Future Uses for Hine Considered
Ken Jarboe (6B05) asked commissioners to “start the conversation” on future uses for the Hine Middle School, after it closes to students in June. As part of a DCPS reorganization initiative, Hine students will be consolidated into Eliot Middle School, in Northeast, beginning in the fall of 2008. The school building at 7th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, adjacent to the temporary Eastern Market, will be vacant beginning this summer.

Without attempting to pre-determine what should go on the site, the ANC stated its expectation for a planning process that includes community input. The Hine building, according to the unanimously approved resolution, is “in the heart of the Capitol Hill neighborhood” and any future use of the site must “match the scale and character” of the neighborhood.

Discussion focused on understanding that the “neighborhood includes all four sides” of the property – 660 Pennsylvania and Seventh Street shops to the west, Eastern Market to the north, row houses on Eighth Street, and the Metro station to the south. David Garrison (6B01) stressed the need for transit-smart planning. Neil Glick (6B08) offered a friendly amendment asking that any plans for the property “provide a community amenity,” broadly defined.

Performance Parking Endorsed
The full ANC unanimously ratified a Jan. 29 Executive Committee resolution in support of Councilmember Tommy Wells' Performance Parking Plan. Passed in advance of a late January DC Council hearing, the resolution endorses, with some concerns, a pilot curbside parking program for an area extending from Southwest to Barracks Row. On the ANC's behalf, Garrison had testified to the Council's Committee on Public Works, conveying “support for the principles embodied” in the proposal, along with the following concerns:

Success of the plan depends on a “significant increase in the level of enforcement of the revised RPP [residential parking permit] rules on a permanent, ongoing basis (not just related to baseball game days and evenings).”

A permanent guest pass system allowing residences to entertain visitors is essential.

Procedures must be established for churches to conduct their activities “without resort to measures that unreasonably restrict the ability of residents to park near their homes.”

The City Council and the Mayor must be committed – through the language of the bill – to evaluation of the pilot area and the blocks adjacent to it, “from the day the new program begins,” and must “work closely with the affected neighborhoods and their ANCs to refine and modify the terms and geography of this pilot program.”

Nightclub License Opposed
Pacific Cafe and Grill, 1129 Penn. Ave., SE, is requesting an entertainment endorsement to its liquor license, a change which would allow occasional dancing, collecting a cover charge, and other activities consistent with operation of a night club.

The Alcohol Beverage Committee reported that the restaurant itself is well-received in the neighborhood and rarely engenders complaint. A second floor extension of the business, however, is opposed by neighbors due to problems with late hours, noise, and trash. Committee Chair Mary Wright (6B02), along with neighbors who appeared in opposition to the license endorsement, noted that the owner has consistently ignored concerns. (He was not present at the committee or full commission meetings in February.) In addition, Wright said advertising the “Red Door Gallery and Lounge” independently from the restaurant is in direct violation of Pacific Cafe's 2003 voluntary agreement.

The commission voted 9-0 with one abstention, supporting the committee's recommendation against the license endorsement. Based on comment from community members, the committee's report was amended to note “adverse impact on property values” as an additional consequence of the nightclub operation.

Beyond refusing to support the entertainment endorsement, the ANC has already protested renewal of Pacific Cafe's liquor license, due to on-going violations of the voluntary agreement. Wright reported that mandatory mediation has failed and a hearing is expected.

Residential Renovations Supported
The ANC considered two residential projects: one historic preservation case, (#08-131) a two-story rear addition at 1107 D St., SE; and one zoning case, (#17734), a two-story rear addition at 326 D St., SE.

The addition at 326 D St. received unanimous support.

The neighbor to the west of 1107 D St. appeared in objection to the project, arguing that she had not seen updated plans and feared the addition would block some of her light. The neighbor to the east argued that the property in question had been vacant for several years and that the renovation would be a “betterment to the block.” In a vote of 9-1, the ANC followed the committee recommendation supporting the historical preservation application, with Glick voting in opposition based on the near neighbor's objection.

The ANC meets at 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE (the Old Naval Hospital). The next meeting is March 11.