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April ANC Meeting
The April meeting is Wednesday April 13 at 7 PM. A link to the agenda is here. This meeting is virtual – here is the link: https://bit.ly/ANC2BApril2022. If you do not have a computer or access to the internet, you may join the meeting via phone at (301) 715-8592 or (646) 558-8656 with meeting ID 886 8694 3990 #.
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This month’s meeting includes a presentation on the mayor’s FY 2023 budget by Wayne Turnage, the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, and resolutions regarding the near final Department of Transportation (DDOT) design for the Connecticut Avenue streetscape and deck over project; the DDOT plans to expand the bus zone at Farragut Square and the establishment of an ADA parking space on the 1500 block of Caroline Street NW.
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The agenda also includes the following items of particular interest:
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ABRA: This year, the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) is reviewing licenses, and our ANC will begin considering these renewals at this month’s meeting. As has been our practice in prior years, the Commission will take no action unless there are concerns relating to peace order and quiet.
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We will consider four ABRA applications for new licenses (Boogy and Peel, I Dupont Circle; Chang Chang, 1200 19th Street NW; and Amazon Retail, 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW) as well as one application for substantial change to extend current operating days and hours at Sushi Taro, 1503 17th Street NW, and one for a license transfer for Pop Social to operate at 1140 19th Street NW.
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NOTE that the ANC and DCCA protest of the Rosemarino d’Italia application for substantial change to existing license is scheduled for May 18. This application raises a range of peace order and quiet concerns and associated enforcement challenges, including but not limited to adequacy of resource support for ABRA inspections and MPD support of reimbursable police detail; questions about the role of technology in management of establishment cover charges and entertainment and implications for ABRA enforcement. I’ve raised these concerns with Council Member Pinto and appreciate her ongoing engagement to identify pro active strategies to address these concerns.
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LAND USE: There are four land use applications under consideration, including two that have been previously discussed at the committee, one involving zoning rear and side yard exceptions at 1312 18th Street NW to convert an office building into a 15 room inn; and three involving historic preservation concept review, at 2100 Massachusetts Ave NW, regarding the conversion of the former Fairfax Hotel to senior living; and two involving residential additions at 2126 Newport Place and 1818 19th Street NW.
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NOTE that there will be THREE 2B01 projects before the Land Use Committee and the ANC in May – one involving new construction at 1722 Swann Street NW, which has involved substantial consultation between the design team and neighbors; a new project for a rear addition that requires zoning relief, at 1736 Swann Street NW, and a conversion of a contributing historic structure at 2040 S Street NW from commercial to residential use, including a new rear addition, which requires both historic review and zoning relief. I am working to schedule meetings for residents with the design teams for 1736 Swann and 2040 S Street before the May 4 LUC meeting.
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Two ANC Vacancies
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With the resignations of Mo Pasternak and Michael McKernan at last month’s regular meeting, our ANC has two empty seats to fill. The Board of Elections has posted the process for filling these seats. As our redistricting process highlighted, we have an exceptionally heavy workload in this ANC and look forward to seating two new commissioners as soon as possible.
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What makes a Neighborhood and a Community? Redistricting Round two
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The “N” in ANC stands for “Neighborhood.” What are the appropriate boundaries for Dupont, relative to Logan, Foggy Bottom and Kalorama? From January to March, neighbors have been engaged in the decennial ANC redistricting process to answer that question. This process follows last fall’s Ward redistricting process which resulted in a December council vote approving new ward boundaries.
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Paul Cadario, together with Anthony Musa, were appointed by Council Member Brooke Pinto to the Ward 2 Task Force for ANC 2B. (Bob Meehan, a resident of ANC 2B, also was appointed to the task force as an appointee of At Large Council Member Anita Bonds). Austin Naughton chaired the Task Force and Victoria Casarrubias of Council Member Pinto’s office provided ongoing technical support of the meetings including the mapping tool.
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From January through end March, the Ward 2 task force held regular public meetings to consider various map alternatives for our ANCs, to meet these criteria:
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Every SMD, which elects one commissioner each, must have between 1,900 and 2,100 residents, using the 2020 Census data. There is no minimum or maximum number of SMDs that must be in an ANC, but most ANCs currently have between five and nine SMDs each.An ANC may cross a ward boundary, but according to District law, each ANC must, "to the greatest extent possible," be located within one ward. The ANC boundary recommendations prepared by the task forces are not binding on the Council.
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The Task Force provided its final recommendations and map last week; Thursday April 7 was the first of two Council hearings before the subcommittee and full Council votes slated for May and June respectively.
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The final proposed map and rationale can be found here: Task Force submission. Among the key issues informing redistricting of ANC 2B were “right sizing” the jurisdiction, to enable a more manageable workload by ceding downtown areas for a new business district focused ANC; ensuring all single member districts are within stated population ranges; better aligning residents with their associated businesses to ensure greater coherence on shared issues of interest – for example on Connecticut and 17th Streets ,which have been split between 3 SMDs; and to unify populations and communities at the edge of current boundaries, e.g. in Foggy Bottom, (ensuring that Francis Field and Stevens school campus is within one ANC) and at U and 14th Street NW (unifying the Logan corridor of residents and businesses under the Logan ANC to better reflect neighborhood and commercial identity of interest).
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I support the Task Force’s final recommendations, which were the product of extensive public engagement and consultation and which are faithful to the outlined objectives. I urge you to weigh in, in support, with Council Member Pinto and the Subcommittee Chair, Elissa Silverman, before the April 28 hearing.
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Stead Park Renovation
At a recent public forum, the Department of Public Works announced that the proposed new community center would entail an additional encroachment on existing playing fields, not previously discussed. From the outset of this process, the community has stated as a core physical planning principle that the existing field are an important resource and that their dimensions would be maintained. Additional recommendations made by ANC 2B01 and incorporated into a resolution unanimously approved at the October 2021 meeting, including maintaining tree canopy and usable outdoor programming space in the area fronting P Street NW, were not addressed.
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ANC 2B, together with Friends of Stead Park, is requesting an urgent meeting with DPW in the next ten days to discuss how these concerns will be addressed, and designs modified, before construction is initiated in June.
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Budget process ongoing
The mayor released her budget priorities in mid March: Fair Shot Budget. The Council budget hearing schedule is here: 2023 budget hearings. You can sign up to testify, or submit testimony, on any issue of interest, as outlined in the hearing notice.
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Pride 2022
Our ANC is working actively with Capital Pride Alliance to support the return of the parade on June 11 – together with a block party on 17th Street - and festival June 12. This iconic, neighborhood event, is an important part of our community and I encourage you to volunteer: https://www.capitalpride.org/volunteer/
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Dupont Circle Clean Up: Earth Day
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Stay tuned for more details on a clean up of our Circle slated for Earth Day, Sunday April 24.
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As always, I hope The 2B0 One newsletter is informative. Please remember to connect with neighbors, and show support to one another, including our small businesses. Please feel free to share this newsletter with your neighbors. If you aren't already subscribed, you can add your name to the list with the handy button below.
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I always welcome your thoughts and suggestions for building a stronger neighborhood.
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