1D01: Yasmin Romero-Latin Mount Pleasant 1D04: Phil Greiner
Commission
1D02: Adam Hoey
Chairperson 1D05: China Boak Terrell
1D03: Jack McKay
Secretary and Treasurer 1380 Monroe St NW, #117 website: www.anc1d.org
Minutes of the October 21, 2014 meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission
1-D
These minutes accepted at the November 18, 2014 meeting.
Call to order
[7:14 pm] Chair Adam Hoey called the October meeting of ANC1D to order at 7:14 pm. Two commissioners
were present: Adam and Jack, not constituting a quorum.
Public Discussion
[7:14 pm] The meeting was opened to public discussion. China arrived at about 7:20 pm, providing a quorum.
Secretary’s report
[7:44 pm] Jack asked if there were corrections to the minutes of the September 16 2014 meeting. No corrections
were offered, and the minutes were declared accepted.
Treasurer’s report
[7:44 pm] Jack asked if there were any concerns about two routine expenditures: Tony Grillo, $50, postering for
the October meeting; Hearsay Interpreting, $100, for Spanish interpreting at this meeting. No concerns or
objections to these expenditures were expressed by the commissioners.
Jack asked for approval of an expenditure of $20.73 for continuation of ownership of the anc1d.com
domain, simply to avoid any possibility of that domain being taken by someone else and then being
confused with anc1d.org. Expenditure approved, 3 to 0.
Jack showed a summary of the Q4FY2014 quarterly report to the auditor, and requested that the report
be approved by the commission. Report approved, 3 to 0.
Lamont Park Holiday Party purchases
[7:51 pm] Jack, as ANC1D Treasurer, introduced the following resolution:
RESOLVED, that ANC1D will make purchases for the annual Holiday Party in Lamont Park as
ANC1D meeting minutes, October 21, 2014, p. 1 of 4
follows:
Item Vendor Amount Cost per unit Total cost
1 Toys Dollar tree 200 $1.00 $200.00
2 Paper bags (case of 250) Restaurant Depot 2 $30.00 $60.00
3 Heat Lamps Amazon 2 $259.96 $519.92
4 Enclosed tent 10x20 Amazon 1 $129.99 $129.99
5 Sides for 10x10 canopies Canopy mart 2 $69.99 $139.98
Promotional postcards/scavenger
6 hunt maps Vistaprint 2000 $300.00
7 Promotional banner Vistaprint 3 $55.00 $165.00
8 DC City Paper Advertising DC City Paper $1,000.00 $1,000.00
total $2,514.89
Why: ANC1D finds that the purchases will serve a public purpose within the Commission area. The
event will help promote the Mount Pleasant neighborhood for the 2014 holiday season and benefit
residents and businesses alike.
Resolution passed, 3 to 0 vote.
Stop apartment house conversions in Mount Pleasant
[8:00 pm] Adam introduced the following resolution:
RESOLVED, that ANC1D advises the Office of Planning and the Zoning Commission that the Mount
Pleasant Historic District should be exempted without delay from the current zoning regulation
allowing matter-of-right conversions of pre-1958 houses to 3 or more units based on lot size. Existing
zoning regulations should be amended to limit future matter-of-right conversions of all R4 dwellings
(row, semi-detached and detached homes) to two units per lot irrespective of lot size. Conversions to
more than that number should be subject to review as variances.
ANC1D strongly supports and urges the Zoning Commission to approve and adopt the Text
Amendments to Chapter 4 of the Zoning Code, R-4 Zones (Case ZC 14-11), proposed by the Office of
Planning as Recommendations 5 and 6 in its report of June 24, 2014
Why: Mount Pleasant is experiencing a wave of developer driven conversions of houses of all kinds
in its R-4 zone (detached, semi-detached and row) into multiple unit condominiums.
This accelerating trend, which threatens both the quality and character of the neighborhood, is driven
by existing zoning regulations that allow for the conversion of pre-1958 houses to “apartment houses,”
that is, buildings with three or more units whether apartments or condominiums, as long as there is 900
square feet of lot size for each unit.
One of our neighborhood’s unique historic assets, more than 200 lots that exceed 2,700 square feet, is
being used by developers to convert remaining R4 dwellings (row, semi-detached and detached) homes
into the maximum number of luxury units allowed by law and to sell these units individually as
condominiums. This trend threatens Mount Pleasant’s longstanding demographic and economic
diversity by catering to a few specific segments. It has eroded the number of group homes which has
supplied affordable housing to people of all ages and backgrounds for years. By eliminating existing
housing for families, it is making such housing even less affordable for those in need of such
accommodations and pushing them out of neighborhood, eroding support for neighborhood schools
ANC1D meeting minutes, October 21, 2014, p. 2 of 4
and other community institutions.
Resolution passed, 3 to 0 vote.
Rejection of Proposed Exelon Takeover of Pepco (Formal Case No. 1119)
[8:06 pm] China introduced the following resolution:
Resolved, ANC1D calls on the Council of the District of Columbia to ensure that local, clean,
affordable, reliable power is a priority as the Public Service Commission (PSC) considers the Exelon
takeover of Pepco, by refusing to settle in the Exelon Merger Case unless:
Exelon commits to a process to help 100 % of low-income rate payers lower their electric bills by 50%
or more through a combination of energy efficiency and locally based solar;
Exelon commits to exceed the PSC’s current reliability to targets for power outages (to date they haven’t
even committed to meeting current standards);
Exelon commits to working hand in hand with DC residents to implement the Mayor’s sustainability
plan including a goal of reaching 50% renewable energy by 2032; and
Exelon commits within the specific terms of the merger to working with the PSC and the DC Council to
design a utility of the future and a new regulatory framework that integrates clean locally produced
energy, energy efficiency, storage and state of the art grid management techniques to create local jobs,
and produce reliable, clean and affordable energy.
ANC 1D also calls on all members of the DC Council to publicly pledge not to accept campaign
contributions or constituent service funds from Exelon to demonstrate to DC voters that they put DC
residents' interests over those of a large out of state nuclear company.
Why: There are numerous reasons for grave concern about Exelon’s proposed takeover of Pepco.
First, Exelon has a history of fighting against renewable energy deployment at the state and national
level, including working with Koch Brothers-affiliated groups in Massachusetts, New Jersey,
Maryland, Illinois and Ohio to defeat renewable energy initiatives supported by local stakeholders.
However, the District has made a significant commitment to sourcing 20% of our energy from
renewable sources by 2020, as a means to reduce pollution and combat climate change. This means
that this merger would threaten the District’s hard-won progress towards reaching our renewable
energy commitments, as Exelon would almost certainly lobby to weaken or repeal these commitments,
as well as make it more difficult for District residents to install renewables.
As a result, this proposed takeover would therefore increase electricity bills, take away local control
over our energy grid, and stop the District’s clean energy progress, all actions that are contrary to the
public interest.
Second, Exelon’s business model is designed around selling nuclear power to customers at the highest
prices, a business model that has been attacked by Wall Street as outdated and unsustainable. We
believe that Exelon’s purchase of Pepco is an attempt to prop up its failing share price. In fact, the
Independent Market Monitor has told the District’s Public Service Commission that a consolidation of
Pepco and Exelon will “reduce the competition to build competitive transmission projects…[and] a
reduction in competition will likely result in higher costs for customers”.
Third, local control over our energy prices and future are critical to our self-determination, and to
ANC1D meeting minutes, October 21, 2014, p. 3 of 4
ensure the District remains a thriving, livable community for all residents regardless of income.
Exelon’s purchase would result in District government and ratepayers ceding control over our local
energy grid to a Chicago-based company and out-of-state shareholders.
Even more troubling, the response of the DC Public Service Commission has been to propose an
accelerated schedule to rush forward its ruling on the merger, despite concerns that this merger is not in
the public interest. And the DC Public Service Commission has failed to identify either a date or
location for meetings designed to solicit public input on the case. The DC Public Service Commission
has additionally declared the merger proposal to be an “investigation” – rather than a rate case –
thereby blocking Office of People’s Counsel’s access to ratepayer funds to investigate and oppose this
merger on behalf of the public.
The Public Service Commission has not adequately made the facts of this merger available and
accessible to Advisory Neighborhood Commissions and other civic and citizen organizations, nor made
a reasonable effort to investigate the impact of this acquisition on the public interest. The Public
Service Commission must be held accountable to serving the public interest when considering a
merger that would have such a significant impact on the residents of the District.
Background: The Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco) has served as the District of Columbia’s
electric company since 1912. The District of Columbia granted Pepco a franchise to serve as the
District’s utility electric company, sheltering it from competition, because of its commitment to
exclusively serve the public interests of the District. On July 18, 2014 Exelon, the US’s largest
producer of nuclear-generated electricity power headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, filed with the DC
Public Service Commission (Formal Case No. 1119) to take over Pepco.
Resolution passed, 2 to 0 vote (Jack abstains).
1815 Lamont Street
[8:13 pm] Jack moved that the Commission hear a presentation by Rory Cameron, owner of 1815 Lamont Street,
concerning plans for that building, anticipating a hearing by the Historic Preservation Review Board in
November. The commission agreed.
Adjournment
[8:23 pm] The meeting was adjourned at 8:23 pm.
ANC1D meeting minutes, October 21, 2014, p. 4 of 4