Nw 11 04 2015

Page 1

Serving Communities in Northwest Washington Since 1967

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Vol. XLVIII, No. 44

The Northwest Current

Nando’s back on in Woodley Park

s p ooktac u lar

ment yesterday rescinded an order

approval to open. Back in February,

popular grilled chicken chain from opening at 2631 Connecticut Ave. NW. Members unanimously agreed that their previous decision was based on insufficient information and that they had intended to allow Nando’s into the neighborhood. Woodley Park is subject to restrictions on new restaurants, which is why Nando’s needed to petition the zoning board for

for Nando’s to operate for five years before needing a renewal. That first approval was a compromise with the Woodley Park Community Association, which opposed the Nando’s application. Zoning board members said that after five years Nando’s could reapply and cite evidence that it wasn’t contributing to trash and See Nando’s/Page 5

■ Zoning: Restaurant to open that had effectively precluded the the board initially granted approval

after reversal of board’s order By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer

It will be a year later than the company originally intended, but Nando’s Peri-Peri is now slated to come to Woodley Park in summer 2016. The Board of Zoning Adjust-

Walter Reed preservation faces scrutiny By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer

Brian Kapur/The Current

Friday’s 14th annual Chevy Chase Halloween Spooktacular let local children collect candy and prizes from area merchants. The Chevy Chase Citizens Association and other sponsors also offered activities such as face painting and games.

Road improvements and minor alterations to existing buildings can proceed at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center campus, following a decision Thursday by the Historic Preservation Review Board. But members unanimously opposed the planned removal of three buildings, which were slated for demolition during the redevelopment of the shuttered Army facility. Developers are working to convert 66 acres of the site into “The Parks at Walter Reed,” a vibrant mixeduse community with residences, retail and office space, public buildings and park space. The project team has already received zoning approval for the plans and hopes to begin construction by the end of next year. At issue are a guardhouse, oil storage shed and wagon shed, which fall within the period of significance for the landmarked property. Board members said the current iteration of the plan doesn’t sufficiently justify tearing

Rendering courtesy of Hines-Urban Atlantic-Triden

Walter Reed will become a mixed-use community with new construction and adaptive reuse.

them down, and chair Gretchen Pfaehler asked the project team to provide “special merit” applications detailing plans for those sites. The guardhouse and oil storage shed were partially or See Historic/Page 8

‘Greening Diplomacy’ blossoms in Van Ness

Confucius grant lets Hardy offer new Chinese program

By MARK LIEBERMAN

By MARK LIEBERMAN

Current Staff Writer

Current Staff Writer

In 2009, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched the Greening Diplomacy Initiative, a multiyear effort aimed at reducing the State Department’s carbon footprint in the United States and abroad. Six years later, Clinton has set her sights on a higher office, but her environmental efforts are still going strong. The initiative’s latest step came during an event Friday morning in Van Ness. Employees from the nearby complex of embassies teamed up with volunteers from the local nonprofit Casey Trees to plant 31 trees in front of the International Cultural Center, home of 21 foreign missions on a sprawling campus near Connecticut Avenue and Van Ness Street NW. Spearheaded by the State Department’s Office of

Patricia Pride, principal of Hardy Middle School, has long wanted to bring a Chinese language program to her students. That goal is now on track to become reality in the 2016-17 school year, thanks to a new partnership with George Mason University’s Confucius Institute, a program that funds Chinese language and culture programs at schools across the country. The first phases of the Confucius Classroom program will kick off with a ceremony at the school this

NEWS

Courtesy of the U.S. State Department

Embassy workers and other volunteers planted trees Friday at the Van Ness diplomatic enclave.

Foreign Missions, which facilitates secure diplomatic missions and acts in an oversight role to embassies worldwide, the event brought together employees of various governments and volunteers from the local community, with the goal of preserving the environment for future generations of diplomats. Heather Higginbottom, deputy secretary of state for See Embassies/Page 7

SPOR TS

Mayor honors local artists at annual awards ceremony — Page 3

Wilson tops rival Walls for DCIAA girls soccer title — Page 13

Friday at 6:45 p.m. “This is definitely a strategic language for our students and one that’s needed,” Pride said. Hardy’s application was developed by Jonathan Jou, a friend and colleague of Pride’s who moved from China to the U.S. as a teenager and now teaches English as a second language. The approved proposal includes instilling in the current middle school curriculum a reverence for Chinese cultural traditions, partnering with feeder elementary schools and Wilson High School to make the program a broader educaSee Chinese/Page 8

INDEX

NEWS

Georgetown Hospital wins ANC nod for proposed building — Page 7

Calendar/18 Classifieds/25 District Digest/2 Exhibits/19 In Your Neighborhood/16 Opinion/10

Police Report/6 Real Estate/15 School Dispatches/12 Service Directory/23 Sports/13 Week Ahead/3

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