From ANC Commissioner Karlus Cozart (5A02)

ANC Single Member District 5A02 Meeting
Monday, June 26, 2023
6:15 pm
Virtual

Join Zoom Meeting
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                                          AGENDA 
i. Call to order @ 6:15pm
ii. Welcome 
iii. SMD Updates 
iv. Councilmember Parker updates
v. Presentation by Community Mediation DC
vi. Community Comments
vii. Adjourn

Karlus Cozart
Commissioner ANC 5A02
5A02@anc.dc.gov
202-577-7583
www.ANC5A02.com
https://anc5a.org/

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton National Park Service Town Hall
June 14, 2023
6:00 pm-7:30 pm

Join Congresswoman Norton to discuss NPS summer programming and events.

Register at http://bit.ly/3MeC5tZ. The registration form has a place to submit questions in advance.

Zoom Link: https://ushr.zoomgov.com/j/1600680732

For questions about the town hall, email Nortonevents@mail.house.gov or call (202) 408-9041.

Ward 5 Open Streets was a lot of fun last year. This year looks to be a fun time too.

From DDOT

DC’s next Open Streets event is scheduled for Sunday, June 4th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on 12th Street NE from Michigan Avenue to Franklin Street.

Open Streets 12th Street NE

Location: Franklin Street NE to Michigan Avenue NE

Date: Sunday, June 4, 2023 from 9 am to 3 pm

Road Closure: 12th Street NE from 7 am to 5 pm

Open Streets is coming for the second time to 12th Street NE in the spring of 2023! The route was expanded from the 2022 event to allow for ONE mile of 12th Street NE to be closed to vehicles and allow people to safely walk, run, bike, and play. The route will feature hourly programmed classes and demonstrations, including yoga, dancing, and more! The event is free and suitable for all ages and abilities.

No cars, just people!

Check out the event page to learn more about the event details including programming and detours: https://open-streets-dcgis.hub.arcgis.com/pages/12th-street-ne-2023.

Last week, Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker sent his FY2024 budget request letter to DC Mayor Muriel Bowser. The mayor will send her budget proposal to the DC Council on March 22.

In his message about his budget requests, CM Parker stated that the requests are reflective of his vision of healthy communities for Ward 5. He identified five components of a healthy community:

• Opportunity-rich and inclusive neighborhoods
• High quality education
• Rewarding work
• Healthy environment and access to good healthcare
• Responsive and just government

The letter addresses housing, education, facilities, violence prevention, transit and traffic safety, support for LGBTQIA+ residents, support for seniors, and more. Read CM Parker’s full letter.

Items of note to the Riggs Park neighborhood copied from the letter below.

Transfer District-owned Parcels in Riggs Park and Carver-Langston to DPR for New Recreational Facilities. Residents of Riggs Park and Carver-Langston have long-sought to use District-owned parcels for community-facing recreational purposes In Riggs Park, the Office of Planning proposed activating the southwest corner of the intersection of Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue NE with a park facility in the 2009 Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue Small Area Plan. In Carver Langston, residents have advocated for the city to use an empty corner lot at 19th and L streets NE for a community playground. On behalf of both communities, I ask that these properties be transferred to DPR and that planning processes begin to serve the recreational needs of residents.

Increase Frequent and Reliable Bus Service in Ward 5. One of the best investments the District can make in transportation equity is improving the frequency and reliability of bus service. Bus riders in the District are disproportionately likely to be low-income or persons of color. In addition to the service improvements that will accompany the Metro for D.C. Amendment Act of 2022 on the 80 and 92 routes, I request more frequent service on the G8, D8, and E4 routes to better connect our Brookland, Trinidad, Edgewood, Fort Totten, and Woodridge communities. Each of these routes already serves a substantial existing ridership, and connects Ward 5 residents to neighboring communities, local amenities, schools, and jobs. I also look forward to assisting the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) in implementing its Bus Priority plan in Ward 5—particularly on North Capitol Street, Florida Avenue, Michigan Avenue, and Rhode Island Avenue.

Re-envision New York Avenue, Rhode Island Avenue, and Other Dangerous Ward 5 Corridors. During your third term as mayor, I hope you will look to the New York Avenue corridor in Ward 5 as the venue for a similarly ambitious project as the Frederick Douglass Bridge. The Office of Planning is already exploring how to embrace tens of thousands of new housing units on New York Avenue, and I believe that the time is ripe to pair that vision with a $70 million investment in FY24-FY25 to construct an off-street trail, dedicated transit lanes, and safer streetscape between Truxton Circle and Fort Lincoln. (I intend to engage with Ward 5 communities in WMATA’s bus network redesign to ensure that bus service is established on the New York Avenue corridor.) I also request that you designate $50 million in FY26-27 for the overhaul of Rhode Island Avenue between Bloomingdale and Woodridge to improve bus reliability and improve pedestrian, cyclist, and motorist safety on this dangerous corridor. Furthermore, I am eager to partner with DDOT to improve many other dangerous arterial corridors in Ward 5, including South Dakota and Michigan Avenues and the other Ward 5 high-injury corridors identified the 2022 update to the Vision Zero Plan. I request that you direct DDOT to leverage existing operational funds to improve safety on these corridors as expeditiously and aggressively as possible.

Invest in Ward 5’s Trail and Micromobility Network. According to the DC Sustainable Transportation Coalition, bicycle trips in Ward 5 increased by 36 percent between 2019 and 2022. To serve this growing need, I request that you continue to invest in Ward 5’s trail network by including in the Capital Improvement Plan for FY24:
• $4 million for a design/build contract for an on or off-street trail connection between the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT) at Fort Totten and the Anacostia NW Branch trail via Fort Circle Park and/or Gallatin Street.
• $4 million for improvements to the Eckington and NoMa segments of the MBT to increase safety and connectivity on this high-use segment of the trail.
• $4 million for the design and build of the Arboretum trail connector to ensure that Carver-Langston and other Ward 5 residents will have access to the future Arboretum trail bridge and Anacostia trail network at times when the Arboretum is closed.

In addition, I request that DDOT use existing operational funds to deliver protected bike facilities on routes identified as bicycle priority in DDOT’s MoveDC mobility priority network.

<FN3>I am grateful that DDOT has committed to closing the 8th Street NE gap in the MBT and is moving forward with protected bike lanes on Mt. Olivet and 17th Streets NE and other Ward 5 projects. During our engagement process, Ward 5 residents emphasized the need for protected facilities on east-west routes that connect to the MBT as well as gaps in the protected network on Montana Avenue NE, Taylor and Harewood Streets NE, Florida Avenue NE/NW, and Lincoln Road NE.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser will be holding a series of FY2024 budget engagement forums this week. You can also share your budget ideas and priorities by completing the form at budget.dc.gov. This is the time to ask for what you want.

Mayor Bowser’s 2023 Budget Engagement Forums

Join fellow DC residents to share your values, priorities, and ideas with the Bowser Administration as the FY24 Budget is developed.

Senior Budget Engagement TeleTownhall

When: Wednesday, February 8, 2023 at 12:00pm

Call-In Number: 844-881-1314

RSVP: https://tinyurl.com/FY24SeniorBEF

Budget Engagement Forum #1

When: Thursday, February 9, 2023 at 6pm

Where: Jackson-Reed High School, 3950 Chesapeake Street NW

RSVP:https://tinyurl.com/FY24JacksonReed

Budget Engagement Forum #2

When: Saturday, February 11, 2023 at 11am

Where: Eastern High School, 1700 East Capitol Street NE

RSVP: https://tinyurl.com/FY24Eastern

Other Ways to Participate

Leave a Voicemail

Call 202-442-4755 to share your ideas and priorities.

Following her successful re-election for a third term, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has set up a transition website at https://together.dc.gov. There you can find members of her transition team and instructions on how to apply for jobs with Mayor Bowser’s administration and District government.

Mayor Bowser’s team is also seeking “transformational” and “big” ideas for the mayor’s third term, with a focus on:

• Expanding democracy
• Fighting for the middle class
• Ending gun violence
• Reimagining our downtown
• Getting all students on pathways to success and
• Positioning DC as a strong, sustainable, and resilient city

Early last year, I shared a news article on social media about the completion of the city’s homeless shelter in Ward 1, which capped a multiyear effort to replace DC General with smaller shelters throughout the city. I wrote then that the the mayor’s first-term plan to open homeless shelters in each ward was truly masterful and that if she had that kind of vision and commitment in addressing so many issues in the District, the city would be well served. The urgency of the plan was of course heightened by the disappearance of eight-year old Relisha Rudd from DC General, which is still disturbing to me to this day.

All that to say, it can be easy to be deeply cynical about politicians and government, but we also have the ability to be courageous and create better functioning, humane communities. And sometimes even “small” things can have great impact.

If you have thoughts, big or small, about how government should better function over the next four years, it is worth sharing them at https://together.dc.gov.

There will also be an in-person engagement forum on December 3, 2022, at 10:00 am.

From Zachary Ammerman, candidate for ANC 5A09

Join Culture Coffee Too & the WALK Ward 5 Health Coalition as they walk to increase awareness of breast cancer and domestic violence.

October 30, 2022
9:00 am
Meet at Culture Coffee Too (300 Riggs Road NE)
Walk to the Metropolitan Branch Trail from Fort Totten to Brookland and back to Culture Coffee Too (approximately 4 miles).

Wear pink to represent breast cancer awareness or purple to represent domestic violence awareness.

Spotted in the wild for my morning commute today

Eight-car 7000 series train at Fort Totten Metro station 🙌

Local election season is still going on. All eyes are on the race for the DC Council At-large seats. Voters will be able to pick two choices among the list of candidates.

Tonight, several organizations have partnered to host a public safety forum moderated by Tom Sherwood for the at-large candidates. Details and livestream information at the link.

Next week on September 14, 2022, DC for Democracy will be holding a candidate forum moderated by Kim Perry. Register and send questions in advance at bit.ly/at-large-22.

Greater Greater Washington has a handy visual of candidate answers to a questionnaire about various topics.

The DC Board of Elections will start sending ballots to voters on October 3, 2022. Ballot drop boxes will open on October 14, 2022, so I imagine there will be lots more opportunities to learn about the candidates before then.

From Office of Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George

Please join AARP DC, DPR, and Councilmember Lewis George on Thursday, September 8 at 1pm at Lamond Recreation Center to celebrate the new Fitness Park (Fitlot) donated by AARP DC to our community. And please let your neighbors know about this event and this excellent fitness resource.

Ed. Note: Passing along information I was asked to share about an upcoming event benefitting Calvary Women’s Services. Find Calvary Women’s Services on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn.

Calvary Women’s Services’ upcoming In This Together Community Walk will be held in person for the first time, on Saturday, September 24, at 10 a.m. at Anacostia Park.

For over 20 years, Calvary Women’s Services (CWS) has worked to end homelessness, inspire hope and transform the lives of women in the District of Columbia. CWS ensure women throughout DC have access to the proper trauma-informed healthcare and educational support they need to take positive steps toward independence. These programs include transitional and permanent housing, personalized case management, life skills and education opportunities, job training, health and wellness services, on-site therapy, and daily addiction recovery meetings. At Calvary, we believe every woman has the strengths and gifts she needs to be successful. Each woman in our programs identifies and builds on her strengths, meeting her goals for safe housing, good health, and financial independence.

Details and registration at the link.

A virtual public hearing for McDonald’s rezoning application is scheduled for November 28, 2022, at 4:00 pm (Zoning Commission case no. 22-19). McDonald’s is requesting a map amendment to change the zoning of its property located at 4950 South Dakota Avenue NE (Square 3786, Lot 0001) from MU-3A to MU-7B so that a new McDonald’s with a drive-thru can be built as a matter of right to replace the existing restaurant that does not currently have a drive-thru. The Zoning Commission will need to determine whether the requested map amendment is “not inconsistent” with the DC Comprehensive Plan.

The hearing notice contains instructions on how to sign up to participate in the virtual hearing and how to submit written comments.

McDonald’s states in its application and prehearing report that this upzoning request is consistent with the Future Land Use Map (FLUM) and General Land Use Map (GLUM), both of which were recently updated in the most recent Comprehensive Plan Amendment.

The DC Office of Planning (OP) issued its setdown report on July 20, 2022. In that report, OP stated the requested map amendment is generally not inconsistent with the Comp Plan, but that there is some inconsistency with the Transportation Element of the Comp Plan.

The ANC 5A report is sparse as expected, given that they relied on counsel for McDonald’s to provide the language for the resolution generally stating that the ANC supports McDonald’s application for a map amendment.

I will not rehash everything I have written about this matter, but as I noted previously I was curious to see how OP would handle the fact that paving the road for a drive-thru in this location, as District officials did by changing the FLUM and GLUM without explanation, is wholly inconsistent with the District’s moveDC plan for this area and with the District’s sustainability goals. OP does at least acknowledge several pages into its report that allowing a drive-thru as a matter of right here is not totally consistent with the Transportation Element of the Comp Plan. This whole exercise just shines even more of a light on how bizarre the Comp Plan Update process was where OP decided to throw the gates wide open, decided that they were only going to listen to ANCs, and then decided that OP did not have to explain the rationale for any of their decisions at all. So now the result is discussing a supposed reality in which permitting upzoning solely for the sake of a drive-thru somehow promotes community vitality and racial equity. It is bizarre and irresponsible.

Update 6/22/2022: I should have said these are preliminary results. Apparently, there are thousands of dropbox ballots that still need to be counted by the Board of Elections.

Yesterday, Zachary Parker won the most votes for the Ward 5 Council seat in the June 2022 Democratic primary election. As for citywide races, Mayor Muriel Bowser, DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson, and At Large Councilmember Anita Bonds are one step closer to reelection after winning their respective races.

I do not talk overtly about politics on the blog because I cannot say too much publicly on Al Gore’s Internet, but I do want to give a shout out to the campaigns mounted by Faith Gibson Hubbard for Ward 5 and to Erin Palmer for Council Chair. I think it is always a good thing when thoughtful people run thoughtful campaigns for elected office because all of us benefit from their presence and ideas. And we often see some of those thoughtful ideas taken up by people who did not originally think of or champion them.

The only other thing I will say is that I do hope that this election reminds us that we actually can do better as a city. So many challenges that were brought to the fore by the COVID-19 pandemic actually existed prior to the pandemic. They were just ignored and the pandemic made it so that they could no longer be ignored. I often marvel at how DC is not that big of a city. But we sometimes act as if certain things are just so so hard, like fully educating roughly 100,000 school-age children in decent facilities, having safe neighborhoods, timely providing supports to people experiencing challenges, discouraging antisocial and anti-community behavior, and generally doing the work to have a thriving city.

Anyways, hats off to all those who ran thoughtful campaigns and congratulations to those who won.