Last 20 Comments
| Entry | Comment |
| 5th and I residents get eyesore, DC only gets $60,000/year | DMPED kept telling us this was a done deal which explains the parking lots suck but...answer i got from Councilmember Wells a couple weeks ago. But if it was done illegally then recourse should be looked at by those in power. They may not have been aware that proper notice was never given but today they are.
Posted By: Si Kailian / At 3/18/10 1:31 PM |
| 5th and I residents get eyesore, DC only gets $60,000/year | I wrote to Tommy asking what he and his office where going to do about this. Be interesting to see what/if he responds. I don't expect Jack to do anything beyond lip service (which is somewhat fair as its not his ward). Posted By: Sam Farmer / At 3/18/10 11:58 AM |
| 5th and I residents get eyesore, DC only gets $60,000/year | Is there any way for ANC 6C to bring about some kind of action as they were never given the legally required "great weight"? Or is this another law DC doesn't enforce. Its great that Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans & Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells don't support yet another parking lot in the Triangle, but I do hope they get involved in a more substantial manner to salvage this situation for the residents. Cause we are peeved! Peeved!!
Posted By: Si Kailian / At 3/18/10 11:55 AM |
| March 2010 MVSNA Meeting Notes | Fixed. Thanks Martin.
Posted By: JP / At 3/18/10 5:55 AM |
| March 2010 MVSNA Meeting Notes | You're right, it was national park service that Evans was referring to.
Posted By: Si Kailian / At 3/18/10 5:23 AM |
| March 2010 MVSNA Meeting Notes | Great notes JP. But I though Evans was referring to the National Park Service, not DPR in his comments: "DPR is impossible to work with. Sometimes when we have a good director its easier. Now we have someone we don’t know. We need a better plan in case the heavy snows return next year. We need a localized plan." DPR crews actually seem to have done a great job clearing the snow on and around District's Parks and Rec Centers "this year", under the direct supervision of our former Director Hartsock who was being responsive to concerns many neighbors and Mr Evans conveyed to her office. Posted By: martin / At 3/17/10 9:38 PM |
| Liberty Farmers Market closed indefinitely after police(?) "raid" | From DCRA Director Linda Argo: Shaw, Mt. Vernon and Marion Street neighbors - We sent this message out last night to the listservs, but I’m sending again as the misinformation regarding this past week’s event still seems to be circulating. The event that was taking place near the corner of 7th & K streets last week was not a farmers' market. Farmers' markets are for farmers selling their own homegrown fresh products from the region and are exempt from licensing requirements for events on public space. The event that was taking place was a collection of vendors of which very few, to our knowledge, were farmers. Secondly, the "raid" as described in a release from the event's organizer was actually a single police officer asking for basic information about the products and for documentation giving permission to operate on the private property. The organizers could not produce any documentation. And although DCRA was not present during the event, the organizer told the police officer the food vendors were not farmers. We have been in contact with the event organizers and have told them exactly what they need to do to continue to operate their market. They need to produce a letter giving them permission to operate at that location which will allow them to get a Certificate of Occupancy for the event, and they need to get a General Business license. Many of the food products being sold were also products we believe were not grown by the region's farmers including Columbian coffee, oranges and other items. It is important that those vendors selling non-regional food products get a food license so the city's heath inspectors can ensure they are safe for residents. In addition to these suspect food items, the event included vendors selling t-shirts, crafts and other items not covered under the farmers' market exemption. We are huge supporters of farmers' markets and have been lauded by D.C. Hunger Solutions and the D.C. Farmers' Market Collaborative for our efforts to simplify regulations that encourage new farmers' markets and differentiate them in regulations from other events. We have already told this event's organizers that we will work closely with them to come into compliance with the regulations that cover the type of market they are attempting to create. But based on the products offered at this event, it would not be considered a farmer's market. I hope this information is helpful and clears up some of the misunderstanding about this market and last week’s enforcement action. Regards, Linda Linda K. Argo Director Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs District of Columbia Government 941 North Capitol Street, NE, Suite 9500 Washington, DC 20002 (202) 442-8934 (phone) (202) 442-9445 (fax) Posted By: Cary Silverman / At 3/16/10 8:12 AM |
| Liberty Farmers Market closed indefinitely after police(?) "raid" | I have no words...this is crazy! we have had kooky street vendors blocking traffic hawking everything from flowers to bean pies to glow sticks to crack for YEARS and y'all close a farmer's market on opening day?! with the police? jeez thats horrid.
Posted By: Si Kailian / At 3/15/10 2:55 PM |
| ANC 6C Planning, Zoning, and Environment Committee March Agenda | excellent, i just emailed james alexander for april or may :)
Posted By: Si Kailian / At 3/11/10 10:35 AM |
| ANC 6C Planning, Zoning, and Environment Committee March Agenda | Si, last night at the ANC 6C meeting, Guy Steuart was there and I discussed with him the offer we extended to Jay at the PZE Committee meeting to come attend a MVSNA meeting and to show us some love ;-)
Posted By: RobA / At 3/11/10 10:10 AM |
| Police and screams on 5th St | at least it wasn't an armed robbery, from Lt. Carroll: Yesterday evening around 1020pm, a citizen was walking in the 1100 block of 5th street, NW, when a suspect approached the citizen from behind and attempted to take her purse. The citizen and the suspect began to fight over the purse. The suspect fled the scene without obtaining any property. The suspect is described as a black male, approximately 41 years old, 6'0", 180lbs-200lbs, with brown eyes and black hair. The suspect has a dark complexion. He was wearing a black hat, green jacket, blue jeans, and black shirt. Anyone with information relating to this incident is asked to contact MPD at 202 727-9099. Lieutenant Jeffery Carroll Metropolitan Police Department Third District, PSA 308 1620 V St, NW Washington, DC 20009 Cell Phone (202) 437-8198 jefferyw.carroll@dc.gov Posted By: Si Kailian / At 3/11/10 10:04 AM |
| Police and screams on 5th St | Any updates on this?
Posted By: Travis / At 3/11/10 9:51 AM |
| Police and screams on 5th St | I heard my neighbor yell something like "get your hands off of her!!" MPD responded swiftly and in force. I hope everyone is ok. I emailed the LT to find out what happened. There have been 2 recent armed robberies on this block, something to bring up at the PSA meeting tomorrow night 3/11 at kennedy rec 6:30pm (7th & P)
Posted By: Si Kailian / At 3/10/10 10:26 PM |
| Evans gives Shaw development update (video) | Watha T Daniel library will never open. Thugs at Lincoln Westmoreland will keep shooting out the glass panel walls.
Posted By: stuckinshaw / At 3/4/10 6:49 PM |
| ANC 6C p&z Update | @DG-rad: I don't have copies of the updated look for the NPR building, but they should be at next week's full ANC 6C meeting with their project boards. Thank you Si for the kind words. Can I convince you to be my campaign manager in the fall? Last night's meeting was at times confusing and contentious. I think that everyone's head was spinning as we tried to get a handle on the legal issues surrounding Steuart's appeal. In the end, we seemed to all agree that we want to see more residential in the Mount Vernon area - and the Steuart project gives us more residential (if they win their appeal). NPR has been before us twice now and each time the building gets better and more exciting. Sure it may ba a bit "brutalist" but they have to work with the existing historical [former] C&P Telephone building and within what HPRB allows them to do with the new building design. I like how they are opening up the entry corner even more than before (which was a concern at the first meeting) and I'm anxious to see what the "marker" will actually be for that corner (Si termed it a light saber - which is just one of 15 different ideas floating around they said last night). The larger issue we dealt with last night was the Union Station Air Rights project and the requested changes in the Zoning Plan for that mixed-use development. The Office of Planning has met with us three times already over the past several months and will be back again in April. We've had a lot of questions and gotten a lot of answers - but this is a large project that we need to look at carefully and make sure that we get a development that meets the needs of the ANC and the city. Everyone is welcome to our ANC 6C Planning Committee meetings and the Full ANC 6C Commission meetings. A lot of work goes into making the ANC a productive part of the community - stop by and see how we do it. Posted By: RobA / At 3/4/10 3:33 PM |
| ANC 6C p&z Update | any way to get a rendering of the new look for NPR?
Posted By: DG-rad / At 3/4/10 3:02 PM |
| Evans gives Shaw development update (video) | I may be the only one to have found it humorous how Evans on one hand said that judges from other states appointed to DC "don't have an understanding on what we deal with in inner city communities", when moments before he was asked about grafitti and said he could relate...because of how bad it was at Key Bridge when he was jogging into Georgetown. But good for Evans for being there. The real point I have to dispute with Evans is his statement there are only 2 ways to balance the budget. They can either raise taxes or they can cut programs, there is no magic third way. Please reconsider. What about cutting the fat in the government, and I'm not talking union jobs that you mentioned you can't do anything about? What about eliminating all these vacant properties and taxing them once they are occupied (or, from what I hear, taxing them properly now)? What about making DC a more business friendly environment to attract employers and businesses...which you then tax? You complain about the process it takes to get a business up and running, but guess what? You ARE the government. Make it easier. I find it hard to believe we are creating a culture in DC that is doing all it can to attract business to the District. It seems to me it is more than a full-time job to figure out all the ways the government in wasting our money, and I should know since I work for "the government". Evans makes it sound like there is nothing he can do about it, and that seems a little ridiculous. If you can spot the problem, then come up with a solution and legislate it so it can happen. If you can't do anything about it, what good are you? Posted By: Cyrus / At 3/4/10 9:35 AM |
| New Property Tax Bill | I don't know how recently you purchased your place, but one thing that sometimes happens is that your property taxes do not always increase as quickly as assessments. There's something called an assessment cap credit which gives you a tax "credit" to keep eligible homeowner's payable taxes at no more than 10% higher than the previous year. Remember that in recent years, annual appreciation was a lot higher than 10%, so the tax you pay actually lags what would otherwise be due -- thanks to the credit. (The credit should be shown on the bill.) Even when depreciation hits the assessment, you may find that because you've been paying significantly less than the underlying tax (without the cap), you still may have a tax increase in a down year. Did that make sense?
Posted By: John / At 3/4/10 8:13 AM |
| New Property Tax Bill | I can't get over that as the District is in the midst of a budget crisis, it chooses to grant a tax break amounting to millions of dollars to owners of VACANT property (who are often not even DC residents or are developers, churches, or other businesses), while increasing property taxes on those of us who actually live in our homes and also pay DC income taxes. Interesting priorities.
Posted By: Cary Silverman / At 3/4/10 7:59 AM |
| Evans gives Shaw development update (video) | Was there any discussion of when/whether construction will begin at the 6th and N Park? Also -- what's the planned opening date for the Watha T. Daniel Library, the one project in Shaw that seems to be moving forward. Any mention of his current position on the vacant/blighted property tax? CM Evans is scheduled to attend the next MVSNA meeting (3/16) so those who have questions can follow up with him then. Posted By: Cary Silverman / At 3/4/10 7:53 AM |
