Time banking, tree planting, community gardening, vacant housing busting meeting

The Convention Center Community Association, our neighbors to the north and west, had an interesting meeting tonight.

First off, if you haven't had a chance to visit the new Watha T. Daniels Library, where the meeting was held, check it out... it is worth a visit.  It seemed very well used by folks of all ages.

The meeting began with a presentation by the DC Time Bank.  I hadn't heard of this before.  Apparently, it's a way for you to log your volunteer hours and trade them for services from others in the neighborhood.  For example, if you volunteer tutoring kids, you can then use your hours with someone else who might fix your bike.  You can learn more about the concept and sign up at www.dctimebank.org.

A representative of Casey Trees told us about some great programs and deals if you're interested in adding trees to your own property or public land.  There's lots of options.  For $50, Casey Tree will install a tree in the ground that would ordinarily cost $250.  Another option is that you can buy and plant your own tree and Casey Trees will give you a rebate of up to $50 per tree for up to 3 trees.  Casey Trees also offers design workshops -- you bring a map of your property and some photos and they'll help you identify the best places to plant trees and recommend a type of tree -- and they'll throw in a free tree to boot. The next workshops are on October 20 and 27.  The organization also holds community tree plantings, which involve planting a minimum of 10 trees in a neighborhood and they will show you how to take care of them.  Last, but not least, Casey Trees will help you do a tree inventory for your area, which will evaluate the type, condition, and existing inventory of trees and determine where additional trees can be planted.  This might precede a community planting.  For more information, go to www.caseytrees.org.

One of the co-founders of the Marion Street Garden (between P and Q Streets), Lola, told of their progress with the community garden.  They always like ot have help between Tuesday and Thursday between 4pm and 7pm.  Residents are welcome to take free basil.  They are planning on putting a mural on one side of the property and looking for artists to generate ideas, which they will share with the community.  Mark Leta, a Marion Street resident, stunned her with a $9,000 check in support of the garden generated by his company's profit sharing program -- he had put them in for the award and they won.  Wow.  Great work.

Rev. Thomas Bowen of Shiloh Baptist Church attended the meeting to advance communication between the church and the community, particularly with respect to the church's 54 vacant properties.  He has served as the church's minister of fellowship and outreach for the past several years.  By next fall, he expects to have plans to present to the community.  Some of the lots are restricted in use by the wills of church members who donated the properties to the church.  They plan on developing them one at a time through hiring a developer.  According to Rev. Bowen, some Shiloh members are as upset about the situation if not more than the community.  Community pressure has helped pressure the church to move on the properties.  They plan to develop the properties across the street from the church to provide office space for nonprofits.  Rev. Bowen, in response to a question, stated that they do not plan to use the site as a shelter of any kind, but for office space.

There was a discussion of the future of Parcel 42, the vacant city-owned lot at Rhode Island/R and 7th Street on which squatters have established a small tent city supposedly to protest the city's unwillingness to use the land for low-income housing.  Many years ago, a clinic was located at this site, but it was destroyed in the riots and has been vacant ever since.  Apparently, the city recently posted notices on the site providing those who are squatting on the land to remove their belongings by October 6.  Some community members felt this should have happened far sooner, as it establishes our neighborhood as the place for squatters to camp.  Several of those who are living at the site attended the meeting and stated their opinion that since there's no use planned for the property, it's best used for the homeless.  They stated that they keep the lot free of trash, they recycle, there are no rats, and their presence adds to safety.  There was some discussion as to temporary uses for the site, but the consensus of residents was that no decisions as to the future of the property are likely to be made until after the mayoral transition.

Councilmember Muriel Bowser, who represents Ward 4 and has oversight of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs was the next speaker.  I thanked Councilmember Bowser -- without her efforts, we likely would not have a vacant property tax at all.  Now we have a 4-rate system -- Class 1 (residential, $0.85/$100 assessed value tax), Class 2 (commercial, $1.85), Class 3 (vacant, $5), and Class 4 (blighted, $10).  These rates go back into effect on October 1.  The Council also narrowed some of the exemptions to prevent abuse.  The tax, however, only applies to vacant improved properties (houses) and not vacant lots.  Some expressed concern that this provides an incentive for arson or to simply allow a house to fall down in order to get a lower tax rate.  I also suggested to Councilmember Bowers that she work with DCRA to develop transparency on the status of vacant and blighted properties so that residents know, after they report a property, where it is in the process of changing the classification and any exemptions that were granted to that property.  MVSNA and CCCA will be working with DCRA on updating our inventory of vacant properties to ensure proper enforcement for the next tax cycle.