Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6E convened its scheduled September meeting. The quorum: Alex Padro (6E01, chair), Anthony Brown (6E02, secretary), Frank Wiggins (6E03, vice chair), Alex Marriott (6E05, treasurer), and Kevin Rogers (6E07).
6E04 Vacancy Filled
Chair Padro began the meeting by stating that the ANC 6E04 vacancy election would be held that evening in the rear of the meeting room. Three candidates filed petitions with the Board of Elections: Miguel Ayala, David Jaffe, and Sterlicia Rodney. Padro introduced Gottlieb Simon, executive director of the Office of Neighborhood Advisory Commissions, who presided over the election. The election was open only to Single Member District 6E04 registered voters. The polls opened at 6:35 p.m. and closed at 7:35 p.m.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Padro announced Jaffe as the winner and that the vacancy filling would be publicized in the DC Register.
BZA Request for Rear Addition
Olivia Akinsan, representing Designs by Olivia Architectural Consultants, spoke regarding a Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) application for a special exception from the rear-yard requirement to permit a rear addition to an existing one-family unit at 443 Ridge St. NW. Commissioner Brown said that the applicant repeated that evening what was presented to ANC 6E’s Development and Zoning Committee last week, and the committee supported the application. The applicant has a letter of support from his neighbor and will present it to BZA.
The commission voted unanimously to support the application request.
BZA Application for New Deck
David McNitt asked the commission to support his BZA application to replace a balcony and staircase with a second-floor balcony on an existing one-family unit located at 1601 Eighth St. NW. The applicant has the support of his adjacent neighbor at 705 Q St. The applicant appeared before ANC 6E’s Development and Zoning Committee, which supported the application.
The commission motioned to unanimously support the request.
Proposed Housing Development
Rev. Jim Dickerson of New Community Church spoke on the subject of a proposed development of affordable housing at 614 S St. NW. Dickerson noted that he wanted to preserve the main building and the church, and the Development and Zoning Committee agreed that the two facades next to the church would be preserved.
The church is going to create 51 rentals for affordable units and designate an area for its art space program.
Holland and Knight representative Chip Glasgow said that an amendment to the DC Comprehensive Plan Land Use Map was submitted; it proposes to extend the Medium Density Commercial and Medium Density Residential designations to include the church property.
Commissioner Brown noted that the Development and Zoning Committee liked the project but there were some concerns from a couple of the members. Padro noted past concerns of the management of other affordable housing projects in the neighborhood.
August Rainstorm Backup
Representatives of DC Water spoke at the meeting on sewer backups resulting from a rainstorm that occurred on Aug. 12. An engineering evaluation is being conducted as well as a review of backwater valve requests. The Northeast Boundary Tunnel Project will be in service by 2023 and is expected to mitigate flooding in the 6E area. DC water is encouraging residents to install backwater valves (which prevent wastewater from flowing into homes) and informed the commission and meeting attendees that there is a backwater valve rebate program in place.
Gun Violence Prevention
Family Life Center representative Henry Gregory III spoke on behalf of a grant application submitted to ANC 6E by the center in the amount of $2,000 to support a Gun Violence Prevention Workshop on Sept. 23 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The commission unanimously passed a motion to support the grant in the full amount of $2,000, provided that the Office of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions confirms that the funds can be used for the workshop and any remaining documentation from other applicants is submitted.
ANC 6E will meet again at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 3 at the Shaw/Watha T. Daniel Library located at 1630 Seventh St. NW.
Steve Holton can be contacted at ssholton@gmail.com.
