Day: June 7, 2005

Check the Truxton Circle website for the links in regards to the things and docs passed out at the BACA meeting last night.
One of the links is Art Slater’s Straw Suryvey of Small Area Plan Businesses, Amenities (http://www.truxtoncircle.org/doclib/strawsurvey.pdf) which you can give to Art, email him talader@verizon.net but I think it should be stalader@verizon.net . Just fill up to 15 businesses and rate them.

I got to the meeting late because I was waiting for a phone call that did not come.
I saw the police cruiser but apparently missed the police person(s) that came with it. So I have no clue if the shooting death of the Howard student over on the 1700 blk of 3rd street was covered or what other citizen crime complaint was covered.
I did get there in time to hear Josh Burch (?) of Shaw EcoVillage and he had some news. For one they will be moving from the corner of 6th and R Sts. to 1416 North Capitol, yes, that includes the bike shop. Also he is looking to see if any group would be interested in sponsoring or hosting a rainbarrel workshop. If you attend a rainbarrel workshop you will get a FREE rainbarrel. I have one still and that sucker is big. They have 8 more workshops left, so please contact them if you want to host or attend.
Next topic was ReStore DC. ReStore DC offers technical assistance to any group. Art Slater passed out a survey form to list the kinds of businesses or community amenities (dog park) we’d like to see AND that we would support. [Editorial- I’m underlining the last one because a business is a business and not a not profit charity and if they cannot make money in our neighborhood then we would have done a great disservice to them if we brought them. Also with support, means we would support other impacts as in if a drive thru Starbucks ever plopped down on North Cap would we bitch loudly about the traffic coming off the main road and on to the residential streets?] Also Art has been in contact with Clear Channel about the property they own on the corner of NJ and P Street where they have the billboards. Apparently one letter got them to mow the corner. Art is also the Land Use, Planning and Economic Development Committee Chair for the BACA (correct me if I am wrong) mentioned a comprehensive plan, which is a document regarding land use in the city. Art has been talking with the Office of Planning, about what, my notes don’t say. But the exciting thing my notes do say is that THE FIREHOUSE ON NORTH CAPITOL WILL BE UP FOR BID. I think it is the one in Eckington by Quincy and R Sts. The Firehouse is a wonderful piece of property and would make the best luxury lofty condos evah! Or really cool office space or a restaurant with wait staff.
The next speaker was Thomas Gore, from Renewal in Education which is over at 45 P Street. His group has been there for 18 years with 2 Head Start classes and before and after school programming. They take in kids as early as 7am and end the day around 7 or 8pm. His group has been trying to purchase the property from the city but to no avail. Now the city is putting the property up for bid and there are several developers looking into it and Mr. Gore brought one from United Development (I looked for more info for UD and all I could find was PMA which shares the same address). The UD developer passed out a proposed drawing of what he wanted to do with the property that the Slater and Langston Schools sit on. He wants to build a 8-9 story building on top of what I think is now the playground, and it will be moderate income (60% AMI) senior housing. There was a spirited discussion about senior housing and the one woman peanut gallery, the burgundy dyed island accented misanthrope, had a lot to say against him…. of course. She questioned the source of his funding, was it government funding? Tax incentives from the IRS and private equity would fund the proposed project. Then she and others got into why senior housing, why not luxury housing. This is where the developer could have said more than what he said with some numbers. He said that the rents in the area don’t support the kind of rents for luxury housing, and as one who has tried to rent out things here, they don’t. Homeowners can wait for amenities because our homes are investments, renters on a 1 year lease want the here and now. What’s here right now does not support luxury rental housing.
At this point because of the spectacle of disrespect and evil emitting from the unpleasant woman I stopped taking notes.
But I still have the meeting agenda. Mary Ann Wilmer spoke about Flower Power 2005 and there will be a meeting tonight at Scott and Matt’s house, check the Truxtoncircle.org site for meeting time and place, for the garden club to talk about how to do it. This year it may be a garden tour where tickets are sold and people walk around and judge the gardens and treeboxes. Then Linda Perkins, Director of Constituent Services for the Orange spoke. Orange. Contracts. Government Contracts. Orange. Then I can’t remember any thing else. Oh, the Brown Report from Kwame Brown’s office was passed out at some point. All hail the Brown. Jim Berry said something, what, I don’t remember. We adjourned and ate Mary Ann’s Grand Marnier soaked pound cake and staggered home…..

Where I killed 7 slugs in my backyard. I asSALTed them first and when they took too long to die, particularly the really big ones, I squished them. Let them be a warning to all other slugs in my backyard.