Condos Planned for Children's Museum Site
SPNA's December meeting featured a presentation by Jim Abdo discussing
his plans to build approximately 470 residential condominium units on
the site of the former Capitol Children's Museum at 3rd and H Streets
NE. Abdo plans to convert the older buildings to living spaces, but will
remove the additions that date to the 1950s and 60s. He will erect two
new buildings 110 feet high that will house many of the units. He will
also be building an underground parking garage with over 500 parking spaces.
This will provide more than one parking space for every residential unit,
compared to the city's requirement to provide only a third of that number.
There will also be parking spaces set aside for Flexcar or Zipcar.
Because the plot's current zoning limits building heights to 90 feet, the project requests partial rezoning plus a Planned Unit Development (PUD) to allow an extra 20 feet of building height. In return for being allowed the higher building height, 15% of the additional square footage generated will be set aside for affordable housing, under a program run by the Department of Housing and Community Development. The PUD is scheduled for a public hearing before the Zoning Commission on Thursday, January 27 at 6:30 PM at the Office of Zoning Hearing Room (441 Fourth Street NW, Suite 220-S). While SPNA plans on testifying in support of the project, it plans on raising some concerns and hopes to see further improvements in the project. Abdo expects to begin construction 60 to 90 days after final approval of the PUD, and hopes to complete it within 18 to 24 months.
Dispute Over a Potential New Memorial on Capitol
Hill
A private foundation raising money for a memorial to the victims of communism
around the world has sparked a controversy with its plan to place the
memorial on Capitol Hill. The nonprofit Victims of Communism Memorial
Foundation wants to install a 10-foot bronze replica of the statue the
"Goddess of Democracy" erected by the pro-democracy Chinese
students in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the summer of 1989. The design
concept also includes a roll call of nations that suffered under communism,
and quotations by such Cold War leaders as Ronald Reagan, Harry Truman,
Lech Walesa, and Andrei Sakharov. More information on the Foundation is
available at: www.victimsofcommunism.org.
In 1993, Congress authorized the foundation to erect the memorial on federal land. The foundation was originally interested in putting it in the triangular block at 1st Street and Louisiana Avenue NW (opposite the Robert Taft Carillon), but has since switched to a site bounded by Maryland Avenue, Constitution Avenue, and 3rd Street NE, opposite the Veterans of Foreign Wars headquarters. In July, the National Capital Memorial Commission unanimously approved placing it at the 3rd and Maryland site.
Some neighbors are upset because the memorial will replace the green space in the current park, and may kill two large, 50-year-old oak trees on the site. They are also concerned about traffic congestion if tourist buses regularly visit the memorial.
ANC 6C unanimously voted against the location of the monument last September, but is taking up the matter again at two meetings in February. The dates for the ANC hearings are February 2 for the ANC 6C Zoning Committee meeting, and February 9 for the full ANC 6C Commission meeting. Both meetings are at 7 PM, in the NPR building at 635 Massachusetts Avenue NW (near Gallery Place on Red Line, Mt. Vernon Square on Yellow Line).
If you would like to voice an opinion about the memorial, you can contact
Karen Wirt, Commissioner for ANC 6C08, at 547-7168 or via e-mail.
Proposed Zoning Changes on H Street, NE
A new zoning and overlay for H Street NE is currently being prepared by
the Office of Planning for submission to the Zoning Commission for consideration
at its next public meeting on October 25. The Office of Planning report
and proposed text should be available at the Office of Zoning by close
of business on October 15. The Office of Planning intends to post the
report and text on its web site soon after that. At its meeting, the Zoning
Commission will decide whether or not to schedule a public hearing for
the proposed amendment. Due to notice requirements the public hearing
will not take place until early 2005. If you have any questions, please
call David McGettigan or Karina Ricks at the Office of Planning (202)
442-7600.
Abdo Moves Forward with Children's Museum
The project is scheduled to be reviewed by the Near NE Citizens Against
Crime and Drugs at 6:00 pm on November 4 at Wilson Elementary. The project
will likely go before the P&Z committee for review in November, and
the full ANC6C in November or December. The developer also plans to meet
with CHRS committees again in the next month. The project has not yet
been assigned a hearing date for the Zoning Commission, but that will
likely happen in December or January. By the end of October, design refinements
by the Project Architect, Esocoff & Associates, should be complete
and will be made available to the ANC and other interested parties for
review.
What's Happening with MedLINK?
The Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) has finally issued a written opinion
regarding SPNA's appeal of reduced parking limits for the MedLINK Hospital
and Nursing Home. In 2003, the Zoning Administrator reduced the number
of parking spaces required at MedLINK from 276 to 85 by applying the zoning
requirements for a rooming house to the nursing home. SPNA appealed to
the BZA, which announced in February that it agreed with SPNA that the
nursing facility is more analogous to a hospital than a rooming house
for the purpose of establishing parking requirements, and a hospital is
required to have one parking space for each bed in the facility. Between
the hospital and the nursing home, MedLINK is approved to operate 177
beds. Thus, under the recent BZA order, MedLINK is required to provide
177 parking spaces.
In other MedLINK news, earlier this year the Capitol Hill Restoration Society proposed rezoning the MedLINK property from R-5-D to R-5-B. One important impact of the rezoning would be that any new building on the property would be limited to a height of 50 feet. In response, MedLINK has proposed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with CHRS in which MedLINK would agree to limit the height of the building in return for CHRS no longer supporting a rezoning. Because the current draft of the MOU is vaguely worded, it is not clear what height limits MedLINK would be agreeing to. CHRS is currently studying MedLINK's proposal.
Abdo to Develop Children’s Museum Property
Abdo Development has contracted to purchase the Children’s Museum
property and plans to develop about 500 units of housing in the existing
historic structures as well as in two new buildings. Abdo will apply for
a Planned Unit Development (PUD) to increase the height and density above
the current zoning and allow for the preservation of the existing historic
structures.
Abdo will assist in the preparation of an Historic Landmark application that would be submitted by the future resident-owners of the building. The project will be reviewed by the Zoning Commission as well as ANC 6C. Each of these processes will provide an opportunity for public review and input. H Street Main Street will also closely review the project. The initial proposal was discussed at a well-attended public meeting held at the Children’s Museum on August 19, 2004. The PUD application is expected shortly and will begin the formal process for review and public input. This very important project builds on the H Street Strategic Development Plan and signals the long-awaited redevelopment of H Street Commercial Corridor.
Abdo Development is a District-based development and construction firm well-known for its sensitive preservation, restoration, and conversion of historic buildings in the 14th Street NW corridor that has helped spark the revitalization of that neighborhood.
Is Eastern Market Turning a Corner?
According to Monte Edwards, SPNA's representative on the Eastern Market
Community Advisory Committee (EMCAC), there have been a number of problems
with the city's restoration of Eastern Market. For example, the farmers'
line shed was demolished in January. The city did not take the project
architect's advice to pre-order and fabricate the steel for a new shed
before the old shed was removed, so the sidewalk vending will be disrupted
for an unknown period of time. Further, it appears that no provision was
made to protect the new shed roof with bollards or heavy-duty parking
meter posts to prevent trucks from backing into the shed (which had badly
damaged the old shed).
Eastern Market is also suffering many problems due to delayed maintenance. Urgently needed repairs for the market involve fire safety (electrical insulation and improper fusing), health and sanitation (the main sewer line, located 4 feet off the basement floor, is leaking raw sewage), physical ruin that could be averted through repair (if the skylights are not repaired soon they will need to be replaced), and building integrity (the gutters and downspouts overflow, resulting in water infiltration and physical deterioration of the building).
Edwards says that he is hopeful that results will now be achieved, as
the city's Office of Property Management (OPM) is genuinely interested
in EMCAC's input. However, over the past 5 years the city has had 3 different
management teams at OPM and 3 different architectural firms develop plans
for the market. According to Edwards, "What we need from the City
is sensitivity to the needs of the Eastern Market community-the customers,
the neighbors and the vendors. And we need a business-like relation with
the city that will result in consistency and deliverables and timelines
for those deliverables. We need a master plan for the capital improvements
and renovation of Eastern Market that is compatible with the master business
plan for the Market, not just for now, but for the future."
H Street Transportation Study Completed
The District Department of Transportation (DDOT), along with a consulting
team from Michael Baker Corporation, has completed a transportation study
of the H Street NE Corridor. The study focused on ways to improve transit,
parking, pedestrian areas, and traffic controls. It also discussed improvements
to the H Street streetscape, including the sidewalks, lighting, trees,
and other elements.
The final report will be posted to the DDOT
web site. Detailed information on the study is also available on the
Michael Baker Corporation
web site, or by contacting Rachel MacCleary, the Ward 6 Transportation
Planner, at (202) 671-2555 or via e-mail.
BZA Agrees with SPNA, Reverses Prior Decision on MedLINK
Parking
On February 24, 2004, the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA), on its own
motion, reconsidered its previous denial of SPNA's appeal of reduced parking
requirements for the MedLINK Hospital and Nursing Home. The BZA members
unanimously agreed with SPNA's position that MedLINK should use all of
the 176 available underground parking spaces for its employees and visitors.
Last year, the Zoning Administrator (who is separate from the BZA) had reduced the number of parking spaces required at MedLINK from 276 to 85 at MedLINK's request. SPNA appealed to the BZA, challenging both whether the Zoning Administrator had the authority to make the parking determination (instead of the BZA), and whether the Zoning Administrator had done so correctly. In January, the BZA ruled against SPNA, finding that the Zoning Administrator did have the authority to set the parking requirement. However, in its latest decision, the BZA agreed with SPNA that the Zoning Administrator had made the parking determination incorrectly.
The Zoning Administrator had previously held that the MedLINK Hospital and Nursing Home should provide 85 total off-street parking spaces, with the nursing home operations at the facility requiring 25 spaces and the hospital requiring 60 spaces. The Zoning Administrator had concluded that 25 spaces were needed for the nursing home by applying the zoning requirements for a rooming house to the number of people living at the nursing home.
On February 24, the BZA decided unanimously that the Zoning Administrator erred in applying the zoning criteria for a rooming house to the nursing home. The BZA agreed with SPNA that the nursing facility was more analogous to a hospital than a rooming house for the purpose of establishing parking requirements. A hospital is required to provide one parking space for each bed in the facility, and the combined hospital/nursing home facility at MedLINK operates 177 beds.
An argument had been made that the nursing facility may serve people who come within the protection of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), entitling the facility to operate as a matter of right under the Fair Housing Act. The BZA agreed that the facility is entitled to operate as a matter of right at this location, but this does not mean that it is exempt from parking and zoning requirements that take into account the nature of the facility and the impact on the community. In using the criteria of one parking space per bed, the BZA pointed out that it was not the (potentially disabled) patients occupying the beds in the nursing facility who required the parking. Instead, the number of beds is a proxy for the support staff that serves those patients. In the BZA's view, the decision furthers the goal of the Fair Housing Act by acknowledging that staffing levels are needed for health care facilities.
More Work Ahead for SPNA
It is highly likely that MedLINK will challenge this decision, and thus
SPNA will need to oppose MedLINK's challenge. Whether MedLINK's challenge
takes the form of a Request for Reconsideration by the BZA or an appeal
for judicial review, SPNA will be in the position of defending the BZA's
decision and its presumption of validity.
At the February 23, 2004 SPNA membership meeting, a motion was passed
to "authorize the SPNA Land Use Committee to expend, as needed, funds
from the dedicated SPNA Land Use account and any additional amounts contributed
to the account from outside sources, for the purpose of pursuing SPNA's
appeal of the Zoning Administrator's decision reducing parking requirements
at MedLINK." The approval of this motion allows SPNA to hire legal
counsel to help defend this recent BZA decision against any challenges
by MedLINK.
BZA Reconsiders MedLINK Parking
As reported in last month’s newsletter, in early January, the Board
of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) voted 3 to 2 to deny SPNA’s appeal of
the zoning administrator’s decision to reduce the number of required
parking spaces at MedLINK from 276 to 85. At a special public meeting
on February 10, BZA—on its own motion—voted to reconsider a
part of its decision! Although BZA concluded that the zoning administrator
has the authority to make the initial determination about parking requirements
at MedLINK, on Tuesday, February 24, BZA will review the zoning administrator’s
decision about how many parking spaces MedLINK must provide.
Whatever BZA decides on February 24, its decision will not be final until it issues a written order. If BZA overrules the zoning administrator’s decision to reduce the number of required parking spaces to 85, MedLINK will have 10 days to file a motion for reconsideration at BZA or 60 days to file an appeal in the D.C. Court of Appeals. The Land Use Committee has concluded that an experienced land use attorney should represent SPNA in that event or, if BZA does not overrule the zoning administrator, in the event that SPNA files an appeal with the Court.
The Land Use Committee is investigating the cost of retaining the attorney who represented the Southeast Citizens for Smart Development in stopping Boys Town from putting a facility for troubled youths on Pennsylvania Avenue. The Committee has approached the homeowners’ association at Union Square (the new townhouse development across from MedLINK), as well as ANCs 6A and 6C, about assisting with the costs. SPNA has a special Land Use account that can also provide funding. To use SPNA’s funds for this purpose, however, requires a vote by a quorum of the membership.
A vote authorizing the Land Use Committee to use a portion of this special fund will be held at the next general membership meeting on February 23, 2004, at 7:30PM in the Northeast Library. SPNA needs all members who have paid their dues for the 2003-2004 membership year to attend this meeting in order to conduct a valid vote on this critical issue. Please be there to vote!
SPNA Appeal on MedLINK Parking Denied
The Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) voted 3:2 to deny SPNA’s appeal
of the zoning administrator’s reduction of required parking at MedLINK.
The Land Use Committee is evaluating what next steps are feasible given
the response by the BZA.
BP Amoco Station Moves Forward
BP Amoco appears intent on moving forward with plans to build a new gas
station at 301 H Street NE. An application to the BZA is reported to be
forthcoming for approval of the design. The design was developed with
considerable community input by the Task Force in 2002.
