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The April 2, 2003,
regularly scheduled monthly meeting of ANC-3D was called to order at
Sibley Hospital’s Ernst Auditorium by the chairman, John Finney, at 7:30
pm. Commissioners Gates, Shapley, Heuer, Hamilton, Mullane, and Polk
were present. Sixteen others attended.
COMMUNITY CONCERNS
1. Police Report
Lt. Sullivan gave the police report. A burglar was caught in the 4900
block of Rodman Street. He is a white man in his late 20s-early 30s
dressed in construction clothing. He had been given four warnings by the
police about loitering in the neighborhood and was finally caught with
stolen property while breaking in to the back door of a home. This
disguise and technique is well known to police but requires citizens to
be more vigilant about activity at neighboring homes. Lt. Sullivan once
again cautioned about locking doors and windows, and also making sure
valuables were not ever left in plain sight in your car. She also noted
a robbery at 45th & Que streets and a pair of robbers operating out of a
red Bonneville car on Connecticut Avenue.
1.1 The photo radar has been active again on both MacArthur and
Chain Bridge Road, with some 40 stops having been made; and there
appears to be a reduction in speeding there.
1.2 She reported her follow-up so far on Commissioner Shapley’s
inquiry as to police action with respect to an AU group home at 3709
48th street. Neighbors have complained of noise and other disruptions,
stagnant pool water and other matters of public nuisance. The home is
being rented by six fraternity students from American University.
1.3 She responded to an inquiry about towing practices by saying
that there was only one contractor crane operating in our area and most
of the towing is done around Ward Circle. DPW operates the towing
contract.
2. Hardy School Playground
2.1 Linda Brackett a resident on 44th Street, who lives near the
Hardy School playground, complained that while the Stoddert Soccer
League previously used the field only on Saturdays from 10 am 6 pm, they
have recently been using it on Sundays as well. Neighbors would like to
see this practice stopped so they could use the facilities and not be
bothered by all the noise all Sunday. It is also impossible to find a
parking place nearby. Hardy School is still owned by DC Public Schools
but is leased to Rock Creek International School currently. Mrs.
Brackett pointed to the community's investment of about $40K in
improving this playground as a shared public space.
2.2 Deb McLaughlin, another neighbor, also voiced her concern
about Sunday soccer, which effectively means residents cannot use the
playground then at all.
2.3 Dorothy Smith, who lives on Foxhall Road right next to Hardy,
said that not only is the Sunday soccer annoying because of the noise
and lack of parking, but it is also an older crowd of players using the
fields which has torn up all the work the Friends of Hardy have put into
fixing up their facility.
2.4 The Commission agreed to invite Mr. Rogers and Mr. Albert
from the DC Recreation Department to attend ANC3D’s May 7th meeting to
air this subject properly and fully and with due notice to neighbors.
Other ANCs will be invited to attend. It was recommended to phase out
Sunday soccer. It was acknowledged that there is a shortage of playing
fields in DC but there is or should be a restriction as to private
schools usage of public space. Moreover, there are regulations
pertaining to school use of space for sport, such as providing toilets.
Mary Ann Floto, of the Mayor’s office for Ward 3, said that the permit
for such sport usage could be revoked but the city must have letters
detailing conditions.
3. Airplane Noise
Matt Thorpe, Chairman of the Palisades Citizens Association committee on
airplane noise and also member of the city’s task force on
airport-related issues, stated that there will be a workshop on
Thursday, June 19th at Sibley Hospital’s Ernst Auditorium to discuss
undue noise in residential neighborhoods resulting from new aircraft
landing patterns for DC National Airport among other issues. There has
been a FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) study administered by COG
(regional Council of Governments) and an intention to define a new
policy on aircraft noise. Mr. Thorpe asked for comments from neighbors
about what they wanted discussed at this meeting.
PHIL MENDELSON, CITY COUNCILMEMBER AT LARGE
4. Councilmember Mendelson was invited to speak about his
perspectives and positions on Council activities and community concerns.
4.1 911 Call System. He judges the system inadequate and
improperly managed given the actual amount of monies flowing into it.
Regarding the 911 calls to the fire at Dupont Circle where someone died
because the police and fire department did not respond in time, Mr.
Mendelson said
that it had been determined that 911 staffing is at 60%. One in five
calls to 911 are hang-ups. The 911 people dial on their cell phones and
may not reach the nearest station. 911 calls are charged on your phone
bill. This surcharge yields about $7M dollars a year to support the call
system! The Council will vote on April 29th on the budget for 2003/04;
Mendelson will hold hearings on the budget and press the police
department on this.
4.2 Mayor’s FY04 Budget. Tax increases/real estate taxes/
commuter taxes will all be discussed at the April 29th budget meeting of
the City Council. April 14th is the date for mark-up of the budget.
Mendelson disagrees with the Mayors analysis that his proposal, as
unveiled in March, is a small reduction in spending. Mendelson sees a
5.5% increase in local monies and 8% in spending. He is dismayed at the
continuing inability of some city departments to exert spending control
to remain
within their approved budget, such as the DC Public Schools. Although
safety and health services are protected parts of the Mayors budget
proposal, Mr. Mendelson sees the amounts even here as insufficient.
4.3 Inspector General. Mr. Mendelson is intent on resolving the
problem of having an Inspector General for the city who does not meet
the needs of the office. The Council voted to alter the criteria and
qualifications of the office to hasten the incumbents departure, which
is expected in June.
4.4 There followed a Question & Answer period.
4.4.1 Commissioner Polk deplored the fact that real estate taxes
keep going up and advocated the need to increase the Homestead Act from
$30 per $100 to higher rate. Mr. Mendelson said there were a variety of
options and proposals being considered by Council and that their goal
was to be competitive with neighboring jurisdictions so as not to lose
DC residents. He also lamented the lack of sound property data as a
basis for the assessment process. Commissioner Hamilton questioned the
accuracy of his understanding of how DC ($0.96/$100) compared with
suburban real estate rates.
4.4.2 On the matter of the new Master Business License, Mr.
Mendelson spoke in favor of the revision proposed in the face of massive
complaints from small business. There should be more information and a
resolution of this by May or June.
4.4.3 Deb McLaughlin asked, as a member of Friends of Hardy and
Friends of DC Libraries Palisades Branch, if libraries are going to
close branches. Councilmember Mendelson said it is possible that there
would be cuts in the number of branches, as part of a larger system
review, but that it would only occur 2 - 3 years from now. School must
now stay within their budgets.
4.4.4 Finally, Mr. Mendelson mentioned his sponsoring an
Anti-Deficiency Act for DC as a measure to gain a legal control over DC
spending beyond authorized/appropriated budgets.
COMMISSION AGENDA
5. Petition for New Traffic Control at 47th Place.
Ms. Vicki Hicks, a resident of the 1800 block of 47th Place
presented a petition signed by 13 of the 14 residents in that block (one
neighbor was not available for signature) requesting that a Do Not Enter
between 7 AM and 9:30 AM sign be placed at the intersection of 47th at
MacArthur Blvd. Many drivers see the congestion on MacArthur and cut through
47th Place to Reservoir Road. Mrs. Elvina Martin, another resident, spoke to
the danger posed by 47th Place having no sidewalks and being a very steep
hill, which limited visibility for speeders. The cars speed through causing
grave danger to residents trying to leave their homes during this rush two
hours.
5.1 The Commission discussed in some detail how to focus any request
in support of this traffic control so that it did not duplicated the recent
study done at the behest of the Palisades Citizens Association. The
Commission voted 7-0-0 to endorse the petition. Commissioner Gates will
write the ANC letter of request. ( See Attachment.) The Chair will write the
letter below on the traffic study.
5.2 After hearing from concerned neighbors, the Commissioners voted
7-0-0 to write a letter to Ken Laden, DC Department of Transportation asking
his Department to do a study of traffic patterns on certain thoroughfares
including MacArthur Blvd., Reservoir Rd., Foxhall Rd. and 47th Place and to
pursue a co-operative agreement with local schools’ (Lab, Field, St.
Patrick's, GDS) traffic patterns to see if steps can be taken to relieve
congestion on MacArthur and Reservoir. The letter needs to be very clear
about wording regarding school traffic patterns. (See Attachment B.) Copies
sent to all schools, and the issue will be addressed again at the May 7th
meeting, with school representatives invited.
5.2.1 Further areas mentioned where traffic control studies would be
helpful: for the MacArthur to Reservoir traffic, a change of light at
MacArthur and the Lab School; signs at Sherier and Arizona and also at
Reservoir and Arizona. Peter Branch, Headmaster of Georgetown Day School,
said that he had used the 47th Street as a cut through when traffic was very
heavy. He explained that GDS had not expanded their cap of 575 students in
15 years. He pledged to cooperate with residents and the ANC in considering
further measures regarding back up in traffic at school opening and closing
times. He said GDS has organized its system so that the queue would occur on
school property.
6. Bambu Restaurant Stipulated License.
A new restaurant at Dana Place and MacArthur Blvd., Bambu, requested the
ANC’s approval of a stipulated license from the Alcoholic Beverage
Regulation Commission. Miss Su Chen, owner, and Mr. Golfman, a partner in
the business, presented their plans for abating problems of noise and
unsightliness from the utility installation on the roof and their need for
this interim licensing measure. They also asserted the mistakes in garbage
pick-up would not be repeated. The license covers beer and wine sales only.
It is temporary pending a regular application, which also must be approved
by the ANC, when the ABC board has hearings scheduled. There is a back up in
their holding hearings to dispose of license applications. The permanent
license hearing should occur on June 11th. The ANC voted 6 - 1 - 0 to
approve the stipulated license, with Commissioner Heuer voting Nay. (See
Attachment.)
6.1 A stipulated license comes with the following conditions: Any
protest will take it away; the restaurant must be careful about carry-out
cars parking in the neighborhood; garbage must be properly disposed of; and
noise must be kept to a minimum.
7. Mayoral Program: Budget and Emergency Preparedness.
Commissioner Shapley reported in the Mayor’s Budget Briefing and gave out
copies of his proposal with options. She pointed to certain pages that
addressed concerns raised earlier on this issue, such as, high salary
employees, actual budget impact versus revenues for certain activities, and
the options for achieving fiscal integrity in these hard economic times. She
also reported on the Mayor’s public meeting in Ward 3 on Emergency
Preparedness and gave out copies of the Cluster 13 draft plan and pledged to
pursue this as a volunteer coordinator.
8. Chairman’s Miscellany.
8.1 John Finney requested the Commission approve his appointment to
the Zoning Task Force proposed by Jerrily Kress, Chair of the Zoning
Commission. The ANC voted 7-0-0 to approve.
8.2 Palisades now has a ListServ that is moderated and operated by
Erik Gaull. All Commissioners have received the information on how to
subscribe to this important neighborhood chat group.
9. ADMINISTRATIVE AND OTHER BUSINESS
9.1 The minutes from the March meeting were approved, with one typo
corrected on official copy at meeting.
9.2 The 2nd Quarter (2003) ANC Quarterly Financial Activity Report,
covering the period January - March 2003was presented and approved 7-0-0.
The Treasurers Report was given. There is currently a balance of
$11,616.83 in the Bank of America checking account.
10. NEXT MEETING:
Wednesday, May 7, 2003. On the agenda at this time: discussion about Hardy
Playground and other recreation fields in the District that are being used
by private soccer group all weekend; and also a further discussion about
traffic study of main thoroughfares in Palisades. The April meeting
adjourned at 10:35 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah Stowell Shapley
Secretary, ANC-3D |