Library Community Meeting Tomorrow

A community meeting will be held tomorrow evening at the Southwest Branch Library to begin discussions regarding the new, $18 million stand-alone library that will replace the current building. DCPL recently selected Perkins + Will and Turner Construction as the design-build team for the library. At the meeting, you will get to meet the design team, learn about the project schedule, and share ideas. The meeting will start at 7pm tomorrow at the Southwest Branch library, located at 900 Wesley Place in the lower level meeting room.

DC Comprehensive Plan Meeting Tonight!

The Office of Planning will be hosting a community meeting this evening to review changes to the District’s Comprehensive Plan, “a 20-year framework that guides future growth and development in the city and shapes the places we live, work, shop, and play.” The meeting will be held at Jefferson Academy Middle School (801 7th Street) from 6 – 8:30pm.

CBCC Summit Debrief

This morning, I attended the Near SE-SW Community Summit: Taking Charge of our Future, which was hosted by the Community Benefits Coordinating Council (CBCC) and facilitated by America Speaks. The summit was well attended and contained a diverse audience of community members, local pols, and some developers (I spotted Elinor Bacon from the PN Hoffman-Madison Marquette Waterfront team). A few ANC 6D commissioners were present, including Andy Litsky, Ron McBee, and Roger Moffatt, as well as former commissioners Jane Jorgensen, David Sobelsohn, and Mary Williams. There may have been others, but those were the ones I noticed. Ward 6 Council member Tommy Wells also came in the afternoon. My guesstimate based on the number of tables and the fact that the room was pretty full is there were between 100 and 125 attendees.

The five main issues for discussion at the summit were as follows:

1. Workforce Development/Jobs/Community Centers
2. Neighborhood Oriented Retail and Services
3. Housing Diversity and Affordability
4. Youth-Education and Services
5. Environmental Concerns

Each person got to choose which issue they wanted to focus on for the day and then the room was divided into groups of people who wanted to discuss the same issue. I sat at one of the tables discussing Neighborhood Oriented Retail and Services. Most people chose Youth Education and Services, while the other four issues were pretty evenly distributed. Each group discussed assets and challenges that their issue presented to the community, then brainstormed ideas that could be implemented over the next 1-3 years to help resolve their particular issue. Out of the large lists of ideas for each issue, everyone in the room voted on which top two ideas were most important.

Issue #1

• Incorporate Ward 6 in the SW Waterfront development's workforce program (currently only Wards 5, 7 & 8 are targeted)
• Identify and create a workforce clearing house

Issue #2

• Increase of locally-owned businesses
• Use vacant land at Waterfront Station until new development is completed

Issue #3

• Stronger coalitions to represent all types of residents' interests to developers and policymakers
• Make sure residential developers commit to specific housing preferences for current residences/residents

Issue #4

• Bolster pre-K program
• Utilize Jefferson Middle School for adult vocational education and workforce development

Issue #5

• Develop community gardens using public land and church offered space and transitional dog parks
• Avoid over development: keep height and density restrictions

Once the top two ideas for each issue were voted on, the groups met again to discuss how to implement those ideas. The CBCC will make the results of the brainstorming session available in about a week or so and will use these ideas to come up with suggestions for community benefits agreements between developers and the ANC.

Did any of you attend the summit? What did you think?

SW Ecodistrict Public Meeting Flyer

Upcoming Meetings This Week

- ANC 6D's monthly business meeting will be held on Monday at 7pm at the Courtyard by Marriott located at New Jersey Avenue & L Street, SE. The agenda can be found here, which includes updates on the Flood Insurance program, the new Safeway, Waterfront Station, Arena Stage's parking situation, local races, and the sale of the Randall School.

- Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells, along with ANC 6D and SWNA, is hosting a neighborhood meeting to discuss how Southwest and near Southeast neighborhoods can make safety improvements to M Street through what’s known as a “complete street.” Wells' office defines a complete street as: a term of art for planning and renovating streets to reduce the number and speed of cars on the roadways, provide better pedestrian safety and access, and support alternate means of travel that connects neighborhoods. The meeting will take place on Tuesday from 6-7:30 pm at MPD's 1st District headquarters, located at 101 M Street.

SWNA Forum Tomorrow

SWNA will be hosting a community forum on Monday night with Council members Tommy Wells, Kwame Brown, and Michael Brown at St. Augustine's Church @ 7pm. The first 15 minutes of the forum will be an informal "meet & greet" session, followed by a five minute speech from each Council member on their vision for the SW-Near SE neighborhood. Afterwards, there will be a question & answer period. Those of you who want the Waterfront-SEU Metro name changed, for instance, or want to know what's going on with the Consolidated Forensics Lab, should attend the forum and ask your elected officials.

ANC Meeting Set

The next ANC 6D meeting will be held on Monday, April 13th at 7pm at St. Augustine's Church, however, the agenda is not available yet online. Several Southwest-related items will be discussed at the meeting, including the 2010 Census, Engine 13, the SW Zoning Study, a public space permit for Arena Stage, and a presentation dealing with trees in SW. Above is a photo of the Maine Avenue elevation of Arena Stage taken in early April 2009. The framing for the roof structure is now visible.

Bellevue Small Area Plan Meeting Tonight

Here's a link to And Now, Anacostia's post about a meeting tonight for Bellevue's Small Area Plan from 6:30pm - 8:30pm at the PR Harris Education Center on 4600 Livingston Road, SE.

Next ANC 6D Meeting & 7-Eleven Closing?

Here's a link to the agenda for Monday's ANC 6D meeting, which will begin at 7pm at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church. Southwest-related items on the agenda include the Randall School, 1101 South Capitol Street, the new MPD District 1 HQ, and street closures for two races. 1101 South Capitol Street is the former KFC site where Southwest...TLQTC reported back in August that the Ruben Companies had plans to construct an office building. However, 1101 South Capitol no longer appears on their website on their list of projects. On the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) website, there's a hearing on March 10th where 1101 South Capitol LLC will look for a variance and an exception in relation to a planned office building at the site. Perhaps a new developer has purchased the site? Real estate developers typically use LLCs when developing their projects, so this LLC could still be Ruben Companies, but we'll find out on Monday...

On a related note, District Chronicles reported last month that the 7-Eleven on South Capitol Street will close in a year to make way for new development. The 7-Eleven is owned by Vornado. Already, the Bernstein's Reliable Liquor store on M Street was shuttered last year and a cab company has vacated the site. Last night as I was driving along M Street, I noticed the top floors of the building where the liquor store was located was in the process of being gutted...I think. I'll go by the site again today to see if what I saw was correct (admittedly I was pretty tired when I drove by, so maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me).

(Above is a photo of the liquor store site taken in mid-December and in that photo, it wasn't yet gutted, but it was boarded up)

Update: My eyes were not playing tricks on me...below is a photo of the liquor store site today with the top two floors gutted out and surrounded by fencing.

Update #2: Ruben Companies still owns 1101 South Capitol. However, the ANC tabled discussion about Ruben Companies' requested variance and exception at Monday's meeting since they are still in negotiations with the developer regarding community benefits.

ANC 6D Business Meeting

Here's a reminder that tomorrow is ANC 6D's monthly business meeting at 7pm at St. Augustine's church on 6th & M Street. The agenda can be found on their website. The only SW-related item on the agenda is the reconsideration of the stipulated license for Hogate's by Kristina, a new restaurant and catering company that wants to open at the site of the former H2O nightclub.

Special ANC 6D Meeting Scheduled

Date: December 22, 2008
Time: 6pm
Location: ANC6D office at 1501 Half Street, SW
Topic: Discussion on the request to issue a temporary ABC license to a new establishment called Hogates by Kristina, at the site of the former H2O at 800 Water Street.

Two Upcoming Events

- Parade of Lighted Boats: The Washington Waterfront Association invites all to attend the annual Parade of Lighted Boats in the Washington Channel on Saturday, December 6th, 4:00pm, Flotilla at 5:00pm. Come join Santa Claus as he lights the Christmas tree in the park between Channel Inn and Gangplank (The 600 block of Water Street SW). Enjoy refreshments, music and photos with Santa! Toys for Tots collection boxes are available from the waterfront businesses Note: Please bring brand new unwrapped items for toddlers through 17 year-olds.

Imagine it's night time and the boats are lit up...that's what the parade will look like on Saturday.

- ANC 6D meeting: The next meeting of ANC 6D will be held on Monday, December 8th at 7pm. The meeting is located at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church (600 M Street). Southwest-related issues include street closing for the Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers Race for Hope in May 2009, a thank you letter for lighting at the Arena Stage construction site, support for the SW Child and Family Services Walk-In Screening Clinic, and an update on the community benefits provided by the Corcoran.

Meeting Planned for Firehouse Site Proposals

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development tells Southwest...TLQTC that there will be a meeting in January where the three development teams vying for the DCFD Engine 13 parcel and nearby vacant lot will present their proposals to the community. See my post from October for the list of developer teams and a general description of the proposals for the sites. Once an exact date and time is set for the meeting, I'll post it here. The Google Earth map above shows the location of the two parcels.

ANC 6D Business Meeting

Here's a reminder that tonight is ANC 6D's monthly business meeting at 7pm at St. Augustine's church on 6th & M Street. The agenda can be found on their website.

ANC Business Meeting

The next meeting of ANC 6D will be tomorrow at 7pm at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church. The agenda isn't available on the website yet.