DDOT is hosting a public workshop tonight to kickoff its crosstown study to identify improvements to east-west connections between Wards 1 and 5 (Columbia Heights and Brookland).
Date: February 2, 6:00pm-8:00pm
Location: Trinity University O’Connor Auditorium (125 Michigan Avenue NE)
Boundaries of the study area
You have probably seen a giant Peapod container sitting at Fort Totten metro station for the past few weeks. Starting this week, you can now pick up your Giant groceries at the metro station, according to the Washington Post. We covered Metro’s six-month pilot partnership with Peapod in this post last year. Customers can place online orders for pickup between 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Fridays. The pickup address is 550 Galloway Street NE.
Personally, since I do not have a car, I usually walk the mile to the Giant on Eastern Avenue for my grocery shopping. That is not a big burden as long as it is not freezing outside. Being able to pick up groceries on the way home from work will be a convenience for which I would consider paying a fee.
Subway is open at Fort Totten Square. The restaurant is hiring. Pick up an application in the store or apply online at http://www.mysubwaycareer.com
The Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association holds its monthly public meeting tonight.
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: LaSalle-Backus Education Campus (501 Riggs Rd NE, entrance on Madison St.)
Guests: DC Office on Aging & DC’s Office of the People’s Counsel
On January 27, 2016, ANC 5A held its monthly public meeting. All commissioners were present. The meeting primarily consisted of ANC business. The commissioners elected new officers:
The commissioners voted to participate in the ANC security fund. They voted to support payment of up to $2,000 to have an electrical outlet installed in their new office for their copier. ANC 5A does not pay rent for its office at UDC-CC Backus. The ANC’s old office in the school had an appropriate outlet to support a copier, but the school moved them into a different room that does not.
Public Safety
PSA 405 Lieutenant Ashley Rosenthal presented a crime report. Generally, violent crimes are up; property crimes are down. Lt. Rosenthal reminded residents that officers are not able to provide a lot of detail about ongoing investigations, which is understandably frustrating for residents who think crime is not being addressed.
PSA 405 Crime Stats Jan 2016 and Year End Report
Elected Officials Reports
Ronan Gulstone, chief of staff to Ward 5 Councilmember McDuffie, discussed the markup of the councilmember’s public safety bill, the Neighborhood Engagement Achieves Results Act of 2015 (or NEAR Act). He stated some of the proposals in the mayor’s public safety bill are included in this bill. The councilmember supported a measure to continue the prohibition on smoking marijuana in private clubs. Gulstone also mentioned that DC’s Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants is responsible for promulgating regulations to implement the recently passed security camera incentive program. He believes regulations should be out soon.
Ward 5 school board member Mark Jones stated he was pleased the board passed a resolution to give GED holders after January 2014 a state high school diploma. He said having a diploma would better position GED holders as they apply for jobs or seek higher education.
Mamie D. Lee School Building
A community flyer was available with updates on construction progress for Briya Bridges Public Charter School and Mary’s Center, which will occupy the former Mamie D. Lee school building at 100 Gallatin Street NE. The flyer also contains contact information for construction employment and construction activity inquiries.
Briya Bridges St. Mary’s Community Letter Jan 2016
Community Concerns/SMD Reports
There was protracted discussion about the EYA 12th and Allison project, also known as the St. Joseph Seminary project. In response to a question about Councilmember McDuffie’s lack of engagement, Ronan Gulstone stated Councilmember McDuffie’s office is listening to residents’ concerns about the project, but until the developer submits a planned unit development (PUD) application, there is not really anything the councilmember can do except listen. Once a PUD is filed, and the developers indicate one will be filed in the spring, then the councilmember along with residents will have clearer information about the project.
The commission tabled support of the Brookland/Edgewood Livability Study after Commissioner Jordan and a resident expressed concern that the study area excluded residents in ANC 5A who live on the outer edges of Brookland.
Commissioner Alston noted the Zoning Commission approved Comstock’s proposed development for approximately 40 townhomes near the Capital Area Food Bank and Emerson Park. See Zoning Commission Order No. 15-04 (Comstock). To comply with inclusionary zoning requirements, two homes will be set aside for households earning up to 50 percent of the area median income (AMI) and two for households earning up to 80 percent of the AMI. The developer is also setting aside an additional home beyond the IZ requirement for a household earning up to 80% of the AMI. The development will include a paved, lighted pedestrian/bicycle path for people to more easily access Fort Totten metro station and other community benefits:
Finally, the commissioners acknowledged they need to be better about communicating with residents. To that end, they have set up an ANC 5A twitter account (@ANC5A). And they pledged to do a better job of keeping the website up to date. Notably however, Commissioner Burroughs (ANC 5A04), who set up the twitter page, is still not listed on ANC 5A’s website. The position is still listed as vacant. Burroughs became ANC 5A04 commissioner on November 18, 2015.
Post updated with application and hearing notice
The developers of Fort Totten Square have filed an application(pdf) and statement in support(pdf) for a special exception on behalf of its tenant restaurants to operate fast food establishments. A Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) hearing on the application has been scheduled for February 23, 2016. View the Hearing Notice: Notice of Hearing to ANC 4B
Fort Totten Square is in the C-2-A zone district. That zoning designation permits fast food restaurants only by special exception, not by matter-of-right. DC’s zoning code defines a fast food establishment as one in which “(a) [t]he premises include a drive-through; (b) [c]ustomers pay for the food before it is consumed; or (c) [f]ood is served on/in anything other than non-disposable tableware.” (11 DCMR §199). That definition encompasses not just what one thinks of as the typical fast food restaurant but also what has been labeled “fast casual” restaurants. The developers have signed leases with Subway and Five Guys. A third restaurant is listed in the application, but a lease has not been signed with that restaurant.
According to DC’s zoning guide(pdf), a special exception is necessary when “the owner wishes to institute a use that is pre-deemed compatible with the Zoning Regulations for that particular district, but which needs to be reviewed by the BZA to ensure that certain negative impacts will not occur.”
The BZA considers:
To address these questions, the applicant must show that the establishments comply with the zoning standards for fast food establishments in the C-2-A zone, regarding issues such as trash, parking, and deliveries. (11 DCMR §733). The Board may impose conditions related to the use. The applicant states it complies with all of the section 733 requirements and no conditions are necessary.
At the end of 2015, DC’s Office of Revenue Analysis published a really interesting post on its District Measured blog about housing prices in various DC neighborhoods since 2001. For Riggs Park, the news is a mixed bag. (The Office uses tax subdivisions for its analysis, so some of the transactions may be outside of what we in the neighborhood consider Riggs Park). Median sales price is up 96% since 2001.
Source: Districtmeasured.com
But prices have not quite reached the high achieved in 2006, which was $398,250. The median sales price in 2015 was 11% lower than 2006.
Source: Districtmeasured.com
Since 2009, the median sales price has increased 25 percent.
Source: Districtmeasured.com
Here is the median sales price for each year since 2009, according to District Measured:
2015 also recorded the highest number of sales since 2009.
Source: Districtmeasured.com
Of course these numbers obscure the difference in price between a fully renovated or newly constructed home and a non-renovated one. I waited to publish a piece about the analysis because I had my eye on one particular property, a high end renovation of one of the older, midcentury brick semi-detached homes that was originally listed at $650,000. The price was eventually reduced to $599,000. A few days ago, the house sold for $585,000. By my review, that price is the highest to date for one of the older homes, albeit one that has been fully renovated and one that sits on a larger lot than many of the neighborhood homes.
Newly constructed homes close to the metro are selling for well over $600,000. For a while, recently renovated homes were being listed in the range of $450,000 to $499,000 and selling right around that price point. Now we are seeing renovated homes selling for over $500,000. Non-renovated homes that need a good bit of work are selling for around $280,000 to $300,000. For the non-investor, there is still a bit of a risk of losing out to all-cash buyers for the true fixer-uppers, but homes that have been maintained in good shape but that have not been fully renovated are selling in the range of $315,000 to $375,000. These are just figures I have eyeballed from following real estate listings over the year, not the result of doing a detailed analysis of the numbers since I am not a real estate agent.
Interest rates will surely creep up this year. We will see what effect the increase has on the upward trajectory of neighborhood housing prices.
Jersey barriers have been set up on Galloway Street NE between South Dakota Avenue and Fourth Street next to Art Place in anticipation of closing the sidewalk once again. Last year, the construction team closed the sidewalk for a period of time, but had to reopen it after complaints of ice accumulation and general disregard for the state of the temporary path (see this post). Let’s hope they have sorted out how to make sure the temporary path remains passable this time around.
ANC 5A sent out a revised meeting notice. The meeting on January 13 will be a committee of the whole planning meeting, not the regular ANC 5A meeting as they previously indicated. Please disregard the previous meeting notice.
Happy New Year everyone! It is 2016 and that means local elections come November. We will soon be bombarded by ads and election signs for council races. But equally important are elections for our local advisory neighborhood commissioners (ANCs). Our neighborhood is split between Wards 4 and 5. I live in Ward 5, so I stay more attuned to what is happening in ANC 5A. My commissioner on ANC 5A is Frank Wilds, who represents single member district (SMD) 5A01. It is not a secret that Commissioner Wilds does not actually want to be commissioner. He says he ran because no one else would. So this is a call for residents in ANC 5A01 in particular, but also residents in other SMDs, to start thinking about representing our great community on ANC 5A. 
Having a really good, well-functioning ANC can do wonders for a neighborhood, especially one like ours that is seeing so much development. Generally, I think most of the ANC 5A commissioners are good people. They are nice and usually professional. Invited guests often remark that ANC 5A meetings are well-run and they seem surprised by how civil residents are to guests. We usually do not have any raised voices, at least not by residents.
My main issue with ANC 5A–a longstanding one–is the seeming lack of concern about transparency. Simple things like updating the ANC 5A website with meeting notices and official ANC documents like minutes, resolutions, and letters on behalf of the commission, are not being done. It would be great for the commissioners to recognize that the SMD boundaries are artificial lines that straddle neighborhoods and that the actions of one commissioner who represents one SMD can affect residents of other SMDs because those residents actually live in the same neighborhood. That is really all I expect of my commissioners. I recognize that these elected officials are not compensated and people have limited time, so I do not expect all that much of them. I go back and forth on whether I think commissioners should be paid. Sometimes I think that if they were paid, then they would do things like update the website, provide meaningful notice of ANC meetings or projects in the neighborhood that warrant community input, rather than having us operate in an information vacuum, or be a little more proactive about representing residents. But we also have elected and nonelected officials who are compensated to represent our interests and respond to our concerns, who are sometimes responsive and sometimes not. All that to say, there is an opportunity on ANC 5A for someone or someones to make a difference, especially when it comes to making ANC 5A a bit more transparent and improving coordination between commissioners across SMD boundary lines.
Over the next several months, I will repeat the entreaty to residents to throw their hat in the ring to represent the neighborhood on ANC 5A. It does not matter how long anyone has lived in the neighborhood. We need a voice. I hope some of you will consider serving.
Next Stop…Riggs Park is three years old! I published the very first post on December 5, 2012, introducing this new blog to the community. Thank you very much to each person who reads, follows, leaves a comment, sends an email, or drops a tip. It has been fun getting to know residents through the blog. To the regulars, you all are awesome. I hope I have been able to inform and provide a platform for residents to share news and thoughts on neighborhood happenings in this little pocket of DC.
You might have noticed posting has become less regular and less frequent. That is mainly because of my day job. Working longer hours leaves less time to attend meetings, peruse information sources, and create blog content. A couple of people have been great about sending me notes from ANC meetings in particular when I cannot make it. They like to remain anonymous, but I have to give a big thanks to them. I told myself when I started that if I could not post on a regular basis, then I would stop. All that preface to say, I am not sure what I will do with the blog. There is still a lot happening in the neighborhood; lots of changes are still in store, so I think there is still a need for a place where people can go for information. To that end, I will put in a plug for the Lamond-Riggs community listserv (which I moderate with two other people), Lamond Riggs Citizens Association’s website, and LRCA’s facebook and twitter pages, which I also maintain with a few other people. I encourage residents to join, follow, and post to all of these sources. And if there is anyone who wants to write guest posts for the blog, email me at nextstopriggs@gmail.com. For now, I will continue to post when I can.
Thanks for reading.
Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie Holiday Party, 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Gallaudet University, Sorensen Center (800 Florida Avenue NE)
Bring an unwrapped toy for child 5 to 12 years old
LaSalle Backus Food Pantry, 4:00 pm
La Salle Backus Education Campus (501 Riggs Road NE)
Free groceries. Just bring a bag
DC Bilingual Public Charter School Fair, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
DC Bilingual school library (33 Riggs Road NE)
New neighbor, DC Bilingual, is hosting a Scholastic Book Fair this Saturday, December 12 from 10:00 – 2:00 in the school library. This event is open to the neighborhood and a great chance to supplement your child’s home library with great children’s books in both English and Spanish! A portion of the proceeds will benefit the school.
In case you missed it, here is a link to the Washington Post’s coverage of Mayor Bowser’s move from Riggs Park to Shepherd Park after 15 years in the neighborhood that ushered her into public office. A Post reporter attended LRCA’s holiday meeting on December 7 and spoke to a few neighborhood residents. The article, strangely titled “DC Mayor leaves her working-class digs for a more upscale neighborhood,” was clearly going for a certain slant, suggesting that the move symbolizes the value placed on representing residents of more modest means. (We will assume for the moment that the mayor strongly advocated on behalf of middle-income residents when on the council). If the reporter was hoping to get negative feedback on the move from the mayor’s neighbors, it looks like she did not get it Monday night. Certainly there are those who have critical thoughts about the mayor (check out a few comments on LRCA’s facebook page) (Disclosure: I maintain the page with a few other residents).
I do not think the move really matters much. I think the mayor’s values matter more. Certainly where the mayor lives can have an impact on what is valued, but in this case I do not think the slant the Post aimed for is really accurate. For example, the mayor drives everywhere. Even as a councilmember, she largely drove everywhere. So she is not going to be super concerned or maybe as thoughtful as I would like about pedestrian, biking, or public transit issues unless residents beat the drum on those issues because her perspective is largely that of a driver. That is something that matters to me more than the fact that it was obvious to everyone even when she was campaigning to be mayor that she would be moving if elected. The same can be said for the mayor’s delay in responding to the FreshPAC fiasco in any meaningful or thoughtful way. That matters and I do not think that is driven by where she lives. We know that moneyed interests have an outsize influence in the political arena for most of our elected officials (witness the astounding payoffs happening to get DC elected and non-elected officials, nonprofits, and residents to support the Pepco-Exelon merger). Again that matters and has little to do with where the mayor or any of our elected officials live.
This article missed the mark by trying to draw a really dubious link. As I mentioned in my previous post, I think there is room to talk about the mayor’s legacy to the neighborhood, in some cases critically and publicly. The move provides nice timing to talk about those issues, but I think that is about it.
Well the news is out, based on today’s tweet from WUSA-9’s Bruce Johnson. Mayor Muriel Bowser is moving from Riggs Park to upper NW.
Mayor Bowser held a holiday social for Lamond-Riggs residents on November 30 at Fort Totten Square apartments. There, she let the people who started her political career know that she is moving from the neighborhood because she needs more space. It was only a matter of time before the mayor moved; many anticipated that she would move shortly after taking office, so a year in is about right.
Monday’s gathering, ostensibly set up to celebrate “Bringing Retail to Fort Totten” seemed like a bit of a farewell to the neighborhood. (Nevermind that no one in the room actually calls the neighborhood Fort Totten). Now that the ribbon has been cut on the new Walmart, the mayor can say goodbye. As she noted both during Walmart’s grand opening and on Monday, since living in Riggs Park, she has served as an advisory neighborhood commissioner, as Ward 4 councilmember, and now mayor. Being in the room, it was clear to me that many neighborhood residents seriously support and love the mayor. She will probably always have a soft spot in the heart of many neighborhood residents. As she moves from NE to NW, we can talk about her legacy to the neighborhood. But for right now, we wish Mayor Bowser the best.
This month’s ward 5 community happy is 6:00 to 8:00 pm tonight at Steel Plate in Brookland (3523 12th St. NE). Meet other ward 5 residents and support local business.
Next Stop...Riggs Park 