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.

See ABCA Board Order Denying ANC 5A Second Motion for Reconsideration.

[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#

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#

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.

• Applicant’s Statement – 4801 Sargent Rd NE 
• Subdivision Plans – 4801 Sargent Rd NE 
• Project Plans – 4801 Sargent Rd NE 
• Concept Renderings – 4801 Sargent Rd NE 
• Transportation Plan – 4801 Sargent Rd NE 

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 14^th 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. 

Thank You,
ANC 5A

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.

See ABCA Board Order Dismissing ANC 5A Protest Against Clinical Health & Wellness (July 16, 2025)

(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).