ANC 5A held its monthly public meeting on February 22, 2023.

All commissioners were present: Duvalier Malone (5A01); Karlus Cozart (5A02) – Parliamentarian; Emily Singer Lucio (5A03) – Secretary; Diego Rojas (5A04); Kweku Toure (5A06) – Vice Chair; Gordon Fletcher (5A08) – Chair; Zachary Ammerman (5A09) – Treasurer. ANC single member districts 5A05 and 5A07 are still vacant.

At the request of McDonald’s representatives, consideration of McDonald’s public space committee application was removed from the agenda. The representatives wanted time to present at the North Michigan Park Civic Association meeting and to work up preliminary traffic data. They will appear at the ANC’s March meeting.

ANC Business

The ANC approved a motion to upgrade its Zoom account in order to increase storage space for meeting recordings. Commissioner Lucio learned in January that the ANC had run out of storage space. It sounded like the ANC said they would pay about $100 more annually to upgrade. Commissioner Toure abstained.

Commissioner Ammerman, treasurer, noted that the ANC is not able to write checks because of issues with PNC bank. He said that this is an issue with ANCs citywide that bank with PNC, as the bank has classified ANCs as nonprofits. The DC auditor is working on a resolution.

The ANC did not have time to discuss formation of ANC committees.

Mundo Verde Public Charter School Agreement (5A03)

Mundo Verde has come before the ANC several times regarding its expansion plan. Commissioner Emily Singer Lucio (5A03) worked with the neighboring commissioner from ANC 5B to create a resident task force to address parking, dropoff/pickoff, and other issues. There is now a draft agreement, which Commissioner Lucio shared at her single member district meeting in February.

The ANC voted to approve the agreement. Commissioner Cozart abstained.

Proposed Gas Station at 4975 South Dakota Avenue NE (5A08) (BZA case no. 17963A)

View renderings.

The owner of DC Mart located at 4975 South Dakota Avenue NE has applied for a modification of significance to a previously approved proposal to put in gas pumps in front of the convenience store/Z Burger. The plan is for three dispensers with nozzles on each side for a total of six pumps. A gas station was approved for that location by the Board of Zoning Adjustment back in 2010 (BZA case no. 17963), but back then the proposal was to raze the existing convenience store and replace it with a new one along with a gas station (Lowest Price brand). Now the owner plans to keep the existing store in place and just put in the gas pumps (Shell brand). He is making some changes to the approved plans so now he is seeking a modification. Special exception relief is needed to put in the gas station. A hearing is scheduled for April 12, 2023.

A representative for the applicant presented at the ANC meeting. He acknoweldged that there is a gas station right next door but tried to explain why another gas station would make sense. (Aside: I do not remember entirely what he said; I just have in my notes that what he said did not make sense). It was a short presentation that pretty much repeated what is in the filings.

In the application for modification of significance and statement in support, the applicant writes:

The applicant hereby proposes to amend the previously approved BZA #17963 by retaining the existing convenience store and site
modifications to the proposed gasoline canopy, fuel dispenser layout, and entrances. No changes to the existing drainage system
and boundaries are proposed. The intended use per approved BZA 17963 remains. However, this layout reduces the originally
approved impervious footprint thereby, fostering an environmentally better and less intense development.

Residents had a number of questions that were not answered. A resident asked about putting in electric car charging stations instead of gas pumps. There was generally a lot of opposition to the plan. The representative agreed to present to the North Michigan Park Civic Association and will return to the ANC with traffic data.

Ward 5 Mutual Aid Use of ANC Office Space (5A09)

The Ward 5 Mutual Aid group has been operating out of ANC 5A’s office at the Modern at Art Place for a while now after Commissioner Gordon Fletcher (5A08) permitted them to use the space. The office was previously in his single member district. Following redistricting it is now in ANC 5A09, which is represented by Commissioner Zach Ammerman. The group’s use of the ANC office space has become an issue because there is no written agreement between the ANC and the group and the ANC’s lease for the space does not permit the space to be used for anything but an ANC office. The office space was an approved community benefit for the Art Place development. The ANC still has its original office at UDC’s Bertie Backus campus, but expect to lose use of that space while the campus undergoes renovation.

At the ANC’s January 2023 meeting, the ANC voted to form an office space task force to assist the mutual aid group. Commissioner Ammerman reached out to representatives for the Cafritz Foundation (owner of Art Place). The representatives told him that they would potentially be okay with having some sort of side agreement with the mutual aid group to use the ANC office space as long as the group obtained liability insurance for using the space. Because the group is not a structured nonprofit organization or a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, the group is exploring how it can get a fiscal sponsor that would be able to get that liability insurance on behalf of the group. The group has a tentative deadline of having that done by the ANC’s March meeting.

Creation of Park Space on corner of South Dakota Avenue and Riggs Road NE (5A09)

View resolution.

The ANC approved a resolution drafted by Commissioner Ammerman in support of creation of park space on District-owned green space on the southwest corner of South Dakota Avenue and Riggs Road NE in front of Food & Friends. This park space is contemplated in the neighborhood’s Riggs Road/South Dakota Avenue NE Area Development Plan that was approved by the DC Council in 2009 and fully incorporated into the DC Comprehensive Plan in 2021. This is something that the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association has been working on for a while. The ANC originally passed a resolution on this issue back in 2017. The new resolution reaffirms support for that resolution.

Gallatin-Galloway Pedestrian Trail (5A09) (National Park Service representatives Brian Joyner, Kym Elder, Nick Bartolomeo)

National Park Service (NPS) representative said design work for an alternative location for an official trail between Gallatin and Galloway Street west of South Dakota Avenue NE will kick off “any day now.” Design work will proceed through the summer months. NPS still needs to identify a funding source for construction of the trail once the design work is done.

Commissioner Ammerman asked if NPS had any response to Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton’s letter requesting that NPS conduct more soil testing in Fort Circle Park. Mr. Joyner stated that NPS planned to respond either the next day or no later than Friday morning.

Commissioner Lucio asked about ADA compliance for the temporary surface that NPS placed on top of the abandoned trail location. She said that there is not a curb cut on the Gallatin Street side of the trail. NPS said the trail is not an official trail and that the temporary surface was just put down so that there would not be large mud pits. He said there is no way to make the temporary surface ADA compliant at all, it is just a temporary surface, and it was not graded to be a real surface. After Commissioner Lucio said that even the temporary surface has to be ADA compliant, Mr. Bartolomeo offered to visit the site with her.

A couple of people noted that the surface does not hold up in large rainfall. Mr. Bartolomeo explained that Metro has stormwater management infrastructure for the green line tunnel in that area that absorbs large amounts of water so in heavy rainfalls that area is going to be very wet. The surface is just a temporary surface; it was not graded and designed to be a permanent trail.

Washington Yu Ying & Washington Latin Joint Campus Project (5A05) (Carlie Fisherow, Yu Ying; Peter Anderson, Washington Latin)

Project website: https://4301harewood.org.

Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School and Washington Latin Public Charter School are teaming up for a joint campus project at the former Kirov Academy of Ballet school building located at 4301 Harewood Road NE. This project sits in ANC 5A05, which is currently without a commissioner. School officials are working with the Pleasant Hill Civic Association. This was just the first vist by school officials to ANC 5A. They plan to continue engaging ANC 5A.

The Kirov building went up for sale and was awarded to Washington Latin, which then decided to work with Yu Ying. Yu Ying, currently located at 220 Taylor Street NE, is a dual language Chinese/English immersion school with an IB program. It serves 600 students in grades K-5. It is a feeder school to DC International School. Yu Ying will serve PK3-K classes at the new campus and serve grades 1-5 at the Taylor Street campus.

Washington Latin is in a temporary location at 711 Edgewood Street NE and also has a location in Brightwood in Ward 4. The school will relocate the Edgewood campus to the new campus, while also continuing to serve grades 5-12 at the Brightwood campus. Both schools offer equitable access preference.

The plan is for the joint campus to have one new building for Yu Ying and one new building for Washington Latin. The existing Kirov building will house shared amenities, such as a gym, library, and cafeteria. Yu Ying will move in first. Yu Ying expects to break ground in July 2023 and open in August 2024. Washington Latin expects to break ground in the summer of 2024 and move in by summer 2025.

Representatives said that they plan to have community space at the new campus.

View details and sign up for project updates at https://4301harewood.org. There is a virtual town hall the third Wednesday of each month.

Ward 5 Mayor Office Report (MOCRS Christopher Ingram and Anthony Black)

Anthony Black is a new Ward 5 MOCR (mayor’s office liaison). He joins MOCR Christopher Ingram who has been serving in the role for several months now. The two had not yet decided which one would be the primary contact for ANC 5A. Contact information for both below.

Anthony Black
Ward 5 Liaison Mayor’s Office of Community Relations and Services
Executive Office of  the Mayor
1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 332
Washington, DC 20004
202.215.5049   Mobile
anthony.black@dc.gov

Christopher Ingram
Ward 5 Liaison Mayor’s Office of Community Relations and Services
Executive Office of  the Mayor
1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 332
Washington, DC 20004
202.394.4399   Mobile
Christopher.Ingram@dc.gov

Ward 5 Council Report (Carlos McKnight, Constituent Services Coordinator to Councilmember Zachary Parker)

The DC Council was winding down DC agency performance oversight hearings. DC agency budget hearings are coming up. Sign up for the Ward 5 newsletter at ward5.us/newsletter.

DC Office of Campaign Finance

The DC Office of Campaign Finance only had time to give a very brief overview of DC’s public campaign finance program. They will return to give a full presentation.