“It's kind of cool to show people that not only men can drum,” says Shakiera Mosby, a two-year participant in the Young Women's Drumming Empowerment Project (YWDEP). “Women drum, and they do it as well as men … or better.”

For the fourth year, young women – ages 13 to 18, from East of the River to Upper Northwest – will be gathering for the summer to learn African hand drumming, writing and spoken word presentation, movement and song. They'll experience team building, theatrical staging and other crafts in weekly workshops with a variety of female artists and an occasional male.

“Drumming is amazing,” says YWDEP alumna Claire James. “You don’t realize how amazing it is until your hands are almost bleeding, and you still want to go on.”

James, 16, and Mosby, 17, both completed the YWDEP summer enrichment program in 2006. The “Goddesses of Rhythm,” as their group named themselves, were mentored by members of the 2005 “She Poets,” and in turn, members of the Goddesses mentored the 2007 “Rhythm Prophets.” The fourth group of young performers is forming now, says founding director Kristen Arant.

A performing artist/percussionist focusing on West African drumming, Arant established the group in 2005 to provide young women with an avenue for self-examination and expression, skills and confidence. YWDEP began with assistance from the DC Arts Commission and continues to subsist on small grants and individual donations. It is now an official project of One Common Unity Inc., lodged at St. Stephen’s Church in Columbia Heights.

At St. Stephen’s, each new group works collaboratively through the summer and offers a showcase in the fall. Afterward, alumnae continue to perform at venues across the city, such as Busboys and Poets and open mic at Bar Nun. On March 29, participants from all three years performed at the Cherry Blossom Festival's opening ceremonies.

Continuing to perform is fun, the drummers say. It provides an opportunity to practice and to learn to play with new groupings of artists. It also gives the young women a chance to renew and extend the friendships begun that first summer.

YWDEP provides an opportunity to “meet people you otherwise would not have met,” says James. “It really is a safe place to sit down and talk to people who won't judge you.”

The program offered “lifelong friends and a support network,” says Mosby.

Working together to create a long set piece, “Education Reformation,” gave participants an opportunity to explore their differing experiences in public and private schools across the area. Writing – and learning to share – individual pieces offered additional lessons.

James, who presented a poetry duet with fellow participant Tracy O'Brien, says now that she had been writing poetry “for a long time” before the summer of 2006. She wouldn't share what she wrote, however. “YWDEP helped me feel a lot better about showing my work.”

Mosby says she also gained confidence – “getting up on a stage in front of people … but also in my personality and writing and creativity.”

Moreover, Mosby explains, “YWDEP gave me a creative outlet for dealing with current issues, things that were going on.” Particularly difficult for Mosby that summer was the shooting – “right down the street, off Benning Road” – of a teenage babysitter who died protecting the infant in her care.

“It’s an apocalypse
Raining down fireballs of gunshots and disease
Hitting innocent people like you and me
And the 16yr. old babysitter, she got shot in the face 4 times...”
– begins Mosby’s 2006 “Apocalypse.”

One of Arant's goals in founding YWDEP was to give young women “knowledge and understanding of the healing influence of the arts.” Circumstances have offered her students opportunities for hands-on learning, both individually and as a group.

In 2006, YWDEP used drumming and spoken word to raise funds for a She Poet injured in a shooting. In late 2007, when teacher/mentor Henry Moses died following a brief illness, they used forms of expression learned from YWDEP for a group memorial. In addition, a small group of teens – together with Arant and an array of drummers they'd never met – joined in drumming and chanting at Moses' funeral, putting to bittersweet use the art he had helped to teach them.

“So we take cover in our sanctuary of rhythms, rhymes, and steps
You have to find your one true passion, your
Drumming is our cover, our protection, our savior,
From the Apocalypse.”
– Mosby's poem concluded.

YWDEP's annual fund-raiser is scheduled for May 10, 6-8 p.m., at Java Green eco organic cafe in Northwest. Additional performances are noted on the website calendar. Enrollment in the fourth YWDEP summer enrichment program closes June 1. Visit www.youngwomendrum.org for details on events and an online application, or call 202-213-7810 for more information.

ABC Rules on Question of Live Music and Dancing in Mount Pleasant
by Natasha Abbas

After over a year of back and forth between the Mount Pleasant Neighborhood Alliance and businesses attempting to terminate voluntary agreements with the MPNA that prohibited live music and dancing, the Alcoholic Beverage Control board made its long-awaited ruling on the issue April 23. The board ruled that the two longtime Mount Pleasant restaurants, Don Jaime's and Haydee's, may have live music, entertainment and dancing seven days a week and may also charge a cover.

Businesses say the ban has been an economic hardship for independent restaurants. Hear Mount Pleasant and the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1D, two community groups working with the businesses, were proposing to terminate the agreements with the MPNA in favor of a new voluntary agreement permitting music, dancing and cover charges Sunday through Thursday until midnight, and Friday and Saturday until 1:30 a.m.

MPNA had proposed a new agreement stipulating that there would be no dancing, no cover charges, no music Sunday and Monday, and music at a conversational level the rest of the week ending by 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and at midnight Friday and Saturday.

After countless hours of hearings and testimonies, the ABC board decided to permit music, dancing and cover charges Sunday through Wednesday until 11 p.m., Thursday until midnight and Friday and Saturday until 1 a.m.

“I think this will be a good starting point, and we'll find out how much neighborhood disturbance, if any, is caused by live music in Mount Pleasant restaurants,” said Jack McKay, advisory neighborhood commissioner for 1D, in an e-mail to DC North.

The MPNA has always maintained that it is not opposed to live entertainment but rather concerned that Mount Pleasant, which maintains a quaint, neighborhood feel despite its being situated between the more hectic Adams Morgan and Columbia Heights neighborhoods, may become more of a nightlife destination and less of a neighborhood.

“MPNA supports live entertainment and the [ABC] board made a decision that balanced the needs of all parties involved. It is MPNA’s hope that these provisions will reduce the chances of these restaurants morphing into nightclubs,” said Laurie Collins, president of MPNA, in a press release following the ruling.

This marks the first time the District’s ABC board has held a hearing to consider whether an existing voluntary agreement should be terminated.

McMillan Site Development: Coming Up with a Plan
by Jenny Johnson

The development team for the McMillan sand filtration site held its first community-wide meeting last month, in the latest invitation to local residents to give their views on what should be put on the site, how to develop it and what to preserve.
The April 22 meeting at Trinity University follows a series of closed meetings with a group of ANC commissioners, civic association presidents and other community leaders on the same issue of community input on plans for the 25-acre site, which lies at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and North Capitol Street. The meeting is the first in a planned series of three community-wide sessions aimed at completing a consensus master plan by June, which can then go before the Zoning Commission.

The development team offered a blank slate to people at the meeting, with photos of the site as it exists today. Any plans for the site that may already be in the works – either from the community advisory group or from the development team’s previous year of work – were not presented. Developers want first to hear the community’s vision without any interference by the developers’ plans, EYA’s Aakash Thakkar said.

In addition to EYA, Jair Lynch Development, the Alexander Company, the Office of the Deputy Mayor and Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas’ office gave presentations at the meeting and are working in various capacities to support the large-scale master development of the site.

At the meeting, people broke out into groups to have face-to-face discussion with members of the development team, who wrote down suggestions on a map of the site. Reports from the groups afterward revealed some divergent views on the best use of the site, but almost all mentioned support for preservation given the historic importance of the former water filtration site – a consistent theme throughout the various public sessions. A small but vocal group is advocating for complete preservation and conversion of the space into a public park.

McMillan has been called a monument to public health, because it rid the city of typhoid around 1900 through its innovative method of filtering water. The site has two long bands of silos, or filter cells, which stretch above ground. About 2 feet underneath lies an extensive underground network of 14-foot-deep catacombs built of non-reinforced concrete. A price tag of around $70 million has been tossed about as one likely estimate of what it would take to preserve the sensitive area and prepare it for development.

Points of contention among the groups at the meeting included whether to widen streets around the site to help alleviate traffic congestion from new development at both McMillan and the Armed Forces Retirement Home just to the north.

Others disagreed on the makeup of the new facilities, with some wanting research offices and hospitality services for the nearby Washington Hospital Center, and Howard, Catholic and Trinity universities. Others said the new development should serve the neighborhood, with low-key residential and local services without commercial or hotel use.

For more information or to get involved in the public process, contact John Basil at EYA, 301-634-8600.

City Announces Plans to Develop Lincoln Theatre Properties
New Project May Ease Theatre’s Financial Struggles
by Natasha Abbas

Mayor Fenty announced April 24 that the District will develop two city-owned properties behind U Street’s historic Lincoln Theatre, with a portion of the funds generated from the project going to support the theater’s ongoing operations.

The 88-year-old theater has been struggling financially in recent years and has expressed fear that it may have to shut down due to a lack of funds. For the past five years, the theater has been receiving $500,000 in annual aid from the District to continue operating.

“The Lincoln Theatre has an incredible history and great potential,” said Fenty. “This is a perfect example of what we can do when we leverage our assets to get better amenities for our neighborhoods.”

The District has issued a solicitation seeking development partners to build on two city-owned properties and above an alley located behind the theater.

According to a press release issued by Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, the site could accommodate about 90,000 square feet of development, and the potential uses may include office space, hotel or housing, provided 30 percent of the units are affordable. Bids for the sites are due July 18.

For the Lincoln Theatre, this could mean a solution to their financial struggles.

“It represents a renewed commitment from the city to support the work of the Lincoln,” says Lincoln Theatre Executive Director Janice Hill. “With that support we can continue to serve the community through our special programs.”

The theater’s model is a hybrid community-commercial theater model which includes subsidies for nonprofit groups and cultural enrichment programs for public school children. In the last year, theatrical, dance and spoken word presentations were given to over 11,000 students, says Hill.

“This endowment, so to speak, ensures that we will be able to maintain those activities and also maintain this historical property,” says Hill. “Maintenance is very expensive.”

According to the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, preliminary analysis of the site, currently used as a parking lot behind the theater, suggests office uses, particularly to house nonprofit organizations, may provide the strongest use for the site and would also provide shared parking for the Lincoln Theatre. But housing and a boutique hotel do remain possibilities.

The District, who owns the theater, is also requiring that any development provide ongoing financial support for the theater and include at least 7,500 square feet of flexible event space to be available to the theater.

About if there are preferences the Lincoln has for the type of development use for the space, Hill says her main concern is that any development includes a flexible event space that can be used by the theater for special events and also represent an extra income stream.

“It’s a good day for the Lincoln,” concludes Hill.

Crime Emergency in Ward 4
Reality or Perception?
by Tanya Snyder

To hear some Ward 4 residents tell it, the area is seeing an unprecedented spike in violent crime. One DC native, who asked to remain anonymous because she feared recriminations from drug dealers on her block, said she remembers the rampant crime wave DC suffered through in the 1980s. “DC is finally on its way back,” she says. “People have higher incomes, which is driving development and improvements.” But, she warns, if crime gets any worse, those with the means to leave will do just that. “One of my co-workers, who lives in Petworth, has witnessed two shootings. The day after the second one, she called her real estate agent and put her house on the market.”

Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser held a community meeting on April 1 with concerned ward residents to discuss the crime problem after a particularly terrifying weekend left two dead. Assistant Chief Diane Groomes admitted that although the police have beefed up patrols and added several new neighborhood crime cameras, it's not enough to keep the streets safe. “We need citizens to come forward and give us information on who's doing these shootings, we need to get these guns off the streets,” she said.

However, police can’t protect people who come forward. Even when detectives know who committed a crime, the cases often stay open because witnesses change their story or refuse to speak up. Even the most committed neighborhood residents say they’ve seen things happen that they haven’t reported. Even though they know that the police need their help to solve these cases and bring the crime rates down, they say it’s just too risky. “We’ve given the criminal element the upper hand; we’ve coddled them,” says one. “We’ve given Kennedy Street over to drug dealers.”

The statistics don’t show such alarming jumps in crime. By the end of March of last year, there had been five homicides in the Fourth District. By the end of March of this year, there had been only four – but three of those had occurred in March, likely causing the perception of a major jump in violent crime. Burglary and assault with a deadly weapon are also up this year, while theft and sexual assault are down. At press time, April statistics were not yet available.

The two areas designated “hot spots” by the police are the blocks around Georgia Avenue and Longfellow Street NW and Georgia Avenue and Shepherd Street NW.

One anonymous resident has started a listserv called Ward Four Worried to discuss crime in the community. Another faults city officials for not calling in the National Guard – she says the crime emergency is so serious it calls for militarizing the neighborhoods.

Minnie Green, former president of the Fourth District Police Citizens Advisory Council and an organizer of the Orange Hat patrols in the area, has put out a call for a “Walk for Justice: Stop the Violence.” She is working with the police, local elected officials, churches, schools and community groups to organize the walk, which will take place May 16 at 6 p.m.

Howard Town Center Project Moving Forward After Long Stall
by Natasha Abbas

The long-awaited Howard Town Center project will finally be moving forward.

Mayor Fenty announced that the District recently signed an Exchange Agreement with Howard University, in which the university will receive the District's Bond Bread Building at 2114-2146 Georgia Ave. NW, and the District will receive a 63,400 square foot site owned by Howard at the intersection of Florida and Sherman avenues NW.

With the land Howard receives, they can make way for the long-anticipated Howard Town Center, a project which will redevelop almost the entire block at Georgia and V streets NW, creating more than 300 units of housing and more than 70,000 square feet of retail and a full-service supermarket.

For the site that it receives, the District will be issuing a solicitation to develop a mixed-use project with more than 300 units of housing.

The finalization of the land swap concludes a long struggle over rights to the Bond Bread Building, the cause for much of the delay in moving forward on the $75 million town center project. Developed by a Dallas-based Trammell Crow Company in 2003, the project has always been contingent upon Howard receiving the land from the city. But while the city was ready to hand over the Bond Bread property years ago, they were embroiled in a legal battle over the property with the People’s Involvement Corporation (PIC), a District-based community development and housing nonprofit since 1968 and a tenant of the Bond Bread building for decades.

According to the PIC, former Mayor Walter Washington pledged to them in 1977 that they would become owners of the building after 20 years, and there is an affidavit signed by Washington to support this claim.

However, city officials argued that Washington’s promise was not legally binding and the District Superior Court ruled in their favor in 2005. The PIC later appealed the decision but despite a long legal battle, ultimately did not gain rights to the building.

Officials from PIC declined to comment on the land swap.

According to 2006 findings by the Washington Business Journal, the mixed-use development along Georgia Avenue would produce about $70 million in property, sales and income taxes over 10 years.

Sidewalk Cafés and Liquor Licenses on 14th Street
Community Discussion Reveals Neighborhood Frustrations Over Public Realm Plan
by Natasha Abbas

Amidst countless other retail-related issues now on the table in Columbia Heights, community members met April 22 at the Gala Theatre to discuss a liquor license application for Target and sidewalk café permits for Rumberos and other restaurants along 14th Street NW from Monroe Street to Park Road.

The conversation surrounding Target’s liquor license application was straightforward, with Target representatives explaining they were in the process of purchasing an existing liquor license from another business, given that there are no more available licenses for the area. They have submitted an application to the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration for a Class B license for beer and wine, with no singles or liquor to be sold.

Some small-business owners in attendance expressed concern about the impact Target’s sale of alcohol would have on small neighborhood liquor stores surrounding the DC USA retail complex.

Target representatives responded that their statistics show that they have helped other businesses in the area by being a retail draw to the neighborhood.

But residents questioned Target’s commitment to the neighborhood. Community members said they had been told that Target had requested the city delay implementing the Columbia Heights public realm plan because the construction would adversely affect their business.

The plan, which has been in discussion since 2003, involves streetscape, civic and roadway improvements. Included are the reconfiguration of the 14th & Monroe Street intersection and 14th Street curb extensions, which involve the widening of sidewalks and angled narrowing of the roadways, which would slow the speed of traffic and increase pedestrian safety.

In light of DC USA’s opening, residents say there is a dire need to immediately implement the plan. DDOT pledged to the community last month that they would implement the first phase, including the 14th Street curb extensions, beginning in July. But to the community’s dismay, the project has since been delayed.

“At best, construction would start in 2009,” said ANC 1A Commissioner Anne Theisen, adding, “which is a considerable inconvenience, to put it politely, for businesses that have been affected by construction since 1994 when groundbreaking began on the Metro.” Theisen explained that construction is now proposed to begin in 18 months and will take an additional 18 months to complete, meaning the community will have to wait another three years before the roadway and sidewalk improvements are complete.

“That is a terrible strain on a small business that has suffered through the lean years,” added ANC 1A Chair Dotti Wade.

Target assured residents that they were community-oriented and would use their leverage to encourage the city to immediately implement the plan.

When discussing Rumberos’ application for a sidewalk café permit, some residents again expressed concern that without the public realm plan, the sidewalks along 14th Street are not wide enough to safely accommodate large volumes of pedestrian traffic, in addition to 10 tables.

“This block isn’t wide enough because the city backed out of its commitment to widen the sidewalks,” said one resident.

Other residents said they would support Rumberos’ application as long as food was not served outside past 11 p.m. during the week and midnight on the weekends. In exchange for their support, residents encouraged Rumberos’ owner, Angel Huapalla, to appeal to the city to immediately implement the public realm plan, which is meant to provide support and better access to 14th Street businesses.

Wade relayed that Ruby Tuesday on Monroe and 14th Street will also be applying for a sidewalk café permit.

In Brief

New Career and Information Centers in Ward 1 and 4:
On April 9, Mayor Adrian Fenty, the Department of Employment Services, the Department of Parks and Recreation and Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser celebrated the grand opening of two new satellite one-stop career and information centers, co-located at the Columbia Heights Recreation Center, at 1480 Girard St. NW, and the Emery Recreation Center, at 5701 Georgia Ave. NW.

The centers will provide local residents a number of important employment-related services, including training and access to local and regional job opportunities. Information on apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships and on-the-job training programs will also be offered, as well as upcoming workshops and job fairs within the DC area. Services will be available at the Columbia Heights Rec Center from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday, and at the Emery satellite center from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Emery and Columbia Heights One-Stop Career and Information Centers are two of seven such centers located in the District. For more information on the District's One-Stop Career System, visit www.dcnetworks.org or call 202-724-7000.--  by Natasha Abbas

Bloomingdale Gets Creative to Combat Crime
Bloomingdale neighbors are envisioning creative ways to combat the crime in their neighborhood by working together to become a unified force against the burglaries, muggings, car thefts and drug sales that remain a problem in the area.

ANC Commissioner John Salatti is heading the public safety effort by inviting neighbors to come together in regular meetings to discuss ways they can most effectively deter crime. Salatti held a neighborhood patrol last month in which several neighbors joined four police officers to walk through the neighborhood. The word spread about the planned tour, and “it had an immediate impact in getting people out of the neighborhood” who sell drugs, Salatti said.

Future efforts may include “walk shares” for people walking to and from the Shaw Metro stop. People regularly walking the approximately 10-block distance to Bloomingdale have been targets for muggings, especially in the warmer months, Salatti said. To alleviate the problem, one idea is to coordinate small groups of neighbors to walk together. “We need it up and running by mid-May,” Salatti said.

Other ideas are to create phone trees of neighbors and police officers, a network of block captains, multi-person dog walks at certain times of night, and encourage community impact statements to be sent to the police if a local business is robbed.

“The goal is to create a number of options depending on your comfort level and availability,” Salatti said. “Nothing is going to deter crime faster than integrating the community,” given the shifting demographics of the area.
-- by Jenny Johnson

Central Union Mission to Move to 65 Mass. Ave.
The nine-year uncertainty surrounding the future of Central Union Mission has finally come to an end.

Mayor Fenty announced April 2 that the men’s shelter, operating in the District since 1884, signed an agreement to move into the District owned Gales School Shelter at 65 Massachusetts Ave. NW, on the border of the Mount Vernon Square, Mount Vernon Triangle and NoMa (North of Massachusetts Avenue) neighborhoods.

This follows months of community protest surrounding the Central Union Mission’s initial plans to relocate its homeless shelter and community outreach headquarters to the 3500 block of Georgia Avenue NW. Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham, an opponent of the shelter’s relocation to Georgia Avenue, was a key figure in helping broker the new location. The Georgia Avenue site will instead be utilized for mixed-income housing. Fenty attended the April 15 meeting of the Mount Vernon Square Neighborhood Association and addressed neighborhood concerns, mainly that they want to be better engaged in the city’s plans surrounding Central Union Mission and other transitional housing projects in the area. Fenty pledged that the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development would meet with residents to give specifics about plans that the city has for projects in the Mount Vernon Square surrounding area.  -- by Natasha Abbas

How to Use Those Vacant Schools?
Residents of Ward 4 had the chance to be heard on the issue of Ward 4 school closures at two meetings in April. The two schools slated for closure are Clark and Rudolph Elementary schools. Though many parents are unhappy to see neighborhood schools closing, the city maintains that by closing some schools that are operating seriously below capacity, they can free up resources to improve the quality of the facilities offered in the schools that stay open. The schools will close in June when classes end and will remain publicly owned facilities, with the possibility of being reconverted into a school in the future.

At the meetings, possible reuse ideas surfaced, including using the old schools for recreation, affordable healthcare, child care, vocational education, community arts, senior citizen programs and swing space during school renovations. Most people reportedly expressed a desire to keep the open space and playground space. by Tanya Snyder

Soldier’s Home Development: Residents Seek Preservation
A coalition of Ward 4 and Ward 1 residents is seeking support from Ward 5 for a “central parks vision” that would establish Emancipation National Park on 34 acres of the Old Soldiers’ Home and align it with Fort Totten Park to the north and a possible McMillan Park to the south.

The Washington Central Parks group is proposing to reduce the major development plans for the Old Soldiers’ Home site and preserve about half of the site. The Urban Institute has agreed to do an assessment to determine the best use of the land, and the group is seeking funding for the study. They are asking for support from members of the ANC 5C for the idea to build a connected system of parks including bike and walking trails through North Central Washington. For more information, visit thecentralparks.org. -- by Jenny Johnson

Petworth has New Places to Live, Shop, Eat and Play
Petworth will be getting a makeover, as three government-owned properties will be developed for retail and dining. The city government is requesting proposals from multiple development partners for the sites on the 3800 block of Georgia Avenue NW. Housing would be considered as part of a multi-use development plan, with a requirement that 30 percent of the units be affordable. Developers will be chosen by October for these projects, which will join other new developments nearing completion above the Petworth Metro station and the Georgia Commons. This is all in addition to the major overhaul planned for the Georgia Avenue Safeway, which will be rebuilt almost three times bigger and with underground parking.

The announcement for the Georgia Avenue development opportunities came at the same time as an announcement that the city is releasing $25 million for the design and construction of affordable housing in the city. -- by Tanya Snyder

ANC Notes

Ward 1
At the April 3 meeting of ANC 1B, the commission adopted a motion to draft a letter to Mayor Fenty and the DC Council advising them of the commission’s opposition to warrantless searches for guns that the Metropolitan Police Department is now conducting. 

At the April 2 meeting of ANC 1C, the commission:

• approved support for a bill regarding food labeling for restaurant chains and encouraged the council to bring it forward for public discussion;
  
• approved support for the Pedestrian Reinforcement Amendment Act of 2007 calling for an increase in fines for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk; and
• gave a grant to Reede Cook Neighborhood Association for the band at HD Cooke to go to an annual band performance, reported Commissioner Mindy Moretti.

At the April 2 meeting of ANC 1D, the commission:

• resolved that ANC1D advises the District Department of Transportation to follow through on the advice of the 2003 Columbia Heights/Mount Pleasant Traffic Study for a “grade separation” of 16th Street traffic at Harvard Street/Columbia Road;
  
• resolved that ANC1D advises the District Department of Parks and Recreation to provide advance notice to ANCs of plans to remove large trees in neighborhood parks;
  
• resolved that ANC1D advises the National Park Service to extend the weekend closure of
  Beach Drive until approximately sunset on Sunday evenings; and
  
• resolved that ANC1D advises the mayor and the council not to fund any reconstruction of Klingle Road entirely from District funds without federal funding support; and further, that the amount saved be employed for the support of low-cost housing in the District.

-- by Natasha Abbas

Ward 2

At the April meeting of ANC 2C, the commission:
heard a presentation from the developer of the property at 444 M St. NW, located in the Mount Vernon Square historic district
voted to support street closings necessary for the Army 10-mile race through downtown reported Commissioner Alex Padro.

At the April meeting of ANC 2F, the commission:

• voted to advise the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration to approve an application to grant a stipulated license for HR57, a jazz venue at 1610 14th St. NW.
  
• voted to send a letter to the Historic Preservation Review Board approving a concept for renovation for the property located at 14th and G streets, the former Federal American National Bank Building, to be used to house the Armenian Genocide Museum of America.
  
• voted to send a letter to the HPRB requesting more than the current 45-day advance notice to ANC’s on sites the HPRB will be reviewing so ANC’s have ample time to schedule meetings and vote on proposed projects
  
• voted to send a letter to the Board of Zoning Adjustment to request an appeal of the summary decision approving a renovation addition for the Morris and Clarke property at 1015 L St. NW. The request is based on concern from residents at Quincy Park Condos, located directly behind the site of the proposed extension, reported Cynthia Kota of ANC 2F.

-- by Natasha Abbas

Ward 4
At its April meeting, ANC 4C reminded residents about the Hazardous Waste Collection taking place April 26 at Carter Barron. The opportunity to properly dispose of hazardous materials and electronics was a bigger draw that expected – hundreds turned out with cars filled with disposables. They sat idling for hours as staff worked overtime to process all the drop-offs. Meanwhile, soccer games in the park were delayed because so many of the players were sitting in traffic jams caused by the hazmat drop-off.

The commission also voted to request that DDOT conduct a traffic calming study for the 500 and 600 blocks of Randolph Street; to support the Washington Central Parks petition to the National Capital Planning Commission to refrain from developing two zones of its plan “as mitigation for the impact of the remaining development”; and to support Friends of 16th Street’s efforts to restore the Upshur and Hamilton Parks to “safe proportions for children and community.” -- by Tanya Snyder

Ward 5
ANC 5C passed a unanimous resolution to support the redevelopment of the New York Avenue recreation center. A group of Ward 5 residents is pushing for funds from the city to rebuild the current center into a large multi-generational center with a range of activities.