ANC 5A held its monthly public meeting on May 22, 2024. Commissioners present: Duvalier Malone (5A01); Karlus Cozart (5A02) – Parliamentarian; Emily Singer Lucio (5A03) – Vice Chair & Secretary; Diego Rojas (5A04); Gordon Fletcher (5A08) – Chair; Shelagh Bocoum (5A09) – Treasurer. ANC 5A06 & 5A07 are vacant.

Commission Business

The ANC voted to approve spending $90 to get video recordings of the ANC meetings off zoom and onto the ANC website. Commissioner Cozart voted no.

ANC Public Safety Committee Update

Commissioner Cozart, who is heading up the ANC’s public safety meeting, stated the ANC will tentatively schedule a public safety summit on June 20, 2024, at 6:45 pm. Commissioner Cozart said he has invitations out to the DC Office of Attorney General, DC Department of Youth & Rehabilitation Services, and Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker.

Ward 5 Mayor Office Report (Ward 5 MOCR Anthony Black)

The Giant Barbecue Battle will be in September. Reach out to him for tickets.

Mr. Black has Ward days on Tuesday and Fridays when he can meet residents and commissioners around the ward to discuss any issues.

Mayor Bowser FY2025 Budget Presentation (Phil Thomas, Director, Office of the Clean City)

Director of the Mayor’s Office of the Clean City stated the mayor’s FY 2025 budget has three core principles: (1) public safety; (2) public education; (3) downtown investments.

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

The Council is in the middle of budget season and is looking to reverse some of Mayor Bowser’s propsoed cuts.

Metro is installing permanent bus shelters at Fort Totten and Brookland stations

Metro is redesigning its bus network.

DDOT will be holding kickoff meetings for the South Dakota Avenue corridor safety project on May 30 (virtual) and June 1 (in person).

DDOT Riggs Road NE Cycletrack; Taylor Street Bike Lane Project (Christopher Berg, DDOT Bicycle/Pedestrian Program Specialist; Michael Alvino, DDOT Active Transportation Branch Manager)

See DDOT ANC 5A Riggs Road Cycletrack Presentation (May 2024)

DDOT plans to reissue a Notice of Intent (NOI) to install a two-way cycletrack on the south side of Riggs Road NE between South Dakota Avenue and 1st Place NE. The goal is to install the cycletrack this year.

In response to questions, Mr. Alvino noted that DDOT is aware of the need for an additional curb cut on 1st Place NE. He also noted that DDOT is still working with National Park Service on a multi-use path on Galloway Street NE near Fort Totten station.

The Taylor Street NE bike plan project is in the planning phase.

As noted, DDOT will hold two kickoff meetings for the South Dakota Avenue corridor safety project.

Food & Friends Expansion & Curb Cut Request (Carrie Stolzfus, Executive Director, & Casey Dyson, Director Government Affairs and External Relations)

See Food & Friends Presentation to ANC 5A (May 2024)

Food & Friends wants to expand their building at 219 Riggs Road NE in order to serve more individuals. They state that in order to do so, they will need to expand towards South Dakota Avenue. They have submitted an application to DC’s Public Space Committee for what they are calling a conceptual curb cut on South Dakota Avenue NE between Riggs Road and Kennedy Street. They gave a brief presentation to the ANC to request the ANC’s support of the curb cut. The ANC did not take a vote at the meeting.

When DDOT eliminated the slip lanes on South Dakota Avenue way back when, a contiguous parcel of land was created in front of Food & Friends. That parcel of District-owned land is slated for park space so that is why Food & Friends say they are now looking to expand towards South Dakota. Because of the property lines, Food & Friends would need a bit of public space for a driveway that they want to install (in addition to the curb cut) to access this planned addition.

(I asked if Food & Friends could share information from their public space application, such as vehicle count. It was a bit hard to follow from the presentation exactly what the plans are for having two separate vehicle entrances).

Commissioner Bocoum (5A09) stated she will arrange a meeting with Food & Friends and stakeholders about the expansion and driveway plan before the ANC takes a vote on the public space application.

Miscellaneous

I mentioned that Social Justice School has applied to relocate to 333 Kennedy Street NE (as noted in this post). A DC Public Charter School Board hearing was held on May 20, 2024. The school notified Chair Fletcher but the commissioner for the area, Commissioner Bocoum, was not aware and the ANC did not participate. Councilmember Parker submitted a letter in support of the relocation in advance of the hearing.

The ANC received notification Aldi’s application to obtain a beer/wine license.

The next ANC meeting will be June 26, 2024.