I still haven’t written up this meeting, but the important thing to note is that nothing got done and they will continue to make attempts at the 10/12 Committee-of-the-Whole and the 10/19 regular Whole-Commission meeting (which now has to happen). It is likely too late for the ANC to weigh in on BZA 20779. The video and automated transcript are available here.

tl;dr

  • The video and automated transcript are available here.
  • This was a special meeting to deal with a few different issues, but nothing got done.

Meeting Details

This meeting was not regularly scheduled, but decided on during the previous whole-commission meeting. It precludes the 5C07 SMD meeting and jumps ahead of the regularly scheduled Committee-of-the-Whole meeting (where Commissioners meet for planning purposes but don’t take official actions). Some reasons for the meeting’s timing are:

  • a need to weigh in on a BZA case that had to be deferred by BZA due to ANC inaction
  • a need to finalize the quarterly financial report before the deadline

Agenda

As conveyed by Commissioner Montague in the 10/5/2022 email with annotations/corrections/updates based on what happens:

  • BZA 20759 (2401 12th ST NE)
  • ANC 5C Quarterly Report FY22 Q3
  • ANC 5C Secretary Minutes (Corrections/Updated)
  • DPR Projects Status Updates, Presentation

BZA 20759: 2401 12th St NE

This case is for a new 9-unit residential building on the site of an existing detached house within an RA-1 zone. Relief is sought to increase density within the RA-1 zone. This building was downsized from 12 homes to 9 larger homes to accomodate ANC concerns with the density. This reduction eliminated any requirement for income-restricted homes in the building (that requirement kicks in on the 10th unit).

There is no relief being sought for parking, as they are seeking parking off-site parking to satisfy the one space required under zoning; should this plan fall through, the building would need additional zoning relief for the lack of parking space as designed.

2401 12th St NE rendering

Architectural rendering for 2401 12th St NE

When the case was heard on 9/28/2022, there was some debate among BZA members on whether the off-site parking provision requires a request for a waiver or can be pursued by-right, but the case was approved on the relief sought, and further relief for allowing off-site parking or no parking could be handled down the line.

This was another case delayed by lack of ANC involvement. The case was once-delayed due to ANC request during the summer recess. There was ultimately no ANC report entered into the record. For the 9/28/2022 BZA hearing, a representative from the ANC was signed up to testify, but BZA staff were continously calling them that day and failing to reach anybody. Board members lamented a lack of feedback from the ANC, but approved the application for the relief sought (which did not include parking).

This case might be discussed in follow-up, or this agenda item was meant to be 20779 instead (covered below).

BZA 20779: 1224 Brentwood Rd NE

This isn’t on the agenda, but I presume it was meant to be.

This case is for a new four-unit residential building on the site of an existing detached house within an RA-1 zone. Relief is sought to increase density within the RA-1 zone, as well as allow a continuous parking bay in back (without any screening to reduce individual openings to less than 20 feet wide).

1224 Brentwood diagram

Architectural diagram for 1224 Brentwood Rd. NE

The case had a BZA hearing on 9/14/2022, where the applicant expressed difficulty getting on the agenda for meetings of either SMD 5C05 or ANC 5C, and presented a timeline of attempts. The Board expressed reticence to approve without some comment from the ANC and more outreach to a nearby church regarding parking.

Commissioner Montague, there for the subsequent case (the Eastlack case above) expressed that some turnover in the Commission’s officers resulted in the difficulty with scheduling and consideration. The case was scheduled for another hearing on 10/19/2022, with an extra two weeks to allow time for the outreach and briefing the ANC.

This case was originally on the agenda for the 9/21/2022 meeting, and the architect was there to present on behalf of the applicant, but it was ultimately not heard because it had not yet had an SMD presentation. It’s supposed to have received one by 10/5.

ANC 5C Quarterly Report FY22 Q3

The Treasurer’s report was dismissed as needing rework at the 9/21 meeting.

ANC 5C Secretary Minutes (Corrections/Updated)

The Secretary’s minutes were the topic of some debate and a motion at the 9/21 meeting, but ultimately were not read.

DPR - Recreation Center’s Status Update

This should be a follow-up to the updates read from an email at the 9/21 meeting. Commissioner Hick Delgado requested DPR still come on 10/5 to brief, and Commissioner/Chair Manning said they would discuss it offline. Those updates were:

  • Arboretum Community Center: DPR continues to work on final inspections and punchlist items; the faclity should be open to the public this fall
  • Fort Lincoln Park Community Center: DGS working on awarding contract for new facility. There will be a community kickoff event for construction after the contractor is selected; that should be this fall
  • Theodore Hagans Cultural Center: because of ongoing pandemic and correlated construction costs, this was removed from the scope of the Fort Lincoln Park project. The hope is that this concession can focus resources on the park itself. As such, the Theodore Hagans Cultural Center will continue being open to the public for the foreseeable future in its current state
  • Funding for the Langdon Park Recreation Center does not kick in until FY23. We anticipate Spring 2023 as the likely timeline for the start of the project.
  • Dakota Playground was resurfaced in Winter 2021; DPR has no funding for any work on that at this time (this was presumably in response to a request for work to be done on resurfacing the playground)

Other possible topics

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