12 Wednesday, July 27, 2011
NORWOOD From Page 5
the building, they work in two or three jobs, they work as busboys, so they’re not necessarily going to have stellar credit to buy housing,� she said. The loan, which will allow tenants to purchase the building from owner N Street Associates LLC, comes specifically from the
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D.C. Housing Production Trust Fund and the federal Community Development Block Grant Program, said O’Toole. Norwood residents are taking this step after recently settling three court cases related to poor conditions in their building, including well-publicized battles with bedbugs. (The tenants spoke at a U.S. congressional forum last fall and more recently participated in a documentary called “Brunching With Bedbugs.�)
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The long-term goal is to rehabilitate the aging building. Plans for the renovation, according to the association’s website, include a new health center, new kitchens, improved bathrooms and a rooftop garden. Salazar said residents also hope to create a child-care center in the building’s basement, which would not only help out working parents but also “generate some income.� The city loan, however, goes primarily toward buying the building. O’Toole said
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residents will be looking to “either a conventional lender or a nonprofit lender� to fund the renovation projects. The Norwood association had already secured about $41,000 from the city housing department for pre-development costs related to the renovation, Salazar said. “We’ve worked really hard for this,� she said of the process, which began in 2007 when the owner proposed converting the Norwood to condos.
UDC
From Page 5 Brigitte Maxey, the National Veterans Coalition is in the process of raising $500,000 to provide scholarships to veterans and their dependents. Meanwhile, the coalition is spearheading a campaign to fund the construction of a statue of Young in D.C. Maxi said the two projects are scheduled to get off the ground in the next 18 months, and the coalition is working with the University of the District of Columbia to have the school house both. Sessoms said the university is
OREGON From Page 1
• adding a sidewalk or walkway on the western side; • building, if necessary, minimal and aesthetically satisfactory retaining walls; • maintaining the existing style of lighting, “except where needed to improve safetyâ€?; • minimal loss of trees; • maintenance of the “‘country road’ aestheticâ€?; and • appropriate repair of the culvert bridge over the Pinehurst Tributary. The Transportation Department and the Federal Highway Administration have laid out four options for upgrading the 1.7-mile wooded road beside Rock Creek Park between Military Road and Western Avenue, and all proposals — aside from a required “no actionâ€? alternative — would add sidewalks. Two of the options would add bike lanes and a grassy swale to capture storm water. As it is now, Oregon Avenue suffers from infrastructure problems, safety issues and inadequate links for pedestrians and cyclists, according to the environmental assessment the city released June 13. The full document is available at oregonaveea.com. One controversial point has been sidewalks. The neighborhood commission letter calls for “an adequate sidewalk or other walkway along the western side of the Avenue, with possible variation depending on the particular situation of the homeowner or property, including where necessitated the use of an asphalt or gravel path or other pervious material in lieu of a concrete sidewalk.â€? Thompson said the goal of that item is simply to indicate that Oregon should have some sort of pathway alongside it. “Really, it
honored by the opportunity to help veterans. “Men and women sacrifice enormously for this nation,â€? he said. “We need to transform education for the veterans because they transformed America for us.â€? He added that the university already serves 300 veterans or veteran-dependents, with offerings that range from counseling and support groups to disability services. Blatcher said the coalition is also working with federal lawmakers to posthumously promote Young from colonel to brigadier general. “Colonel Young will never benefit from this honor,â€? he said. But, he said, America will. just comes down to between nothing and something, and the letter just says there should be something,â€? he said. Les Sotsky, representing Neighbors United, said the only way to get such a path — rather than the 5-foot-wide cement sidewalk typically required — would be to seek exemption from the city’s sidewalk law. That measure requires installation of sidewalks when a road is rebuilt, but allows certain exceptions; Sotsky said Oregon Avenue would meet the requirements. Before the vote, Sotsky had urged the commission to wait until after the city responds to a Freedom of Information Act request that his group — which is receiving pro bono assistance from the law firm Arnold and Porter — submitted, seeking all documents on the plans. “We have filed FOIA requests that are much broader than [what the commission thought]. ‌ Why can’t we wait three, four more weeks?â€? Thompson said commissioners had considered the matter and wanted to weigh in by the deadline. He offered a list of specific suggestions for the road’s update, which Thompson and Engel said seemed to overlap largely with the commission’s requests. Sotsky urged the commissioners to take a few more days to merge their points with his group’s, but commissioners voted 6-1 to send their letter as is. Carolyn Cook lodged the only “noâ€? vote, noting that, at its last meeting, the commission had advocated for an extension to the deadline on public comment. She said residents do not have sufficient information. “I would like DDOT to actually have a meeting with residents — a true Q-and-A,â€? she said. “Right now people in our community — they feel very confused.â€?