The NorThwesT CurreNT
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Association airs concerns on pool plan
Assessments continue to rise across District
HONOR TO US ALL
increases came along the city’s
■ Values: Petworth sees city’s eastern edge in wards 4, 5 and 7.
highest residential increases
By CUNEYT DIL
Current Correspondent
Amid ongoing debate about a proposed public pool at Hearst Park, the Cleveland Park Citizens Association voted last week to send the District government a list of “community concerns” about its plans. While the association didn’t explicitly oppose a pool, its resolution asks the city to consider whether the proposal is an appropriate addition to the 6.4-acre site at 37th and Quebec streets NW. It also requested further details about planned stormwater management on the site; studies on the transportation and parking impacts the outdoor pool could create for the neighborhood; and “thorough analyses” of the community’s concerns to “assess whether the Hearst Park and Pool Improvement Project will have any negative impact on the environment.” The proposed pool has caused much debate in the neighborhood over the past year. The D.C. Department of Parks and RecreSee Hearst/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
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
Ward 3 shelter effort gets marathon zoning hearing By BRADY HOLT
Brian Kapur/The Current
Current Staff Writer
Janney Elementary School presented Disney’s “Mulan Jr.,” this past weekend at Deal Middle School’s auditorium. The musical adaptation tells of a young girl who steps in to take her ailing father’s place in battle and goes on to save China.
DDOT faces criticism ahead of council hearing By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer
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. L, No. 10
Serving Communities in Northwest Washington Since 1967
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
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
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 ■ DESIGN: City police headmay disregard Fine Arts panel’s quarters property at 3320 critiques on height. Page 3. 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.
Rendering courtesy of D.C. government
The city’s six-story plan exceeds zoning standards for the site.
These include permission to build 69 feet and six stories in height, instead of 40 feet and three stories, and to operate a shelter of that size. The zoning board is slated to decide the case March 22. While members this week appeared skeptical of some criticisms, they also asked the District to provide clearer renderings depicting the shelter alongside nearby singlefamily homes. The project has divided the community. It has drawn support from residents who embrace the District’s argument that the site is the most viable location in Ward 3 to help achieve citywide goals of See Shelter/Page 5
SHERWOOD
SPORTS
SHOPPING & DINING
INDEX
Racine run?
State champs
Cristophe Salon
Calendar/20 Classifieds/29 District Digest/4 Getting Around/17 In Your Neighborhood/10 Opinion/8
District’s attorney general sounds like a 2018 candidate for mayor / Page 8
Gonzaga boys, St. John’s girls capture D.C. State Athletic Association hoops titles / Page 11
Celebrity hairstylist talks up newly renovated 18th Street studio space / Page 19
Police Report/6 Real Estate/15 School Dispatches/18 Service Directory/27 Shopping & Dining/19 Sports/11
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