The Summer is Over Edition
Was it just yesterday that summer began? Hopefully you enjoyed a relaxing summer and you are enjoying the nice fall weather. Catch up on the latest Logan Circle news before it gets too cold. Enjoy!
In this Issue:
The “Rat Summit” is Coming October 17th
World-class restaurants and new developments have transformed Logan Circle into a destination for new residents and tourists alike in the past several years. Unfortunately, along with progress comes some pitfalls – as we’ve grown, our neighborhood produces more and more trash which attracts rodents. ANC 2F is therefore teaming up with local businesses, the community and many DC government agencies to hold a Rodent & Sanitation – Education, Training and Awareness Summit on Thursday October 17th, 2013 @ 7:00 pm at the Washington Plaza Hotel, during our normal Alcohol Policy Committee meeting. Attack rats at the event dubbed the “Rat Summit”! Since we started promoting the event, it’s attracted a lot of coverage, including DCist, WJLA/Newschannel 8, and the Washington Post. Our approach is to recognize that both residents and businesses can help control the rat population through effective waste management and should know what to do if a problem occurs. Commissioner John Fanning and I are are working out the exact details and participants. We hope you’ll attend and share the event!
DDOT Proposes City-wide Visitor Parking Program Pass, Council Forces Delay
DC’s Department of Transportation proposed a new approach to manage visitor parking passes that would apply city-wide (DC visitor parking pass program lurches citywide). The proposal called for a consistent, city-wide process where every household would receive one vistior parking pass that expires annually that visitors could use to park in residential parking zones. Some ANC’s around Logan Circle currently have this option in place, including U Street and Shaw. Logan Circle, however, has been very apprehensive about handing out an unlimited VPP pass to every neighborhood household. The reasons for the ambivalance include our neigbhorhood being the most dense in the region and the potential for abuse that would exacerbate our already difficult parking situation (see next story). Indeed, there was a pretty big outcry in neighborhoods with parking problems that the “one-size-fits-all” approach would make parking worse for residents in many neighborhoods and that DDOT failed to listen to a lot of good ideas that came from the bottom up to reduce the potential for abuse, such as a coupon book for each household instead of an unlimited pass. As a result of the concerns raised, the DC Council delayed DDOT’s proposal for three months. Neighborhoods that currently get an annual pass can continue to use their existing pass (even if it expires) until DDOT mails a new one. Residents in Logan and other areas that have not bought into the household pass can still always go to an MPD station and request a visitor parking pass, as the practice has been historically. In the meantime, let us know what you think about DDOT’s proposal and we’ll see what comes from the 90 day delay.
ANC 2F Endorses Community Development Committee Parking Recommendations
After a series of meetings hosted by the ANC’s Community Development Committee (chaired by Walt Cain), the ANC heard and endorsed the recommendations stemming from the work at our August meeting. The four parking recommendations below were endorsed by the full ANC and shared with DDOT for consideration:
- Employ uniform enforcement of parking rules across the Department of Public Works and the Metropolitan Police Department on all days of the week;
- Conduct outreach to let community groups know that DDOT will work with them on traffic control plans for events, gatherings, services, etc.;
- Conduct outreach to let residents know they have the option of opting out of the enhanced residential parking program;
- Provide advance notice of DDOT’s public consideration and/or vote on the citywide visitor parking program.
DDOT is in the middle of developing a multi-modal and multi-year transportation strategy, dubbed the “WeMoveDC” plan and has made a big push to engage the community to provide input. You can learn more on the We Move DC website on the
participate page, including an upcoming Transportation Plan Advisory Committee (TPAC) on September 30th. I also shared the two bicycle and pedestrian safety focused resolutions that ANC 2F passed earlier this year with the DDOT program manager.
Lanier and Evans Will Attend Next ANC Meeting to Address Recent Shootings
After a very good start to the summer in June and July in both violent and property crime, our numbers took a slight turn in August for violent crime, but overall crime was still down overall for the summer. From 6/21 to 9/20, there were 34 violent crime incidents, compared to 38 in 2012 (down 11%). Property crime dropped from 273 to 226 incidents (down 17%) for an overal drop of 16%. That mostly good news story was overshadowed by two shootings recently, one at 14th and Riggs where a man was wounded and another where shots were fired in the 1700 block of 13th St. At our Crime and Public Safety Committee meeting last week, MPD stated that there are no known suspects to share with the public. Clearly, the violent nature of these crimes is a cause of great concern and brought out an unusually high number of people to our meeting. As a result of the concerns raised at the meeting about crimes with guns and ongoing crime problems on certain blocks and a desire to learn what law enforcement resources are being focused on these historical trouble spots, our next ANC meeting will start a half-hour early at 6:30 on October 2nd so that Councilmember Jack Evans and Chief Lanier can hear the community’s concerns. ANC 2F is also partnering with MPD to host a Fall Crime Awareness and Prevention event at Whole Foods on October 19th from 1-2:30 to provide information about how to avoid the most common neighborhood crimes.
ABRA Issues
We have two ABRA issues in 2F-03.
- A new coffee shop, Glass House, with “bartender-like baristas”, plans to open by early 2014 at 1333 14th St (the lower level of Fathom Creative) and has applied for a Tavern license. I met with the owner, Ryan, this week to learn more about his plans for a high-concept coffee shop that will also serve light food wine, beer and cocktails. Drew and Bill from Fathom Creative are helping with the branding. Stay tuned for details about about a late-October event for neighbors.
- Ghana Cafe, 1336 14th St, applied for an entertainment endorsement. Ghana approached the ANC over the summer about this, but didn’t actually apply at the time. Action ended up being delayed while they dealt with DCRA and DOH issues, but they’ve now formally applied to ABRA for the endorsement.
Both items will be on our 10/2 agenda so we can “protest” them before the November 4th petition dates to work with the owners on new/revised Settlement Agreements. Also, keep your eye on the October 17th APC meeting for agenda items after the “Rat Summit” concludes and the committee moves onto the business meeting.
News and Events Around Logan
