JULY UPDATE:

Neighbor,

I hope you’re staying cool and hydrated this July. Updates on two big projects and what we’re covering at our relocated July 25 ANC 5F meeting next week!

Say Goodbye to Dave Thomas Circle: The ex-Wendys at the corner of New York and Florida Avenues is going away. Mayor Bowser will be joining us tomorrow, Wednesday, July 19, at 11am, to kick off the project that will demolish and reconfigure the intersection. No RSVP required but DDOT advises that you wear closed toe shoes.

Say Hello to a Gapless MBT: It’s official name is the 8th Street NE Traffic Safety Improvements Project, but you may know it as the 8th Street Bike Lanes or Closing the Gap in the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT). Last month DDOT made one final change to the design, to keep two-way traffic between Lawrence and Monroe. Today they confirmed construction is imminent: "DDOT expects to begin project construction within the next 2-3 weeks. Construction is expected to last 2-4 weeks. During the construction and conversion of the roadway to one-way operations, there will be temporary impacts to parking."

July 25 ANC 5F Meeting

ANC 5F will meet on Tuesday, July 25, 2023 at 7pm ET. Join us virtually on Zoom or in person at the Eckington Community Room in the Judd & Weiler complex on Quincy Lane NE, next to and behind Eckington Hall. (Here’s a map, and we’ll make sure there’s good signage.)

Items that might be acted on include:

• A zoning map amendment for 701 Michigan Avenue NE. Commissioner Sahni is sponsoring this which will allow mixed-use development on a plot of land near Catholic University.

• Amendments to ANC 5F standard procedures. I am sponsoring this, which would adjust a few of our Commission’s operating rules to align with actual practice now that we’re six months in. These include an email address that goes to all 5F commissioners, allowing committees more flexibility on when they can meet, and ensuring that all ABCA, DDOT, and zoning final notices go to all commissioners.

• Selecting the ANC 5F member of the DDOT North Capitol Street community advisory committee. This is an important project that will recommend short-term signage improvements to address high-crash intersections, and longer-term ideas (including closing Lincoln Road to through traffic, reducing speeds and driver safety along the road, and a possible deckover or surfacing of North Capitol especially at Rhode Island Avenue). 5F will have just one member of the 15 member committee, but it’s important to me that the project work to transform the entire corridor. Each year, North Capitol Street has on average: 500 crashes, 6 people disabled, 16 people injured, 1 person killed.

• We may get an update on construction of the Advanced Technical Center at 1709 3rd Street NE.

• Committee appointments. I will be moving that we add 23 members of the community to our Alcohol Licensing, Public Safety, Transportation, Zoning, and Library committees. I am grateful to everyone that applied (and if you applied and didn’t hear back, please let me know!) because the input and engagement is vital! (If you’d like to apply, fill out the form here.)

  • Speaking of committees the 5F Public Safety, Health & Community Engagement Committee will be meeting tomorrow, July 19 at 6:30pm at the Eckington Community Room. Contact Commissioner Galvan with any questions.

  • And the 5F Transportation & Public Space Committee will be meeting Saturday, July 22, at 10am via Zoom. Contact Commissioner Sahni with any questions.

All ANC 5F meetings are open to the public, and feel free to reach out to me with any questions or feedback on any of these items. Public comment is right at the start of every meeting at 7pm, after roll call - and we need to hear from you, even if it’s for you to say you like what we’re doing!

July Office Hours

Thank you for joining me (and Ulysses!) for my office hours on July 4! I’m glad I was able to answer questions about who to reach in the city government to solve various problems. Stay tuned for an announcement of August office hours.

SPEAKING OF PUBLIC SAFETY: On July 11, the D.C. Council passed a crime bill. Councilmember Parker wrote a good explanation of what is in it and what he is trying to do on the Council for public safety. I also shared a couple of tweets with questions about what seem to me to be outstanding issues on crime, many of which I’ve heard from you — things like the crime lab not being certified since 2021, the USAO and MPD and Council all not aligned on arrest procedures, MPD retention issues, the seeming non-use of focused deterrence that worked in previous crime waves, and motivating the U.S. Attorney to prosecute repeat offenders. This Monday, I’m meeting with the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and will report back anything constructive. And yesterday, the Mayor announced her pick of Pamela Smith to be the new Chief of Police.

E-WASTE: If you have electronic waste (old TV, old computer, etc.) and are not able to take it yourself to the Fort Totten facility, DPW deputy director says use the 311 app to make a bulk trash pickup and specify in the comments that it is electronic waste.

MORE WMATA FEEDBACK: Thank you to everyone who gave feedback that was incorporated into ANC 5F’s resolution to WMATA on their Better Bus redesign. WMATA  is now back for more, asking for input on long-term rail system expansion. Two of the options include new service to Union Market and Ivy City.

MOVIES BACK IN ALETHIA TANNER PARK: Stay tuned, but movies in the park will be back from September 13 to October 11.

Neighbor,

Happy summer! Three big updates: July office hours, what we’re covering at our June 27 ANC 5F meeting tomorrow, and some neighborhood updates.

July Office Hours: July 4 will be a holiday but not for me. If you have a concern or a question, stop by my table outside Alethia Tanner Dog Park between 10AM and 12NOON on Tuesday, July 4. And don’t go far, be sure to stay for the U.S. Navy Band performance at 4pm in Alethia Tanner Park!

June 27 ANC 5F Meeting

ANC 5F will meet on Tuesday, June 27, 2023 at 7pm ET. Join us virtually on Zoom or in person at Edgewood Recreation Center, 300 Evarts Street NE. Here are some of the action items that will be covered!

FLORIDA AVE NE CONSTRUCTION & BUS LANES: Demolition of the ex-Wendys at New York & Florida (“Dave Thomas Circle”) will start shortly, followed by a realignment of that confusing and congested intersection. Work is already underway to rebuild bike lanes to the east, near the Metro tracks, and a new through-the-building connection to the MBT will open by the end of this year.

In addition to all this, District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is looking at how they can speed up buses on Florida Avenue NE; at a recent meeting they held with ANC Commissioners, they reported that the 90/92 buses go as slow as 4 mph in rush hour mixed traffic. I am sponsoring a resolution asking DDOT to design dedicated bus lanes as part of their project. Improving transit will be hard if the buses move at just 4 mph, and a bus lane should be on option on the table.

BETTER BUS FEEDBACK: WMATA has proposed the first redesign of their bus network in a half-century, and I was honored to be a member of Councilmember Parker’s Ward 5 Bus Task Force which scrutinized what WMATA proposed for our neighborhoods and which made constructive recommendations for changes. I am sponsoring a resolution incorporating this feedback as ANC 5F’s official feedback to WMATA. Items include frequent, fast service on Rhode Island Avenue similar to the G9 (either by higher service standards or an overlay route, and extending one route west to Shaw or U Street), and a restructured P6 that won’t get stuck in traffic (keeping it off Rhode Island Avenue and not detouring it to 2nd/3rd Streets).

THE FUTURE OF NEW YORK AVENUE NE: The DC Office of Planning has begun thinking about zoning changes for New York Avenue NE to allow needed affordable housing and better transportation and environmental quality. I am sponsoring a resolution endorsing those draft recommendations and encouraging speedy action on them.

BETTER USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS: I am sponsoring a resolution, joined by Commissioner Aru Sahni, asking the DC government to better use federal driver safety grant funds it receives. A new federal law allows the money to be used for automated traffic enforcement around neighborhood schools. We would join ANCs 1B, 1E, and 4D in passing this.

CONGESTION PRICING STUDY & CAMERA REVENUE: I see in the news today that New York City is moving forward with a congestion pricing program in their urban core next year. Back in 2019-20, DC Department of Transportation studied such an idea for downtown DC, and I am sponsoring a resolution asking DDOT to brief ANC 5F on that study. It’s vital information as we think about the pros and cons of various options to address traffic and road safety. The resolution also states opposition to diverting future transportation-related revenue like camera traffic enforcement revenue to general purposes; if we’re gonna have speed cameras the money should be used for transportation improvements.

HARRY THOMAS WAY & ECKINGTON PLACE IMPROVEMENTS: DDOT has proposed establishing a no-parking entrance in front of 1501 Harry Thomas Way NE and a commercial loading zone at 1600 Eckington Place NE. I am sponsoring a resolution approving those projects but adding conditions to extend their hours and to complete half-done crosswalk markings at Quincy Lane.

FOUND ART EXHIBITION AT TANNER PARK ON EARTH DAY: Ethan and I enjoyed viewing the “Found Art” sculptures created by neighbors this past Earth Day in Tanner Park. Ira Tattleman, the artist who led the workshops that created them, is seeking support to have his grant renewed for next year. I’ll be asking ANC 5F to approve a letter to do so.

1701 2ND ST NE: We will hear a presentation on the zoning application by 1701 2nd Street NE to construct a rear and side addition to a single-family row dwelling and make it a 3-unit multi-family building. This meeting is for information and questions; we will not be voting on it at this meeting. I’ve received feedback in support and opposed to the application, and have been communicating with the applicant.

All ANC 5F meetings are open to the public, and feel free to reach out to me with any questions or feedback on any of these items. Public comment is right at the start of every meeting at 7pm, after roll call - and we need to hear from you, even if it’s for you to say you like what we’re doing!

May Newsletter

If you missed it, I distributed my two-page newsletter last month. Download it as a PDF here.

Neighborhood Updates

• Fort Totten Transfer Station has reopened for bulk trash and recycling dropoff. Details: https://dpw.dc.gov/service/fort-totten-transfer-station
  
  

• Badly Placed Streetlight in Florida Avenue Tunnel: Thank you for alerting me to the newly installed streetlights right in the center of the already-too-narrow sidewalk on Florida Avenue between Eckington and Union Market. I prepared a joint letter from several Commissioners to DDOT asking for this to be fixed, and Councilmember Parker’s office engaged on it as well. DDOT says their contractor will fix it, and I’ll ping them regularly for updates until it is.

• MBT Gap Construction Starts Soon: Construction begins in July to complete the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT) gap on 8th Street in Edgewood. DDOT received 140 comments in favor and 18 opposed. To address concerns, they modified the design to ensure 2-way road traffic between Lawrence & Monroe and restore some parking on Edgewood Street NE.

• On June 13, I attended an affordable housing information session with several fellow Commissioners, including Commissioner Hector Arbuckle, Commissioner Billy Easley, Commissioner Keith Hardy, Commissioner Josh Jacobson, and Commissioner Tucker Jones. We heard about how projects “pencil” to be doable and what ANCs can do to help them succeed.

• On June 24, I attended a DDOT briefing on the North Capitol Street concept study. This will recommend short-term improvements to address high-crash intersections, and long-term ideas (including a possible deckover at Rhode Island Ave & North Capitol, or surfacing the entire road as more of a boulevard).

  • Each year, North Capitol Street has on average: 500 crashes, 6 people disabled, 16 people injured, 1 person killed.

  • Most of the short-term improvement ideas are additional signage.

  • Delineators (plastic looking thin poles) at the foot of Lincoln Road NE at Quincy Place would be replaced by a sidewalk and a larger island.

  • A separate side study will look at that area of Lincoln Road NE, including possibly closing it to car traffic.

  • Lots of attendees suggested closing the slip lane at the “Mamo” lot at North Capitol and Florida Avenue. DDOT told me only about 30 cars per day use it.

  • A deckover of the Rhode Island/North Capitol would be expensive: from $44 million (just the intersection) to $82 million (the whole block). To compare, a brand new recreation center costs about $25 million, and buying land and building out all the new parks in NoMa (including Alethia Tanner Park) cost $50 million.

  • Plan is to make the signage improvements by early next year, and to study long-term options later this year.
    
    

• 605 Rhode Island Avenue NE: This coming-soon project is located at the MBT and Rhode Island Avenue and will include 385 apartments (33% affordable) and a woonerf internal circulation road replacing currently industrial property. This is separate, but next door, to the proposed Autozone and Firehouse redevelopments. It's a by-right project, so the only real input an ANC can have is on transportation infrastructure. On behalf of ANC 5F, I worked with the developer to make sure the project now includes:

  • Improving the existing W Street entrance to the MBT to be accessible, at-grade, and open, including bollards to prevent automobile entry.

  • Adding a resident-only access door to the MBT directly from the property at the northeast tip of the property.

  • Extending the Rhode Island Avenue median further west to discourage cars from using the development to cut around, and to provide DDOT with a study of a new crosswalk across Rhode Island Avenue west of the MBT/rail tracks.

  • Build a new sidewalk along W Street between the MBT and the west of their property, where it will link with the existing sidewalk (and will encourage DDOT to enforce no parking on the sidewalk there).

  • Improve the sidewalk on Rhode Island Avenue southside (including closing several existing curb cuts, keeping one tree, and planting more trees)

  • Agreed to discourage through car traffic on their internal network with “narrow street sections, special paving, and a multimodal  environment  lined  with  internal  trees  that  is  conducive  to  lower  travel  speeds” and “will also consider additional traffic calming measures, such as speed bumps, if determined necessary through the final permit application.”

• 
  
  On May 25, the DC Public Space Committee approved what we agreed on. I'm excited by the developer's commitment to add needed housing. It's important that we also add to our transportation and safety infrastructure, and glad at this progress!
  
  

• Commissioner Aru Sahni and I met with numerous DDOT staff on various projects on May 20, including

  • RI Ave safety/vision zero

  • Road design in 605 RI development

  • Speeding cars inc. on 2nd b/w V & U

  • Traffic cushion/speedbump on Quincy Lane

  • TSI prioritization

  • 8th Street bike gap & west-east connections

  • Trees

  • RI Ave/FL Ave bus lanes

  • Sidewalk repair/gaps

• Commissioner Jennifer Anderson and I have worked together to secure alcohol license agreements from the Alcoholic Beverage & Cannabis Administration (ABCA), the result of which will be new summer patios at Lost Generation Brewing Company and Eckington Hall opening soon!

• Commissioner Mark Galvan is leading a public safety committee to organize a Q&A session with MPD and other agencies responsible for public safety. It’s already had an effect, getting MPD more familiar with the public safety needs of our neighborhood. If you’d like to get involved in this or any other ANC 5F committee, please let me know!

• On May 22, I attended the NoMa Business Improvement District annual meeting, hearing about past successes (new jobs, new homes, lots of “best of” awards, amenities like Tanner Park) and future goals (NY/FL circle, a third NoMa Metro Station entrance).

• Noted above but reiterated: road changes/construction/demolition of the ex-Wendy’s starts this week! Be aware of signage and construction notices.

Your Commissioner,

Joe Bishop-Henchman

5F06@anc.dc.gov
202-599-0929

March 28 Meeting Update

Trash cans! Brewery summer garden! Edgewood grocery store! Transportation safety improvements!

ANC 5F met on March 28, 2023, here are some of the action items that we covered!

TRASH CANS: I live just off 4th Street, and in March the last trash can was removed. It used to be a trash can on every corner! At three locations near me residents have put out their own trash can just so there's something preventing garbage from being thrown on the ground.

Councilmembers Lewis George and Parker have been pushing DPW to provide answers on their trash can removal policies, including proposed legislation to involve ANC input before they are removed. I'm pleased to learn that changes are now happening! 

We heard from Ms. Rogers of DPW, who explained that trash can removal has been occurring due to conflicting 311 requests. Their new policy will be to get ANC input before adding or removing trash cans, after 311 submission. She noted that there's a 270 day backlog on additions. Ms. Rogers noted her list for trash can additions includes several spots in ANC5F06, including 4th & V (two corners), RI & V, 5th & RI, and 4th & W. ANCs will be notified of requests and for their input to be provided. I promised to support ANC support for trash can additions.

ALCOHOL LICENSES: We had presentations by two applicants. Lost Generation Brewing Company and Eckington Hall are both proposing outdoor service on their patios. Lost Generation is also seeking a modification to allow them to serve wine (in addition to beer). 

ANC 5F will seek agreements with both establishments on hours, trash, and noise. If you have thoughts, please reach out to me! In the meantime, 5F voted to support Lost Generation's application to ABRA to open its summer garden patio until action on the full application occurs. I want to especially thank Commissioner Anderson for her help on these matters within 5F06. She served on our predecessor commission's Alcohol Licensing committee so I greatly value that experience in moving these matters forward!

EDGEWOOD GROCERY STORE: We heard from Pritzker Realty Group, which is proposing a zoning map amendment at its Monroe Street Market project in Edgewood. They propose shifting 99 parking spaces at 701 Monroe St NE from residential to a grocery store. They aren't revealing the name of the potential grocery store tenant yet while they're negotiating. But the use of the parking spaces is needed for that.

Many of the residents are college students at nearby Catholic University, so Pritzker estimates that few of those currently parking there will be affected by the time construction occurs. Commissioner Williams asked several questions about how many spaces are used and what options there are for residents. ANC 5F voted unanimously to support the amendment request.

Needless to say a grocery store west of the railroad tracks is an important priority for me! And I'm grateful to Commissioners Hurst and Sahni for their work on this project and working with the developer on these goals!

TRANSPORTATION SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS! I voted for several resolutions from Commissioner Galvan supporting traffic calming and safety improvements especially near schools. He and I co-sponsored a resolution supporting more bollards near the MBT to prevent auto entry.

We selected Commissioner Sahni to chair our Transportation and Public Space Committee. If you're in Eckington or Edgewood, and if you'd like to help out with that committee, or any of our other committees, please send in your information here! https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=8Unkj5SLt0-ZBm-Tnagtc3qWL9ZkXeZBuh3_RyAuINpUOFY4WFlTNjdGUldaREg4T1ZVU1hZTU5TUC4u

Thanks to everyone for a very productive meeting! 

Joe Bishop-Henchman
ANC Commissioner 5F06 Eckington
5F06@anc.dc.gov

January 31, 2023 Update

Library? Mayor’s forum on crime? Budgets? It’s the last day of January and it’s hard for me to believe that I was only sworn in as your Commissioner on January 2. I have lots of updates to share:

At our last ANC meeting, I was honored to be elected Chair of the entire 5F Commission. At the meeting we also elected Commissioner Jennifer Anderson (5F05, Eckington) as vice chair, Commissioner Tony Hurst (5F01, Edgewood) as treasurer, and Commissioner Mark Galvan (5F04, Eckington & Edgewood) as secretary. The Commission also adopted the bylaws and procedures I took the lead on drafting, tasked Commissioner Aru Sahni (5F02, Edgewood) with setting up a website and a mailing list, and set our regular monthly meeting as the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7pm. Mark your calendars: January 31, February 28, March 28, April 25, May 23, June 27, July 25, September 26, October 24, November 28, December 19.

ANC MEETING TONIGHT at 7pm, both virtual via Teams and at the Chase, 680 Rhode Island Avenue NE. Big topics on the agenda include:

• Presentation of our 2023 budget. Commissioner Anderson has prepared a budget proposal that will be discussed at this meeting for adoption at our February meeting. It is a tight budget but commits to:
  
  

  • Restarting community grants this year

  • Funding what we need to do hybrid meetings and

  • Outreach to the community.

• Your feedback is welcome.
  
  ANC 5F is a brand new Commission and we have literally $0 right now. Commissioner Sahni set up our new 5F Commission website and paid $9 out of his own pocket for the domain, and we can’t even reimburse him yet. We inherited none of the $48,000 accumulated by our predecessor 5E Commission, even though much of that money came from taxes paid by Eckington and Edgewood residents. The DC Council has approved modest emergency funding of $4,838.25 for us once we complete a number of start-up tasks such as opening a bank account, securing insurance, and approving a budget.
  
  As we are part of DC government, one might think that we would be able to use DC staff and resources for creating/hosting a website, printing, securing equipment for meeting conferencing, etc., but instead we must secure them all ourselves out of our budget! (I recently signed a letter with 107 other commissioners declining the offered perk of a golden parking pass and asking instead for administrative support.)
  
  That's the glass half empty part. Once we are up and running we can start unlocking future quarterly allotments. We are requesting supplemental funding from a special fund to cover technology expenses. And at this meeting I will be proposing that we negotiate a split of assets with our predecessor commission which could replenish our assets. If any of those three pan out, we can do more things faster.

• Establishing a Library task force. Eckington and Edgewood may be farther from a library than any other populated area of DC. DC has approved funding in the budget to close this gap but decisions need to be made on where it will go and what services the library will offer. Commissioner Anderson’s proposal would set up a group of Eckington and Edgewood residents to work with DC Public Library and the Deputy Mayor to provide that direction.

In addition:

• I am meeting with the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development today, with Commissioner Anderson and Commissioner Galvan, to discuss various projects (especially the firehouse replacement project at Rhode Island and 4th), both in the pipeline and aspiration, for more amenities and small businesses in our neighborhood.

• Two weekends ago the Mayor held a public safety forum with all commissioners, where she and the chief of police discussed the general drop in crime from a recent peak but troubling upward trends in juvenile crime and gun crime. The Mayor’s budget comes out in March but observers predict it will include an ask for 600 more police and to put law enforcement personnel into schools.

• Last weekend Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker held a roundtable to brainstorm improving city services and ideas for short- and long-term changes. I gave a list of suggestions on WMATA reform, including the importance of frequent bus service on key corridors for their coming bus study.

• I participated in an ANCs call yesterday with Chairman Mendelson where he outlined coming oversight hearings on city agencies and the budget process. Unlike the federal government, DC passes its budget on time and it’s a point of pride for Mendelson. The Mayor will present her proposal on March 22 and Mendelson wants the DC Council to pass it in May, so it will be a flurry of activity those two months.

• I am discussing improvements to the MBT ideas with Eckington Parks & Arts and the NoMa Business Improvement District, for a joint submission for the DC budget. Ideas include a staircase from the trail to New York Avenue near the Pepco substation (and fixing a drainage issue at that spot), bollards to restrict car access, water fountains, and public restrooms.

If you support (or oppose) any of this, please let me know! Public comment at ANC meetings is usually people opposed to something we’re considering. We also need to hear from you if you like it! Public comment is right at the start of every meeting at 7pm, after roll call.

Your Commissioner,

Joe Bishop-Henchman

202-599-0929

Proposed 5F Bylaws & Rules

I'm sharing proposed ANC5F Bylaws and Standard Procedures documents I'll be sponsoring.

5F is a brand new Commission and starts with a blank slate. I've read every ANC's bylaws, procedures, and rules, and drawn some great best practices together in one place. Also OAG letters.

The documents are here:

• Proposed Bylaws: https://t.co/vMXp0fcgdy

• Proposed Standard Procedures: https://t.co/klG4TgkWu7

What's in them? Seven major things:

1. Reduces 3 layers of meetings/approvals (policy committee, committee of the whole, full Commission) to two. No more duplication

2. One secretary in charge of getting records up and minutes out, within 5 days. No more taking months

3. Makes clear that the full Commission takes actions and is entitled to great weight, not individual commissioners. This language is straight from the Attorney General.

4. Allows officers to be removed at any time by a majority, without cause.

5. Codifies strong financial controls and sets up a very defined process for grants. 5F will start off with $8,000 per quarter in your tax dollars and we should use it very wisely.

6. A "Conduct Policy" and transparency requirements for Commission activities.

7. Four policy committees (including volunteers from 5F residents):

• Alcohol Licensing

• Public Safety, Health, and Community Engagement

• Transportation and Public Space

• Zoning and Development

Each committee will work closely with the relevant DC agency to advance 5F goals.

Your thoughts and suggestions are welcome! DC law requires that we adopt bylaws at our very first commission meeting, which should be this month.

January 6, 2023

ANC 5F Planning Session

ANC 5F commissioners will have an administrative planning session, Sat., Jan. 7, 11am to 1pm, at Edgewood Recreation Center, 300 Evarts Street NE. The session will prepare logistics for our first meeting and no official actions will be taken. It is open to the public.