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Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6B voted to oppose the Marine Corps’ proposed security upgrades near the Commandant’s House, putting up a speed bump that could delay or derail the project as planned.
The Marine Corps has been planning for several years to upgrade security in front of the house by increasing the height of a fence and installing cement bollards to prevent vehicles from reaching the house. The Marine Corps also plans to add guard houses, install concrete planter boxes to serve as another barrier and enlarge existing tree boxes.
Some residents living near the areas where changes are planned asked the commission to oppose the project, questioning the need for increased security and saying the Marine Corps hadn’t done enough to find a solution acceptable to the community.
The project is scheduled to go before the District Historic Preservation Office this month. Before the ANC voted to oppose the project, ANC 6B Chair David Garrison urged barracks officials to hold off on their application for one month so that community members had an expanded opportunity to voice their concerns.
The Marine Corps officials at the meeting were not interested in waiting, and Garrison told them “best of luck” after the vote was tallied.
Commissioner Neil Glick said the proposal makes the barracks “really inaccessible,” particularly because of the use of cement bollards. He suggested working to strengthen the existing fence rather than using the bollards.
“We need to keep the character of the neighborhood … and you could do a better job on a better fence, I think,” he said.
Capt. Lisa Lawrence, public affairs director of the barracks, said they were sympathetic to neighborhood concerns, but that the increased security was needed to better protect the commandant. She also spoke about the difficulty of finding a plan that would be acceptable to everyone and asked neighbors opposed to the plans to come up with alternatives
“Just to be clear, no one said this process wasn’t messy,” Garrison countered, adding that it is not the responsibility of community members to figure out how to improve security without harming the community.
The Marine Corps held a public meeting discussing the issue in late September.
From Shotgun House to Mansion
A lengthy debate ensued when Mary Quillian Helms and husband Paxton Helms sought ANC support for their plans for a lot at 1229 E St. SE. A shotgun house built in the 1850s, with additions from the 1880s and 1930s, is currently on the land.
The couple proposed to tear down the additions and then add two- and three-story additions to the back of the shotgun house. The finished product would be more than 5,000 square feet, with a 43-foot driveway leading to a garage slated for the first floor of the three-story addition.
Many of the residents living on the block attended the ANC meeting to oppose many aspects of the proposal. They said the house would be too big to fit the neighborhood – Rosemary Hoffman, owner of a shotgun house down the street, said her house was only 800 square feet.
“They’d make good neighbors. I just wish their house was much smaller,” said Peter Field.
Neighbors also said they preferred to have the entire existing structure razed rather than remodel the original shotgun house, which has become a “rat-trap fire hazard,” according to 1241 E St. SE resident Mark Segraves.
The ANC considered two applications for the project. The first application was to authorize tearing down the parts of the old house, and the second application would approve construction of the new structure.
Commissioners echoed many of the neighbors’ concerns, with Garrison calling the project a “suburban house model.” Commissioners also opposed the planned driveway, in part because the ANC had previously asked the city to get rid of the curb cut that would enable a driveway to be built. The ANC determined that that curb cut was illegal in 2003.
The commission voted to oppose the raze permit for the old house on the grounds that the application did not have the “special merit” needed to tear down the historical structure. They also voted to oppose the application itself.
The Importance of a Good Agreement
An ownership change at the establishment at 735 Eighth St. SE, formerly known as Jiggs, underscored the pitfalls that can pop up when dealing with liquor licenses. The ANC negotiated a new voluntary agreement with the new owners, who will call the restaurant Zest Bistro.
When a building with a liquor license is sold, that license and the accompanying voluntary agreement is transferred to the new owner. The new owner does not have to negotiate a new agreement, but in the case of Zest, they agreed to do so anyway.
The negotiated agreement did not limit the days the restaurant could have live entertainment, and Commissioner Carol Green said this was unacceptable. However, as Commissioner Kenan Jarboe pointed out, the ANC didn’t have much leverage in the case. If they pushed too hard, Zest’s owners could decide not to make a new agreement and stick with the existing, and more lenient, agreement.
The commission voted 5-2 to approve the new voluntary agreement.
In Brief
The ANC sent a letter to District Department of Transportation Director Gabe Klein in August in support of a transportation enhancement grant application for the Old Naval Hospital building, 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. The ANC’s letter said the grant would be used to help pay for landscaping, the creation of fully accessible walkways, installation of bike racks and land improvements to control storm-water runoff.
The commission currently operates out of the building.
Caroline Ellis of DDOT told commissioners that her agency has “decided to take a step back” on changes proposed at the intersection of Pennsylvania and Potomac avenues SE. Earlier this year, the agency’s plans to build a traffic circle of sorts at the intersection were met with criticism from the commission.
Ellis said DDOT is conducting a more in-depth transportation analysis on the intersection, and the agency will host community meetings this fall to gather more feedback from area residents before moving forward on the project. A community meeting is planned for October, but Ellis did not know the date of that meeting when she spoke at the ANC meeting.
Capitol Canines, a group working to get a dog park built on part of the open land at Virginia Avenue Park, received preliminary ANC approval for their project. Capitol Canines representatives said they had met with the leaders of the community gardens operating at the park, and there were no major concerns from that group about placing a dog park nearby.
The ANC urged Capitol Canines to continue working with the community garden as planning moves forward, and also asked them to work with the Capitol Hill groups that have proposed building a child activity center on the site. |
