Update 12/6/2024: The Ward 5 Holiday Party has been cancelled due to schedule conflict.
Ward 5 Holiday Party December 19, 2024 6:00 pm-8:30 pm Dock 5 at Union Market 1309 5th Street NE
Councilmember Zachary Parker will host the Ward 5 Holiday Party on December 19 from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. at Dock 5 at Union Market. Bring an unwrapped, unopened toy to contribute to the holiday toy drive.
This year’s Ward 5 Awards Ceremony will also take place at the Ward 5 Holiday Party. Nominate a deserving neighbor by December 13: Ward 5 Awards 2024 Nomination Form.
From DC Department of Housing and Community Development
The DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) is hosting citywide Housing Listening Sessions to provide information on the District’s housing resources and programs and so residents can share their housing needs and concerns. DHCD is hosting the Ward 4 Housing Listening Session on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, at 5:30 pm at Lamond-Riggs Library (5401 South Dakota Avenue NE). For more information and registration, visit Ward 4 Housing Listening Session.
DHCD’s Ward 4 Housing Listening Session
Tuesday, November 26, 2024 5:30 pm Lamond-Riggs Library 5401 South Dakota Avenue NE
In the redesign, Metro continues to propose eliminating several neighborhood bus stops, as discussed in this post. But Metro now proposes to retain the stop at Chillum Place & Eastern Avenue NE that was originally slated for removal.
Bus Stop
Route
Plan
South Dakota Ave & 8th St NE
80
Remove
Galloway St & South Dakota Ave NE
80, E2, F6
Remove
Riggs Rd & Rock Creek Church NE
60, 64, E4, K2, K6
Remove
Riggs Rd & Blair Rd NE
60, 64, E4, K2, K6
Remove
Chillum Pl & Eastern Ave NE
E4
Retain
New Hampshire Ave & Longfellow St NE
K6
Remove
Nicholson St & Riggs Rd NE
E4
Remove
New Hampshire Ave & Oneida St NE
K6
Remove
New Hampshire Ave & Quackenbos St NE
K6
Remove
I am personally annoyed about the planned removal of the stop at South Dakota and Galloway. Riggs Park residents will have to either walk up the steep dirt hill to the stop at Galloway & 4th or walk to the stop at South Dakota & Farragut and stand at a stop on a narrow sidewalk without a bench or shelter. Alas.
(Yesterday, Councilmember Zachary Parker sent a letter to Metro leadership with some initial concerns about some of the proposed stop removals in Ward 5. The letter mentions the stops at Riggs/Rock Creek Church and Riggs/Blair).
New Naming Convention
Metro is moving forward with the new naming convention. Routes are named based on the following criteria:
The first character represents general area:
D or C (District of Columbia, with D generally corresponding to routes serving Downtown and C with Crosstown routes)
M (Montgomery)
P (Prince George’s)
A (Arlington and Alexandria)
F (Fairfax County, City of Fairfax, and Falls Church)
The second character represents a number that clusters routes along the same corridor or in the same neighborhood
The third character distinguishes it from other routes in that cluster; an X represents limited-stop service
Neighborhood Bus Route Crosswalk: Existing Route –> Approximate Proposed Route
E2 –> C71 Fort Totten – Union Station via Ivy City E4 –> C81 Sibley Hospital – Fort Totten 80 –> D30 Fort Totten – Federal Triangle via North Capitol Street 64 –> D44 Fort Totten – Federal Triangle via 11 Street NW K2 –> C77 Takoma – Fort Totten K6, K9 –> M60 White Oak Medical Center – Fort Totten via New Hampshire Avenue K6, K9 –> M6X White Oak FDA – Fort Totten R1, R2 –> P15 Riggs Road – Adelphi via Riggs Road) R1, R2 –> P16 White Oak Medical Center – Fort Totten via Riggs Road F6 –> P32 Fort Totten – Greenbelt F6 –> P35 Fort Totten – New Carrollton K2 –> P42 Takoma – New Carrollton
Route Changes
Neighbor Gavin and I took a quick look at some of the final route changes for the neighborhood. A few differ from what Metro proposed earlier this year. Entirely possible missed some things or got something wrong. Metro made some tweaks to the Maryland lines that serve Fort Totten station, but I did not look super closely at them.
Metro prepared a handy response summary providing a bit of rationale for some of their decisions.
Service on Riggs Road/Chillum Place/Nicholson Street/Eastern Avenue NE(E2 –>C71)
Metro is moving forward with chopping the upper NE/NW route E4 crosstown loop to Riggs Park. Seems planners could not quite figure out what to do about service between Fort Totten station and Eastern Avenue NE, despite the several comments asking them to keep at least one crosstown loop to Riggs Park so that people can actually travel crosstown and get to locations like grocery stores, schools, library, and their homes without having to transfer buses.
Previously Metro proposed adding the eastern tail of the current loop to a route that would go out to Maryland. In the final plan, Metro goes in a completely different direction by putting the eastern tail onto route C71, a route most similar to existing route E2 that runs between Fort Totten and Union Station via Ivy City. Looks like the route will no longer travel down Gallatin Street NE. Instead, the route will service South Dakota, Riggs, Chillum Place, Eastern, and Nicholson.
Service 7 days/week. Frequency 20-30 weekdays; 30 minutes on weekends.
There will be just one upper NE/NW crosstown loop serving Fort Totten station. Route C81 will serve locations between Fort Totten station and Sibley Hospital. There will no longer be direct crosstown service to Friendship Heights station.
Service 7 days/week. Frequency of 20 minutes most of the time.
Metro previously proposed eliminating route K2 between Takoma and Fort Totten station. The final plan adopts new route C77, which will be similar to existing route K2.
Route C77 will run only on weekdays during rush hour. Frequency of 20 minutes.
Some Thoughts
This network redesign was a hefty task. I appreciate the level of outreach that Metro conducted and the various online tools developed to help make sense of all of the proposed changes and provide feedback. I also appreciated the comment/response summary documents. It is clear how much work went into collecting and analyzing all of the feedback and coming up with a final plan designed to meet several objectives. So while I would like to think of the bus as my personal chauffeur, I get that there have to be adjustments and tradeoffs.
Hopefully sooner rather than later, Metro will be able to enjoy a more sensible funding structure, and we can get a visionary network that the city and region deserve. On the Metrorail side, looking forward to the purple line in opening in a few years. Also, Metro is talking publicly about possibly restoring some yellow service to Fort Totten station.
In the meantime, Metro will be preparing to implement the bus network changes in summer 2025.
On December 4, 2024, the DC Council Committee on Recreation & Community Affairs will hold a roundtable regarding DC’s park system and challenges and opportunities for collaboration with the National Park Service.
Requests to provide oral testimony must be made by 5:00 pm on November 26, 2024. Individuals may provide oral testimony in person or virtually. For more details and to register to testify, visit the hearing page.
Written testimony will be accepted until 5:00 pm on December 11, 2024.
On Wednesday, December 4, 2024, Councilmember Matt Frumin will hold a public roundtable to discuss matters pertaining to the District of Columbia’s park system and collaboration among DC government agencies and the National Park Service (NPS). Subjects for discussion include equitable use of, and access to, locally and federally managed parks in the District, and the current state of collaboration among local agencies and the NPS.
For voice-only participation on a telephone, dial (301) 715-8592.
Meeting ID: 813 9512 1997.
1. Call to Order & Roll Call
2. Administrative Items:
A. Instructions for Participation in Virtual Meeting
B. Consideration and Approval of November 2024 Regular Public Meeting Agenda
C. Approval of October 2024 Regular Public Meeting Minutes
D. Treasurer’s Report
E. Approval of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 4B Annual Report 2024 and Recognition of Student Art Submission Winners
F. Welcome and Introduction to Student Intern – Denzel Robinson (Office of Industry Engagement’s 2024-25 Advanced Internship Program)
3. Commissioner Updates
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. Commander Nikki Lavenhouse, Metropolitan Police Department, Fourth District (3 minutes)
B. Yamileth Escobar, Mayor’s Office on Community Relations and Services (3 minutes)
C. Barbara Rogers, Office of Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George (3 minutes)
D. Frazier O’Leary, Ward 4 State Board of Education (3 minutes)
E. Housing Justice Committee (2 minutes)
F. Vision Zero Committee (2 minutes)
G. Youth Advisory Committee (2 minutes)
H. Community Safety & Support Committee (2 minutes)
6. Presentation: Casey Dyson, Government Relations and Public Funding Director, Food & Friends, Mission and Efforts to Address Food Insecurity (5-minute presentation; 5-minute discussion)
7. Presentation: Sia Barbara Kamara, Deacon, Faith United Church of Christ, Mobile Market, Mission and Efforts to Address Food Insecurity (5-minute presentation; 5-minute discussion)
8. Presentation: Rev. LaTaska M. Nelson, MDiv, Interim Executive Director, Emory Beacon of Light, Inc., Mission and Efforts to Address Food Insecurity (5-minute presentation; 5-minute discussion)
9. Presentation: Ward 4 Mutual Aid, Mission and Efforts to Address Food Insecurity (5-minute presentation; 5-minute discussion)
Letter: Highlighting Continued Administrative Challenges and Lack of Support from the Office of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (Commissioner Palmer, Commissioner Brooks, Commissioner Yeats, Commissioner Smith)
Letter: Raising Concerns regarding Takoma Community Pool Management and Maintenance (Commissioner Palmer, Commissioner Smith, Commissioner Yeats, Commissioner Brooks)
I am a little late in providing an update on the Food & Friends request for a new curb cut on South Dakota Avenue NE.
At a hearing on August 22, 2024, the DC Public Space Committee approved a conceptual curb request for Food & Friends on South Dakota Avenue just north of Kennedy Street NE. The matter was on the consent agenda after the PSC asked DDOT’s traffic safety division to review the request following a hearing held in July 2024.
As explained in this post, the organization states that the new curb cut is necessary to expand their facility in order to serve more clients around the region. The conditional approval enables them to move forward with planning and fundraising for their building expansion, which they say will be built as a matter of right. They have two years to apply for a final curb cut.
Conceptually, the curb cut will be pretty sizeable for a block without one currently. It will be 33 feet wide with a 6-foot island. Truck movements will be right in, right out. Food & Friends currently has two curb cuts in front of their building at 219 Riggs Road NE. Both curb cuts are approximately 29 feet wide. At DDOT’s request, one of the Riggs Road curb cuts would be closed as part of the expansion process.
There is a lot planned for this little corner of the neighborhood. We will have to see how things shake out with the proposed Riggs Road NE cycletrack, the planned park space, and the future phase of the Cafritz development next to Food & Friends property.
Conceptual diagrams of Food & Friends truck movements on South Dakota Avenue below.
Ward 4 Turkey Giveaway November 23, 2024 11am-1pm Riggs-LaSalle Recreation Center 501 Riggs Road NE
The Office of Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George, with support from the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association, will give away a limited number of free turkeys to Ward 4 residents. Turkeys will be distributed first come, first served. Bring proof of Ward 4 residency.
New artwork brightens the South Dakota Avenue/Riggs Road NE corridor. The Parks Main Street, in conjunction with the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association, oversaw the installation of art designs selected by local residents on six traffic boxes along the corridor. The ones in front of Art Place at Fort Totten are an especially nice touch. Combined with the sculptures, it feels like walking past an outdoor gallery on South Dakota.
Check them out.
A Piece of the City by Britnee Scott @art.is.britat South Dakota Avenue & Galloway Street NE
Bloom by Beezy Young @by.beezyat South Dakota Avenue & Hamilton Street NE
Peace and Pirate by Tarika Campbell @tarika.artat South Dakota Avenue & Ingraham Street NE
Riggs Park Squirrel by Austin Morris @austindmorrisat South Dakota Avenue & Kennedy Street NE
Untitled by Trap Bob @trapxbobat South Dakota Avenue & Riggs Road NE
Riggs Park by Sydney Buffalow @cr8tionrebelat Riggs Road & Chillum Place NE
Ward 5 Turkey Giveaway Pop-Up November 20, 2024 1:30 pm North Michigan Park Recreation Center 1333 Emerson Street NE
The Office of Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker will host a popup at North Michigan Park Rec Center to give away a limited number of free turkeys. Turkeys will be distributed first come, first served.
Individuals will be called on once acknowledged by the Chair. Commissioners will be let into the meeting room first. Once they are all present, the residents will be let in.
ANC 5A NOVEMBER 2024 AGENDA
I. Call Meeting to Order 6:45 pm
II. Quorum
III. Agenda Review/Acceptance
IV. Commission Business A. Secretary i. Minutes (October 2024 and Special Meeting October 2024) B. Treasurer i. FY 2025 Proposed Budget
V. Commission Action Items/Updates A. Jubileaf LLC (5A08)
VI. Community Updates A. MPD B. Mayor’s Office C. Councilmember Parker’s office
VII. Reports & Presentations A. Connor Laughland Social Housing – Metro DSA in support of the bill presented to the Council by Janeese Lewis George to build social housing in DC
Neighbors are invited to the Catholic Charities Child Development Center Open House. Meet the educators, tour classrooms, and learn more about affordable care program for children from six weeks to three years of age.
From Metro (updated, blue/yellow line trains will serve Pentagon station)
Metrorail weekend service for Saturday, November 16 through Sunday, November 17
Advisory Effective: 11/16/24 – 11/17/24
Hours: Sat 7 a.m. – 1 a.m.; Sun 7 a.m. – Midnight
Service-At-A-Glance
Red Line
Free shuttle buses replace trains between Fort Totten and NoMa-Gallaudet U. Trains run every 6 minutes (daytime) and 10 minutes (evening) between Glenmont and Fort Totten and every 8 minutes (daytime) and 10 minutes (evening) between NoMa-Gallaudet U and Shady Grove. Rhode Island Ave and Brookland-CUA stations closed.
Riggs Crossing Senior Residences under construction at 307 Riggs Road NE.
Riggs Crossing Senior Residences is a new income-restricted, affordable senior housing community currently under construction at 307 Riggs Road NE on the southeast corner of Riggs Road & South Dakota Avenue NE. The developer is True Ground Housing Partners (previously known as Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing or APAH). The development will consist of roughly 93 apartments above ground-floor retail. True Ground recently lowered the age of eligibility to 55 years old.
Individuals 55 years old and older may fill out an interest form at https://riggscrossing.com to determine if they meet the income restrictions and eligibility guidelines.Please do not go to the location on Riggs Road as it is still an active construction zone. There is not a leasing office on site.
The residential portion of the project is expected to be completed in first quarter 2025.
True Ground is also still soliciting interest from potential retail tenants for below market rate lease opportunities. Contact Joanna Shin at jshin@truegroundhousing.org for retail inquiries.
From DC Department of Housing and Community Development
The DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) is hosting citywide Housing Listening Sessions to provide information on the District’s housing resources and programs and so residents can share their housing needs and concerns. DHCD is hosting the Ward 5 Housing Listening Session on Thursday, November 14, 2024, at 5:30 pm at Woodridge Library (1801 Hamlin Street NE). For more information, visit Ward 5 Housing Listening Session.
DHCD’s Ward 5 Housing Listening Session
Thursday, November 14, 2024 5:30 pm Woodridge Neighborhood Library 1801 Hamlin Street NE, Washington, DC
ANC 5A held its monthly public meeting on October 23, 2024. Commissioners present: Karlus Cozart (5A02) – Parliamentarian; Emily Singer Lucio (5A03) – Vice Chair, Secretary; Diego Rojas (5A04); Gordon Fletcher (5A08) – Chair; Shelagh Bocoum (5A09) – Treasurer. ANC 5A06 and 5A07 are vacant.
This was a long meeting. Commissioner Fletcher joined about a third of the way into the meeting.
Commission Business
Once again, the ANC tabled approval of a Fiscal Year 2025 budget so that they can discuss it at an executive meeting.
Ward 5 Mayor’s Office Report (Ward 5 MOCR Christian Starghill)
Leaf collection started October 28. Every Friday, DPW will update the map for where collection will begin the follow week.
Ward 5 Council Report (Oliver Stoute, Constituent Services Coordinator for Ward 5 CM Zachary Parker)
DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced a suit against Fort Myer Construction for alleged illegal contamination of the District’s waterways.
Councilmember Parker held his monthly public safety meeting on October 16. This one was focused on youth safety. Reach out to Mr. Stoute with any public safety concerns.
A resident asked about the sale of the Providence campus. The office of AG Schwalb is still investigating. Commissioner Lucio (5A03) said that there will be an urgent care center on the campus. She said that she is working with CM Parker’s office to ensure that any agreement with the city includes money “earmarked” for ANC 5A and specifically ANC 5A03 for the health needs of low-income residents.
A team (Susan and William Webster) wants to open a medical marijuana dispensary called Jubileaf at 4942 South Dakota Avenue NE in North Michigan Park. This is in the strip mall next to the McDonald’s. The company submitted a social equity application and received a conditional license from ABCA in April 2024. They are given a year to find a location. They signed a lease with the property owner on South Dakota Avenue in either July or August. Mrs. Webster, the founder, said she is a cancer survivor and found relief from the harshness of cancer treatment through medical marijuana.
They have to have a security plan. They also said they have asked the landlord to renovate the exterior of the site.
Because of the packed agenda, there was not a lot of time to discuss in depth. As expected, initial response from residents was not favorable. Commissioner Fletcher (5A08) said that he will have a joint single member district (SMD) meeting with Commissioner Bocoum (5A09) in November before the next ANC meeting. He said he plans to invite the property owner.
Mundo Verde PCS Large Tract Review (5A03)
Timeline and renderings from Mundo Verde Calle Ocho expansion presentation
Establishment of joint ANC 5A/ANC 5B committee on Taylor Street Bike Lane Project
The ANC approved the establishment of a joint ANC 5A/ANC 5B committee to review the proposed Taylor Street NE bike lane project. Commissioner Lucio and Chair Fletcher said the goal of the committee is not to vote on whether to support the project but to provide feedback on the project.
The discussion was a bit hard to follow. Sounded like they said ANC 5B had its own committee reviewing the project. Commissioner Lucio reached out to ANC 5B to ask why ANC 5B did not reach out to ANC 5A given that the project crosses ANC boundaries. (Aside: A few ANC 5B residents joined the call. These residents had a lot to say in the chat about their displeasure with ANC 5B).
Unclear if the committee will be just commissioners or include residents as well. Unclear if ANC 5A will send out a communication soliciting interest. If you care about this project, feel free to email Chair Fletcher (5A08@anc.dc.gov) and Commissioner Lucio (5A03@anc.dc.gov) to find out what is going on.
Bikeshare Station for Fort Totten Drive & Crittenden Street NE (Greg Matletsky, DDOT Bicycle Program Specialist) (5A06/5A07)
Proposed bikeshare location at Crittenden Street & Fort Totten Drive NE.
DDOT is planning to install a bikeshare station on Crittenden Street and Fort Totten Drive NE. This is on the border of ANC 5A06 & 5A07. Both ANC seats are vacant.
DDOT said that the station will be placed where flexposts currently sit, so there will not be any impacts to parking. Mr. Matletsky said the station will utilize new technology. It will be smaller and quieter. Each dock will have its own small solar panel and use a lower power draw. A resident asked if DDOT was aware that a station will be going near the 1 Hawaii Avenue NE project and Mr. Matletsky said that he worked on bikeshare for that project. DDOT is building out a network where there are gaps so that people have places to dock and pick up bikes.
I asked about the long-planned bikeshare station on South Dakota & Galloway Street NE. Mr. Matletksy said that station would have needed some private property, and they could not reach agreement with the property owner. He said they looked at other areas along Galloway but there would not be enough solar to power a station. So, they are now planning to put the station at South Dakota & Ingraham once construction along that street finishes up. The station will likely be the newer dock described above.
(Aside: It’s too bad it sounds like a station is not being planned by UDC’s campus where the university expects to enroll up to 3,000 students over the next several years).
Yu Ying requested ANC support to do primarily interior construction on Veterans Day for its new building at 4350 1st Street NE in order to get back on schedule. A few residents who live near there encouraged the ANC not to support the holiday construction request in order to have a day without construction noise. The residents also discussed impacts to parking and traffic flow. Yu Ying representatives stated they take these issues seriously. Sounded like they said they are exploring a satellite dropoff space along Harewood Road.
This was so late in the meeting that the commission no longer had a quorum, so they could not vote on the issue of holiday construction.
Commissioner Updates
Sounded like the ANC intended to discuss grants but ran out of time. Grant application guidelines are on the ANC’s website.
I’m sure I’m missing something because it was such a long meeting.
From North Michigan Park Civic Association (NMPCA)
The Wednesday, November 6, 2024, NMPCA Meeting will be in person at Faith United Church. The time is 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Guest speakers: Representatives from the Executive Office of the Mayor and Sharon Kershbaum, Director of DDOT (Department of Transportation). The guests will discuss proposed safety changes for South Dakota Avenue.
Next Stop...Riggs Park 