Cheh Proposes Soda Tax

DCist reports on a $.01/ounce soda tax proposed by Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh.

Macomb Playground Needs Your Help

From R.O.M.P:

If you appreciate Macomb Park, and/or just want to do some community volunteering, please drop by the park next Saturday (May 1) any time between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. We're thrilled with the restoration of the gazebo and hope to spruce up the rest of the park as well: raking, pruning, cleaning, and some painting and planting as well!

Bring your work gloves and your green thumbs. Folks from the DC Department of Parks and Recreation will be on hand, and it would be great to reciprocate with an equal or greater turnout from the community.

All are welcome!

Ward 3 Crime Forum

Given recent concerns about crime in Ward 3, Mary Cheh is convening a town hall meeting Monday, April 26th, 7:30pm, at St. Columba's Episcopal Church in Tenleytown(4201 Albemarle Street NW). At the town hall, we will receive updates from MPD, National Park Police, and WMATA Transit Police. Several ANC Commissioners will be also be in attendance. I hope to see you there.

Drinking Water Emergency

From WASA, the water in NW Washington currently has elevated levels of chlorine and should not be consumed.


****UPDATED****

The UPDATED boundaries of the area in question are indicated below.
* West Boundary: Western Avenue, NW
* North Boundary: River Road, NW
* East Boundary: Connecticut Avenue, NW
* South Boundary Nebraska Avenue, NW
Updated Map:
http://www.dcwasa.com/news/listings/chlorine_map.pdf

Updated Press Release:
http://www.dcwasa.com/news/listings/press_release444.cfm


_________________________________________________________________________________
The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority is advising
customers in a specific area of Northwest not to use water until further notice
because of a higher-than-normal chlorine concentration.

The boundaries of the area in question are indicated below.

West Boundary: MacArthur Boulevard, NW
North Boundary: Western Avenue and Eastern Avenue, NW
East Boundary: Amtrak railroad
South Boundary (east side of Rock Creek): Upshur Street, NW
South Boundary (west side of Rock Creek): Calvert Street to Observatory Circle to W Street

The spike happened early this morning at DC WASA's unmanned Fort Reno facility when it was offline for routine maintenance disinfection. At 7:30 this morning, operators at the DC WASA Bryant Street Pump Station identified a drop in the reservoir at Fort Reno, which indicated the possibility of a chlorine spike. DC WASA immediately dispatched staff to confirm a higher-than-normal chlorine concentration in the water, which they determined had happened at approximately 5 a.m.

Customers who used water with excess chlorine may have noticed taste and odor problems. While unlikely, the chlorine may also cause a reaction in individuals with sensitive skin. Anyone who observes such a reaction should contact a physician.

DC WASA notified the United States Environmental Protection Agency Region III immediately upon learning of the chlorine spike. Water-quality crews are monitoring the system across the entire affected area and will advise the public when the water supply has returned to normal. Our staff is also assessing the causes of the problem.

Wilson Teacher Abducted, Released by Student

In an amazing twist of chance and circumstance, a Wilson teacher was allegedly abducted by a Wilson student late on Saturday, according to an account in the Washington Post.

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.

Giant: Here we go again

According to a Cleveland Park Listserv post:


WNNC (the group opposing the Giant PUD) asked the Court for a delay pending the Zoning Commission's issuance of the final written order on the Motion for Reconsideration. Giant opposed this delay. The Court denied their request, and told them to file their brief by April 6. However, two weeks ago, WNNC asked for additional time to file their brief. Giant opposed them again, but the Court granted their request and allowed them until May 3rd to file their brief, which will apparently appeal the Zoning Commission's decision. So on it goes.

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.

Great History of what never was

Douglas Willinger provides a terrific account of the freeway that ended up not coming through Bethesda and Ward 3 on the way to downtown DC.

Cheh Challenger

According to sources, Mary Cheh will have a Republican challenge in the November election. The candidate is David Hedgepeth, a litigation manager whose twin daughters attend Murch Elementary School.

Unknown at this point is the fate of any potential primary election challenge.

New Bike Lanes in Glover Park

According to Greater Greater Washington, the DC Department of Transportation is going to install (PDF) bike lanes in Glover Park in concurrent with recommendations from the Glover Park Transportation study.

Hopefully this is a first step to more widespread use of bike lanes in the Ward.

Examiner on Wisconsin Avenue Streetcars

The Washington Examiner provides some insight into the push for Streetcars along Wisconsin Avenue.

Wilson High School Landmarked

The Historic Preservation Review Board supported the landmarking of Wilson High School (PDF).

In a unanimous 8-0 vote, the board adopted the staff report for the 1935 Colonial Revival structure. Opponents of the historic application argued that landmark status would handcuff DCPS in developing and programing a renovated school. A similar argument was made when Janney Elementary was landmarked in November.

Clevleland Park Pedestrian Action

ANC 3C Commissioner Leila Afzal has announced funding for transportation improvements in Cleveland Park:

The DC City Council has identified Connecticut Avenue between Macomb and Porter streets as particularly hazardous for pedestrians. The Council has allocated $1.5 million specifically to address this concern and has directed DDoT to develop and implement a plan to use this money.

DDoT has come to the community for input and has requested that The Connecticut Avenue Coalition serve as the conduit for our ideas. The Coalition is made up of representatives from the Cleveland Park Citizens Association, Cleveland Park Historical Society, the business community, local residents, and the ANC (represented by Roger Burns (ANC3C04) and me). Each group within the Coalition is reaching out to its constituency to get as broad a level of participation as possible.

Please identify locations and conditions that you believe place pedestrians at particular risk. (e.g. crossing Conn. Avenue at Ordway). If you also have a suggested solution, that would be very helpful too.

Please limit your concerns to the area along Connecticut Avenue between Macomb and Porter Streets. The authorizing language is very specific and restricts where the money can be used.

I will compile the comments from constituents received either via email or at our meeting and forward them to the Coalition. The Coalition will add them to those received from the business groups, CPHS, and the CPCA and forward them to DDoT.

DDOT will then produce corresponding options for solutions to the concerns identified, as well as a price tag, and present them to the community at the April 13th CPCA members' meeting. The CPCA has arranged to break the meeting into small groups and decide how we as a community would recommend spending the $1.5m "DDoT bucks."

The ANC will then review The Coalition recommendations as developed on April 13 and any other community input it receives at its April 19th monthly and make a formal recommendation to DDoT.

Comments should be directed to Commissioner Afzal.

Zoning Commission Issues Giant Order

The District of Columbia Zoning Commission issued its order for the Giant on Wisconsin Avenue (search Notice ID #165208). The delay was due in part to Giant seeking clarification on some ambiguous conditions, and also in part by a brief filed by opponents of the development.

Once the order is published in the DC Register, opponents will have a short window to file another appeal. Time will tell how soon the ground breaking will take place.

Cheh to Cleveland Park: Build a Garage

A contributor comments on a Northwest Current article (PDF) in the Greater Greater Washington blog regarding the trial balloon Councilmember Mary Cheh has floated regarding a new municipal parking garage in Cleveland Park.

Notwithstanding the budgetary implications or issues regarding placement, this proposal raises several issues. Parking has long been a concern for Cleveland Park merchants, particularly given the recent spat of vacancies. However, one has to better analyze the problems to arrive at appropriate solutions.

On the issue of vacancies, many neighborhood activists would suggest that this was a result of broader economic issues surrounding national chains (Blockbuster, 7-11) while others blame the lack of parking. The Commercial Zoning Overlay, which limits to 25% certain food establishments, is blamed for many of the problems. Either way, in the short term, it appears that vacancy rates are not an issue in this upscale neighborhood.

Instead, the problem is the high demand for a limited number of parking spaces, by residents, retail employees and commuters. The RPP zone system was implemented, in part, to address the issue of Maryland Commuters parking for free on residential streets during the workday. Now, however, commuters with legal zone stickers are taking those precious spots.

It seems as if a hybrid parking system which encourages the use of meters and a sub-zone system should be piloted in Cleveland Park. Certainly the market based system employed in the ballpark district of Southeast and Southwest could be tried as well.

Either way, the idea of spending millions of dollars for a parking structure in one of the most transit-rich communities in the region is absurd and certainly not an environmentally responsible solution normally supported by Councilmember Cheh.

Tenleytown Insurrection

Greater Greater Washington covers the great Tenleytown Snow insurrection of 2010.

Aimed at shoveling scofflaws, the goal is to make passage for pedestrians easier while also shaming property owners into doing the right thing, as well as complying with the law.

Stay tuned, as current weather conditions may postpone the anticipated 4:00 meeting time at the Tenleytown Metro station.

Sustainable Forest Hills Needs Your Help

The Forest Hills area has been working with the DC Office of Planning on a Neighborhood Sustainability Indicators Study. The program needs input per the information below:

Voting is your opportunity shape the direction of this community-driven process and to help us form working groups to take action on things like energy efficiency, water quality, biking, and many other areas.

Renters, homeowners, business owners, students, and workers of the study area (see map on our website) are all invited to vote

All voting closes Sunday, February 14th, so please vote now and spread the word!

Community Appears to Favor Mixed Use at Safeway

The Tsarchitect has revealed a poll circulated to discern the sentiment of the community where the Tenleytown Safeway is concerned. Sponsored by the Alliance for Rational Development, the poll is purportedly meant to provide a snapshot of support for the most recent plan released by the food store.

One cannot imagine that the current results showing a 68% response in favor of a mixed-use development (despite the obvious biases) is what the ARD had in mind when it created this survey.

As noted in the Tsarchitect blog:

ARD doesn’t represent the silent majority, and they don’t even represent a significant minority. The secretive organization is nothing but sound and fury crippled by ineptitude and a lack of web savvy.