion maps on March 15. Feedback was received through the online comment form and at the public meeting held on March 22.
The result is a “Tentative Final Map” which will be considered by the Redistricting Committee in a public meeting on Tuesday, March 29 at 6pm (via zoom). Links and information on this map are copied below:
The specific numbers (ie the last two digits) of the Single Member Districts will be updated so that numbers reflect current designations or follow a single logic. The commissions (A, B, C, D, E, F) reflect how those commissions would be configured.
The map includes two census block splits that are not able to be reflected on the map. The splits would balance the number of residents in the two Fort Lincoln SMDs and make a more smooth boundary between 5C07 and 5C02.
At the meeting on Tuesday, March 29 at 6pm, the committee will consider any amendments to the map from committee members and then vote on the map to send to the Council. The final report is due to the Council on Friday, April 1. (The Council takes up the maps at a hearing on Thur, April 7) Meeting agenda
The Library has received two requests to rename the Lamond-Riggs Neighborhood Library. The Library is inviting the community to provide comments on the two requests. Comments may be submitted via email to lamondriggs.naming@dc.gov. The deadline to submit comments is April 8. The Library’s executive director will review all comments and provide a recommendation to the Library Board of Trustees at an upcoming meeting.
Below are bios for the two individuals whose names have been put forward.
Lillian J. Huff was an activist and organizer who, for nearly 20 years led the quest to attain a library in the Lamond-Riggs neighborhood.
Ms. Huff was a tireless volunteer in the Lamond-Riggs community, devoting thousands of hours to improve education, health care, correctional institutions, community relations with the police force, services to young and elder individuals, and the school lunch and food stamp programs, among other initiatives.
She was instrumental in securing funding from Congress to build the original Lamond-Riggs Library, and, after the library opened in 1983, she served as the first President of the Friends of the Lamond-Riggs Library.
Other roles in which she served her community included Vice President of the Federation of Friends of DC Public Library and President of the Lamond-Riggs Civic Association.
In 1978, Ms. Huff was elected to lead the District of Columbia’s Delegation to the White House Conference on Libraries and Information Services, and was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to serve as the Vice-Chairperson of the Pre-White House Conference on Libraries and Information Services.
Robert Bryant was an African American architect who, along with his brother, Charles, owned Bryant & Bryant, the firm that designed the original Lamond-Riggs Neighborhood Library.
Robert Bryant attended Armstrong Technical High School in D.C. and went on to study architecture at Howard University. He served his country as a US Air Force Architectural Engineer in Clovis, New Mexico from 1954-1956.
Following his service, he and his brother Charles formed Bryant & Bryant, one of the oldest African American architecture firms in the country. The firm had 600 commissions, including such recognizable projects as the University of the District of Columbia’s Van Ness campus, the Lamond-Riggs Library, the Shepherd Park Library, Dunbar High School, and the New Carrollton Amtrak Station.
Throughout their careers, Robert and his brother encouraged learning and diversity. Their firm served as a training ground for many students from historically black universities. Knowing how difficult it was for minorities to enter the architectural field, the Bryant brothers sought, mentored and trained these students.
Robert Bryant moved to the Lamond-Riggs community in 1961, and lived about a block from the Lamond-Riggs Library for many years.
Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George’s office shared information about the upcoming temporary closure of the Fort Totten Transfer Station.
After April 2, 2022, Fort Totten Transfer Station will close for approximately six months of repairs to improve the quality of the stormwater runoff generated at the site. During this period, bulk and residential drop-will be moved to Benning Road Transfer state (3200 Benning Road NE) on Wednesday-Friday from 10:00 am-2:00 pm.
As the DC Department of Public Works (DPW) strives to improve our facilities, April 2, 2022, will be the last day the Fort Totten transfer station will be open for bulk and residential drop-off until the completion of our capital improvement project.
DPW has received a stormwater management grant to improve the quality of the runoff stormwater generated by the bulk trash and citizens’ drop-off areas exposed to the weather at the Fort Totten Trash Transfer Station. Based on the required renovations, this location will not be available for residential drop-off until the Fall of 2022.
Operations will be moved to the Benning Road Transfer station located at 3200 Benning Road, NE. Beginning April 6, 2022, bulk and residential drop-off will take place Wednesday through Friday from 10 am until 2 pm. Residential drop-off is an alternative to scheduled bulk pick-up. DPW recommends that residents use 311 to schedule a bulk pick-up at a time convenient for the resident. Residents can schedule up to seven items per service request. Pick-ups are collected within 14 days of a scheduled service request.
Household Hazardous Waste drop-off will continue Saturdays from 7 am until 2 pm. Shredding will take place on the first Saturday of every month from 7 am until 2 pm.
The Fort Totten transfer station renovations are extensive and will take approximately six months to complete. Please follow us on social media for updates on the project. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact our office at clearing.mayor@dc.gov.
For voice-only participation on a telephone, dial (301) 715-8592. Meeting ID: 892 3487 6272. Passcode: 847782.
Agenda
1. Call to Order & Roll Call
2. Administrative Items:
A. Instructions re Participation in Virtual Meeting
B. Consideration and Approval of March Agenda
C. Approval of February Regular Public Meeting Minutes
D. Treasurer’s Report
3. Commissioner Updates (if applicable)
4. Community Concerns: *Please use the “Raise Hand” button via Zoom or *9 via telephone to speak during community concerns. The Commission will provide additional details regarding how to present community concerns via the virtual meeting at the start of the meeting.* This is the time for questions or statements from members of the public about issues on the agenda or other areas of concern. Please limit your statement or question to one minute. You may also contact members of the Commission before and after Commission meetings.
5. Reports:
A. Anthony Mitchell, Mayor’s Office of Community Relations and Services (3 minutes)
B. Tamira Benitez, Office of Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George (3 minutes)
C. Frazier O’Leary, Ward 4 State Board of Education Representative (3 minutes)
D. Metropolitan Police Department, 4th District (3 minutes)
E. Housing Justice Committee (2 minutes)
F. Vision Zero Committee (2 minutes)
6. Presentation: Everett Lott, Director, District Department of Transportation, Mayor Bowser’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget (20 minute presentation; 10 minute discussion)
7. Consent Calendar:
Resolution 4B-22-0301: Calling on National Park Service & District Department of Transportation to Make Usable Paper Alley Behind 5400 Block of 1st Street, NE (Commissioner Brooks & Commissioner Palmer)
Resolution 4B-22-0302: Resolution in Opposition to Confirmation of Karima Holmes as Director of the District Office of Unified Communications (Commissioner Yeats)
Resolution 4B-22-0303: Providing Feedback on Construction of the Metropolitan Branch Trail from Blair Road, NW, to Piney Branch Road, NW (Commissioner Yeats & Commissioner Palmer)
8. Adjournment
Next Regular Public Meeting: Monday, April 25, 2022, 7:00 p.m.
Please join The Parks Main Street (TPMS) Saturday March 26, 2022, from 1 pm to 3 pm for a Community Clean Up!
Volunteer with your neighbors and make new friends while beautifying our community.
We will pick up litter in surrounding Riggs Park neighborhoods near Hellbender Brewery, Culture Coffee Too, Troka Insurance, Chick-fil-A, Food & Friends and Metro Station.
Meet in front of Culture Coffee Too (300 Riggs Road NE) to check-in and pick up your trash pickers, bag holders (while supplies last), and trash bags. Bring your own gloves. Volunteers cleaning Hellbender Hill dress appropriately
The first 30 VOLUNTEERS who register on EventBrite and check-in the day of the clean up will receive a free coffee from Culture Coffee Too, a free pint from Hellbender Brewery and a mystery gift to show appreciation for volunteers! Registration and Check-in required.
Meet up at Hellbender Brewery (5788 2nd Street NE) after clean up.
For information contact info@theparksmainstreet.org.
Yesterday, Mayor Muriel Bowser shared part of her proposed fiscal year 2023 budget with the DC Council. Additional parts of the budget will be released over the next few days. I have not taken a look at any of it yet (I have been looking at those ANC boundary discussion maps!). But resident Gavin Baker passed along his initial take on budget items in or close to Lamond-Riggs that he is kindly permitting me to share on the blog, copied below.
Riggs-LaSalle Recreation Center to get a roof replacement in FY23.
LaSalle-Backus Elementary School modernization is still included on the same timeframe as last year’s budget (project to start in FY27). Unclear if a swing space in the area will be provided during construction (Truesdell and Whittier are also scheduled for modernization in the next few years and folks have asked for a local swing space during those projects).
UDC Bertie Backus campus to get funding for renovations and building addition. There’s also still $500K in this year’s budget, not yet used, for beautification at UDC Backus.
The Eastern Ave. rehabilitation and Lamond-Riggs streetscape projects are still listed, although the amounts and timing are not specified in these documents.
Nearby:
A new DC Public Library in Manor Park/Brightwood Park is funded (replacing the current Shepherd Park library), exact site TBD; project to start in FY27. (The new Lamond-Riggs Library is already fully funded, under construction, and expected to open this summer.)
Fort Totten Trash Transfer Station is funded for design and construction of pollution prevention and stormwater treatment best management practices.
The Metropolitan Branch Trail Blair to Piney Branch and 1st Pl. to Oglethorpe projects are still listed, although the amounts and timing are not specified in these documents.
The North Capitol St. project is still listed, although the amount and timing is not specified in these documents.
Coolidge High School to get a separate kitchen and dining area (currently shared with Wells Middle School).
North Michigan Park Recreation Center to get playground improvements in FY23.
Editor’s Note: I will just add for reference the budget request letters sent to Mayor Bowser by Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George and Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie before Mayor Bowser shared the first part of her budget with the Council. A few highlights from CM Lewis George’s letter include (1) a request for funding for swing space in Ward 4 for when Truesdell, Whittier, and LaSalle-Backus undergo modernization (advocated by ANC 4B, ANC 4D, and many residents); (2) a request for some specific improvements to Lamond Recreation Center (advocated by the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association under the leadership of Barbara Rogers) and improvements to Riggs-LaSalle Recreation Center (advocated by the Friends of Riggs-LaSalle Recreation Center under the leadership of Tischa Cockrell with board member Robert Oliver, as well as LRCA, based on longstanding requests from staff and residents); and (3) a request to accelerate funding for rehabilitation of Eastern Avenue NE (advocated by just about everyone in the eastern part of Ward 4 and several nearby in Ward 5). Worth taking a look at both letters to see all of the good things the Councilmembers requested.
More to come when Mayor Bowser releases her full budget.
On March 15, 2022, the Ward 5 ANC redistricting task force released three discussion maps for new ANC/SMD boundaries within the ward. It is worth taking a look at the maps on the task force redistricting site to see the options for how new boundaries may be drawn.
(As a reminder, the Ward 4 redistricting task force released four discussion maps on February 27, 2022. Those maps make a few adjustmets to the boundaries of ANCs 4B07, 4B08, and 4B09 covering Lamond-Riggs. I am not going to discuss those changes in detail on the blog right now. The Ward 4 task force is working on finalizing a map and report for recommendation to the Council. More information is available on the Ward 4 ANC redistricting site at https://janeeseward4.com/redistricting).
Ward 5’s population grew by a little over 15,000 residents from 2010 to 2020. There is no required number of ANCs within a ward, but under DC law, each single member district (SMD) within an ANC must have roughly 2,000 residents and be as equal as possible. According to the task force, each SMD should have approximately 1,900 to 2,100 residents. In addition, SMD boundaries should conform to census blocks as much as possible.
Many of the SMDs within Ward 5 exceed the maximum limit of 2,100 residents, including SMDs within ANC 5A.
(3/17/2022: Corrected the population for 5A01 from 2,349 to 2,389)
ANC 5A SMD
2020 Census Population
5A01
2,389
5A02
1,950
5A03
2,159
5A04
1,919
5A05
1,710
5A06
2,867
5A07
2,338
5A08
2,849
Each discussion map proposes a new ANC within the ward to balance the ward’s steep population growth.
Submit Comments to the Task Force by March 21, 2022
ANC 5A Single Member Districts 5A01 & 5A08 Proposals
Map of current ANC 5A Boundaries
The Ward 5 side of Riggs Park sits in ANC 5A. More specifically, the Ward 5 side is currently split between ANC 5A01 (east of South Dakota Avenue NE) and ANC 5A08 (west of South Dakota Avenue NE), both of which exceed the maximum population limit. ANC 5A01 has 2,389 residents and ANC 5A08 has 2,849 residents.
There are not really any good options for balancing ANC 5A01, which is my SMD. This SMD currently consists solely of Riggs Park residents. It is currently bounded by the Ward 4/Ward 5 boundary line at Kennedy Street NE to the north, the DC/Maryland border to the east, Fort Circle Park at Galloway Street NE to the south, and South Dakota Avenue NE to the west. The SMD currently includes the Bertie Backus campus of UDC as well as the DOES Backus American Job Center. That entire campus (bounded by South Dakota Avenue NE, Hamilton Street NE, 7th Street NE, and Galloway Street NE) shares an alley with residents on 7th Street. There are also a couple of apartment buildings along Sargent Road NE and Eastern Avenue NE within the SMD. This is a nice compact, cohesive manageable area, and it would make the most sense to me to keep it all together as a single SMD. I would like to think that this is one case where there should be an exception to the 2,100 max resident limit given the natural park boundary as well as the hard ward and state line boundaries.
Currently, ANC 5A08 is roughly bounded by Riggs Road NE to the north, South Dakota Avenue/8th Street NE to the east, Buchanan Street NE to the south, and the Metrorail tracks to the west.
Below I have placed images of the three discussion maps for the entire ward as well as maps of the ANC 5A boundaries in each discussion map. Because I am not looking at the maps in the ESRI mapping tool, I am guesstimating at where I think some of the lines are.
Someone should go into ESRI, see what makes the most sense, draw a map, and report back to all of us!
Ed. Note 3/18/2022: I looked at a better map where I could see the census blocks to look a little more closely at what is happening on Hamilton Street NE in ANC 5A01. For purposes of the discussion maps below, what I am calling the ANC 5A01 carveout has different impacts to residents on the south side of Hamilton and residents on the north side of Hamilton, I think (if we are not splitting census blocks). It is a task to nail down exactly which Hamilton Street residents would shift in each map. I have tried to clarify a bit more, but I am not sure if I got it entirely correct.
Discussion Map 1
ANC 5A Boundaries in Discussion Map 1
For Map 1, it looks like the task force is proposing to carve out a small number of residents (including myself on the south side of Hamilton Street, but not residents on the north side of Hamilton from what I can tell) from the rest of what is currently ANC 5A01. So that SMD would essentially stay the same, except the area bounded by what looks to be 7th Street NE, Hamilton Street NE, 12th Street NE, and Galloway Street NE would be shifted to what is basically currently ANC 5A 5A02, which encompasses North Michigan Park. This new area I am describing is labeled 5A03 in Map 1.
ANC 5A02 currently sits south of Galloway, east of South Dakota Avenue NE and goes all the way south to Webster Street NE. It includes North Michigan Park Recreation Center and St. Anselm’s Abbey School. It includes Fort Circle Park between South Dakota Avenue and the DC/Maryland line.
It looks like the one additional change Map 1 makes to the current ANC 5A02 boundaries is that it shifts the area where the gas station/minimart are on the east side of South Dakota Avenue and a few of the surrounding blocks east from 5A02 to the same SMD as the McDonald’s on the west side of South Dakota Avenue.
I suppose simply shifting a couple hundred residents on Hamilton and on Galloway from current ANC 5A01, which exceeds the max limit, to current ANC 5A02, which has a little bit of room to grow, to form a new SMD is not a terrible idea. But the thought of attending an SMD meeting with people talking about things happening all the way on Webster Street or even at North Michigan Park Rec is not fun to think about. And then having to follow a different ANC commissioner just to hear about things related to the Backus campus just down the street along Galloway/Hamilton is kind of a lot. It does not make a lot of sense to me to put people in the 500 block and the 1200 block of Hamilton together in one SMD and put the people in the middle of Hamilton in the 700 to 1100 blocks in a different SMD.
Map 1 would keep all of the area under development near the Fort Totten Metro station and the area north to Riggs Road NE together in one SMD with a western boundary at North Capitol Street NE and a southern boundary mostly along what looks like Emerson Street NE/8th Street NE (labeled 5A02 on the map). It would include a bit of the area along 6th Street NE south of Emerson that includes the Capital Area Food Bank and I think the Emerson Park townhome community, but not the Totten Mews townhome community. Don’t quote me on that though; I am not entirely sure how this map treats those townhome communities.
Map 1 would shift Catholic University from ANC 5A to a different ANC.
I have not looked closely at the other ANC 5A changes further south or further west in this map.
The one nice thing about Map 1 is that the ANCs are roughly equal in size. ANC 5A would still have 8 SMDs, which is a nice manageable number.
Discussion Map 2
ANC 5A Boundaries in Discussion Map 2
Looks like for Map 2, the task force is proposing to carve out a tiny part of existing 5A01 along Ingraham Street NE east of South Dakota Avenue to 7th Street NE to Hamilton Street NE to 11th Street to Galloway Street NE to Sargent Road NE.
That tiny carveout of residents (myself included) would be part of an SMD with the residents west of South Dakota Avenue, south of Galloway down to Buchanan. This new SMD I am describing is labeled 5A08 in Map 2. It includes a couple of the HOA communities in North Michigan Park. It would include Fort Circle Park between the Metro tracks and Sargent Road. It looks like it would not include the area around the McDonald’s or the minimart. As I write this, I am thinking this map is a little better in terms of not having an SMD with as much of a geographic spread as Map 1. It would keep residents surrounding the Backus campus together in one SMD – residents in the 500 block of Hamilton Street, residents on 7th Street and 8th Street, residents on the south side of the 900 & 1000 blocks of Hamilton, residents in the 900-1200 blocks of Galloway Street.
Map 2 would keep all of the area under development near Fort Totten Metro station west of South Dakota Avenue together with the area north to Riggs Road in one SMD (labeled 5A09 on Map 2). It would create a western boundary at North Capitol Street NE instead of the Metro tracks. It would have a southern boundary of Farrugut Street NE west of the tracks and Galloway Street NE east of the tracks. So this map groups together more of the area west of the Metro tracks with the apartment buildings east of the Metro tracks.
Catholic University would remain in ANC 5A as a single SMD with the addition of one census block (looks like the area of homes bounded by Varnum Street NE, Webster Street NE, First Street NE, and Hawaii Avenue NE, across from the field but I am not entirely sure). Edited to add: Adding this census block might help increase the chances of regularly having a commissioner for this SMD. With Catholic as a standalone SMD, university officials sometimes finds a motivated student to serve as an ANC commissioner, but that is not always the case and the seat sometimes remains vacant.
I have not looked closely at the other ANC 5A changes further south or further west in this map.
This map proposes 9 SMDs for ANC 5A.
Discussion Map 3
ANC 5A Boundaries in Discussion Map 3
In Map 3, the task force proposes to carve out an area from the current ANC 5A01 along Hamilton Street to what looks like 11th Street to Galloway Street to Sargent Road. That tiny group of residents (myself included) would be part of an SMD that crosses Fort Circle Park south to about Crittenden Street NE as well as Decatur Street NE. This new SMD I am describing is labeled 5A08 on Map 3. This map would keep some of the residents around the Backus campus in one SMD, but not the residents in the 500 block or the rest of the north side of Hamilton. It would include the part of Fort Circle Park between South Dakota Avenue and Sargent Road. There is some interesting line drawing around Emerson Street NE. It looks like the area around McDonald’s and the gas station/minimart would be included in this SMD. It would have an eastern border south of Fort Circle Park at what looks like 12th Street NE in North Michigan Park.
Map 3 would keep all of the area under development around Fort Totten Metro station west of South Dakota Avenue together with the area north to Riggs Road in one SMD (labeled 5A09 in Map 3). It would have a western boundary at the Metro tracks plus a tiny area just west of the Metro tracks along 1st Place NE where the Metro Transit Police building, Metro long-term parking lot, a union building, and DMV Impact Church are located.
Catholic would remain in ANC 5A as essentially a standalone SMD. I have not looked closely at other ANC 5A changes further south or further west in this map.
This map also proposes 9 SMDs for ANC 5A.
Help Needed
Balancing the ANCs and SMDs is a difficult task because no one ANC or SMD can be viewed in isolation of the rest. Kudos and many thanks to the task force members who contributed their time to this undertaking.
I think some of the choices around ANC 5A01 in the discussion maps might have something to do with the way the census blocks are drawn in this area and trying to keep whole census blocks together. I am just guessing here; I have not reached out to the task force to ask. The task force ANC 5A subgroup did not have any draft maps prepared for the task force meeting on March 8, so there was not any real discussion during that meeting about decision points or what they might have been thinking about as they started drawing lines (save for a statement that they had received comments from ANC 5A Commissioner Emily Lucio (5A03) about the SMD covering Catholic University (5A04)).
I am not really sure where it makes the most sense to shift roughly 200 to 300 residents from ANC 5A01. I wonder if there is a way to have an SMD bounded by Galloway to the south, the Metro tracks to the west, either Hamilton or Ingraham to the north, and either 7th, 8th, or 11th to the east. Then another SMD with what remains of the area north of Galloway. Or keep the existing 5A01 boundaries, but shift the apartment buildings and the few houses off Sargent to a different SMD. Again, someone should go into the ESRI mapping tool and decide what makes sense for ANC 5A, especially ANC 5A01, and report back! I say this only a little jokingly because I really do want to offer useful comments to the task force, but I do not know if I am going to figure it out by March 21.
If you care about any of this, take a look at the maps, submit comments by March 21, and register for the public meeting on March 22.
The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) and Greater Greater Washington are hosting a Ward 5 Council candidate forum on transportation on March 22, 2022, at 7:00 pm.
Ward 5 DC Council Transportation Forum on Transportation Issues in Washington, DC
All Candidates running in the 2022 primary were invited.
Issues included but not limited to: Vision Zero Bus Rapid Transit Buses (service and fares) Protected Bike Lanes Trails Parking Policing and Traffic Enforcement
Hosted by Greater Greater Washington and WABA
Co sponsors: Black Millennials 4 Flint, Moms Clean Air Force DC Chapter, The Coalition for Smarter Growth, DC Environmental Network, Citizens’ Climate Lobby – DC, Sunrise Movement DC
Next Stop...Riggs Park 
