ANC 5A held its monthly public meeting on May 28, 2025. Commissioners present: Keith Sellars (5A01); Timothy Thomas (5A02) – Vice Chair; Emily Singer Lucio (5A03) – Chair & Secretary; 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 about 10 minutes late (almost every meeting this year has started late). It was unnecessarily long, lasting until almost 10pm. A timer might be a good idea.

Queens Chapel Civic Association Grant Application (5A02) (Charlotte Lewis, Association President)

The ANC approved a grant for the Queens Chapel Civic Association – $2,300(?) for beautification and $4,700(?) to support their Community Day celebration. They will beautify the three entrance points to the neighborhood and the marker in memory of Rev. David Turner. They will not use grant funds on food for the community day.

Mundo Verde Public Charter School Holiday Construction Request (5A03) (Kristin Scotchmer, Owner-Representative)

The ANC approved a request for Mundo Verde to do construction on two holidays – October 13 & November 11, 2025. Ms. Scotchmer said they are requesting holiday work just in case they need those days because of weather impacts. The project is currently in the demolition phase. They will begin site work soon.

Washington Latin Public Charter School Holiday Construction Request (5A05)

A representative for Washington Latin requested ANC support for construction work on July 4, a Friday. The school is scheduled for substantial completion on July 24 so they wanted the extra day to make sure they hit that target date due to recent rains. This area does not have a single member district commissioner.

The school’s permit already allows for Saturday construction, but the ANC seemed to be confused about this point. The ANC took about 30 minutes to discuss this holiday work request before opposing (2 or 3 voted in support) so that residents were not faced with two days in a row of early construction noise over a holiday weekend.

Medical Cannabis Dispensary Application in North Michigan Park (5A08)

Clinical Health & Wellness has a pending ABCA application to open a medical marijuana dispensary at 4942 South Dakota Avenue NE (the strip mall next to the McDonald’s). The owners attended Commissioner Alston’s (5A08) single member district meeting the day before but did not attend the full ANC meeting.

Residents opposed the application. Residents who attended the SMD meeting thought the applicant was not fully transparent about their relationship with the former applicant or about their plans for the shop. There was a long discussion about what the process was supposed to be and what should go in the ANC letter. Also lots of displeasure expressed with the property owner for not maintaining the property well and for continuously seeking undesirable tenants. The ANC voted unanimously to protest the application.

The ANC also mentioned something about sending a letter of disapproval to the property owner with a copy to Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker, Mayor Muriel Bowser, DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb, and Congressswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Ward 5 Mayor’s Office Report (Anthony Black, Ward 5 MOCR Manager)

Ward 5 MOCR Manager Anthony Black discussed the mayor’s FY2026 budget, which was submitted to the DC Council the day before the ANC’s meeting. Mr. Black stated that despite the city’s budget challenges because of the $1 billion cut to the city’s budget by House Republicans, there will be no furloughs or layoffs of District government employees.

The Pride Parade is on June 7 so make sure you stay aware of transit impacts and road closures.

Ward Days are 10am-3pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday when the Ward 5 MOCRs are available to meet commissioners or residents around the ward.

The slide at the North Michigan Park Recreation Center has been repaired.

Mr. Black stated that he would flag concerns about the medical marijuana shop to leadership.

Commissioner Hermes (5A04), the commissioner for the Catholic University area and a Catholic U student, stated that many of his fellow students have lost jobs at neighborhood restaurants that have closed. He said he supports a repeal of Initiative 82 (tipped minimum wage initiative) because he thinks it has negatively impacted restaurants, leading to closure in some instances, and students rely on restaurant jobs to help pay for school. Mr. Black said he would relay those concerns to leadership.

Updated to add: Commissioner Sellars asked if there is anything the city can do to help the National Park Service cut the very overgrown grass at Fort Circle Park. Mr. Black said he would inquire.

Ward 5 Council Report (Andrianna Lovelace, Constituent Services Coordinator for Councilmember Zachary Parker)

CM Parker held a public safety walk in the Trinidad neighbohrood with CM Brooke Pinto who chairs the council’s Committee on the Judiciary & Public Safety.

Residents are invited to walk with CM Parker in the Pride Parade.

Commissioner Hermes raised his concerns about Initiative 82 again stating he supports a repeal becuase of all of the restaurants in Brookland that are closing.

Boys Town Redevelopment (5A02) (Vicki Davis, Urban Atlantic)

Urban Atlantic will be redeveloping the Boys Town campus on Sargent Road NE. The current plan for the 12-acre campus is for approximately 170 duplexes with 10 percent set aside for inclusionary zoning units at 80 percent of area median income.

They plan to open up the campus and build one mile of sidewalks throughout the campus site.

They will keep the 8,000 square foot main building. They have not decided what to do with it just yet. They welcome ideas. Some ideas include a daycare or affordable housing.

They plan to build a small playground that would be the responsibility of the HOA but open to the surrounding neighborhood.

The current zoning designation allows duplexes and triplexes. They thought about asking for more density but decided to stick with what the current designation allows. Because this will be a matter of right development, they only need to undergo large tract review. They are working on their traffic study now. They are aiming to submit their large tract review application in mid-June.

Commissioner Thomas (5A02) and Urban Atlantic will meet with nearby residents soon.

Urban Atlantic developed The Parks at Walter Reed and Rhode Island Row.

RiverSmart Homes (Skye Webster, District Department of Energy & the Environment)

The Riversmart Homes Program provides subsidies to install features to reduce stormwater runoff. Features may include a rain barrel, trees, native gardens, and removal of impermeable surfaces. (It’s a really great program & everyone should sign up.) There is a RiverSmart Maintenance Assistance Program.

There is also a pilot FloodSmart Home Program that subsidizes sump pump installation for eligible homeowners and a RiverSmart Communities Grant Program for nonprofits and churches.

Questions about the programs may be sent to Skye Webster at skye.webster@dc.gov.

Commissioner Updates

Commissioner Alston stated that residents at her SMD meeting on May 27 voted to request relocation of the bikeshare station on Decatur Street NE.

Commissioner Hermes stated that he would like to have the ANC’s June public meeting be in person. At this point things got a little hard to follow. Lots of discussion on this. Residents chimed in in the chat that they would like to have a virtual option to make it easier for people to attend meetings.

Then Commissioner Bocoum moved to have the ANC meet in July and August but did not really say why. (Note: The bylaws state the commission is to meet every month except July, August, and December. The ANC voted on a calendar at the beginning of the year). Commissioner Hermes sought to amend the motion to two separate votes, one to meet in July and one to meet in August. Chair Lucio raised the point that if the need arises to discuss specific issues, the ANC could always call a special meeting. By this point it was after 9:30pm. Discussion went on entirely way too long and a couple of the commissioners started being disagreeable with one another. Finally, at Commissioner Lucio’s prompting, Commissioner Bocoum agreed to withdraw her motion so that the ANC could discuss the issue at their next planning meeting.

Then Commissioner Holloway (5A06) wanted to move to have the ANC redo officer elections. He said when the ANC voted on officers at the beginning of the year, there were still a lot of vacant ANC 5A seats. He said that he did not think that Commissioner Lucio should be serving as both chair and secretary (Note: The commission had enough commissioners at the beginning of the year so that there was no need to double up on the chair and secretary position but that is what the ANC voted to do).

This discussion was a lot for residents to witness and went on way too long before Commissioner Hermes finally interjected to say that the issue could not be voted on that evening. He said an executive officer would need to place on the agenda removal of officers and a vote for new officers. Notice would need to be provided at least seven days in advance.

The next public meeting will be June 25. Unclear if the meeting will be in person, virtual, or hybrid. The ANC will provide notice.