ANC 5A held its monthly public meeting on November 19, 2025. Commissioners present: Keith Sellars (5A01); Emily Singer Lucio (5A03) – Chair; Jack Hermes (5A04) – Parliamentarian; Derrick Holloway (5A06); Elaine Alston (5A08); Shelagh Bocoum (5A09) – Treasurer.

Commission Business

The ANC re-approved the budget. The ANC approved spending up to $1,000 for tablecloths and a tent for events.

Commissioner Hermes (5A04) will head up an ANC bylaws review committee with Commissioners Bocoum (5A09), Alston (5A08), and Holloway (5A06). They will aim to have a draft for review by the ANC’s February 2026 executive meeting

Mundo Verde Public Charter School Holiday Work (5A03)

Mundo Verde wants to work on certain holidays in 2026 in order to open its Calle Ocho campus building expansion in time for the fall 2026 school year. Commissioner Lucio held an SMD meeting where residents supported the holiday work. The full ANC voted in support.

Clinical Health & Wellness Medical Cannabis Shop Update (5A08)

Commissioner Alston (5A08) asked Commissioner Hermes (5A04) to give an update on Clinical Health & Wellness, the medical cannabis retail shop seeking to open at 4942 South Dakota Avenue NE in North Michigan Park. Commissioner Hermes said that the ANC recently filed a motion for stay of the ABCA proceedings while the ANC’s litigation against the ABC Board’s dismissal of ANC 5A’s protest proceeds.

Commissioner Hermes said that the DC Office of the Attorney General (OAG) agrees with ANC 5A’s view that the Board improperly restricted ANC 5A’s right to great weight (my paraphrase). Commissioner Hermes said that the OAG will recommend that the parties settle so that the ANC can submit documentation that will be afforded great weight by ABCA. Commissioner Hermes said that this issue is a problem for ANCs across the city and that Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker will likely have a public hearing about everything that ABCA is doing wrong.

Ward 5 Council Update (Andriana Lovelace, Ward 5 Constituent Services Coordinator for CM Parker)

CM Parker had a Thanksgiving grocery giveaway on November 20.

On November 4, the Council voted to decouple DC’s tax code from federal code in order to preserve revenue. A portion of the expected revenue will go towards funding a child tax credit as a result of a bill amendment introduced by Councilmembers Parker and Frumin.

On November 20, DPR held a Ward 5 capital projects meeting,

ERAP is reopening on November 20 at 9am.

Seniors and people with disabilities may apply for snow shoveling exemption by December 2. The exemption is valid for 2 consecutive snow seasons.

A resident stated that the 24/7 Tobacco & Grocery shop at 4944 South Dakota Avenue NE was caught selling illegal flavored vapes & loose cigarettes from out of state. Chair Lucio asked him to work with Ms. Lovelace and North Michigan Park Civic Association President Carmen Williams on issues regarding the smoke shop.

Catholic University 2027 Campus Plan (5A04)

See Catholic University Preliminary 2027 Campus Plan Presentation to ANC 5A (Nov. 2025).

See Catholic University 2027 Campus Plan Website.

Catholic University officials gave a preliminary presentation on the university’s 2027 Campus Plan, which the university is in the early stages of drafting. They expect to have a DC Zoning Commission hearing in spring 2027. They are engaging early and plan to have frequent engagement with ANC 5A and neighboring ANC 5B. For questions, contact Deborah Natua-Rodriguez at nautarodriguez@cua.edu or Sherry Rutherford at rutherfords@cua.edu.

UDC Lamond-Riggs Campus 9/11 Memorial (5A01) (Juanita Gray, UDC Director of Community Engagement)

UDC Director of Community Engagement Juanita Gray let residents know that the university plans to update the 9/11 memorial that is located near the entrance of UDC’s Lamond-Riggs campus. The property previously housed Bertie Backus Middle School. The memorial honors Bertie Backus student Asia Cottom and teacher Sara Clark, who lost their lives in the 9/11 Pentagon attack. The existing memorial is in terrible condition. (Aside: The university mentioned updating the memorial during the 2023 campus plan process).

Ms. Gray said the university wants community involvement in what the new plaque looks like and says, but she did not outline a plan for community engagement. Commissioner Alston (5A08) stated that the Ward 5 Leadership Council has been working on the memorial but did not say exactly what they are doing.

Ms. Gray said that UDC wants to have an updated memorial in time for the university’s 175th anniversary in fall 2026. Commissioner Sellars (5A01) asked if the university could speed up the timeline for replacing the memorial because it has been in terrible condition for a while.

Washington Gas Infrastructure Project (Monica West, Director of Community Engagement & Public Policy, Washington Gas; Hal Khalef, Director of Construction, Washington Gas) 

Monica West, Washington Gas Director of Community Engagement, let residents know that the utility company has a major gas pipeline replacement infrastructure project coming up in April 2026 in the area around Bunker Hill Road NE between 18th & 22nd, Randolph, Shepherd, and Varnum. This area is near but not in ANC 5A, so Washington Gas is letting residents know because residents will be impacted as they travel around. They wanted to start community engagement early. They will return in 2026 with detailed maps and more information.

The project will take eight months to a year. They will coordinate with Pepco and DC Water so that those utility companies can immediately do their work after Washington Gas finishes instead of repaving and then having to dig up the roads again. Washington Gas expects to start in April and Pepco in September. Ms. West stated that Metro may need to temporarily move bus stops when the work begins. All of that will be communicated to residents.

Community Concerns/Commissioner Updates

A resident asked what happened to the plan for McDonald’s to repave the parking lot of Faith United Church. Commissioner Alston (5A08) previously stated that McDonald’s would repave the lot. She said the person from McDonald’s who promised that has left and that McDonald’s did not park vehicles on lot so McDonald’s does not plan to repave the lot.

DDOT is hosting a Ward 5 bikeway plan public meeting on December 9, 2025, at Bunker Hill Elementary (1401 Michigan Avenue NE).

Commissioner Sellars (5A01) noted that he has been working with the National Park Service (NPS) to clean up Fort Circle Park along Sargent Road & Galloway Street NE, which sees frequent dumping. Part of the parkland sits in Commissioner Thomas (5A02) & Commissioner Alston’s (5A08) SMDs, not in ANC 5A01, but Commissioner Sellars has taken the initiative to work with NPS on this. NPS officials, on their own, reached out to the DC National Guard for assistance and Guard members helped to clean up the area as well as Fort Totten Park.

A resident noted that there was dumping in Fort Totten Park along Rock Creek Church Road/Fort Totten Drive NE. This area is ANC 5A07. Commissioner Sellars said he would let NPS know. Commissioner Sellars said he plans to have a cleanup on December 6.

The next ANC meeting will be January 28, 2026. Chair Lucio said the January meeting will mainly focus on ANC business.

.