What: ANC6A's monthly meeting
When: 7:00pm
Where: Miner Elementary School (601 15th Street, NE)
Tonight's meeting is particularly special because an election will take place at the meeting to fill the ANC 6A-01 position vacated by Robyn Holden. For more info on the meeting, see the comments for this post (I'm pasting a comment that Commissioner Fengler left earlier this morning -before I had posted this).
1 comment:
I'm reposting a comment left elsewhere on Frozen Tropics by Commissioner Fengler.
-Elise
As for the other side of H Street, ANC 6A will be holding their monthly meeting this evening starting at 7:00pm at Miner Elementary School (601 15th Street, NE.
At the meeting, elections will be held to replace Ms. Holden (6A-01) who resigned last year. General, ANC 6A-01 covers the area between 7th and 13th Street and H Street and Florida Ave. If you live in this area – and are a registered voter or can show proof of residency – you can come to our meeting tonight a vote for your next Commissioner. There are two candidates vying to replace Ms. Holden - Julius Johnson and Raphael Marshall.
In addition, Ms. Ambrose will be joining us this evening to discuss the following topics:
1. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (discussion led by Commissioner Rice):
Charter school development in zone R4. We will request that Councilmember Ambrose send a letter to the Director of DCRA to support a moratorium on charger school permits in R4 pending finalization of new zoning rules before the Board of Zoning Adjustment (by February 14). We also will Councilmember Ambrose’s support for the proposed text amendment (by February 13).
Fast-food versus restaurant in zone C2A. We will request that Councilmember Ambrose send a letter to the Director of Office of Planning to request an emergency text amendment to clarify the zoning requirements for a restaurant in a C-2 zone (by March 1).
Expanding non-conforming uses in zone R4. We will request that Councilmember Ambrose send a letter to DCRA to stop issuing building permits that expand non-conforming uses – condominium and apartment – in R4 without the required zoning hearings (by March 1).
DCRA Inspector / permit review training. We will request that Councilmember Ambrose send a letter to the Director of DCRA and the Director of the Zoning Administration requesting that the staff from each agency meet in a public forum to discuss the zoning requirements for the H Street NE Commercial Overlay District (by March 15).
Enforcement compliance on rental or development properties. We will request a letter from Councilmember Ambrose to DCRA/DCHD to immediately investigate and take action when the ANC identifies rental or development properties with conditions that are dangerous for residents (February 17).
2. Lovejoy Park (Beatty). We will seek Councilmember Ambrose’s support to encourage DCRA’s direct involvement to ensure the park construction schedule is maintained. Status of project attached.
3. Police substation on H Street (Fengler). We will seek a letter from Councilmember Ambrose to MPD that encourages MPD to work with our Commission to explore the options available to increase the physical presence of MPD on H Street –full-time substation, part time substation, store front services, etc (by March 22).
4. Single sales moratorium on H Street (Beatty). We will seek a letter of support from Councilmember Ambrose to the ABC Board that supports our Commission efforts to establish a single sales moratorium on H Street within the structure of the existing laws (by April 1).
5. Amendment to clarify noise ordinance (Fengler). We will request that Councilmember Ambrose introduce legislation that clarifies the current noise ordinance in order to eliminate the option of using amplified devices in or around an R4 zone (by April 15). Letter from OAG Office is attached.
6. School facilities bill (Borbely). Provide an update.
And!!!!
One hour prior to the ANC meeting, I will be conducting a 45 minute meeting on the Wylie / Linden Multi-Agency Plan.
We have been trying to solve these two problems for close to a year - illegal mechanics and the implementation of digital cameras. To date, and on both accounts, we have not made any forward progress despite dozens of meetings, community members taking the time to document the challenges and our Commission sending letter after letter seeking assistance.
Mr. DeBerardinis and Mr. Rogers from the Office of the Attorney General, will discuss the next steps regarding the continued zoning violations occurring at the AutoZone on H Street. We have documented these violations for about a year and we need to move to either fining the corporation or revoking the certificate of occupancy.
Mr. Howland from DPW will update us on the status of the camera for the alley.
Mr. Coburn from Councilmember Ambrose’s office will attend to assist working with the respective DC agencies.
This meeting will start promptly at 6:00pm and at 6:45pm. I am hoping that all parties involved will do the research and come prepared to discuss specific, measurable courses of action. Let's use this e-mail to clarity any questions or issues so we can be in a problem solving mode come next week.
Summary of the two key issues:
Digital Camera Meeting Summary (Summary Mr. Lyndon Bonaparte):
Rich and Lyndon met with Bill Howland (DPW), Anita Chavis (MPD Environmental Unit), and Paul Kurqah (MPD Environmental Unit). We took a walk along the Linden Pl alley,
particularly where dumping has been a constant problem. We also paid a visit to the
carpet store (where most of the dumping takes place) adjoining the back alley. As to the
status of placing a camera in the alley, your guess is as good as mine. Here is what I
got from Bill.
Option 1: Place one of the video cameras the city current has in its possession in the
alley. The camera is not a still photograph camera, thus it can only stay up for a short
period of time maybe 30 to 40 days. The public right to privacy is a major issue
with live video. Not to mention that this system requires extensive installation, such
as digging a hole somewhere in the alley to install the main junction box for the camera.
Option 2: Bill suggested that he wants to look into the still photography camera or a
similar version of the camera we researched. If the city is willing to spend $3K $5K,
then we might get one.
Option 3: MPD would patrol the alley as a deterrent.
Illegal Mechanics at Autozone Summary (Summary Mr. Rich Luna):
I can report very slight progress. Last Friday, I talked to the most persistent mechanic, who said his name was Mike. He drives an old grey and maroon van, pictured below. Until last Friday, he was soliciting customers from the AutoZone lot almost every day, from about 9 a.m.-4 p.m. The AutoZone manager was aware of it, but, according to Mike, was OK with it as long as he did not do work on the lot itself. That meant he worked on our neighborhood streets.
On Friday, I encountered him on G Street. I stopped and spoke with him about not wanting mechanics working on the streets in the neighborhood. On the bright side, he was sympathetic and said he wouldn't return. On the down side, he was back several times over the weekend. Also, he acknowledged that he gets a lot of business from the AutoZone lot and the manager is OK with him as long as she doesn't see him doing work on the lot.
AutoZone has been no help. They have become more aggressive about ticketing people that leave their cars in its lot but do not shop in the store (usually these are patrons of the Popeye's fried chicken across the street).
Ironically, the MPD officer working part-time at the AutoZone lot who tickets cars in the AutoZone parking lot specifically avoids ticketing cars while they are being worked on there. In one case, a car completed a 4+ hour repair, with the officer coming out to check on the progress intermittently. Plus, AutoZone employees continue to run diagnostic tests and help customers fix their cars. They also continue to allow customers to work on their cars in the lot. This month seems to be oil change month. The photo below is an example of some of the more obvious work occurring this weekend.
In short, AutoZone hasn't changed its practices in any tangible way. Any progress has been incremental and came about through my conversation with Mike on Friday. Otherwise, there has been no progress.
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Posted by Joseph Fengler to Frozen Tropics at 2/09/2006 08:00:44 AM
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