ANC 2F Wrap-Up

There was a decent crowd, despite the monsoon outside. Have fun!

A quorum of 3 is present. The small quorum is because of the resignation of several of the commissioners. Present are: Chris Dyer, Charles Reed, Mike Benardo

Announcments

• Joe Freeman, Director of Operations to Tender Loving Care. They have been acquired by Amedisys. Located at 1212 New York Avenue.


• I announced the LCCA June Newsletter, and the change of venue for the June Picnic from Pepco Park to Hotel Helix.

Crime Report

Officer Caron

• Spike in violence - mostly focused in 5D area. Issues are starting over informal craps games. Vice is working on catching them in-the-act. Be on the lookout for this kind of behavior.


• Mike Benardo asked about issues behind Shiloh Baptist around 3am. Officer Caron will be looking into it.


• A citizen asked about about all the buses and motorcades. It's related to the Israeli Prime Minister, and the presidential candidates being in the area.


• Mike Grady asked about the inagural ball security zones, which will be an upcoming concern during election year. You'll need ID to make sure you lived on a block.


• I asked about the home invasions. A guy was caught last week in Adams Morgan; he broke into a house occupied by two former Marines. Could be one of the culprits. No other major trends there.

Committee on Crime & Public

• Chairman Reed will be meeting with Councilmember Mendelson to allow ANCs to be considered victims for the purposes of allocution, as a matter of law.

EOM Report

Abbey Peterson

• Dumpster at 14th & P will be getting tickets for its nastiness.


• Helen Kramer has been working with EOM and Mike Smith on a prostitution house.


• Commisioner Dyer looked into the parking and right turn restrictions on K Street. He talked with the MPD Prostitution unit, and they still make arresets around there, and don't want to give up that tool.

DDOT Report

Chris Ziemann

• A public meeting open house has been scheduled for how the 15th Street reconfiguration should go. Thursday, June 19th, 6-8pm, at the 15th St. Presbyterian Church (15th & R)


• Chairman Reed raised a question about the re-paving of Kingman Street, which needs to be done after the re-work of Q Street. DDOT has said it's not on the schedule for at least two years, despite the fact that DDOT is currently doing major work there. Chairman Reed would like to see it re-paved entirely, rather than just patched.


• I asked about Smart Bike rack on Rhode Island, which is in total disarray. Chris says the program should be going by the end of the month.

ABRA Matters

• Izalco Voluntary Agreement - Moved and seconded to approve the voluntary agreement. Some minor non-material issues were resolved. Motion carried.


• CulinAerie was deferred until next meeting, at their request.


• Toscana West and Geisha are requested the ABC for substantial changes to their license. Since they're in the business district, and having heard no complaints from any residents about their operations, the ANC chose not to act.


• Vegas Lounge - Negotiations are under way with them, with Cooper Lewis condominiums as a party, for a voluntary agreement. Chairman Reed is confidant one will be reached, and should be presented at the next meeting.


• HR-57 - The voluntary agreement was accepted by ABRA.


• Single Sales Ban - Is Logan Circle in favor of the single sales ban? Chairman Reed asked the matter to be deferred until the next meeting, when more commissioners would be present.


• Stoney's - Their sidewalk cafe is probably illegal, there have been serious allegations of illegal construction, and there have been reports of patrons drinking beer on the curb outside of the establishment. Chairman Reed will be investigating, and will speak with the owner. Expect to see this coming up again soon.

CDC Report

• Everything on the consent calendar was approved.

New Business

• Dustin Cole was appointed as delgate to SMD 2F05.


• Morrison Clark hearing - The BZA denied the re-hearing, but did re-consider the motion. They passed it again, and Chairman Reed feels they failed to consider all the issues raised; he wants the ANC to agree to another request for re-consideration. Chairman Reed also feels that the level of proof required of the ANCs by the BZA is inappropriate for the type of organization an ANC is. Chairman Reed moved; Commisioner Dyer seconded; passed unanimously.


• Stephen Calcott from HPRB stopped by. He is the primary project reviewer for the Logan Circle neighborhood. Chairman Reed chided him for his mis-speaking that HPRB recommends that applicatants seek input from the ANC, as the ANC act requires the HPRB to seek input from the ANCs. Mr. Calcott agreed, but noted that the laws for HPRB and the ANC are somewhat contradictory, thus leading to some confusion there. In general, all sides agreed that the relationship between the ANC and HPRB is a very good one.


• Zip Car - Ellice Pérez from ZipCar was on hand. Chairman Reed noted that, when the ANC advised DDOT to approve their application for public space at 14th and Corcoran, that they would provide screening of the lot from the street, via vegetation or some other means, to help make what is otherwise just a nasty parking lot more beautiful. This hasn't been done. Ms. Pérez noted that, after speaking with Casey Trees, the original plan to plant trees was abandoned, as the site is an old gas station with some serious environmental problems. Chairman Reed suggested they hire a landscape architect, and offered to provide some names. Also, Chairman Reed noted that the church across the street was hoping to use some of their parking spaces on Sundays, but it was explained that that is infeasible due to how ZipCar works. Also, Chairman Reed noted that the issue of parking was likely going to cause pressure to have their public space street permits revoked, and Commissioner Dyer made an impassioned argument against that idea.


• Vacant Wading Pool - The wading pool at 11th & R has been a hazard for quite some time. The ANC voted to send a letter to Clark Ray at the Department of Parks & Recreation requesting that it be removed.

ANC 2F Wrap-Up

I missed last months ANC meeting, but the wrap-up is back! Enjoy!

Update: Mark Bjorge informed me that I incorrectly had him listed as no longer serving in Ward 2. Fix made. Sorry about that!

Announcments

• Lima Restaurant, located around 14th and K, has offered a free meal to members of the community.


• The Vegas Lounge liquer license, which the ANC protested, is up at the roll call hearing on March 12th.


• The DC Council is holding oversight hearings. ANC 2F is up on March 11th. Chariman Reed is looking for suggestions or comments regarding the ANC structure, duties, and operations. Do you like the ANCs? Hate them? Here's your chance to say so!


• A SmartBike kiosk will be installed on Rhode Island Avenue, just west of 14th Street.


• The Source Theater renovations are on-going. The black-box theater will remain, and they are also adding a rehearsal space and arts studio. They are trying to raise money for the work, and have currently raised $2.1 million of their $3.5 million goal. They will be holding the Source Festival this June, with various theater-related activities. Every Monday in April, they will be doing hard-hate tours.


• The Logan Circle Community Association March meeting will be held next Wednesday, March 12th, at the Washington Plaza Hotel.

Crime Report

Lt. Smith was on-hand to report.

• Overall 13% drop in crime for the year. Rough start of the year, but things got much better as the year progressed.


• Lower crime rate means fewer personelle. PSA 307 was down to only 13 officers, where we were supposed to have 28-29.


• Derek Green was sentenced. Charged as an adult. Convicted of armed robbery at 916 N Street.


• Sex offender notification: 1425 N Street. Sex with a minor.


• GPS units are getting stolen left and right. DON'T LEAVE THEM IN YOUR CAR!


• PSA 307 has lowest number of robberies.


• Church parking: The department is ticketing public safety hazards (fire hydrants, crosswalks, etc.), and for complaints from residents who are parked in. Sixteen tickets were issued on March 2nd.


• An illegal fetish club has opened at 916 Blagden Alley. Lt. Smith wrote $15,000 worth of traffic tickets, and has contacted DCRA for license investigation. Google "dxs rapture" for more information.


• Charles has informed Mike that the residents of the housing at 1400 R Street are complaining of break-ins and vandalism. The ANC supported the takeover of that housing, and Charles thinks that the developer may need to get some better security in there.

Executive Officer of the Mayor

Abbey Peterson has replaced Joe Martin and Mark Bjorge, who is now serving in his own ward. She lives in the neighborhood, specifically in ANC 2F03.

DDOT Report

Chris Zeeman was absent.

• Charles reports that he has been told that paving may start on Q Street tomorrow.

DDOT Matters

• AYT Auto Service, 1630 14th Street - The auto service is looking to open an auto service training center above their store. They are currently waiting for approval of their education license. There is no request for action, but Charles suggests asking for a recommendation from the ANC to the appropriate authority to approve their license. It's turned down, since the process is almost complete.


• Street Closures - Approval letters from last month have not yet been sent. Various street closures were all approved.

Crime and Public Safety Committee

No report. There is a meeting of the committee on March 12th. However, Lt. Smith and Chariman Reed are concerned about the lack of cooperation between the US Attorney's office in regard to prosecuting cases.

ABRA Matters

• Lima, Public Space Application for a Sidewalk Cafe - Already have a sidewalk cafe, but there was a technical problem with the old license. The ANC approved the old version two years ago, but they are here looking for a do-over to correct the problem. There is no voluntary agreement, but since it's not in a residental area, and there have been no significant other issues. Approved unanimously.


• Izalco, Application for an Entertainment Endorsement - No representative from Izalco is present. However, Chariman Reed circulated a re-draft of the Voluntary Agreement originally proposed in February. No action was taken tonight, but the new agreement requires a beefed-up security presence, a log of complaints, and provides for a stop-clause to their entertainment license if there are three or more complaints in a three-month period. The Chairman believes this is one of the strongest Voluntary Agreements ever proposed by the ANC, since there are consistently so many problems and complaints about the establishment.


• Olley's Trolley - I'm not sure what the deal is here. But it was unanimously approved.


• HR-57, Liquor License Renewal - Negotiations are complete. This is another fairly strong agreement. However, Chairman Reed solicted input from the community, but received no complaints from any direct neighbors of the establishment. One clause, however, is that they cannot serve liquor at their sidewalk cafe without food present. Unanimously approved.


• Veranda, Complaints - Resident David Berger (1400 block of 11th Street) spoke: On October 4th, a large exhaust fan was installed next to his patio, and when on produces a lot of noise and awful restaurant smell into his home. He asked for help from the ANC for relief. The Voluntary Agreement with Veranda clearly prohibits that odor and noise from exhaust fans, including on patio areas. The Pegasus Condominium Association (where Mr. Berger lives) is also a party to the Voluntary Agreement. Commissioner Dyer moves that the ANC writes a letter to Veranda, informing them that they are in violation of their Voluntary Agreement, and demanding response within 10 days, or steps to begin a Show Cause hearing will be taken. Passed unanimously.

Other Business

• Chariman Reed motions to send a letter to Mayor Fenty expressing the ANC's gratitude for the service of Joe Martin and Mark Bjorge for their excellent service.

ANC 2F Wrap-Up

The January meeting of ANC 2F was held on Wednesday, and your's truly was there for the whole proceedings. While not quite the super-speedy affair that was last month's meeting, Wednesday's meeting came in at just about an hour-and-a-half. Not bad!

Announcements

• The ANC commissioners elected their officers for 2008. The election was done by acclimation, yielding the same officer positions as the close of 2007.


• Chairman Reed wanted everyone to know that he has received a plethora of information on free in-home Radon testing, which is being conducted by the DC Government. If you'd like more information, let him know.


• Greg Cassou (sp?) came by to talk about dog parks in the city. He's looking for good locations for dog parks in the area, and is looking to get the ANC involved in the process - as it seems most of the decisions on the matter are being delegated to the neighborhoods and community. Four sites are being considered, including Bundy Field at 5th & P, Kennedy Field, and part of the playground at Garrison Elementary. Those are all existing dog owner hang-outs, so would be a natural fit for being blessed officially.

Neighborhood Services

Mark Bjorge was on hand to give a neighborhood services report. Joe Martin was over at the Dupont ANC meeting.

• There are some problems at 1107 11th Street. The building has been shut down due to lack of potable water, and some twenty people evicted from the property. They have claims on tenancy, and are being placed in hotels by the DC Government pending resolution of their concerns. The building's owner went bankrupt, apparantly, and the building is likely to be condemned.


• Mark got a stop signed placed in the alley between 13th and 14th Street. (Somewhere. I'm not sure where...)


• A community member asked about the illegal gate on the alley on 10th Street. While either DDOT has jurisdiction to remove it, Mark suggested working with FEMS to have it removed, as he thinks it's probably blocking safe egress from some of the buildings there.


• Mark was also asked about the on-going saga of the bus stop on P & 14th. Several commuinity members, especially those from the Cooper-Lewis condominiums, have been trying to get it moved back across to the east side of 14th Street, next to the Studio Theater. They've been making no progress, though, and appealed to Mark to get the wheels un-stuck. Mark said he'd bump this up on some issue lists, to try and get things moving.

Crime Report

Lt. Smith gave the crime report, mostly a year-end summary of 2007.

• PSA 307 had an overall 13% reduction in crime for 2007. Nice work!


• There were a total of three homicides in the PSA for 2007. Two of those have been closed, but one is remaining open. It seems they "know who did it", but are going to have a hard time proving it, so it may never close. The victim was allegedly beaten to death by his wife, having a blood-alcohol level of .60 (WOW!!) at the time.


• Juveniles committing crimes continued to be a problem. The force and the AG are working to prosecute juveniles involved in violent or gun crimes as adults.


• I asked Lt. Smith about ShotSpotter, and whether it will be coming to the PSA. He said he doubted it would be coming here directly, because we seem to have relatively little need for it; but it would be coming to PSA 308 (where they clearly have some major problems), and that the areas would overlap significantly with the east side of PSA 307. Since that's where most of our problems are, anyway, it works out pretty well.

ABRA Matters

• The protest hearings for Vegas Lounge and Be Bar have been rescheduled. (The ANC decided last month to protest, based on community feedback.)


• Tony from HR-57 was at the meeting to inform the ANC of his intention to seek an application for a sidewalk café and an entertainment endorsement, changing the license from a DR (beer & wine only) to a CR (full bar). The matter was referred to Chairman Reed and Commissioner Richardson for negotiation of a voluntary agreement, for later approval.


• The ANC is looking to protest the liquor license of EL Sauce, located at 1227 11th Street, and are looking to talk to some neighbors and community members who may have complaints about the establishment. Lt. Smith mentioned that the location is a frequent hangout for MS-13 gang members, and has seen more than its fair share of crime related to their activity. He suggested that the ANC make the hiring of a reputable security guard firm a requirement of any voluntary agreement that may be reached.

DDOT Report

Chris Ziemann from DDOT came to make a report.

• The next 14th Street Transportation and Streetscape meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, February 19th at 6:30 pm, at the Studio Theater. This will be the meeting where the study makes its recommendations, and invites the community to provide feedback on them.


• The traffic analysis of the various potential redesigns of 15th Street have been completed. Chris said that they should be posted on the DDOT web site soon, but that none of the alternatives significantly reduce the traffic flow through the neighborhood.

Building at 9th and Naylor Court

A renovation and expansion of a building fronting 9th Street and Naylor Court was discussed. It's being converted into a mixed-use property, with retail, offices, and residential. The ANC voted to recommend the approval of the design, concept, and massing of the property. (Sorry I don't have more details - I missed part of this presentation.)

ANC 2F Wrap-Up

The ANC 2F meeting tonight may have set a new speed record, finishing some forty minutes early, despite stalling for time to make quorum. Here's the wrap-up:

Announcements

• The ANC Commissioners held their retreat between the last meeting and tonight, and are planning on addressing the following items in upcoming months:
  
  
  
  • A revision of the goals statement, which is some four or five years old now;
  
  
  • An investigation into the Arts Overlay, which has beguiled everyone with questions as to its scope and enforcement;
  
  
  • The crafting of a policy for communications with DDOT over street closures, as many times they just seem to pop up out of nowhere;
  
  
  • Creation of a better way of notifying the community of meetings, and distributing agendas; and
  
  
  • A survey of problem buildings and properties in the ANC.
  
  
  
  


• The 14th Street Transportation and Streetscape study delivered its finding on existing conditions to the ANC.


• The LCCA Holiday House Tour was this past weekend, and was a great success. Thanks to everyone involved!

Crime Report

Lt. Smith was back from his vacation, and on hand to give us a crime report for PSA 307.

• PSA 307 is leading all of the Third District in over reduction in crime since the summer. Lt. Smith attributes this to several key arrests of repeat offenders.


• A registered sex offender is working on 15th Street; his picture was distributed, as per the sex offender registration laws.

Also on hand was U.S. District Attorney Roger Kemp, who was on-hand to answer some questions he had received by email about some cases his office is handling:

• The infamous Gregory Teal is being held without bond, pending a trial on January 23, 2008. His case is assigned to supervisor Ronda Redwood.


• Three of the offenders involved in the recent home invasions (from December, 2006, I believe), have been sentenced, or are awaiting sentencing. I think he said one of the got 13 years. (I apologize for the confusion, there was a lot of information flying around, and some conversation.)

Neighborhood Services

Joe Martin and Mark Bjorge were on hand from the Mayor's Office. They discussed several things:

• The area around 9th Street, 10th Street, Rhode Island Avenue, and Columbia Street where having intermittent gas outages. Washington Gas is looking to identify all reports of these problems in the area, so they can determine how widespread it is, to determine how much pipeline they'll need to fix. If you know anyone whose heat is going out unexpectedly, please contact Joe Martin as soon as possible!


• The buildings on 14th Street are still being gutted. To answer a question I had last time: It's not entirely clear what's being done on the property, other than tearing out non-load-bearing walls, and possibly putting in some new housing units. A question was asked if the unit would be assessed back taxes for vacant properties, but Mark didn't know. Both buildings are under historic preservation, but the one at 1316 has been referred to the Board of Condemnation - but hopefully just to get some serious problems fixed, not to have it razed.


• Joe said that the awful bus shelter on the southwest corner of P and 14th is definitely going to be torn out, and not replaced with another shelter.

DDOT Matters

The only item here was 1101 K Street NW, seeking an outdoor sidewalk cafe. They weren't present, so this item was skipped.

ABRA Matters

• The ANC is going to be doing a revision of its ABC policies, which currently date to 2003, and they are seeking volunteers from the community to help. Drop them a line if you're interested.


• Ollie's Trolley - Ollie's Trolley is seeking some sort of change to their Voluntary Agreement. I'm not sure what change, but part of it is that they want to have the neighboring properties dropped from the official agreement, because they are unable to be located, or unwilling to negotiate anything at all. The ANC voted to approve the VA with the removed names, and to assert their status as the primary party of interest to ABRA.


• Liquor License Renewals - The renewal of the licenses for several establishments was on the table. None were protested, except for two.
  
  
  
  • Vegas Lounge - They have no Voluntary Agreement with the ANC, as they've been around for some 34 years. However, neighbors in the new Cooper Lewis building have complained of noise and problems. The ANC will protest the renewal, with the expectation it will be withdrawn pending a successful Voluntary Agreement negotiation. The negotiation will be spearheaded by Charles Reed, in whose SMD they operate.
  
  
  • Be Bar - There have been complaints from neighbors about the late closing hours on Sunday night. The ANC will protest the renewal, with the expectation it will be withdrawn pending a successful negotiation of an amendment to their Voluntary Agreement relating to their Sunday hours. The negotiation will be lead by Mike Benardo, in whose SMD they operate.
  
  
  
  

CDC

The Community Development Committee met the week before, and all of their recommendations were approved by the full ANC.

• Hotel Washington - They are adding some new air handling units to the roof, and the new units do not comply with the setback requirements with respect to the walls facing their interior courtyard. The CDC recommended the ANC support a variance to those requirements.


• Central Union Mission Condos - The developers were seeking a variance on the lot coverage requirements, since they will be beyond the allowed coverage. However, during their construction, they will actually be reducing the coverage from its present amount. They also sought a variance to allow for two different roof heights on the mechanical penthouses, which is necessary because of the differing roof heights of the development. The CDC recommended that the ANC support both variances.


• Down-zoning - A group of citizens were working to have an area of NE Dupont and a small contiguous section of our ANC down-zoned, to be more in accordance with the actual property usage. The CDC recommended that the ANC support the request.

Public Art

A guy named Jason Clark was on hand to make a presentation to the ANC about a public art project he's trying to win a grant for. The piece is a metal tree, made from materials recycled from buildings torn down around the neighborhood. The trunk is iron, and will rust into a tree-trunk-ish brown, and the leaves are copper, which will patina into a nice leaf-ish green. Overall, it looks really cool, and he was looking for a letter from the ANC in support of his grant.

The ANC asked him to come back when he had a more specific location in mind, and he promised to do so. He also put out a call to the neighbors for ideas as to a good location. Feel free to put them in the comments - he has my card, so hopefully he'll get in touch with me.

And that's it!

ANC 2F Wrap-Up

Last night's ANC 2F meeting was a real humdinger! Okay, maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but here are the high points for those of you who couldn't make it:

Community Announcements

• DCCA is trying to have portions of Q Street zoned down, and part of that they want re-zoned extends into our ANC. They dropped off some information for the ANC. I'm guessing we'll be hearing more about this soon.


• Mr. Barnes, from ROOT (Reaching Out to Others Together), Inc., stopped by to let us know that he is holding some monthly meetings on the topic of crime and public safety, and offered to provide monthly reports to the ANC. He was referred to work with the ANC's Committee on Crime and Public Safety.


• Mark Bjorge mentioned the building on 14th street, that's finally getting cleaned out, does have permits from DDOT to block the street. It was noted, however, that the ANC was never contacted by DDOT for commeent on the Traffic Control Plan.

Crime Report

Lt. Mike Smith gave the crime report. The highlights included:

• There have been several reports of increased prostitution in the neighborhood. The Prostitution squad was re-assigned back here, and made three arrests. Lt. Smith, though personally on the prowl for Johns and Walkers, hasn't really seen any out there. He (jokingly) attributes it to the word spreading among the girls on the street that he's working midnights again.


• Robberies were up significantly over this time last year, jumping from five to fourteen!


• Burglaries are down some 50% compared to this time last year.


• The MPD will be providing some food to needy families, so please contact him if you know of someone who needs help to make this holiday season special.


• MPD lost two officers recently.

DDOT Report

Chris Ziemann was there for the monthly DDOT check-in.

• The 14th Street Transportation and Streetscape Study is on-going. They are just finishing up the report and existing conditions, and expect to have it up on the net next week. The next public meeting will likely be some time in January. (On a related note, your's truly is the LCCA rep on that group, so contact me if you'd like anything addressed.)


• The draft of a final report on whether to make 15th Street two-way, with the addition of bike lanes, is circulating internally at DDOT, and should surface to the public relatively soon. Regardless, due to budget issues, nothing will likely happen there until 2009.


• There will be construction starting on 11th St., from L St. to O St., in a couple of months.


• The bus stop on the northwest corner of 14th St. and P St. continues to be a hot issue. Chairman Reed, and other community members, expressed some anger at being stonewalled by DDOT on this, and there also seems to be some confusion from DDOT on where, actually, the bus stop was originally positioned. There were some promises made to figure everything out over email. On a related note, the bus stop shelter on the south west side of that same intersection, which is owned by WMATA, may be removed entirely, due to its very poor condition.

1402 12th St.

There have been reports and complaints, which have bubbled up to various ANC commissioners, and Chairman Reed in particular, regarding possible illegal use of the house at 1402 12th Street. There have been reports of several issues, including:

1. Rowdy, late-night parties disturbing the neighbors;


2. Many people living in the house and paying rent, without the proper permits; and


3. The owners claiming the DC Homestead deduction, despite not actually residing in the house as a primary residence.

Mr. Steve Silva, the owner of the property, appeared before the ANC to present his side of the issue. He admitted to having a handful of parties over the years, and apologized for any disturbances - especially one particular recent night.

However, he was quite angry over the statements as to the people living in the house and his claim on the homestead deduction. He stated several times that he pays taxes in the city, and has spent considerable time and money in improving the property. While commendable, it really was not apropos to the issues at hand. He stated that "his clothes are there", but seemed to dodge the question as to whether he actually live in the property.

Chairman Reed noted that he had received conflicting statements as to the property in his various conversations with Mr. Silva, which further aroused suspicion. He
moved to refer the matter for investigation to the U.S. Attorney and the Inspector General, which passed 4-1, with one abstention. Commissioner Dyer voted against the motion, objecting to the ANC's involvement in what he thought should be a matter for individuals to take up with the proper authorities on their own volition.

Crime and Public Safety

Helen Kramer gave the report of the Committee on Crime and Public Safety.

• There have been reports of increases in prostitution and drug dealing in the alleyways around the neighborhood. She is working with some businesses, notably Mr. Wash on 13th Street, to chain off their lots at night to prevent Johns parking there.


• There are patterns of hot spots of problems around the neighborhood. She mentioned several, but all I had time to note was 9th and O.


• Ms. Kramer emphasized the importance of being aware of one's surroundings, which means turn off your iPod when walking!


• When the report ran a little long, Chairman Reed chided Ms. Kramer to finish the report before "his clothes went out of style". Commissioner Dyer asked the Chairman, "What do you mean 'out of style?'"

ABRA Matters

• Izalco Restaurant, at 1228 11th Street, will be seeking an entertainment endorsement to their liquor license. They have not filed yet, but merely wanted to inform the ANC that they intend on working with them to amend the voluntary agreement to all parties' satisfaction. It was nice to see a business taking such a constructive and proactive approach to dealing with the ANC. Stoney's should take notes.


• Several months back, Whole Foods had its voluntary agreement amended to allow singles sales of a slightly smaller size (still within the public policies set by the ANC), in conjunction with their newly opening sushi bar. The agreement included a sunset clause, which would allow the agreement to revert if complaints of increases in litter or public drunkenness occurred. Jim Richardson, Commissioner for 2F02, in whose SMD Whole Foods resides, noted that he had received no complaints from any citizens. In light of that, the ANC voted to make the change permanent.

And that's all she wrote!

March 2007 ANC Wrap-Up: Crime Down in PSA;

At last night's ANC 2F meeting, Sgt. Emmerman reported that crime in PSA 307 was way down from January to February. Specifically, there was a 51% reduction in overall crime, with a mere two robberies reported. Furthermore, an astounding 23 arrests were made on prostitution and related offenses, and a similar number of arrests were made in the red-light hot-zone south of L Street. (The exact numbers weren't available because that area is in the First District.)

The Sergeant also showed us a crime map highlighting the occurrences of Theft-from-Auto in our neighborhood. There were blotches of light shading throughout the area, but M Street from 10th to 13th were a disturbing, deep red. That certainly jives with my own personal observations. Good news, though! On February 21st, a thief was apprehended red handed on the 1300 block of Massachusetts Avenue - climbing out of the vehicle! These guys tend to be one-man crime waves, so hopefully we'll see a major down-tick next month. And if you're one of the unlucky car owners, please drop a note to the Committee on Crime and Public Safety. They would love for you to allocute against this guy! The CCPS is also talking about setting up a neighborhood watch in Theft-from-Auto hot zones.

In other business, the clubs on K Street are requesting that DDOT look into removing the parking restrictions. These restrictions were put in place as anti-prostitution measures, back in the mid-90s, and they want the parking for club-goers. There was some minor debate as to whether or not the clubs there are enough of a deterrent against prostitution, but the issue is going to be discussed. Prostitution is a hot topic here in Logan; so if any of you feel strongly, please contact your commissioner with your opinions.

Chris Zeeman from DDOT stopped by to give an update on road work in the neighborhood. He seemed a bit nervous, especially when Helen nailed him on the long-overdue, long-promised stop light at 11th and O. He promised to find out. Hold his feet in the fire, Helen!

Joe Martin, our new Neighborhood Services Coordinator, is asking for help in compiling a report of any problems you have with getting services from the city. Specifically, if you call 727-1000 or put in a service request on the web, and nothing gets done, drop him a line.

In ABRA matters, Whole Foods request for amendment to their voluntary was modified from a complete removal of the ban on singles to a ban on singles of less than or equal to sixteen ounces. This would bring their agreement into accordance with the stated policies of the ANC. Furthermore, it seems that Whole Foods ban is more restrictive than any other agreement in the neighborhood. Finally, talk of a price floor was dismissed outright as classist, which was the original argument against simply lifting the ban.

And then I had to leave. So I missed some of the meeting. If anyone was there for the rest and would like to add on, please do so in the comments.