Daily Dispatch from Tuesday, November 8th, 2005Dispatcher Comments:
Truxtoncircle.org is very honored to host Marie Maxwell's (of Inshaw blog fame) research paper "Ethnic Divides in an 1880 DC Neighborhood" which she presented last Saturday at the Washington DC Historical Studies Conference.
It's 16 pages long...so print it on your bosses dime and take it home tonight.
Also below is a link to the DC North article about our very own civic association. You'll see some very familiar names...and maybe even a familiar Web site.
Good times.
Scott Shappell
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Updates on Truxtoncircle.org:
[A] Discussion Board activity:
(You must be signed in to access Truxton Circle discussion boards)
1. SOME [http://www.truxtoncircle.org/discuss.php?view=board&uid=76]
2. Does anyone know of a good plumber? [http://www.truxtoncircle.org/discuss.php?view=board&uid=103]
3. last nights shots [http://www.truxtoncircle.org/discuss.php?view=board&uid=98]
[B] Resource additions and updates:
1. Ethnic Divides in an 1880 DC Neighborhood: By Marie Maxwell. An 1880 look at Truxton Circle. (A MUST READ!)[http://www.truxtoncircle.org/store/Theproject.pdf]
2. Bates Street Civic Association, Little Street, Large Ideas : DC North article about our very own civic association!!! [http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com/publications/dcnorth/2005_nov/html/BatesStreet.cfm]
[C] 3 new members have joined the website. Welcome!
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E-mail Submissions:
From John G. of Fourth regarding the Richardson Place meeting
For those who couldn't make it, here are my recollections and thoughts on Mr Mondie's presentation from last night. These are high level thoughts and concerns and are just off the top of my head... Lyric, Lonna or anyone else there might have a different take on things or be able to articulate things better.
Mr Mondie was there with his attorney. They did this cute question and answer thing where the attorney read Karl's questions like he was questioning Mr Mondie and Mr Mondie provided answers that had clearly been discussed/rehearsed with his attorney. As you might imagine, not a lot of insight came out of those answers. Things were couched carefully. Here's some of what he shared:
The townhouses are designed to be "similar" to the existing townhouses on Richardson Place . The existing townhouses "also" have four stories (I'm not sure Mr Mondie is aware that's not true and that the roof design is different too). The design of the townhouses in the plans was based on some townhomes constructed in SW DC that he likes (note: he distributed more recent plans last night). I asked for the street address and he indicated they're the new houses down near the HUD building around 7th & D St SW. I asked if those were his houses and he said "no". I asked whether he has done any other housing in DC that we could see and he said he hadn't done anything else.
Good news/bad news is that the plans are flexible. Ie, Mr Mondie does not seem to have ironed out many of the details. Things such as whether the houses would be split into two separate units or a single home with a in-law suite/rental basement still seem to be up in the air. When pressed on whether the potential six condo's would be included in an association together or whether each home would have it's own owner "association", he was unclear. Further, he had not given thought to including a restrictive covenant in the sales contract to keep the units owner occupied. They seem to have put off any decisions about the internal division of living space and what their sales strategy might be... this could be problematic as we have no firm indication of their desires; however, we can assume it will be to maximize profits.
He indicated he planned to live in one of the units. I'm not sure I believe that, but that's what he said. I'm very skeptical.
I believe he said the contractor overseeing the construction would Rocky Anderson, based in VA. Mr Mondie said Mr Anderson is currently working in Baltimore on a project now.
He indicated that there are no plans for creating a slope (as seen in the early sketches) other than to facilitate drainage away from the units, as done in standard construction practices. So, in other words, there isn't an explanation for why the original plans showed the units being built on a incline.
He indicated that the difficultly of getting into the parking spaces behind the units was being considered. He said that they've considered shifting the back parking at angles, which shouldn't require anything other than them redrawing the lot boundaries slightly. Thus, he anticipates that the units will have one car per unit and they will be parked in the back parking space.
Lonna pointed out that the people on NJ Ave did not receive the notice mailed out. Mr Mondie blamed that on the DC gov't saying they are responsible for who receives the notice. Whether that's factually true or not, it was clearly not a satisfactory answer. An apology would have been nice.
Jim Berry did a good job explaining that without more firm plans, he was going to have a hard time getting the ANC's blessing. Further, he indicated that Mr Mondie was going to be on a really tight timeframe to get the info to him so that in the upcoming ANC meeting (next week I think?) he would have been able to have comments on the plans and could present them for ANC recommendation prior to the Dec 13 hearing. Mr Mondie all of the sudden seemed very concerned when he realized that there was a chance the ANC might weigh in against the plans or that they might not be able to render a recommendation for the Dec 13 hearing. Mr Mondie actually left after his presentation and came back 30 minutes later after speaking with some other partners in the development. He indicated to Jim that he was willing to try to get the concerns handled as soon as possible (some of what was mentioned above and raised at the meeting) and Jim said he took this to show that he's very eager to get things settled prior to the Dec 13 hearing so that he doesn't have a delay.
My thoughts? Well, I think that Mr Mondie is less concerned with the aesthetics of the buildings than he should be. I think, at a minimum, we should work with him to get a guarantee that the buildings would be built to match the period the other houses were built in. I.e., no vinyl on the front. No peaked roof, etc. These buildings on our block are not elaborate facades, it's not that expensive to use brick work to match a 105 year old house.
On the upside, Mr Mondie seems very eager to get this through in the Dec 13 hearing so we might have more leverage by working with him now than we would if we force a delay and then try to get him to work with us. Just something to consider.
Sorry for the length...
john
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From Cleopatra Jones, ANC 5C02
FYI --
The DC Department of Parks & Recreation is holding three Open Houses, for the public to meet the new Executive Staff and participate in a discussion regarding the 5-yr Agency Master Plan.
* Nov 15, Emery Rec Ctr, Georgia & Madison NW, 6:30-8:30 pm
* Nov 16, SE Tennis & Learning Center, 701 Mississippi Ave SE, 6:30-8:30 pm
* Nov 17, Kennedy Recreation Center, 7th & P Sts NW, 6:30-8:30 pm
Please RSVP to Justice and Sustainability Associates at 202-610-0005
For more information on the DPR Master Plan, see www.dpr.dc.gov and http://www.bakerprojects.com/dprmasterplan/ or contact Leslie Schill, DPR Office of Planning, 202-673-2033.
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From Cassandra Costley
Hi all:
The next Greater Bloomingdale Area Garden Club meeting is scheduled for Saturday, November 12, 2005. The Club is taking a group trip to the U.S. National Arboretum, located 3501 New York Ave., NE. The Arboretum is not located close to any Metro stations, so we will car pool to get there. Please call Cassandra at (202) 462-3737 to volunteer to drive or to reserve a space in a car by November 10. We plan to leave from 2006 First St, NW at 10:30 a.m. and to return by 12:30 p.m.
All are welcome to join us, so bring a friend, or two. Just Come Bloom With Bloomingdale!
Thanks,
Cassandra |
