RSS FeedDowntown Neighborhood Association – Meeting Notes for 6/12/07
Last night’s DNA meeting brought about 35-40 Penn Quarter residents to the Naval Heritage Center.
Here are some highlights:
Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans served as the night’s featured guest speaker.
– Evans discussed a number of tax issues. Currently, yearly tax increases for residential property are capped at 10%. Evans is hoping to pass legislation to reduce that down to 5%. He also noted that there is no cap on commercial property taxes – hence the problem we’re having with getting non-chain stores to come in, and stay in, to the expensive downtown area, since the Starbucks-type companies can afford the high rents. He did not have an immediate solution, but recognizes the problem and welcomes input.
Evans also addressed some quality-of-life issues from the audience:
– Residents of the 1150 K condominium expressed their concerns about the problems brought by the homeless shelter in the former Franklin School at 13th and K. They stated that many residents of the shelter discard food in the historic Franklin Square Park across the street and act in a menacing way, and that rats and personal safety have thus become significant problems. Evans discussed the long and troubled history of the Franklin School shelter and stated that there have long been competing views in the Council, Mayor’s office, activists, and community as to what to do with the shelter – close it, keep it open and refurbish it, or leave it as is. Evans stated that the executive branch (the Mayor), not the legislative branch, has the power to make that decision. He suggested we raise this concern to Mayor Fenty.
– A resident of 6th Street complained that many buses running the Chinatown-to-Chinatown (DC-NYC) route are idling/running their engines at all hours of the day and night on H and I Streets near 6th, monopolizing the sidewalks to queue up long lines of riders, and attracting an unsavory and possible dangerous group of people. Evans said he had not heard of this problem and resolved to look into it.
– Noise levels continue to be a problem for many residents. Attendees generally agreed that the problem is not classic “city noise” like people, buses and sirens, which is part of the vibrant streetscape that attracted many of us to living here, but rather amplified noise and the infamous bucket drummers. There is pending legislation in the DC City Council, introduced by Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells, to strengthen and clarify existing noise restrictions. Evans and meeting attendees discussed the legislation and whether it would actually achieve its goals – which was not entirely clear. Evans encouraged residents to testify before the Council on the legislation.
Evans’ appearance was not the most dramatic of the evening – in a Perry Mason-like turn, a surprise guest at the back of the room appeared. He identified himself as John Viglianti, EVP for development at Western (who, with Akridge, developed and own Gallery Place). He explained the developer’s plans to put up 3 large video screens at the corner of 7th & H, on that round turret-like protrusion above the Metro entrance. They would broadcast ads and possibly encompass an audio component. This raised major worries from attendees – especially because it was unclear exactly how all this would work. Would the screens be blasting commercials 24-7? Would their images cause an unsafe distraction for drivers and pedestrians? Viglianti asserted that he would “turn the speakers off” if residents found them too loud, but it is unclear how that would work (would the advertising contracts include a provision for audio “unless residents complain” ?). Viglianti asserted that he would be happy to meet with residents of Gallery Place about the project and listen to their input. This blogger has no doubts the GP residents will hold him to that. Stay tuned.
– Representatives of Cool Capital discussed their grassroots organization’s goal – to reduce the carbon footprint of Washington. They expressed their desire to work with the DNA and individual condominiums to plan energy-saving techniques – which would also have the benefit of reducing our buildings’ utility bills and helping keep our condo fees down! (Speaking of which, has everyone switched to those fabulous energy-saving fluorescent bulbs??)
– DNA President Miles Groves gave updates as to the grocery store saga (discussed in GPLiving’s previous post), which is stalled, as well as the Reeves Bakery issue. Miles has met with the Reeves people and offered the DNA’s support to help the bakery find suitable property to lease in our area. Keep your fingers crossed for hot cross buns – or at least Reeves’ pies and cakes – in Penn Quarter soon!
– We have a new Metropolitan Police Department representative for our neighborhood – Sgt. Terri Alexander. Her email is terri.alexander@dc.gov and her phone number is (202) 698-0355. (A list of other contacts for our neighborhood compiled by the DNA is here.)
– As attendees left, coupons to Gifford’s Ice Cream (buy a cone, get one free!) were handed out. There’s often a benefit to staying till the end!
Thanks as always to the DNA President and Board for organizing the meeting.
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Comments
Public video screens? With audio? So not only do we get air pollution from idling busses, but we get visual and aural pollution as well. Wonderful.
I’m a bit confused on the commercial property tax issue. Do the lessees (Starbucks, Pua, etc.) pay this tax, or is it the landlords? Seems odd that landlords would be able to immediately pass the tax on to tenants, so I’m not clear on how that keeps locally-owned small businesses out of downtown spaces.
6:36, The landlords pay the tax but pass the higher cost onto their tenets through increases in rent.
FYI
The Chinatown Bus is not new. It is new only to you. It has been here in Chinatown for 20 years. If you want a sterile street then I suggest you move back to Oakton. Why do you hate the Chinatown Bus? Do you have shares in Peter Pan?
Diane: The post says that the idling bus issue is apparently new to Jack Evans, not the resident..
Also, the same problem has been identified before with tourist buses idling in front of the lincoln theater.
Anyway, hope you’ve found a paper bag to ventilate into by now.
The unregulated busses that use the streets in the Chinatown section of Downtown and other parts of the district use public space as if it were private space. They have poor safety record, park and idle in front of residential buildings and local businesses, and block the sidewalks with crowds waiting to enter. Many are not handicapp accessible. For years when this has been the subject of local PSA meetings, we have heard how the police cannot do anything about their transgressions because the District does not regulate them. Last night at the ANC2C meeting we learned that MPD and DDOT can enforce existing laws, but have failed to do so. So, my question is, why have the Chinatown Busses received preferential treatment and free use of public space for 20 years? Why don’t they have their own terminals? Why is it ok for them to park and idle in front of residential buildings?
The suggestion that people move to the suburbs if they have an issue with noise or other disturbances is getting old.
Re: locally-owned small businesses
How many small businesses do you know have the political “pull” to get tax breaks? As long as big developers get tax breaks and the city looks the other way about vacant properties and corruption, small businesses do not have a chance.
At least six Chinatown bus companies operate in DC. Hundreds of arrivals and departures occur each week.
The District of Columbia government performs little or
no oversight despite
on-going, credible evidence of:
* Frequent, sometimes fatal, traffic accidents;
* Discrimination against the handicapped;
* Double parking;
* Unlawful use of loading zones;
* Violations of municipal environmental regulations;
* Abuse of public space laws; and
* Interference with legitimate businesses.
Not every curbside bus company is unsafe, but there do appear to be serious problems with several of the companies in the District.
Why won’t the District government uphold its own laws?
As a resident of the Residences at Gallery Place, and w/ an apartment right on the corner of 7th and H, I’m very concerned about these video/audio screens. So I called John Viglianti at Western Development to ask about them. He said that they’ve submitted permits, which they expect to have approved by the end of the month, and then it’ll take about 100 days to get the screens, putting installation around October. He said he expected the audio component to be during normal business hours, but noted that a lot of bars and restaurants in the area are open until 12 or 1am. He emphasized that the speakers would be down, under the “roof” thing by the metro escalators, which should reduce the noise. As for volume, he said that they are restricted by the DC code (I can’t remember what the decibel level he quoted was, but I think maybe 75?), and that they’d be willing to reduce the sound if residents complained. However, the emphasis was more on the DC code restriction and placement of the speakers, and the acknowledgment that they’d reduce the noise volumes wasn’t very assuring.
I’m new to involvement in civic affairs. Other than bugging Mr. Viglianti, what other measures could I take?
So funny the Chinatown Bus should come up. My friend just pointed out this article in New York Magazine to me Wednesday morning. Enjoy!
That would be a most excellent policy of banishing “move to the suburbs” comments, because they aren’t comments at all. They’re vacuous remarks when people can’t come up with good arguments to support their thinking.
This nonsense that living in the city means we should surrender all claims to quality living is also getting old.
Oh, btw, the ‘burbs aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Thia may come as a shock to some, but the suburbs also have crime (Gasp!), homeless people, panhandlers, corrupt officials, choked traffic, pollution and more.
They also have police who are not so nice sometimes, such as when Fairfax dispatched a SWAT team (where’s the Dept. of Homeland Security when you need ’em?) to arrest an optometrist, then “unintentially” shot and killed him. His crime? Placing sports bets from his townhouse. (“Report Released on 2006 Unintentional Fatal Shooting,” Washington Post, Jan. 12, 2007)
I guess if people in the suburbs don’t like this stuff then they should move to the city.
I agree with the last comment. However, I would highlight Prince Georges over Fairfax County. PGC contains many ‘burbs and is riddled with crime, poverty, homeless people and a general disregard for human values and life.
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Thank you so much for posting this. I was hoping to attend, but wasn’t able to make it.