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The NorThwesT CurreNT
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
City presents options for Hearst pool
Serving Chevy Chase, Colonial Village, Shepherd Park, Brightwood, Crestwood, Petworth & 16th Street Heights
DOggy PADDLE
don’t entail broader changes
Current Staff Writer
The neighbors invested in the future of Hearst Park have many points of disagreement: whether or not the site needs a pool, how big the pool should be if one is built, what other changes should be considered and how the project should proceed. But they also agree on a few things: The park is in need of renovation, and any changes should be met with vigorous review and input. At a community meeting with more than 50 attendees on Thursday, the Department of General Services and the Department of Parks and Recreation presented three different concept and design plans for the layout of the upgraded park, located just south of Hearst Elementary at 37th and Quebec streets NW. Agency representatives repeatedly assured residents that all current plans remain flexible and won’t be finalized until next spring. See Hearst/Page 18
Agency lays out proposal for resident-only parking ■ Transportation: Reforms
By MARK LIEBERMAN
By BRADy HOLT Current Staff Writer
Brian Kapur/The Current
The D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation hosted its eighth annual Doggie Day Swim on Saturday. Ward 4’s Upshur Pool was one of the sites that hosted the annual event, which provided dogs with a chance to enjoy a swim and play fun aquatics games.
Vol. XLIX, No. 37
For several years, some D.C. residents have seen extra protection of the parking spots near their homes through a special iteration of the city’s Residential Parking Permit policy. The system sets aside one side of each residential street exclusively for cars registered within a designated parking zone — without the two-hour grace periods that apply to non-residents. This policy, known in some areas as “Enhanced RPP” and in others as “resident-only parking,” is in effect in locations that include most of Ward 1, much of Logan Circle, and a few blocks of Glover Park and Friendship Heights. But the D.C. Department of Transportation hasn’t added any new blocks to the program for the last two years, instead electing to spend that time developing clear
standards to determine whether the “resident-only” restriction is actually warranted. The agency released its proposal last month, suggesting that the restrictions should apply across an entire advisory neighborhood commission subject to certain criteria. Alice Kelly of the Transportation Department said in an interview that the agency would prefer not to implement parking changes on a block-byblock basis, as it has done previously. “If one block gets it, people are going to be pushing parking onto their neighbor’s block,” she said. Instead, under the proposal, an advisory neighborhood commission can provide the Transportation Department with a list of at least five blocks within its boundaries that it would like to be surveyed. To be eligible for residentonly restrictions, the department must find that at least 85 percent of the blocks’ spaces are occupied and that at least 50 percent of the cars parked there lack an RPP See Parking/Page 20
‘Stunningly awful’ home undergoing city cleanup By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
The house and property at 4316 Fessenden St. NW have been a frequent source of outrage for neighbors over the last few decades. The property owner, who recently moved away, has appeared to disregard D.C. laws in the past, according to several neighbors, constructing a new addition on the back of the house without a proper permit and failing to adhere to sanitary standards, among other concerns. Mosquitoes and rats are an ongoing presence, neighbors say, and the Friendship Heights site has locally earned the nickname “the Northwest Dump.” But in the last few weeks, the D.C. government has made several concrete moves to address the issues at the property, which is assessed at about $800,000. The Department of Public Works has hauled out
Mark Lieberman/The Current
Neighbors say the city has made progress in its efforts to clean up 4316 Fessenden St. NW.
around six large dumpsters of trash. The Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs has urged the property owner’s representative to accelerate the remediation process, according to spokesperson Matt Orlins. And Ward 3 D.C. Council member Mary Cheh says she won’t tolerate what she calls “stunningly awful conditions” at the property any longer. “I practically had to throw my shoes away because they had the stench on them just from walking See Fessenden/Page 10