The Dupont Current
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Shelter effort gets marathon BZA hearing
Assessments continue to rise across District
FRUIT SAUCES WITH A KICK
increases came along the city’s
■ Values: Petworth sees city’s eastern edge in wards 4, 5 and 7.
highest residential increases
By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer
Plans for Ward 3’s emergency family shelter underwent a grueling seven-hour zoning hearing last Wednesday, a process that mixed minutiae on land-use policy with more passionate appeals to address conditions for homeless families and to protect nearby residents. For the Board of Zoning Adjustment process, Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration was placed in the sometimes awkward position of staunchly defending a shelter site — the 2nd District police headquarters property at 3320 Idaho Ave. NW — that it had previously rejected. Amid criticisms of a costly lease for the mayor’s proposed site, the D.C. Council last year ordered that the shelter be built at this location. A multi-agency effort produced plans for a 50-unit, six-story shortterm housing facility that officials say meets the necessary program goals, but which needs significant relief from zoning restrictions. These include permission to build See Shelter/Page 5
By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
For the second year in a row, Ward 3 saw the smallest increase in overall property values among the city’s eight wards, according to new data from the Office of Tax and Revenue. Ward 3 registered a property value increase of 2.93 percent year-to-year, just a hair below the next-lowest increase, 2.97 percent in Ward 2. Meanwhile the biggest
Susann Shin/The Current
By MARK LIEBERMAN
As a tribute to Christian Heurich, a local brewer and selfmade businessman, the Heurich House Museum featured pop-up shops by small-business owners on Friday. Myles Powell, owner of 8 Myles, shared his gourmet sauces with flavors ranging from Pineapple Buffalo to Raspberry BBQ.
By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer
Brian Kapur/Current file photo
The long-delayed Oregon Avenue project has sparked complaints.
a.m. March 13. Last week’s meeting of ANC 3/4G (Chevy Chase) previewed the frustrations that those commissioners intend to present to the
The city’s residential real estate market remained steady once again from last year to this year, with an average property value increase of 5.52 percent, around 1 percentage point below last year’s increase. Commercial properties increased in value by an average of 3.28 percent in the past year, compared to an increase of 5.11 percent from 2015 to 2016. The proposed 2018 assessments, which don’t take effect until next year, reflect another year of low interest rates and a See Assessments/Page 16
Planned restaurant sparks 18th St. parking concerns Current Staff Writer
DDOT faces criticism ahead of council hearing In advance of Monday’s D.C. Council hearing on the District’s Department of Transportation, at least one local advisory neighborhood commission is eager to make its voice heard. As part of the council’s annual schedule, committees hold oversight hearings to take testimony about each city agency’s operations and to allow legislators to ask questions of the agencies’ leadership. The Committee on Transportation and the Environment, chaired by Ward 3 Council member Mary Cheh, has scheduled the Transportation Department’s hearing for 11
Vol. XV, No. 40
Serving Dupont Circle, Kalorama, Adams Morgan & Logan Circle
council. Commissioner Chanda Tuck-Garfield — ordinarily a cheery presence at ANC 3/4G’s twice-monthly public meetings — tore into a Transportation Department official, loudly berating him in an extended criticism that was interspersed with hearty applause from residents in attendance. In Chevy Chase, a leading source of frustration is the reconstruction of Oregon Avenue NW. This project was contentious throughout its lengthy design process and has now faced repeated delays to its start date — delays that ANC 3/4G members said the Transportation Department consistently failed to explain. “Why were we elected in the first place if See DDOT/Page 17
Two managers of the Mexican restaurant Cactus Cantina in Cleveland Park hope to open a new American restaurant in Adams Morgan next year. But first, they’ll have to clear several regulatory hurdles and endure neighborhood skepticism about aspects of their proposal. Later this month, the Historic Preservation Review Board will consider concept plans for Alfresco, a two-story restaurant planned for 2009 18th St. NW, the site of a now-defunct service station used for parking in recent years. At a meeting last Wednesday, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1C (Adams Morgan) voted in support of the project’s preservation details but neighbors spoke up with broader concerns over design and transportation impacts. The project will undergo zoning review later this year as well. In addition to Cactus Cantina, Cindy and Jaime Sanchez run its sister Mexican restaurant, Lauriol Plaza, at 1835 18th St. NW, a few blocks south of their planned new restaurant. The Alfresco site now
Brian Kapur/The Current
Local restaurateurs hope to open Alfresco restaurant at 2009 18th St. NW, now a parking lot.
serves as an overflow parking lot for Lauriol Plaza. The Sanchezes envision Alfresco at the corner of 18th and California streets NW as affordable and neighborhood-centric, with ample outdoor seating and entrees between $12 and $20 including burgers, pasta and sandwiches. The restaurant will accommodate up to 300 guests, but owners will offer only 14 parking spaces beneath the restaurant, the minimum required under zoning laws. The owners’ lawyer, Joe Gaon of Holland & Knight, said at the ANC 1C meeting that they hope most customers will be neighbors who walk or bike. See Restaurant/Page 5
SHERWOOD
SHOPPING & DINING
EVENTS
INDEX
Racine run?
Cristophe Salon
Americana on display
Calendar/20 Classifieds/29 District Digest/4 Dupont Circle Citizen/11 Getting Around/17 In Your Neighborhood/10
District’s attorney general sounds like a 2018 candidate for mayor / Page 8
Celebrity hairstylist talks up newly renovated 18th Street studio space / Page 19
National Gallery of Art to open exhibit featuring 19th-century photos of U.S. landscape / Page 21
Opinion/8 Police Report/6 Real Estate/15 School Dispatches/18 Service Directory/27 Shopping & Dining/19
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