Dp 04 27 2016

Page 1

The DuponT CurrenT

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Development set to displace market’s plaza

New gas meters draw ire on historic street

LEMONADE RAIN

■ Foggy Bottom: Residents

call installation thoughtless

By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer

The Adams Morgan Farmers Market has been serving vegetables, fruits, flowers and baked goods at the corner of 18th Street and Columbia Road NW for more than four decades. Its operators say the plaza, part of the SunTrust bank property, has become an integral part of the community. But starting next year, residents might have to go elsewhere in the neighborhood to pick up their weekly supply of locally grown produce. The developer PN Hoffman purchased the property last fall and plans to turn it into a mixed-use building with groundlevel retail and condo units above. Initial building designs eliminated the existing plaza altogether, while later revisions reduced the building’s expansion to retain some plaza area. Still, the open space would be cut in half. As an alternative, the developer has suggested two possible relocation sites to the market vendors: the BB&T lot at 1801 See Plaza/Page 16

By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer

The alley row houses on Snows Court NW in Foggy Bottom, with their slim widths and aging infrastructure, have long weathered challenges to maintaining their historic character, neighbors say. But now, the block’s residents are fed up with what they feel is mistreatment at the hands of Washington Gas, which has been moving gas meters from indoors

Brian Kapur/The Current

Students from public and charter schools in D.C. set up lemonade stands throughout the city as part of Lemonade Day D.C., a George Washington University program to teach entrepreneurship and other skills. This stand was in front of the Foggy Bottom Metro station in an area with high foot traffic on Saturday.

By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer

Brian Kapur/The Current

Metro has offered plans to alter 40th Street and Fort Drive NW.

The proposals follow a Metro study completed in March 2014, which revealed spotty parking space enforcement; heavy vehicle congestion, particularly during the midday and evening hours; and confusing parking signage. In this location, 40th Street and Fort Drive run one-way in opposite

to outdoors to reduce safety risks. Residents say that the meters were installed inches from some homes’ doorways, and that the meters and steel bollards installed to protect them are aesthetically obtrusive and block doors from opening fully. Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2A (Foggy Bottom, West End) voted unanimously last Wednesday to express dissatisfaction with the Washington Gas work on Snows Court — and promised to authorize funds for legal counsel should the community need to pursue that course of See Meters/Page 18

Cathedral Commons plan for eatery heads to hearing ■ Zoning: Restaurant Silver

worries about effect of delay By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer

Metro pitches concepts for Tenley blocks Community members have been complaining for years about safety and aesthetic issues surrounding the Tenleytown/AU Metro station plaza, saying the crosswalks are treacherous, the intersections are confusing, and the surroundings are ugly. On Saturday, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority presented three possible redesigns during an open house Saturday at nearby Wilson High School. The design alternatives respond to the long-standing complaints, but they have raised fresh concerns among some residents about the loss of parking spaces.

Vol. XIV, No. 48

Serving Dupont Circle, Kalorama, Adams Morgan & Logan Circle

directions between Albemarle and Brandywine streets NW, separated by a narrow median and lined with bus stops and 76 parking spaces. In addition to the Metro station, the streets serve the Whole Foods Market commercial building, as well as Wilson High School and the adjacent aquatic center. Key recommendations from the 2014 report included decreasing right-of-way conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles; expanding bicycle access and spaces for pedestrians and the community; and adding bus shelter and layover areas to minimize confusion and discomfort. All three of the newly proposed alternatives include improved disability access with See Tenley/Page 26

The Cathedral Commons retail complex might be adding another restaurant — but not before addressing concerns from community members and neighborhood leaders. The Zoning Commission voted unanimously on Monday to hold a full public hearing, likely in July, on a minor modification request to the building plan from the developer, the Bozzuto Group. Bozzuto had hoped to get quick approval from the Zoning Commission to allow Silver Diner to install a new, all-day restaurant concept called Silver in the building’s remaining street frontage in the 3300 block of Wisconsin Avenue NW. Current zoning rules for the project limit the developer to using 20 percent of the building’s linear frontage for restaurants, fast-food establishments and prepared food shops. Bozzuto hopes to increase the limit to 23.42 percent, allowing for a restaurant that

Brian Kapur/The Current

Silver would move into Cleveland Park’s Cathedral Commons.

takes up a 93-foot-wide space between the Allure Spa and SunTrust bank. The application was originally slated for expedited review as a minor matter, but Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3C (Cleveland Park, Massachusetts Avenue Heights, Woodley Park) unanimously called for a more thorough process to evaluate aesthetic and parking impacts. In response, Bozzuto and Silver agreed to shrink the proposed front signage from 36 to 30 inches tall, still above the maximum of 24; increase the validation period for street parking from 90 minutes to two hours; and address flaws in See Restaurant/Page 18

NEWS

EVENTS

SHERWOOD

INDEX

Affordable housing

‘Getting Sleepy’

Kicking off soccer

Calendar/20 Classifieds/29 District Digest/4 Dupont Circle Citizen/13 Exhibits/21 Getting Around/26

Commission seeks to boost inclusionary zoning despite developers’ concerns / Page 5

New exhibit at Addison/Ripley showcases relationship between science and art / Page 21

Mayor holds groundbreaking ceremony for the new D.C. United stadium in Southwest / Page 10

In Your Neighborhood/6 Opinion/10 Police Report/8 Real Estate/17 School Dispatches/15 Service Directory/27

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