Clinical Health & Wellness is seeking to open a cannabis shop at 4942 South Dakota Avenue NE in ANC 5A08 in North Michigan Park. Elaine Alston is the ANC commissioner for the area.
ANC 5A sought to protest the license application. The ABCA Board dismissed the ANC’s protest for lack of statutory grounds. ANC 5A sought reconsideration of the Board’s dismissal. The Board denied reconsideration.
Apparently, the ANC filed a second motion for reconsideration. On September 10, 2025, the Board denied the ANC’s second motion for reconsideration.
ANC 5A held a special meeting on September 4, 2025. Commissioners present: Keith Sellars (5A01); Tim Thomas (5A02) – Vice Chair; Emily Singer Lucio (5A03) – Chair; Valeria Sosa Garnica (5A07) – Secretary; Elaine Alston (5A08); Shelagh Bocoum (5A09) – Treasurer.
The ANC voted in support of a resolution to condemn the Trump administration’s federal overreach and deployment of National Guard for police purposes; urge Congress to reject any extension of Trump’s emergency request; and demand the restoration of approximately $1 billion of locally raised funds to DC’s budget. All of the commissioners present voted in support except Commissioner Alston who abstained.
[Ed. Note: The DC Office of Planning will be present at this meeting. Please attend if you would like to see the most up-to-date presentation about the project and have questions addressed by the project team and OP.]
From ANC 5A02
SINGLE MEMBER DISTRCT 5A02 AND SURROUNDING NEIGHBORS Boys Town Redevelopment Large Tract Review Neighborhood Meeting
The Urban Atlantic Development team will provide an update on the development status of the former Boys Town site on Sargent Road. Urban Atlantic has submitted a Large Tract Review application with the District’s Office of Planning for the development of 166 duplex homes, consistent with the existing R-2 zoning. The meeting will review the materials submitted with the application and offer an opportunity for community questions and comments.
Wednesday, September 10th 6:30 pm
Microsoft Teams Link: Microsoft Teams Join the meeting now Meeting ID: 252 113 980 753 1 Passcode: MY9a5Ui2 Dial in by phone: 1 443-948-6064 Code: 682943271# Phone conference ID: 682 943 271#
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.
AGENDA
I. Call Meeting to Order 5:00 pm II. Quorum III. Discussion on proposed resolution Condemning Federal Overreach VII. Next Meeting: Wednesday, September 24, 2025 VIII. Adjourn
SINGLE MEMBER DISTRCT 5A02 AND SURROUNDING NEIGHBORS Boys Town Redevelopment Large Tract Review Neighborhood Meeting
The Urban Atlantic Development team will provide an update on the development status of the former Boys Town site on Sargent Road. Urban Atlantic has submitted a Large Tract Review application with the District’s Office of Planning for the development of 166 duplex homes, consistent with the existing R-2 zoning. The meeting will review the materials submitted with the application and offer an opportunity for community questions and comments.
Wednesday, September 10th 6:30 pm
Microsoft Teams Link: Microsoft Teams Join the meeting now Meeting ID: 252 113 980 753 1 Passcode: MY9a5Ui2 Dial in by phone: 1 443-948-6064 Code: 682943271# Phone conference ID: 682 943 271#
Urban Atlantic’s Large Tract Review (LTR) application for the redevelopment of the Boys Town campus is available on the DC Office of Planning (OP) website. Urban Atlantic is redeveloping the site located at 4801 Sargent Road NE with 166 semi-detached homes. Approximately 17 homes will be set aside for below market rate housing for households earning up to 80 percent of median family income. The property will be developed in phases.
The property sits in ANC 5A02. Timothy Thomas is the ANC commissioner for this area.
The property will be accessed via the single entrance on Sargent Road. The developer plans to open up the campus by removing the mounds of fill dirt in front and creating a network of internal roads and 6-foot sidewalks throughout the site. The LTR application states the developer plans to plant 225 new trees. (Note: During public meetings, they said they will plant 90 new trees). The developer is studying creation of a pedestrian path to access the North Michigan Park Recreation Center from the property.
The developer plans to keep the 8,000 square foot building in the center of the campus (Main Building). They do not know what they will do with that building yet. The LTR application indicates they are evaluating formal designation of the building.
As part of the LTR application, Urban Atlantic submitted a comprehensive transportation review (CTR). (Note: While the applicant’s statement indicates the site will have 166 homes, the transportation analysis states the site will have 174 homes). Because the developer has not decided what to do with the Main Building, the CTR analysis is based on the assumption that the space will be for office use.
For residential use, the AM peak hour trip generation is projected to generate 59 vehicle trips per hour, 15 transit trips per hour, two (2) bicycle trips per hour, and 13 pedestrian trips per hour. The PM peak hour trip generation is projected to generate 70 vehicle trips per hour, 18 transit trips per hour, two (2) bicycle trips per hour, and 15 pedestrian trips per hour.
If the non-residential use were utilized as office space, the AM peak hour trip generation would be projected to generate 12 vehicle trips per hour, 1 transit trip per hour, zero (0) bicycle trips per hour, and zero (0) pedestrian trips per hour. The PM peak hour trip generation would be projected to generate 15 vehicle trips per hour, one (1) transit trip per hour, one (1) bicycle trip per hour, and one (1) pedestrian trip per hour.
The CTR does not include a transportation demand management (TDM) plan because the homes are for sale and the use of the Main Building has not been determined yet. The property is about one mile from Fort Totten station and is close to a few bus lines.
The traffic analysis includes the background development at 801 Buchanan Street NE. When this background development is taken into consideration, there is a slight increase in delays during AM and PM peak hours. But overall, the CTR concludes that the redevelopment will not have a detrimental impact on the transportation network or “trigger mitigation measures based on established DDOT standards.”
The CTR notes that Sargent Road has sharrows and that 12th Street has unprotected bike lanes. The CTR states that bicycle parking is not required for the residential portion, but the developer is proposing 10 short-term bicycle parking spaces in the center green portion of the site. The bicycle parking requirement for the Main Building will be determined when the developer decides what to do with that building. The CTR indicates that the nearest CaBi station is 0.4 miles away at South Dakota & Decatur.
Each home will have one private parking space for a car. The application states that each home “will also contain space for bicycle parking within the home.” There will be 16 additional parking spots for “shared use between the residential and non-residential uses.” Currently, there is unrestricted parking along Sargent.
The developer plans to provide electric vehicle parking in accordance with DC law that requires “all new construction of single-family homes (for building permits issues after January 1, 2025) that include dedicated off-road parking in the permit include installation of electrical panel capacity and conduit during construction that can support electric vehicle charging and mark the space as electric vehicle-ready.”
We previously discussed the LTR process in this post: Boys Town Redevelopment Pre-Large Tract Review Update. ANC 5A provided a letter in support of the conceptual redevelopment plan. The LTR application does not include everything that has been discussed at meetings so far. I know that there have also been side conversations among Commissioner Thomas, residents, and the developer with a goal of formalizing some type of agreement. Unclear at this point whether the ANC plans to submit a formal response with a copy of any agreement now that the complete LTR application has been submitted. The ANC is on recess until the end of September.
ANC 5A delivered the following message by email on August 2, 2025.
Dear Neighbors,
As you may know, ANC 5A has been working diligently to protest the marijuana application for 4942 South Dakota Ave. This letter will share some vital insights with you all.
ANC 5A’s protest letter was dismissed by the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA) on July 14th for lacking substance. ANC 5A has since hired legal counsel and filed a Motion for Reconsideration of the Board’s decision as ABCA’s decision to deny did meet the statutory grounds of D.C. Code as argued by our attorney, Ms. Kerri Verdi esq. Our Motion for Reconsideration articulates our legal reasoning behind the appeal and the clear procedural errors made by ABCA.
We anticipate that the Board will make a decision on whether to reinstate ANC 5A as a protestant in the coming weeks. In the meantime, ANC 5A is working to deliver the best legal arguments to oppose the application and to oppose the application through in-person protests.
We will be sure to keep everyone updated on the status of the motion and thank you for your support.
Another solid crew of 15 or so residents came out on Saturday August 2 to clean up a portion of the Eastern Avenue NE corridor in Riggs Park, collecting about 30 bags of trash. Thanks to the families who brought their little ones to pitch in. Special shoutout to the residents from Michigan Park Commons apartment community, organized by resident and assistant property manager Kale Davis with Borger Management, for helping to clean up the parkland near Galloway & Sargent.
While we were cleaning up, National Park Service came out to cut the grass at Fort Circle Park 🙌🏾
Thanks to the good folks at the Mayor’s Office of the Clean City for providing supplies, Barbara Rogers from Councilmember Janeese Lewis George’s office for acting as a liaison, and ANC Commissioners Danielle Geong (4B09) and Keith Sellars (5A01) for organizing the clean up.
ANC 5A has cancelled the special meeting scheduled for tonight July 30, 2025.
From ANC 5A:
Residents,
We are very sorry that due to unforeseen circumstances, we need to cancel the meeting that was scheduled for this evening. We understand that people are anxious to learn more about the status on the ABCA situation and McDonald’s. We will send out out an email update about the ABCA situation later today or tomorrow and we will work on inviting the McDonald’s team to the ANC meeting in the fall.
V. Commission Action Items/Updates a. 5A04- Michigan Ave Turn Lane Resolution b. 5A08- Clinical Health and Wellness 4942 South Dakota Ave NE c. 5A08- Mc Donald’s Presentation and update
On July 14, 2025, the Alcoholic Beverage & Cannabis Administration (ABCA) held a roll call hearing on the application of Clinical Health & Wellness to open a medical cannabis shop at 4942 South Dakota Avenue NE in North Michigan Park. The property sits in ANC 5A08. ANC Commissioner Elaine Alston (5A08) represented the ANC at the roll call hearing.
By order dated July 16, 2025, the ABCA Board dismissed ANC 5A’s protest. The Board’s order states, “A review of the protest criteria versus the issues claimed by the ANC show that the initial protest lacks sufficient specificity under the law to proceed to a protest.” The order is just a few pages, well worth reading.
(During an ANC meeting, a couple of us tried to tell the ANC what they needed to include in a resolution, but they did not listen and here we are.)
ABCA also does not know what they are doing though. ABCA (maybe erroneously) issued an initial placard dated April 18, 2025. They rescinded that placard and readvertised a new one dated May 9, 2025, but they neglected to update the text of the notice. While the summary of the hearing information in the readvertised placard was updated with the new hearing dates, the text of the readvertised notice still listed the old hearing dates. On July 18, 2025, after the July 14th roll call hearing and July 16th Board decision, ABCA decided to issue a “corrected” notice with the correct hearing dates in the text of the notice.
In any case, at an emergency meeting on July 16, the ANC voted to spend ANC funds to retain counsel to seek reinstatement of the protest and to apply for a technical assistance grant from the Office of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (OANC).
For questions, contact task force co-chairs Julia Larsen (julia@lrcadc.org) & Keith Sellars (keith.sellars1@gmail.com)
* Hosted in conjunction with The Parks Main Street and ANC Commissioners Keith Sellars (5A01), Shelagh Bocoum (5A09), Garrett Moore (4B08), & Danielle Geong (4B09).
For questions, contact task force co-chairs Julia Larsen (julia@lrcadc.org) & Keith Sellars (keith.sellars1@gmail.com)
* Hosted in conjunction with The Parks Main Street and ANC Commissioners Keith Sellars (5A01), Shelagh Bocoum (5A09), Garrett Moore (4B08), and Danielle Geong (4B09).
ANC 5A held its monthly public meeting on June 25, 2025. Commissioners present: Keith Sellars (5A01); Timothy Thomas (5A02) – Vice Chair; Emily Singer Lucio (5A03) – Chair; Jack Hermes (5A04) – Parliamentarian; Derrick Holloway (5A06); Valeria Sosa Garnica (5A07); Elaine Alston (5A08); Shelagh Bocoum (5A09) – Treasurer. ANC 5A05 is vacant.
The meeting started late and was unnecessarily long, again. The ANC really should use a timer. This recap contains a little more personal commentary than usual because of the antics of Commissioner Holloway (5A06). This meeting was a lot, and we have 1.5 more years of this. Something has to change. This is why we really need reasonable people to run for ANC.
Commission Business
Looks like the ANC spent $1600 on a laptop for Commissioner Alston (5A08) and $1100 for a phone.
Sounded like the ANC voted to allocate $20,000 more for grants in the budget to total $30,000 that can be disbursed.
The ANC voted unanimously to have Commissioner Sosa Garnica (5A07) assume the role of secretary. Commissioner Lucio had been serving as chair and secretary since the beginning of the term.
For some inexplicable reason, the ANC voted (4-3) to make Commissioner Holloway (5A06) sergeant-at-arms. A sergeant-at-arms is not required under the ANC’s bylaws, and Commissioner Holloway is a perpetual violator of ANC norms, rules, and order. More on that later. Commissioners Thomas (5A02), Hermes (5A04), Holloway (5A06), and Alston (5A08) voted in support. Commissioners Sellars (5A01), Sosa Garnica (5A07), and Bocoum (5A09) opposed.
Grant for New Generation Training & Learning Center (5A08)
The ANC voted in favor of giving a $10,000 grant to New Generation Training & Learning Center for a “Community Day” tentatively planned for August 16 at Faith United Church. Apparently, Commissioner Alston is a principal officer of the organization, so she recused herself from the discussion and vote. Her daughter, Angel Johnson, who is an assistant director at the organization, presented on the grant application.
Apparently, the Office of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (OANC) gave the okay for the ANC to give a grant to this organization where Commissioner Alston is a principal officer and her daughter is an employee. The OANC told them that they cannot use ANC grant funds for backpacks, so they will find other funding to purchase the backpacks and school supplies. There will be activities for kids, such as photo booth, face painting, and crafts.
A resident asked about the amount of the grant. The grant application and guidelines on the ANC’s website still list a $2500 funding limit. Commissioner Bocoum said this was changed. Unclear when the ANC plans to update the guidelines and application on the website.
Mayor Bowser’s FY26 Budget Presentation
DDOT Director Sharon Kershbaum presented on the mayor’s proposed FY26 budget. The budget is very delayed. Budget information is available at budget.dc.gov. Director Kershbaum focused her presentation on DDOT’s proposed budget. I did not catch everything.
The Council is in the process of reviewing the proposed budget.
Boys Town Campus Redevelopment (5A02) (Teddy Swift & Vicki Davis, Urban Atlantic)
Vicki Davis, founder of Urban Atlantic, presented on the Boys Town campus redevelopment project. The property is located at 4801 Sargent Road NE in North Michigan Park in ANC 5A02. They are planning to build 166-170 duplex homes. Ten percent of the homes (around 17) will be set aside as below market rate homes. Duplexes are permitted as a matter of right in this area, so there will not be a public hearing. Urban Atlantic has to go through a Large Tract Review process by the Office of Planning. We previously discussed that process in this post.
Consistent with zoning requirements, each home will have a minimum lot size of 2500 square feet, rear yard of 20 feet, and side yard of 8 feet.
They plan to open up the campus, remove the two mounds of dirt in front, build sidewalks throughout, provide pedestrian access to North Michigan Park Rec, and maintain the large 8,000 square foot building in the center of the campus.
They plan to retain two heritage trees and plant 90 new trees.
They are still looking at a second egress as part of their traffic study.
They are working with residents on Delafield Street, who apparently have taken to parking on part of the private campus grounds, on a parking solution.
They discussed other things they are planning with respect to preservation, neighborhood connectivity, and transportation/parking (see presentation linked above).
They plan to submit their Large Tract Review application soon.
Lots of residents raised questions that were not really addressed. Commissioner Thomas (5A02) then said he wanted the ANC to vote on supporting “the concept” of the proposed development. Residents questioned why the ANC felt the need to vote on anything at this stage. Commissioner Hermes kept talking about the need to build more housing (no one disagrees) and how developers have to jump through so many hoops to build housing.
The letter does not state the vote count, but all of the commissioners did not vote in support. Commissioner Sosa Garnica (5A07) questioned why the ANC was voting on this at this stage. Commissioner Holloway (5A06) rudely berated her for speaking up on behalf of residents, saying that Commissioner Thomas had done his due diligence. Commissioner Holloway launched into his standard tirade about how long he has lived in the District and owned his own business and how dare this commissioner question what Commissioner Thomas wants to do. It is hard to convey in words how wildly inappropriate his remarks and behavior were. Residents said as much in the chat.
It is not at all clear to me that the ANC knows what they are doing, but regardless, it was entirely appropriate to abstain from this unnecessary vote.
The developer plans to return to the ANC after submitting the Large Tract Review application.
Catholic University Marist Hall Historic Designation Application (5A04)
The building was constructed in 1900 and became part of Catholic’s campus in 1975. Apparently the building is in serious disrepair. Catholic would like to eventually tear down the building and build something else. Catholic University representatives contend that the building is not a notable example of the architect’s work. Catholic and the Preservation League pretty much disagreed on every single point.
The ANC voted to support Catholic’s opposition to the application. The Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) will consider the application this month.
About four years ago, the ANC reviewed a matter involving several apartment buildings along Hawaii Avenue NE and Webster Street NE that were slated for renovation, addition, and conversion to condos. This renovation project was the subject of many ANC meetings. There ended up being an investigation by the Office of the Attorney General for DC.
There are now separate owners of the buildings. The owners of 65-85 Hawaii Avenue NE wish to modify and extend the original Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) order so that all of the 65-85 Hawaii buildings will be 16-unit buildings. Originally six of the buildings were to be nine-unit buildings and five were to be 16-unit buildings. A public hearing is scheduled for September 17, 2025.
Just like four years ago when this project originally arose, Commissioner Holloway (5A06) was ill prepared to discuss the subject. After the development team gave their short presentation, he could not even make a proper motion and made long wandering incoherent remarks. The whole situation was bizarre but also completely typical from this commissioner. Residents were openly wondering how the ANC could have voted him sergeant-at-arms. (He should be removed).
The ANC ended up voting in support of the BZA application. Commissioners Sellars (5A01) and Sosa Garnica (5A07) abstained because Commissioner Holloway neglected to send them the documentation ahead of time, so they did not have time to review it. Commissioner Holloway spent a lot of time alternately insisting that he sent the documents to all of the commissioners but then saying that he did not have all of their email addresses and that is why he could not send them to everyone. (The commissioners do not use personal email addresses; their addresses are listed on the ANC website).
A resident asked that the developer present to ANC 5A06 residents to let them know what is going on because the original project has taken a lot of twists and turns over the years. Commissioner Holloway objected and said that was unnecessary. Unclear if the developer will meet with residents in that area.
Ward 5 Council Report (Andrianna Lovelace, Constituent Services Coordinator for CM Zachary Parker)
Councilmember Parker chairs the Council’s committee on youth affairs. Andrianna Lovelace, constituent services coordinator for CM Parker, stated that the committee markup of the proposed FY26 budget reinstated funding for lots of critical issues.
The Ward 5 Senior Advisory Committee had a meeting at Michigan Park Christian Church on June 26.
There will be a South Dakota Avenue study virtual public meeting on July 9 and an in-person meeting at Sojourner Truth Public Charter School on July 12.
Commissioner Updates
5A08
The ABCA hearing for Clinical Health & Wellness to open a medical cannabis shop at 4942 South Dakota Avenue NE in North Michigan Park is on August 13, 2025. The roll call hearing is July 14, 2025. The ANC previously voted to send a letter of opposition to ABCA outlining concerns with the application.
A resident asked for an update on the McDonald’s rebuilding. Commissioner Alston (5A08) said there were no updates and that she discussed it at her SMD meeting. Turns out she actually had not discussed it at her SMD meeting. The president of the North Michigan Park Civic Association said that the building was not being built to proper specification (unclear what she was referring to but something did start going up and has since come down recently). After some back-and-forth, Commissioner Alston finally agreed to Chair Lucio’s suggestion to add McDonald’s to the special meeting planned for July 30. It took an unnecessarily long time to get to this point.
5A09
Commissioner Bocoum (5A09) shared information about the Riggs Park clean up day and the Heritage Wall companion book author talk, both held on June 28.
The ANC normally breaks for June, July and August, but they plan to hold a special meeting on July 30.
Group picture of residents. The Parks Main Street, Clean Team, and ANC commissioners.
A solid crew of 25 neighbors came out on a humid but not too too hot Saturday on June 28 to pick up trash around the neighborhood and help beautify the green space on the corner of South Dakota Avenue & Riggs Road NE. A member of One Life Fitness who lives in Langdon saw the flyer in the gym and came out to join us. A high schooler from McKinley Tech who lives in Capitol Heights heard about the clean up and helped out to get community service hours. Altogether, neighbors collected about 30 bags of trash. Thanks to everyone, including our youngest clean up leaders in training, who came out to lend a hand.
ANC commissioners (left to right): Shelagh Bocoum (5A09), Keith Sellars (5A01), Danielle Geong (4B09), and Garrett Moore (4B08).
Shoutout to ANC 4B & 5A commissioners Keith Sellars (5A01), Shelagh Bocoum (5A09), Garrett Moore (4B08), and Danielle Geong (4B09) for organizing the event; getting donations of food, snacks, and water; and generally being cheerleaders for the community.
And thanks to The Parks Main Street Executive Director Edwin Washington for supplying grabbers and bags and arranging to have the Clean Team mulch the trees around the green space with a little help from Liam with Casey Trees. The Clean Team was excited to learn something new.
Next Stop...Riggs Park 
