The Dupont Current
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Vol. XVI, No. 8
Serving Dupont Circle, Kalorama, Adams Morgan & Logan Circle
I Street strip club plan faces protests
SHARK BAIT
■ ABC: Community groups
oppose Effigy’s liquor license
By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
The proposal for a new strip club called Effigy at 1720 I St. NW received a mild reception from the Dupont Circle community earlier this month. But in Foggy Bottom last week, residents
and neighborhood leaders peppered operators with a wide range of inquiries and voiced their frustrations. Will the strip club affect property values for nearby businesses? Will it bring more crime and noise to the neighborhood? Do the owners know how to run a proper strip-club business? Do they know what “effigy” means? How about human trafficking? Alex Heidenberger, co-owner
of Cafe Soleil at 839 17th St. NW around the corner from Effigy, summed up the discussion succinctly, telling operators during last Wednesday’s meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2A (Foggy Bottom, West End): “For someone who’s been in the business for as long as I have, I can tell you that you’ve got a lot of obstacles in your way.” ANC 2A voted unanimously on See Club/Page 5
City seeks new bus, bike lanes downtown By CUNEYT DIL
Current Correspondent
Brian Kapur/The Current
National Geographic’s “Family Day: Celebrate the Summer of Sharks!” event on Saturday featured the new “Sharks” exhibit, a mechanical shark ride, boardwalk booth games, cotton candy, educational activities and performances.
The District hopes to install a contraflow bus lane along nearly a mile of H Street NW near the White House, but complications with loading areas are threatening to kill plans. The D.C. Department of Transportation unveiled final proposals last Thursday following its Downtown West planning study, which also recommends bicycle lanes on Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to Washington Circle. The H Street proposal would create a westbound bus lane on the otherwise one-way-eastbound street between New York and Pennsylvania avenues NW. H and I streets, which run parallel with opposite directions of traffic flow, serve more than 30 Metrobus routes that total 20 percent of the system’s daily ridership, according to project manager Megan Kanagy. The contraflow bus lane would be separated from
Brian Kapur/The Current
Pennsylvania Avenue NW is under consideration for bicycle lanes and other upgrades between Washington Circle and 17th Street.
the other three lanes of traffic by double yellow lines. The Transportation Department says access to driveways and alleys won’t be lost, but business owners See Traffic/Page 3
D.C. arborist reports pressure on driveway
Metro evaluating complaints over vibrations in Petworth
By GRACE BIRD
■ Transportation: Residents
Current Staff Writer
Following the loss of two large street trees in Chevy Chase, a city arborist is placing the blame on inadequate maintenance and political pressure to allow an ecologically risky driveway. The trees are located outside 5333 Connecticut Ave. NW, where Cafritz Enterprises completed a new apartment building last summer. Michael Chuko of the Urban Forestry Division — part of the D.C. Department of Transportation — said his agency unsuccessfully opposed the project’s circular driveway, which severed the trees’ roots. At a community meeting this week, Chuko said his agency’s concerns were overruled by the D.C. Office of Planning and the office of then-Mayor Vincent Gray in 2014. Alternatives to the circular drive-
say new rail cars shake homes
Brian Kapur/The Current
The District says that two street trees outside 5333 Connecticut Ave. NW need to be removed.
way — including a curbside drop-off and pickup on Connecticut, Military Road, Kanawha Street or a rear alley — were rejected by Cafritz’s traffic planner. “We were basically told you have to accept this design plan,” Chuko said at the July 24 meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3/4G (Chevy Chase). “We had no choice, but we were opposed to the design from the beginning.” Upon inspection last week, Chuko confirmed that See Trees/Page 4
By GRACE BIRD Current Staff Writer
A year after Petworth residents first reported feeling new 7000-series Metrorail trains shake their homes, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is in the midst of an in-depth investigation of the issue. In late June, the transit authority sent out 30 letters to residents requesting their participation in a study and asking for a response by
mid-July. “The tests are ongoing and there is nothing to report at this time,” Metro spokesperson Richard Jordan told The Current. Last summer, residents began feeling vibrations in their homes, increasing in frequency during mornings and evenings. Soon they pinned the blame on Metro, which had just rolled out its first all-new design for a subway car: the 7000-series, which is heavier and made of different materials than older versions that had traveled under Petworth since the Green Line began operating there in 1999. Several months after comSee Petworth/Page 19
NEWS
SHOPPING & DINING
CURRENTNEWSPAPERS.COM
INDEX
Stevens School
New coffee shop
Check out our new website, where you’ll find more of the communityoriented news, features and sports you read weekly in The Current.
Calendar/12 Classifieds/19 District Digest/4 Dupont Circle Citizen/9 In Your Neighborhood/10
With Ivymount out, mayor vows to expedite selection of new education option at site / Page 3
California-based chain opens Georgetown cafe, with plans for two more D.C. stores / Page 15
Opinion/6 Police Report/8 Real Estate/11 Service Directory/17 Shopping & Dining/15
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