Woodley Park McMansions

Lydia DePillis updates the new houses at Garfield and 29th Place in Woodley Park.

Klingle "Valley" Moving Forward

After years, almost two decades, of discussion, debate, and acrimony across several neighborhoods, it appears that the city is close to a resolution with Klingle Road. Some residents wanted the road to be restored and upgraded from its 1990 condition. Others suggested a bike/hike trail while a third group suggested a compromise.

As suggested, there were several options considered, with a dedicated trail (option C in this link) as the preferred alternative.

Given the technical variables associated with the different options, the proposed solution appears to be a good result.

Klingle "Valley": The Next Step

Greater Greater Washington covers the next step for Klingle Valley, how to implement the bike path, and at what cost.

There will be a public meeting:

Wednesday, June 23, 2010,
6:00-6:30 PM (Open House)
6:30-8:00 PM (presentation and Comments)

National Zoo's Visitor Center Auditorium
3001 Connecticut Avenue, NW (Red Line to Woodley Park-Zoo)

Overlay in Play?

The City Paper covers a community meeting held on April 14th in Woodley Park. The topic on hand is the restrictive overlay which exists in 4 communities in the District (three of which are in Ward 3). At issue are the number of restaurants in a commercial strip.

Opponents of the overlay suggest that it is time for its repeal in order to revitalize neighborhood centers.

Boston U expands Woodley Presence

DC Metro Urban Diary is reporting that Boston University will lease the residences currently under construction atop the Debonair Cleaners establishment in the heart of Woodley Park.

Originally slated as condominiums, this is a smart move by BU to provide much needed housing for its students who are studying and interning in the District.

A Safer Connecticut Avenue

From the Cleveland Park Yahoo Group:

Connecticut Avenue Pedestrian Action (CAPA) is comprised of residents from Woodley Park and Cleveland Park to Forest Hills and Chevy Chase. We need everyone in the community to participate on two fronts. First, we would like residents, visitors, employees and employers to fill out a simple survey and interactive map on our website . Second, we are recruiting volunteers from up and down the corridor to help with the audit process. This will require training at a short session in late April and then a few hours of time during the study period in May. If you have interest in pedestrian safety, community activism and solidarity with the other communities along Connecticut Avenue, this is a great opportunity for you.

Klingle Road Update

Greater Greater Washington provides an update on the long and winding saga called Klingle Road.

According to DC Metrocentric, construction has commenced on a new development in Woodley Park. Similar to a structure across Connecticut Avenue, this new high-rise is nestled behind Wardman townhouses in a large lot just a block from the Metro Station.

Klingle Road Meeting

In the aftermath of what appears to be the final decision regarding Klingle Road, there is a meeting on Wednesday, October 7th to plan for the future of the passageway:

Supporters of turning the former Klingle Road into a major trail through Klingle Valley have an important step in the process coming up next week, a public meeting for the Klingle Valley Trail environmental assessment, the next step in trail building. Wednesday, October 7, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the National Zoo Visitor Center Auditorium at 3100 Connecticut Avenue, NW.

This public meeting is mandated by the NEPA process, and sponsored jointly by Federal and District authorities, to interact with the public about the range of alternatives for the proposed multi-use trail and drainage system improvement in Klingle Valley. Supporters, please drop by, express your support, and ensure that the Klingle Valley Trail stays on schedule. See the project web site.

Vandals Strike in Cleveland Park, Woodley park

The Washington Post updates reports on the Cleveland Park Listserv about a series of incidents along Connecticut Avenue early this morning.

History of the Commerical Overlay in Cleveland Park and Woodley Park

In light of the discssion about the CPCA and the Zoning Overlay in Cleveland Park, former ANC Commissioner and zoning expert Ann Loikow has provided the following history:


ANC Commissioner Reeves asked why if CPCA has been working on the overlay for years it wasn't referred to the ANC. ANC 3C has been involved in the the issue of the neighborhood commercial overlay districts for twenty years.

ANC 3C was intimately involved in the creation of the neighborhood commercial overlay zones in Cleveland Park (both on Connecticut and Wisconsin Avenues) and in Woodley Park which the Zoning Commission created in May 1989 (Zoning Commission Order No. 616, cases No. 86-26 and 87-27). These cases grew out of the effort to eliminate inconsistencies between the Zoning Regulations and the 1984-85 Comprehensive Plan Land Use Element. ANC 3C, and in particular Commissioner Phil Mendelson, the Cleveland Park Citizens Association (CPCA), the Woodley Park Community Association (WPCA), and the Cleveland Park Historical Society, among others, participated actively in these cases. As an Office of Planning's report noted these overlays were designed to ensure the compatibility of the use and scale of development in these neighborhood commercial centers with the surrounding residential areas. The limitation on uses was designed to help maintain a mix of neighborhood retail and services and ensure that there were a sufficient volume of both daytime and night-time customers to keep the businesses there economically viable. However, the overlays' limitations on eating and drinking establishments were never really implemented.

In 2000, both ANC 3C (which adopted a resolution on the issue in January 2000), individual commissioners from Woodley Park and Cleveland Park, CPCA and various community members sought to get the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) to enforce the limitations on eating and drinking establishments in the overlay districts. In fact, the Zoning Administrator made a formal presentation about this to the ANC at its June 2000 meeting. As a result of this, DCRA issued proposed procedures for implementing the the limitation for eating or drinking establishments in the neighborhood commercial overlay districts in February 2002 which it adopted in May 2002. ANC 3C and CPCA and several individual District residents formally commented on the procedures.

In May 2002, in order to consider some of the concerns raised by the Zoning Administrator and DCRA on how to interpret the overlay regulations, the Zoning Commission published a notice of public hearing to be held in July 2002 on Case 02-06, "Text Amendments to Neighborhood Commercial Overlay District: Limitation for Eating or Drinking Establishments." In December 2002, the Zoning Commission tasked the Corporation Counsel with producing a proposed replacement or amended text. In November 2003, CPCA approved a resolution proposing a text amendment to the Zoning Commission to eliminate the ambiguities in the regulation regarding the limitation on eating and drinking establishments. The Zoning Commission noticed a second public hearing on Case 02-06 which was held in September 2005. At its December 2005 meeting, the Zoning Commission itself proposed an alternative solution and decided to hold further public hearings. This was all covered extensively in The Northwest Current.

In May 2006, ANC 6A petitioned the Zoning Commission to amend the Zoning Regulations to revise the definitions of "restaurants" and "fast food restaurants," among other things. The Zoning Commission set down the case as Case No. 06-23, "Text Amendment - Eating Establishment Definitions," in March 2007 and noticed a public hearing to be held in April 2007. ANC 3C, CPCA and WPCA, among others, participated in this case. The Zoning Commission approved a final order on the text amendments in Case No. 06-23 in July 2007.

The Zoning Commission's consideration and adoption of the neighborhood commercial overlay regulations has been a public process, of which both the public and the ANCs have been notified. ANC 3C, CPCA, WPCA and other neighborhood groups and individuals, as well as others from across the city, have been active participants in the process over the past twenty years. There is a substantial public record on the issue, as well as much news coverage, particularly in The Northwest Current, that is there for anyone who wishes to learn about it.

WPCA weighs in on CPCA

Dear Anne and other Executive Board Members:

As some of you may be aware the Cleveland Park Citizen’s Association has postponed their election of officers until the fall. The claim by the President of that Association was that the increase of new members constitutes an emergency and thus was their excuse to use their executive powers to postpone their election.

This is wrong.

The Federation of Citizens Associations of the District of Columbia is predicated on the concept that citizen activism is good, that democracy is good, and that the rule of law matters. The good people of Cleveland Park are doing the very things that we admire.

The Federation has spoken out and acted on these issues time and time again, be it the deplorable state of the EMT service, the lack of oversight on the mayor’s office, the public health committee you name it. The Federation has always been there to speak out when something is wrong. We must be there to speak again.

In this instance it is not the city government, or the federal government that is abusing the public trust, it is one of our member associations. We, as the premier umbrella organization of community associations, cannot afford to stay quiet on this issue. By staying quiet we are giving tacit consent to what is happening in Cleveland Park. We must act and we most positively affirm that citizens joining citizens’ organizations are good, and that the rule of law must continue and the CPCA is wrong in doing this.

I am writing to you today to inform you that if The Cleveland Park Citizens Association fails to conform to its own bylaws and holds their election as scheduled that I will introduce a resolution at our next assembly meeting calling for the removal of CPCA from membership in the Federation. The presence of an organization that is so Nixon-esque in its abuse of power gives the rest of our associations a bad name.

I remain committed to a better Washington, DC.


Sincerely Yours,


Peter W. Brusoe
Woodley Park Community Association Delegate
The Federation of Citizens Associations of the District of Columbia

Greater Greater Washington on 3C 03

The Greater Greater Washington blog released this summary entry on the ANC 3C 03 race in Woodley Park.

Klingle Vote: Nay

A contributor to the Columbia Heights Listserv has reported that Council Member Jim Graham's effort to have the budget restored for the Klingle Road restoration has failed. According to David Alpert of greatergreaterwashington.org:



The motion failed with only a few Councilmembers (update: only Graham, Bowser, and Schwartz) in favor. This is the end of the road for the road, at least for a while.

There is an update from the City Paper.

EDIT: and this from the Washington Post.

City Paper: Klingle Road is Dead

Loose Lips reported in the April 24th edition of The City Paper a brief history of Klingle Road. Today, in a Council mark-up, the monies earmarked by the Mayor for this project were eliminated in committee. Mike DeBonis has the full story.

Klingle Road in Trouble

Mike DeBonis of the City Paper has updated the committee talley for the Mayoral proposal to fund the study to reopen Klingle Road. According to DeBonis,

Brown’s conviction also means that the mayor’s $2 million Klingle Road line item isn’t going to make it out of the council’s committee on public works and the environment. Committee chair and Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham favors spending the money, as does Ward 4’s Muriel Bowser, but the other three committee members—Mary Cheh of Ward 3, Yvette Alexander of Ward 7, and Brown—are all now unequivocally on the record against it.

Movement on Klingle Road

The Examiner is reporting that Mayor Fenty and Ward 1 Council Member Jim Graham have earmarked $2 Million for infrastructure preparations in advance of an $11 Million rebuild of the east-west connection through Rock Creek Park.

Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh is supportive of the status quo, maintaining the bucolic form of the short stretch from the parkway to Woodley Road.

Proponents of the road include residents of Mt. Pleasant and Adam Morgan who prefer a more direct route to points west. Others include certain Cleveland Park residents who suggest that the chronic vehicular back-ups on Porter Street are more environmentally damaging than simply rebuilding and maintaining the road.

This will be interesting to follow going forward.

Woodley Park Day, October 20

Saturday October 20, Noon to 4pm.

The spot light is on the upcoming Woodley Park Day.

The newly formed Woodley Park Business Association (WPBA) is hosting and sponsoring the first annual Woodley Park Day, a fabulous day for celebration and entertainment.

Live music with the acclaimed Trio Caliente, delectable international foods from Woodley Park restaurants, a scrumptious buffet hosted by the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, diverse performances and demonstrations: creations of gigantic bubbles, mounted police, tour of the historic Perle Mesta suite, the famous K-9 dog demos, art exhibit, Moon Bounce for the youngsters, superb door prizes, and many more.