Meeting Minutes
June 12, 2025, 7:30 pm
The meeting convened via Zoom at 7:34 PM with Commissioners Cohen, Graff, Hall, Mitchell, and Quinn in attendance.
Announcements / Open Forum– opportunity for members of the community to raise issues of concern or importance to the 3E neighborhood
Leigh Catherine Miles, Chief of Staff for Councilmember Matt Frumin stated the DC Water issued a precautionary boil water alert for parts of NW DC. Details about the alert can be found here: https://www.dcwater.com/about-dc-water/media/news/drinking-water-advisory-dc-water-issues-precautionary-boil-water-advisory . Miles also stated that the next Workday in the Ward will be on June 26 at Dolan Uyghur from 9 AM to 6 PM and the Council is in the middle of FY26 budget hearings. A full calendar of the budget meetings can be found on the Council website.
An attendee asked if we were going to do a resolution on the bottle bill. Commissioner Cohen stated that it is not on the agenda and the Commission can perhaps take the issue up in the July meeting.
An attendee invited residents to an in-person presentation on the new bus routes from the Better Bus Plan on June 24 at Blessed Sacrament from 7 PM to 9 PM. They also mentioned that the Friends of Bus Transit invited anyone interested in these issues to join their group.
Commissioner Quinn announced that we passed a resolution for the Chevy Chase Civic Site. ANC 3/4G is doing a survey to see where people sit on that issue and encouraged attendees to take the survey.
Tony Ciccone asked when the DDOT work on Mass Ave will be completed. Commissioner Cohen read that it may be done by tomorrow at the earliest.
Jason Millison, Director of Community Relations for AU, announced that the University will be taking part in the Palisades 4th of July Parade and this summer they will be hosting volleyball and summer camps. In the fall they will host a family concert and a movie night.
An attendee stated there is a homeless person occupying one of the benches by the new bioretention area at the corner of Wisconsin and Warren. He has been littering and is aggressive. Commissioner Cohen stated he will be meeting with Friendship Place and will bring this person to their attention. Noah Getz with Tenleytown Main Street said the homeless person is nonverbal, and he has been coordinating with Councilmember Frumin’s office to determine the right agency to support this person.
An attendee stated that they noticed yellow flags near their home just off of Wisconsin near Tenleytown and asked if anyone on the Commission knew what might be going on. Commissioner Quinn said residents should get advanced notice of any utility work and he can try to connect the resident to the agency that would be doing the work.
Presentation by 2nd District Police
Captain Darren Haskis stated that over the last 30 days there have been no violent crimes, four thefts from autos, and fourteen thefts. Year to date we have seen a 25% drop in violent crimes. Thefts and thefts from autos are up this year but are trending downward. Haskis also offered to help with the homeless person at the corner of Wisconsin and Warren. If anyone has questions or concerns, he can be reached at Darren.haskis@dc.gov.
An attendee asked a question about an alert about an assault that was sent out to the community and was later stated to be an unfounded report. Haskis stated he could not provide all of the details about the investigation, but it appears the robbery report was originally made by juveniles that were afraid to get in trouble.
Commissioners: had no questions
Deputy Mayor for Education Speaks on the Budget
Paul Kihn the Deputy Mayor for Education stated that last year the city was doing well. This year we had a $1B budget gap which was caused by Congress. DC managed to weather the FY25 budget mostly by accounting measures, cutting some non-personnel services, and implementing a hiring freeze. Moving forward, we face a shrinking federal government, and the DC CFO is predicting the DC budget will face a $1B shortfall over the next four years.
The Mayor is proposing to cut Initiative 82 and create a tax holiday for restaurants to encourage entertainment to grow. The city is also counting on growth in the tech sector growth and at the RFK football stadium, focusing on growth in SW and office building conversions at Gallery Place. The Mayor is proposing an increase in the education budget by $123M which includes increasing teacher salaries, high impact tutoring, and early childhood education. The Mayor is also proposing to hire more police officers, increasing salaries for 911 call takers, expanding curbside composting, and adding a swing shift or trash collection. The budget fully funds the housing production trust fund, modernizes six libraries and 22 rec centers and a new sports plex at the RFK site. The budget also invests in health and Medicaid costs, increasing, homeless services, $76M for roads and expanding bike lanes. In Ward 3 there is $51 million for MacArthur HS, Stoddert ES and Hardy MS and for adding bike lanes.
Attendees had no questions. Commissioners:
- Multiple Commissioners stated they opposed the land being given to the stadium for free. One Commissioner added that it wasn’t just the RFK Stadium deal they were upset about but also the money given to a billionaire to update the Capital One Arena.
- Noted that the transportation budget is mostly for repaving streets and there is very little for improving transportation.
- Two Commissioners were upset that the city is removing bike lane dividers along Arizona Ave because some people complained they were ugly and said they would like to see more bike lanes in our area.
- They want the Mayor to fully fund schools and prioritize education and health coverage.
- Stated they were upset about the city canceling the updates to Connecticut Ave plans.
- Asked if the budget hole is not fixed by Congress, what happens to the services that are cut and the hiring freeze. Kihn replied that the new budget would go into effect on October 1, the hiring will be unfrozen and any unused funds from FY25 would flow into the city’s reserves.
Discussion of and possible vote on resolution regarding application by Marv’s Dogs for a new Retailer’s Class D ABCA license with a sidewalk café and alcohol carry-out and delivery endorsements at 4934 Wisconsin Ave
Khalid Pills and Diane Gross are the proprietors of Marv’s Dogs, a Chicago-style hot dog joint. They own Cork Wine Bar in Spring Valley and their children attend GDS. They are asking for a license to sell wine and beer in bottles and cans; they would not have a bar. They would be open for lunch and dinner, and it would not be a late-night space. They first heard from Jon Bender last Friday about their application.
Commissioner Quinn stated that there were two conditions we were asking for – a limitation on outdoor hours to 11 pm during weekdays and midnight on weekends. Which they agreed to. The ANC is also asking them to address concerns about parking by customers and delivery services. Since we have not reached an agreement in advance of this meeting, we have a protest resolution that allows the Commissioners to continue to negotiate with the applicants and could be dropped before the hearing.
Attendees and Commissioners had no questions.
Commissioner Quinn moved, and Commissioner Hall seconded a motion to approve the draft protest resolution opposing Marv’s Dogs ABCA application. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0.
Presentation by Tenleytown Main Street regarding proposed public art installation in Tenleytown
Noah Getz stated that TMS is applying for DC Arts and Humanities Grant for a $150k grant to support a sculpture and they are asking ANC to write a letter of support. They have signatures from 25 community members that support this project. Davide Prete is an artist with architectural background and sits on the faculty at UDC. Prete stated that a public sculpture fits with the Wisconsin Avenue Development Framework. He stated they identified two potential locations: the triangle park on Wisconsin Ave at Veazey Street or Fessenden Park. He presented a few potential ideas that could bring color and life into the neighborhood. One showed interlocking metal rings that could be horizontal or vertical. Another would be a sculptural sign of the word Tenleytown that can be sat or climbed on. The third idea would be a circular sculpture that is combined with a climbing net. TMS is asking for a general letter of support and said they would work with the neighborhood later to narrow down the design.
Attendees had no questions. Commissioners stated that the 39th location is more visible but is close to traffic, they would like to see more of these art projects in the neighborhood, and they would like to see 39th St closed to expand the park and have more benches.
Commissioner Cohen moved, and Commissioner Hall seconded a motion to allow Commissioner Mitchell to draft of a letter in support of the public art installation. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0.
Discussion of and possible vote on resolution regarding proposed changes to alley lot regulations
Commissioner Hall stated that a developer tried to build a McMansion on an alley lot and were doing some creative interpretations of the zoning regulations. OP recently proposed amendments to the zoning regulations that make it easier for alley lots to be developed. Hall presented a rough draft of a resolution regarding OP’s proposal and said we are seeking community input. The resolution states that while we seek to increase housing, we have concerns about whether the changes being proposed would meet the goal of insuring housing is equitable and increases affordable housing in the District. The resolution also states that OP’s proposal does not have any consideration for installing sidewalks and notes that many alleys are in disrepair and are not accessible for the disabled.
Attendees had no questions or comments. Commissioners:
- Stated they do not have issues with developers creating market rate housing and said the issue with the last alley lot proposal was it was not consistent with our neighborhood. The new regulations would have alley lot houses conform more with current lot setbacks and lot occupancy and offered some suggestions to the draft resolution. There are 14 lots that might get built on in ANC3E.
- Stated that this issue has not been given a hearing date.
- Stated that under the current regulations, someone is more likely to build an ADU for rental and that would be more affordable to rent then a million-dollar home.
- They would like to have someone from OP speak about the proposal at the next meeting.
- Asked who owns the alley lots and where are they located. Hall stated they are largely privately owned and there are some lots that can be subdivided to create more alley lots.
Commissioner Cohen stated we are not going to vote on the draft resolution tonight and asked attendees to send their comments and suggestions.
Discussion of and possible vote on resolution regarding PUD application by Donahoe to build an apartment building on the back portion of the Fox 5 lot
Jad Donohoe described the project and showed renderings for the 4201 Garrison Street project. He stated the public benefits include 1/3 of units as affordable via the HANTA program, two of which would be 3-bedroom units; removal of the radio tower; a new alley to keep trucks off the street; LEED Silver design; solar panels and a green roof; bulb outs at the corner of 42nd and Garrison Street; a bike room and bike micro-mobility corral; and bocce courts in Fessenden Park.
Commissioner Quinn stated that he has a resolution that supports this project, and they are finalizing an MOU that they will ask to be incorporated in the zoning order. He noted there were a few corrections and typos to the resolution and listed what they were.
Attendees:
- Stated that Ward 3 WIN supports this project.
- Stated they thought there should have been one PUD between this project and the 5151 Wisconsin Ave.
- Said they support the affordable housing but noted that it’s because the city is giving them a tax abatement and the IZ is required. They noted IZ would have been at a deeper affordability than HANTA and thinks we should be asking for deeper affordability levels.
- They did not think removing the tower is an amenity as they need to remove it to do any development.
- Stated that part of this lot on Harrison Street was carved off for the 5151 Wisconsin Ave to allow for density on that project and they are asking to include parking for this project on the carved off portion of this lot. Chris Cohen replied that the six underground parking spaces require additional relief because they are outside the PUD boundary.
- Asked where they could find a copy of the MOU. Quinn said they got a draft of the MOU at 7:00 tonight and most of what is in it is in the draft resolution.
- Stated they strongly support the project, and this is the first HANTA project west of Rock Creek.
Commissioners said they like the design and thought the size is an appropriate transition between Wisconsin Ave and the single-family homes along 42nd Street and they like the affordable housing.
Commissioner Quinn moved, and Commissioner Hall seconded a motion to approve the amended draft resolution in support of the PUD application for 4201 Garrison Street. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0.
ANC Business
- Approval of May 2025 Meeting Minutes – Commissioner Cohen moved, and Commissioner Quinn seconded a motion to approve the draft May 2025 Meeting Minutes. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0.
- Approval of expenditures – Commissioner Quinn moved, and Commissioner Cohen seconded a motion to approve a payment of $410.00 to Sherry Cohen for administrative support and $160 to Sherry Cohen for reimbursement for web hosting expenses. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0.
The meeting was adjourned by acclimation at 9:51 pm.
ANC3E Jun 12 2025 Meeting Minutes – Final Signed