ADVISORY NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSION 1B
Government of the District of Columbia
Minutes
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
7:00 PM, Reeves Center, 2000 14th Street N.W.
A special meeting of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1B occurred on Tuesday, March 25,
2014, at 7:00 pm in the Reeves Center. This meeting was called to vote on items that were on the
agenda of the March 6 meeting, which failed to reach quorum.
Commissioners Present:
Marc Morgan (1B01)
Deborah Thomas (1B04)
Ricardo A. Reinoso (1B05)
Dyana Forester (1B06)
Juan Lopez (1B07)
James A. Turner (1B09)
Zahra Jilani (1B12)
Commissioners absent:
Jeremy Leffler (1B02)
Sedrick Muhammad (1B03)
E. Gail Anderson Holness (1B11)
Chairperson James A. Turner did not observe the presence of a quorum and called the meeting to order
informally at 7:00 PM.
Announcements
No announcements made.
Chairperson Turner declared a recess until a quorum was present.
A quorum was noted at 7:21PM with Commissioners Morgan, Reinoso, Forester, Lopez, Turner, and
Jilani present and the meeting was called to order.
Officer Reports
Chair
Resolution in support of OANC being funded to conduct pilot program for a Ward 1 ANC
Operations Center
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Action: Morgan moves that 1B support resolution in support of OANC being funded to conduct
pilot program for a Ward 1 ANC Operations Center.
Vote: 6 ayes, 0 nays, 0 abstentions. Motion passes by unanimous consent.
Secretary
Action: Reinoso moves to approve February minutes.
Vote: 6 ayes, 0 nays, 0 abstentions. Motion approved by unanimous consent.
Committee Reports
ABC Committee Report
Nick Baumann (Committee chair) not present so John Green of ABC Committee gave report.
Commissioner Thomas arrives at the meeting.
Peace Lounge (CT License), 2632 Georgia Ave NW (1B03)
Action: Morgan moved 1B support the license of Peace Lounge.
Vote: 7 ayes, 0 nays, 0 abstentions. Motion approved by unanimous consent.
Brooklyn Flea DC (DT License), 945 Florida Ave., NW (1B11)
Action: Morgan moved 1B support the stipulated and full licenses of Brooklyn Flea DC.
Vote: 7 ayes, 0 nays, 0 abstentions. Motion approved by unanimous consent.
Climax (DT License), 900 Florida Avenue, NW (1B02)
Mr. Green reported that the Committee voted to support the current neighbor protests against Climax.
Action: Turner moves support of the protests of the 2000 block of Vermont Ave., NW and of
the Floridian condominium neighbors.
Vote: 7 ayes, 0 nays, 0 abstentions. Motion approved by unanimous consent.
Design Review Committee
1305 S St NW (1B12) – Zoning exceptions for side yard and lot coverage
Action: Jilani motions that 1B support the renovation at 1305 S St NW.
Reinoso makes friendly amendment that 1B support the renovation, including support for
exceptions for side yard and lot coverage.
Vote: 7 ayes, 0 nays, 0 abstentions. Motion passes by unanimous consent.
Portner Place (1B12) - historic design concept and massing
Action: Jilani moves that 1B support Portner Place’s design concept, massing, and historic
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context.
Vote: 7 ayes, 0 nays, 0 abstentions. Motion passes by unanimous consent.
Dry Cleaner at 2712 11th St NW (1B09) – use variance
Action: Turner moves that 1B support the use variance.
Vote: 7 ayes, 0 nays, 0 abstentions. Motion passes by unanimous consent.
725 Hobart Pl NW (1B09) – special except for lot coverage, open court requirement, and rear yard
setback
Action: Turner moves that 1B support the variance for lot coverage, open court requirement,
and rear yard setback.
Vote: 7 ayes, 0 nays, 0 abstentions. Motion passes by unanimous consent.
Commissioner Morgan leaves meeting.
Transportation Committee
Resolution to support 16th St NW rush hour bus improvements
Action: Jilani moves that 1B support resolution on 16th Street rush hour bus improvements.
Vote: 4 ayes, 0 nays, 2 abstentions. Motion passes.
Resolution to support Office of Planning adjustments to parking minimum requirements
Action: Jilani moves 1B support the resolution.
Vote: 2 ayes, 4 nays, 0 abstention. Motion fails.
Approval of Florida Ave Streetscaping Project (1B02, 1B11)
Action: Reinoso moves to table approval until the April 3 meeting.
Vote: 6 ayes, 0 nays, 0 abstentions. Motion passes by unanimous consent.
New Business
Resolution to Support Full Modernization of Garrison Elementary by FY2015
Action: Reinoso moves to support the resolution to support full modernization of Garrison by
FY2015.
Vote: 6 ayes, 0 nays, 0 abstentions. Motion passes by unanimous consent.
Turner motions to adjourn. Reinoso seconds. Motion passes by unanimous consent.
Advisory
Neighborhood
Commission
1B
Alcohol
and
Beverage
Control
Committee
Meeting
February
19,
2014,
7:00-‐8:30
p.m.
EST
Thurgood
Marshall
Center
Washington,
DC
I. Roll Call. Committee members Nick Baumann, Lauren Centrella, Tara Cooksey, and
John Green were present.
II. Updates
III. New Business
A. Gebana, 1917 9th St. NW
1. Where Queen Makeda used to be
2. Tameru Zemenfes (landlord) 1917 9th St. NW
3. Meskerem Abebe (owner)
b) never owned a restaurant before
4. CR License
5. 11a-1a
6. No outdoor space
7. Ethiopian food.....
8. Aunt, Almaz Dama, owns a restaurant in Virginia called Dama. She
studied at Howard
B. Peace Lounge, 2632 Georgia Ave. NW (Placard)
1. Didn't answer phone calls; no info for community.
2. Tara Cooksey made recommendation that ANC protest on peace, order,
and quiet.
3. John Green seconded.
4. Motion passed by unanimous voice vote.
IV. Welcomed New Committee Members
A. David Harris (1B01)
B. Ben Cheng (1B03)
V. Adjourned
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE REGULATION ADMINISTRATION
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
Posting Date: February 7, 2014
Petition Date: March 24, 2014
Hearing Date: April 7, 2014
Protest Date: May 28, 2014
License No.: ABRA-094013
Licensee: Benti Lounge, LLC
Trade Name: Peace Lounge
License Class: Retailer’s Class “C” Tavern
Address: 2632 Georgia Ave., NW
Contact: Shewakena Etana 202-390-5182
WARD 1 ANC 1B SMD 1B03
Notice is hereby given that this applicant has applied for a license under the D.C. Alcoholic
Beverage Control Act and that the objectors are entitled to be heard before the granting of such
on the hearing date at 10:00 am, 4th Floor, 2000 14th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20009.
Petition and/or request to appear before the Board must be filed on or before the petition date.
The Protest Hearing Date is scheduled for 1:30 pm on May 28, 2014.
NATURE OF OPERATION
Neighborhood lounge offering Ethio-American style cuisine with a seating capacity for 86
patrons. Total occupancy load of 99. The following endorsements summer garden with 13 seats
and entertainment to include dancing and cover charge featuring occasional acoustics jazz band,
karaoke, open mic and DJ.
HOURS OF OPERATION
Sunday through Thursday 6 am – 2 am and Friday & Saturday 6 am – 3am
HOURS OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES SALES/SERVICE/CONSUMPTION
Sunday through Thursday 8 am – 2 am and Friday & Saturday 8 am – 3am
HOURS OF OPERATION AND ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
SALES/SERVICE/CONSUMPTION ON SUMMER GARDEN
Sunday through Thursday 8 am – 12 am and Friday & Saturday 8 am – 12 am
HOURS OF ENTERTAINMENT
Sunday through Thursday 11 am – 2 am and Friday & Saturday 11 am – 3 am
Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1B
DESIGN REVIEW COMMITTEE
Lela Winston, Chairperson
Reports and Recommendations
February 25th, 2014
The Design Committee met at the Thurgood Marshall Center, 1816 12th Street N.W., on Tuesday,
February 25th 2014. The meeting was called to order by chairperson Lela Winston at 6:30 PM.
Committee members present were: Guy Podgornick, Lee Jackson, Joel Heisey, Brad Grant, Sylvia
Robinson, Tony Norman, Ealing Baley.
Summary
• Review of renovation at 1305 S Street.
• Historic review of Portner Place.
• Review of proposal to study S street for parking.
• Review of use variance for 2712 11th street.
• Review of renovation at 725 Hobart Street NW.
• Review of design of 2100 Vermont Avenue
Recommendations
• Heisey moves to support variation for lot coverage at 1305 S Street. Seconded by Podgornick.
Motion passes without objection.
• Baley moves to support historic concept design and massing for the project at Portner Place.
Heisey seconds. 2 ayes. 1 oppose. 5 abstains. Motion passes.
• No motion was made regarding the proposal to study S street for parking.
• Baley motions to support the variance at 2712 11th street. Seconded by Jackson. Motion passes
by unanimous consent.
• Heisey moves to support the variance for lot coverage, open court requirements, rear yard
setback for 725 Hobart NW. Sylvia seconds. Approval by unanimous consent. Motion passes.
• Jackson moves to support the special exception for roof structure and variance for 3 parking
spaces. Podgornick seconds. Motion passes by unanimous consent.
• The review of 2100 Vermont Avenue was tabled pending revised designs.
REPORTS ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS
1305 S Street NW
• This is a renovation add a side shed for trash and a covered porch.
• Podgornick says that doors are necessary or else it becomes an open court.
• Zahra, the single member district person, supports the project, saying that neighbors are in
support. She says it is filling in dead space and thinks its a great improvement.
• Neighbor spoke in approval of the project.
• Falls under the U Street historic district.
• They are seeking a variance for lot coverage by 3%. The existing courts count as lot coverage
and are non-conforming.
Portner Place
• 48 unit project in 1978-79. Built at the corner of 14th and U.
• Developer has partnered with Johnathon Rose, an affordable housing company. They plan to
provide 96 units of affordable housing. Financed through the low income housing tax credit
program. Planned unit development. Ground street retail on V street side. 28% affordable
housing. Much of them studios.
• Seeking approval for HPRB for massing and concept. They will return for necessary variances.
• They want a playground and computer center, fitness room, community gardens on roof.
• Asking for enough space to park 30 foot trucks. Compact parking spaces.
• Require a penthouse variance to have different heights.
• Will use masonry and dark brick.
• Building is 105 ft high.
• Incorporate green elements. Silver LEED or above.
• Zahra is worried about the height but applauds them for outreach to the residents.
• There is 1 space per 3 units.
• Norman was concerned that the current residents might not be able to return.
Request for the ANC to study S street to use public space for parking
• The representative is a member of parking taskforce.
• They want the ANC to ask the district government to renovate a bus parking lot into a parking
garage.
• Norman recommended the petitioner to go through the transportation committee.
• A resident said she represents residents on S street that are opposed to parking on S street and
that Jim Graham is opposed to it.
2712 11th Street
• The owner is seeking a use variance to open a dry cleaners. Needs a use variance.
• Prior use was a dry cleaners in 1980s, afterward a grocery store. Is under residential zoning.
• Commissioner Turner supported the project.
• Some complaints about parking problems. They want the owner to find a parking alternative.
One resident spoke in support.
• The hearing date March 18th.
725 Hobart Place NW
• Seeking relief for lot occupancy 65% to 68.9 to add landing, non-conforming existing court,
and rear yard setback. Adding 3rd floor and roofdeck. Spiral staircase.
• Rear has residences. Diagonal to Pentecost church.
• Support from most neighbors. One objection from an adjacent neighbor.
• Talked with single member district commissioner Turner.
• May use stucco, some committee members were concerned with that.
2101 10th Street NW (“Logic”)
• This is a project previously approved by the ANC, but requires additional variances for roof
structure and parking.
2100 Vermont Avenue
• Located at Vermont and V street, current a vacant lot
• 5 floor apartment building and retail. White brick. Seeking variance for no parking.
• Zoning is c2b.
• 4 units/floor of mostly efficiencies, with an average 450 feet. 3 on penthouse floor. 8%
affordable housing at 80% AMI.
• Neighbors are supportive.
• No residential parking. 2 roof structures.
• Requires variances for rear yard setback and lot occupancy.
• Heisey said the building was not aesthetically pleasing.
• Committee members were uncomfortable design. They also felt the parking variances were too
much. Design tabled pending revised design.
Minutes of ANC1B Transportation Committee
20 Feb 2014, 7PM
Thurgood Marshall Center
Informative:
--Ben Klemens gave a brief briefing on the state of planning for the North-South
streetcar line. EF pointed us to his complete writeup of this round of planning, at
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/21774/north-south-streetcar-starts-to-
take-shape/
Everybody is encouraged to click through to that link. Click on the map there for
DDOT's extensive PDF about the proposals for the project.
We will try to get a rep from DDOT to come to next month's Transportation
Committee meeting to give an update.
--Commissioner Turner gave us a briefing on the proposed S Street parking
garage and what to expect when it will be discussed at the ANC1B Design
Committee meeting on the 25th. Commissioner Reinoso points us to this PDF
http://www.anc2f.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/anc2f-CDC-parking.pdf
describing the proposal.
Resolutions:
· ANC2B commissioner Kishan Putta and Cheryl Cort of the Coalition for Smarter
Growth presented a resolution passed by ANC2B requesting that DDOT study
and work to implement peak-period peak-direction dedicated bus lanes on 16th
Street.
A motion was made to recommend approval of the resolution as written (after
taking out the parts specific to ANC2B).
--A subsidiary motion was made to modify (1) to stress action over study. Original
text:
1) Expedite necessary studies, impact analyses, and modeling to assess and
potentially implement the peak-period transit lanes.
Proposed change:
1) Commit to an implementation plan with a specific time line to expedite
additional studies and necessary actions to implement the peak-period peak-
direction transit lanes.
Change approved (voice vote)
--A subsidiary motion to add a WHEREAS clause the language to cover more of
the 1B area than 16th was made and passed unanimously. We arrived at this
addendum:
WHEREAS other corridors in 1B, notably 14th Street and Georgia Ave, have also
seen demand surpass capacity, and also need substantial improvement.
--After these modifications, the main motion passed. The amended text is below.
· Ms Cort moved that we support the parking minima proposed in the draft of the
Zoning revision by the DC Office of Planning. The proposal reduces the amount
of required parking in new construction from the existing zoning laws.
The language of the resolution the group put together is below.
4 in favor, 2 opposed
· We voted to add three new members to the committee:
Cheryl Cort
Dan Winston
Natasha Ghent-Rodríguez
-----------------------------------------
Resolution regarding 16th Street rush hour bus improvements and dedicated bus
lane
WHEREAS the the 16th Street NW bus lines (S1, S2, S4, S9) have the most
riders of any route in the District and region at more than 21,000 weekday riders;
WHEREAS the number of weekday bus riders has increased by 25% over five
years and today buses carry more than half of all travelers in the corridor during
rush hour.
WHEREAS other corridors in 1B, notably 14th Street and Georgia Ave, have also
seen demand surpass capacity, and also need substantial improvement.
WHEREAS most resident comments express concern about overcrowding and
delayed commutes during peak periods;
WHEREAS the Washington Metropolitian Area Transit Administration (WMATA)
and D.C. Department of Transportation (DDOT) conducted a comprehensive
evaluation of improvements summarized in the Metrobus 16th Street NW Line
Study published in 2009;
WHEREAS WMATA has implemented some of the study’s recommendations,
most notably the S9 limited-stop service in 2010, a short-turn peak-hour service,
and moved toward hiring more street-level supervisors.
WHEREAS DDOT followed up the 2009 report by conducting a 16th Street NW
Safety and Mobility study completed in April 2013, which identified the best way
to meet mobility and community needs as peak-hour peak-direction transit lanes
from Arkansas Avenue NW to H Street NW and also recommended pedestrian
safety improvements at several intersections;
WHEREAS the DDOT 2013 report estimated that implementing peak-hour
dedicated bus lanes on 16th Street with current bus supplies would shorten
transit riders’ commute times by 30 percent and also allow buses to carry 10
percent more people (because they can be refilled quicker).
WHEREAS more study needs to be done by DDOT and WMATA, including public
outreach and further analysis of the implementation and operation of the
recommended peak-hour transit lane option;
BE IT RESOLVED that the Commission recommends the expedition of
necessary studies and implementation of the outstanding recommendations in
2009 Metrobus 16th Street NW Safety & Mobility report to improve mobility,
safety and transit service for 16th NW, and meet the growing demand for travel in
the corridor. Specifically, the Commission recommends that DDOT and WMATA:
1. Commit to an implemementation plan with a specific time line to expedite
additonal studies and necessary actions to implement the peak-period peak-
direction transit lanes.
2. In the near-term, allocate new buses and higher capacity buses to the short-
turn route during peak hour to reduce severe overcrowding;
3. Continue to hire, train, and deploy additional supervisors to improve
performance;
4. Implement signal prioritization and recommended traffic operations
improvements such as queue jumps;
5. Implement recommended pedestrian safety improvements, in consultation with
the District’s Pedestrian Advisory Council.
-----------------------------------------
Resolution in support of the Office of Planning Zoning Revision
WHEREAS 38% of DC residents do not own cars;
WHEREAS off-street parking fees rarely pay for the full cost to build and maintain
private parking spaces;
WHEREAS market forces should decide the amount of parking needed, rather
than government mandate.
We resolve to support the proposal of the Office of Planning regarding the
reduction of parking minima from current levels, as per subtitle C of zoning case
#08-06A.