ANC 1B

by Pleasant Mann

Zoning, Preservation and Development Committee

1815 Eighth Street NW. Support for special exception zoning relief. e project is an addition with a proposed third oor and a rear addition that will extend past the rear wall of adjacent properties. e committee supported the request as long as adjacent property owners gave letters of support for the addition. A property owner to the north provided a letter, while the property to the south had an absentee owner who never responded. An owner of a nearby property gave his concerns about the addition. e committee chair suggested that the commission support the variance. A motion to support the special exception zoning relief passed.

1901-1911 Fifth Street NW. Parcel owned by Howard University. ey are requesting zoning relief to allow the construction of o ces. Currently the land is only zoned for residential use. Committee recommended supporting zoning relief. A motion to support passed the commission.

Economic Development Committee

1617 U Street NW. e Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) wants to issue a Request for Proposals to dispose of the public property on the block bounded by U Street, 16th Street, V Street and 17th Street, currently occupied by a re station and the ird District police station. e commission had a draft resolution in support of a zoning Map Amendment from the O ce of Planning, rezoning the site from MU-4 to MU-10 to increase the density allowed.

Commissioner Kensek said that he looked forward to having a ordable housing on the site, but since he could not get guarantees for facilities and building setbacks, he could not vote for the resolution. Commissioner Fields said that she also had concerns about the resolution and Commissioner Sycamore stated that he could not support it, as is. Commissioner Harris noted that the Map Amendment would automatically trigger the provisions of Inclusive Zoning +, which would require a large percentage of the housing units to be a ordable. As a result, she was voting for the resolution.

A number of neighborhood residents, some who have lived in the area for decades, objected to the Map Amendment. Some questioned why the site had to be given to a developer. Couldn’t the District develop the site itself without having to adjust to the whims of a pro t-making business? ere was also the belief that upzoning to an MU-10 site would overwhelm the area. e DC Zoning Commission Board will address the issue on June 24. An amendment to the resolution was proposed that asked for a study of the displacement in the neighborhood that could be caused by a large project on the site. e amended resolution passed 7-1-1.

Transportation Committee e committee presented two resolutions to the commission. e rst was in support of more bus shelters. e second was a resolution to oppose the reductions in service proposed for the Circulator bus and the Metrorail Yellow Line north of Mount Vernon station. Both motions passed.

Alcoholic Beverage Regulation (ABR) Committee

Commissioner Holihan, the committee chair, presented four settlement agreements to be approved by the commission:

Pho House, 634 Florida Avenue NW Wet Dog, 2100 Vermont Avenue NW

Andy’s Pizza, 808 V Street NW Red Lounge and Hookah, 2013 14th Street NW e committee chair asked to have them approved en bloc. ey were all approved.

Gramophone, 647 Florida Avenue NW. License renewal. e committee recommended ling a protest, given the concern of neighbors about noise. A motion to protest the license passed.

New Business

Mirror Lounge, 1920 Ninth Street NW. Commissioner Houlihan found that there was a fth settlement agreement to be approved by the commission. A motion to approve passed.

Commissioner Sycamore asked to be permitted to change his vote on the 1617 U Street Map Amendment from an abstention to a No vote. e commission allowed the change.

ANC 1B will hold its next meeting on ursday, May 4, starting at 6:30 p.m. Visit www.anc1b.org for more information. ◆

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2G held its monthly public meeting for April on Wednesday evening, April 12, 2023. Commission Chair Alex Padro (2G02) called the meeting to order. Commissioners Anthony “Tony” Brown (2G01, Treasurer), Alex Lopez (2G03, Secretary), Steven McCarty (2G04), Sheena Berry (2G05) and Rachelle P. Nigro (2G06, Vice Chair) were in attendance. e commission had a quorum to conduct business.

Third Police District Report

Lieutenant Steven Miller of the ird Police District started his report by saying that the numbers for all categories of crime were down from last year. e numbers were up for 3D overall, but down for ANC 2G. Four juveniles were arrested for committing a total of 17 robberies in DC, three of them in the ird Police District. ey have also successfully closed a bank robbery on the 1900 block of Seventh Street NW that occurred last year with an arrest.

Allen Lew Memorial

Claude Bailey of the Allen Lew Memorial Committee came to the commission to get support for the renaming of Mount Vernon Place, NW, the street at the front entrance of the Washington Convention Center, to Allen Y. Lew Place. Mr. Lew, who died in 2020, started his work in the District managing the construction of the new convention center, completed in 2003. He then became responsible for the construction of Nationals Ball Park and later the renovation of a number of District schools and public libraries. He was also City Administrator during the administration of Mayor Vincent Gray, who introduced the memorial legislation. Bailey, who characterized Lew as “the Robert Moses of Washington, DC,” said that the committee debated the best way of honoring Mr. Lew and decided that renaming Mount Vernon Place after him would be most appropriate.

Commissioner Padro said that he was familiar with the work Mr. Lew did to bene t the District and that he supported the proposal. Commissioner Nigro was also in full support. Commissioner Berry said that she had heard good things about Mr. Lew. She made a motion to support renaming Mount Vernon Place to Allen Y. Lew Place. Bailey noted