Meeting Minutes
September 17, 2018, 7:30 pm
The meeting convened at 7:38 PM. Commissioners Bender, Ehrhardt, Hall, McHugh and Quinn were in attendance.
Announcements / Open Forum – opportunity for members of the community to raise issues of concern or importance to the 3E neighborhood
An attendee complained about teenagers drinking, using drugs and vandalizing property in the alleys around 39thSt and Alton Pl. He believed the teenagers are students at Wilson High School. Another attendee added that her that neighbor’s car window was smashed on a Sunday afternoon. That attendee called the police but MPD was unable to take a report from her because she was not the owner of the vehicle.
Leigh Catherine Miles, Executive Director of Tenleytown Main Street (TMS), announced that the 3rd“Art All Night” will take place on Saturday, September 29 from 7pm to midnight. The event will showcase artists at 14 venues throughout the neighborhood including the Katzen Art Museum. Miles also announced the opening of Two Birds, a co-working and child care center at 4001 Brandywine St.
An attendee stated that there is a missing steel plate over a construction hole in the ground outside 4010 Chesapeake St.
Jessica Werthheim, the new the Ward 3 Liaison to the Mayor’s Office of Community Relations introduced herself.
Katie Mustian of the DCPS Community Action team introduced herself.
Presentation by 2nd District Police
Lt. Hill from the 2ndDistrict provided an update on crime in the area. Over the last 30 days there have been 76 crimes reported compared to 32 crimes during the same period last year, including one assault with a deadly weapon, 3 robberies, 2 burglaries, and a spree of 5 stolen autos. While 90% of stolen cars had a door left open and the key left in the car, Hill noted that someone was recently arrested in Montgomery County who was using a police scanner to read and mimic a car key fob. Hill urged car owners to update the software in their cars.
Attendees asked: if the stolen cars are fenced or stripped; what the police are doing given the increase in crime; what residents could do to prevent scanners from being used to read a key fob; about the security camera reimbursement program; about the problem reported during open forum of teenagers committing crime in the alleys around 39thSt and Alton Pl; what to do when neighbors report crimes to the neighborhood listservs; and if Lt. Hill could host a community meeting separately from the monthly ANC meeting to address the increase in crime.
Commissioners: asked for more information regarding an assault between a Chick-fil-A customer and an employee; thanked Hill for having officers clear illegally parked cars along Wisconsin Ave during rush hour and for having traffic enforcement at the intersection of River and Fessenden; asked for more information about the man that was killed in the Friendship Heights Metro Station; asked what kind of police presence MPD has in Tenleytown in the evenings; asked about curfew enforcements; noticed more patrols in the area and wanted to know if it was deliberate; and asked about Wilson homecoming.
Lt Hill can be contacted at alan.hill@dc.gov with any additional questions.
Presentation regarding Janney 5K and possible vote on letter in support thereof
Shari Berke, Co-Chair of the Janney 5K presented an overview of the event. The Janney 5K and Fun Run will be held on Saturday, November 17th at 9 am and will run the same, open-route race course as in years past. Streets will start to close at 8:30 and will re-open by 10:30. The city has new requirements for the organizers to post signs along the entire race route. They are also required to have dump trucks block some of the intersections. There will be a fee for the dump trucks and organizers are working to get a grant to pay for it. They are expecting 700 runners and 100 volunteers. Additional details can be found at the website: http://Janney5k.com. An attendee asked for more details about the race route. Commissioner Quinn had a question about notification of residents along the race route. Commissioner Bender moved, and Commissioner Hall seconded a motion to approve a letter supporting the event. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0.
Presentation of grant request by Lisner-Louise-Dickson-Hurt Home for support of Family Fun Day
Debbie Lyle, Development Coordinator for the Lisner-Louise-Dickson Hurt Home presented a grant request to support their annual Community Fun Fest day. The event is open to residents of the home, their families and the community. They are asking for a $1445.98 grant to help fund the art supplies for the event on October 28, 11 am – 2 pm. The event is co-hosted by Northwest Neighbors Village and Friendship Children’s Center. A vote on the request will be taken at the next ANC meeting.
Debbie Lyle, Development Coordinator for the Lisner-Louise-Dickson-Hurt Home presented a grant request to support their annual Community Fun Fest day. The event will take place on October 27, from 11 am to 2 pm and is open to residents of the home, their families and the community. It has a special emphasis on art activities and they are asking for a $1436.94 grant to help fund the art supplies for the event. The event is co-hosted by Northwest Neighbors Village and Friendship Children’s Center. Commissioner Bender noted that the Commission usually discourages the provision of grants over multiple years, but the ANC has been supporting the Fun Fest for many years. A vote on the request will be taken at the next ANC meeting.
Presentation of grant request by Tenleytown Main Street for support of WinterFest
Leigh Catherine Miles, Executive Director of Tenleytown Main Street (TMS) presented a grant request to support Tenleytown WinterFest, a week-long neighborhood festival that runs from November 23 through December 1. The event includes the winter market (a fundraiser for the Janney PTA), a scavenger hunt, movies and story times at local businesses, caroling, and window decorating for businesses. TMS is asking for $1,560 to pay for promotional materials including scavenger hunt maps and posters. Commissioner Bender stated that WinterFest is a valuable community event, but suggested that they try to find new sources for income for next year’s event, again citing the desire to avoid multi-year funding from and a dependence on the ANC given the ANC’s very limited budget. A vote on the request will be taken at the next ANC meeting.
Discussion of and possible vote on resolution regarding PUD application for Dancing Crab / Tenley Gastropub lots
The Commission is still negotiating with the applicant on traffic calming and public space issues. The applicant has asked for a postponement of their hearing so the item was removed from the agenda and will be considered next month.
Discussion of variance and special exception applications for an assisted living center and new church at the site of Wisconsin Ave Baptist Church
Chuck Heath, an architect with Heath Architecture began by noting they have adjusted the elevations of the building, added more detail to the Sunrise portion of the building and brought down the apparent height of the building. They also changed the design of the portion of the building designed to look like a church. There were questions and a discussion regarding the height calculations of the building.
Carolyn Brown, an attorney with Donohue & Stearns, noted that there were no changes to the zoning relief they will be requesting from the last meeting. Brown answered a list of questions that were asked at the last meeting.
Attendees asked: about noise calculations; for clarification of a chart Brown showed which displayed the maximum number of residents; which city agency would provide the license to Sunrise; questions about employee parking; if the noise study addressed noise from increased traffic in the area; if the noise study and occupancy charts included the church; if Communikids will be in the new facility; Pastor Lynn to host a community meeting without Sunrise; if Pastor Lynn will be renting out space and/or parking spaces to other organizations; about the calculations of the number of full-time and part-time employees; if personal care givers were included in the employee calculations; if there will be parking spaces for personal aides and visitors; how much of the retaining wall will be above ground; how traffic patterns in the neighborhood will change; for estimates of the number of visitors expected to Sunrise and to the church; if the traffic study included visitors to Sunrise; and how many spaces will be dedicated to the church on Sunday mornings. One attendee thought the 13-foot retaining wall was high compared to the 4-foot high wall that is allowed by right. Another attendee was concerned about damage to their homes during the construction and wanted to know what recourse there would be if damage occurred.
An attendee asked the Commissioners to consider whether it is appropriate to build a 4-story commercial building that will have 120 residents, 70 employees, 250 church members in an R-1-B neighborhood.
Commissioners: asked about pervious surface requirements and storm water runoff; stated that they would like them to go obtain LEED certification; thought their traffic mitigation was inadequate; stated he was finding the project less objectionable; asked about incentives for employees to use public transportation, asked what visitors would do if the lot was full; asked if they could put visitor parking requirements in the residency agreements; asked Pastor Lynn how they were planning to grow their congregation and raise their profile in the immediate community; asked how the Church was introduced to Sunrise; noted that if the lot were sold to another church, as a matter of right can build more on the lot without community and ANC input; thought that a 50% lot occupancy felt about right and was leaning against voting for this project; asked if other Sunrise facilities work with local schools to provide volunteer opportunities for students; asked if the church would provide space to the community when the church is not in use; asked for clarification on the number of trucks that would be delivering to the facility each week; noted that the Commission needs to vote on what is in front of us and not on what we hoped and that the BZA can still approve the project if the Commission objects to it; asked if Sunrise could use screw piles for the foundations to minimize vibrations; asked for an example of a construction plan; and stated that it is hard to see a 4-story building as extreme and it is hard to say we oppose elder care and a church without good cause.
ANC Business
- Approval of July 2018 meeting minutes – Commissioner Hall moved, and Commissioner Bender seconded a motion to approve the amended July 2018 Meeting Minutes. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0.
- Approval of expenditures – Commissioner Quinn moved, and Commissioner Bender seconded a motion to approve payments of $312.50 to Sherry Cohen for administrative support, $13.56 to FedEx Office for copying services and $ 519.18 as a reimbursement to Commissioner Jonathan McHugh for 2 years of Mix LR and and for a microphone. The expenditures were approved 5-0-0.
- Approval of budget – Commissioner Bender moved, and Commissioner McHugh seconded a motion to approve the 2019 budget. The budget was approved 5-0-0.
The meeting was adjourned by acclimation at 11:54 PM.