Math was not my strong suit.
But I just discovered Housing Maps a Google Map/ Craigslist mashup. Someone is renting a room at 3rd and Florida for $590 a month.
What I’d like to see is a DC Crime Reports/ Google map mashup. If my puny little brain could figure out Google maps I would try.
I got a couple of e-mail Wednesday regarding the ANC meeting and Mr. Wilbur Mondie. I was told the meeting was going long and Mondie and his lawyer were like #18 on the docket and there were “more professional” developers ahead of him who were getting grilled by the ANC. It is reported that at the ANC meeting Mondie withdrew his petition and will probably come back at it at some later date.
However, there is still the December 13th Mondie hearing on the DC Office of Zoning website and found this:
17404 – Application of Wilbur Mondie, pursuant to 11 DCMR § 3103.2, for a variance from the lot width and lot area requirements under section 401.3, to allow the construction of four flats (two-family dwellings) in the R-4 District at premises 410, 412, 414 and 416 Richardson Place, N.W. (Square 507, Lots 810, 812, 814 and 816).
Um, is this the same thing he presented to BACA? Don’t think so. Anyway, we need to figure out how to get recognized at the BZA hearing if it is still on.
Mondie also seems to have problems with the DC Office of Planning. Apparently he lacks details and is non-conforming. So he’s not going to get support from them.
I’ve got nothing against Mondie personally. I would like to see a building or a set of buildings set on that plot of land at the end of Richardson. However, I wish he did his homework and made a better effort respecting and establishing trust with the residents of Square 507 (NJ, RI, FL, Richardson & 4th). I don’t care if he is or isn’t going to live in the buildings he’s planning on building. I just wish he didn’t make such a statement that comes off as untrue. I wish he paid a little bit more attention to the architecture of the current area. Really, I think he needs to take a breather, go off and get a cuppa tea with his attorney and try over. Spend a few hours boning up on federalist type buildings, walk around the western end of Shaw and look at the new construction and what people have done with older housing stock that is small. Also he needs to figure out how a person with a large car/ minivan/ SUV is supposed to realistically park behind all of his proposed buildings.
I would like to thank Toby, John and Karl for keeping me in the loop, you guys are great.
Right now I and my Shiloh attending family members are playing a game of Thanksgiving chicken as none of us have stepped up to host Turkey Day at our houses so there hasn’t been a lot of communication. If there has been communication, it has been very brief.
What has gotten through the shorter than normal phone calls was that Shiloh believes that it has won in it’s battle against Queen of Sheba in the liquor license fight. I was told that the congregation was told that because Queen of Sheba is less than 400 feet away from the school it cannot serve liquor so Shiloh’s work is done.
That announcement has been rattling around in my head for a few days and it doesn’t make sense as there is a liquor store…. ah, never mind.
From Jim
Neighbors,
1. Mondie Proposal: As we strategized on last Wednesday, Mr. Mondie saw the wisdom of deferring his plans to proceed with the Board of Zoning Adjustment hearing on December 13, 2005; hence, we withdrew his request for support from ANC 5C at tonight’s meeting. I believe that Mr. Mondie wants to develop a plan for the properties on Richardson Place, NW that is acceptable to his neighbors. As soon as possible, he wants to meet with community residents to present his revised plans for the properties and from the plans he showed me tonight, I could see several of the recommendations made to him at the BACA meeting reflected in this work.
Unfortunately, I will be on travel (for my real job, i.e., the one that enables me to pay my mortgage) from 11/16/2005 until 11/23/2005. So, I will be back in touch when I return to set up the follow-up meeting with Mr. Mondie and his representative.
2. Group Home Initiative: The next meeting of those who are interested in working on this initiative is tomorrow night, i.e., Wednesday, November 16, 2005, from 7:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., at Ben’s Chili Bowl, 13th and U Streets, NW, in the rear of the building. The agenda will include an update on the status of the new group homes that are rumored for our area, as well as a report on the feedback that was received from Council Member Fenty in response to a letter that was written to him about these rumored facilities.
As we begin to grapple with this problem, we are conducting an inventory of all group homes, boarding houses, nuisance properties, vacant properties, that presently exist within our area. Therefore, any one who is aware of or strongly suspects that there is a group home, a boarding house, a nuisance property or a vacant property on his/her block, please email that specific address to me as soon as possible. Once we get an accurate sense of what we actually have out there, then we can develop an effective strategy to deal with those that are currently presenting problems to us, as well as defend against new, unwanted facilities that might be contemplated for our neighborhood.
3. Citizen Summit IV: While a competing professional obligation will not allow me to be with you on Saturday, I strongly encourage every resident of the community who is able, to be present. This is the ideal opportunity to get our public safety, zoning, alcoholic beverage control, sanitation, recreation and other major concerns on the proverbial table of policy-makers from the DC Government. As you well know, our needs are many and if we are to get them attended to or adequately met in the near future, we must show up and participate in forums of this kind in large numbers. This will be the first summit that I have missed and I really feel bad about it. Nevertheless, I know that there are those among you who will take good notes and will fill me in on the details when I return.
Best,
Jim Berry
ANC 5C
Anyway we talked for a long time about today’s WP article where my very respected co-worker played devil’s advocate. He hasn’t read yesterday’s first part of the article, which is more of the same. Holy Rollers go bye-bye for $10 mill. Personally, I’d go bye-bye for $5 million, but then again I don’t own a warehouse building along a commerical strip.
ANCs did not sit well with him. Said they were as bad as HOAs. No ANCs are not as bad, cause I can paint my house lime green and put on a purple door and set out a flock of pink flamingos and gnomes in my front yard and there isn’t a dang thing no ANC or council person or anyone can do about it. I got purple paint. I got 4 flamingos. I could do it.
Anyone want to recommend or advise that I stay clear of any companies? I’m thinking of going to DSL after many many years of doing dial-up.
I’ve been making a list in my head of why I dislike Mondie’s project. Then there other people’s rehabs I dislike too because both they and the Mondie proposal do not seem to respect space.
Townhouses and rowhouses in my section of Shaw are tiny. Less than 2,000 square feet with many in the 1,000 sq. ft. range divided into two or three floors. Compared to some single family homes I’ve seen up for sale out in the inner ring burbs being 3,000-6,000 square feet, city homes are much smaller.
That smaller space has to be taken in account. In my house don’t even dream of trying to get a king sized (or even queen or double) box spring upstairs. If it don’t bend, it isn’t going to get around the bend. Futons rule. People and people’s stuff have to get through the house and just reducing the space from some larger place’s specs just won’t work. I keep thinking of this one thin (so not ADA compliant) hallway I saw in one open house. It led to a bedroom. The room was big enough to house a large bed but there was no way to get a box frame or any large furniture in the room because of the hallway. Whatever had to go into the room needed to disassemble or bend.
When a house is shrunk you have to take into account where are the walls and other things that do not move. I have my horror story of trying to get a fridge in the house, past the portion where it pinches a bit where there edge of the stair and the living room wall come close. If I had 1 or 2 more feet, the pinch, which I’m sure on paper looks fine, would not be a problem. I’m sure the stair would not have ruined Nora’s dress because it was a tight squeeze. But it did.
Living in a small space, not only do you need to make sure stuff can get through the door and down the hall, it shouldn’t overwhelm a room. Big fridges and ovens and other things that would look fine in a regular American home can make a city kitchen look painfully tiny. Big couches with the sectionals and things that fill the suburban sized living room, crowd the city living room.
So just don’t think you can take an 18 foot design and lop off 4 feet to squeeze in another house without having to deal with the consequences.
On one level I just gotta say WOOT! When seeing in today’s Post what I believe I had been seeing and wondering about…. the crazy crack fueled real estate market is cooling down.
You may ask, why would I rejoice at such a thing? For one selfish reason, I don’t want to see my real estate assessment continue on an insane rise. Since buying, I have seen the first number in the assessment figure change almost every friggin year. $100K, then $200K then $300K. Crazy. Second, maybe just maybe now my single friends can buy their own homes when the market ceases to be overvalued.
Yes, there is the downside. The engine that fuels the redevelopment going on here may slow down as well. I don’t believe the market will go bust. But I wondered if there was this continuous supply of people willing to spend a lot and take a chance on Shaw. My fear in a slowdown or a balancing out of the market is that investors and developers who have come in and have started work thinking they’d get desperate buyers throwing money at them will change plans and try for rentals and the ever reliable section 8 program when the buyers are not as desperate.
Maybe instead of “luxury” condos, maybe we’ll get plain old condos that plain old professionals can afford to buy. Hopefully the developers and investors can build for them.
From Art
Dear 5D Community Members:
Because Thanksgiving this month falls on the fourth Thursday, which is the traditional day of the Fifth District Citizens’ Advisory Council meeting, we will be holding our monthly meeting on the third Thursday, November 17, 2005 at MPD 5D Headquarters, 1805 Bladensburg Rd, NE at 7:00 pm.
At this meeting we will hear the Commander’s Report, conduct some Old Business, hear any pressing community concerns and then bring in some good old pre-holiday cheer.
Refreshments will be provided but if you can’t resist preparing a favorite dish or a dessert, please feel free.
We’re also partnering with 5D for the annual Fall Food Basket Drive, so consider bringing a non-perishable food item to this gathering. We also invite you to volunteer to help us prepare and wrap food baskets on November 22, 2005 at 5D Headquarters to bring holiday cheer to 5D families. For more information, please
call (202) 698-0111.
And once again, I’d like to thank the honorees and all of you who supported and contributed to the success of the recent 2005 5D CAC Awards Dinner.
Sincerely,
Art Slater
Chair, Fifth District Citizens’ Advisory Council (5D CAC)
Read today’s Truxton Circle daily dispatch! There is a meeting tonight at Mt. Sinai at 7 regarding Mr. Mondie’s development on Richardson Place. John added a few more concerns, sadly he won’t be able to make the meeting.
I share John’s concerns. Mondie’s plan looks like a poor one and needs to go back to the drawing board.
Another thing, semi-related. I’d love to see a DC architecture blog covering residential and commercial architecture of buildings in the District and how they relate to surrounding buildings and why some buildings are so ugly make you wanna slap the builder. The problem with the Mondie proposal is that the buildings have the wrong look for the area but the community lacks the vocabulary for expressing why such and such is ugly or wrong. We need real pictures of buildings not computer line drawings. Anyway, if there is a blog like that out there, tell me about it.
UPDATE
Well the meeting was held and Mondie claimed to Jim (not Berry) that he didn’t know anything about the meeting. Jim Berry had spoken to Mondie’s lawyer who was aware but could not make the meeting. Is it my faulty memory or didn’t these two ask for meeting between the BACA meeting and the ANC meeting?
I had created a lovely Power Point presentation for Mr. Mondie. I am saddened that he did not show. It’s not that anyone is against something going on the land on Richardson, it’s just that what Mondie is proposing is horrid. My little PP thing was a suggestion of something less horrid. But he wasn’t there. Yet, I did learn something valuable, while gathering pictures for the PP I discovered if you ride around like a crazy woman on a bike randomly taking pictures and then biking off and taking more pictures, you freak out the drug dealers. You can also freak out the drug dealers by running full force down the sidewalk in loud clompy heels. Anyway, I digress.
A point was made that at the BACA meeting Mondie failed to state why his proposal is so unique that he needs a zoning variance. He did not state why he cannot work within the rules that currently exist. He could build 2 18-20ft wide 3 level houses. Yet he wanted three 14 ft wide houses. C. informed us that in 1958 the city changed the rules regarding housing width because of the problem of overcrowding. If Mondie is allowed to build as he wishes, which no one is sure of what his wishes are since he doesn’t seem to be sure about what the heck he wants, he undermines what the District is trying to prevent, density that is more than what the space can bear.
Even if Mondie is able to one of the two three things he was proposing to do he’s going to loose money. After a few of us skipped out as the meeting turned to the matters of group houses, those closer to the action floated numbers that Mondie is going to pay for the land (it is unclear if he actually owns the land) and the amount is way too much. Couple that will all the potential problems of interest rates going up, which will slow down the Real Estate boom, and the fact that this is still a transitional area makes hints that he’s not going to get the kind of money he may be aiming for. When the market slows down, condos are the first to suffer. Also I read somewhere that a way to keep gentrification at bay was bad or poor design. Mondie’s proposal is a lovely example of bad design and will live itself out as affordable housing because people with choices will not pick the ugly poorly designed cramped house.
