February 23, 2009 - Adopted on March 23, 2009

The meeting started at 6:40 p.m., Chair Douglass Sloan (4B09) presiding.� It was held at the Metropolitan Police Department's 4^th District Community Room, 6001 Georgia Avenue, NW.� Also present were Commissioners 4B01 Sara Green, 4B02 Faith Wheeler, 4B03 Monique Michelle Smith, 4B04 James Sydnor, 4B05 Brenda Speaks, 4B06 Idriys Abdullah, 4B07 Judi Jones, and 4B08 Yvonne Jefferson.

Actions

1. In an 8-0-1 show-of-hands vote following a motion from Commissioner Abdullah, the Commission adopted the agenda with one addition.� A brief announcement from the group, DC Vote, will be added after the adoption of the agenda.

2.� In a unanimous show-of-hands vote following a motion made by Commissioner Sloan, the Commission adopted the following resolution on the Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue Area Development Plan

"ANC 4B supports the recommendations of the Lamond Riggs Development Task Force and the Lamond Riggs Citizens Association with regard to their request for moderate density designation for all of the opportunity sites in the Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue Area Development Plan."

The vote followed more than one hour of discussion with Marc Weller, of Ellis Denning Properties, Rodney Foxworth, of the Lamond Riggs Development Task Force and the Lamond Riggs Citizens Association, Deborah Crane, of the DC Office of Planning, and a representative from the DC Department of Transportation.

3. In a unanimous show-of-hands vote following a motion made by Commissioner Sydnor, the Commission adopted a resolution detailing concerns about the Curtis Chevrolet site, a property located on Georgia Avenue, near Peabody Street, NW. The resolution was in the form of a more than two-page letter from ANC 4B Chair Douglass Sloan to DC Office of Planning Ward 4 Planner Malaika Abernathy.

The body of the letter is as follows:

"We want the project on hold until the requested information is provided to the community so that they can properly process the developer's plans and come up with input that would benefit the community.

Adopted Minutes - February 23, 2009 - Page Two

I would like to extend thanks to Councilmember Bowser, Ms. Abernathy, Mr. Mordfin, Mr. Knapp, and Mr. Mallea for your attendance and presentations at the February 11^th meeting. I would further like to extend appreciation for the second extension in order to allow for additional comments from the constituents of the affected SMD and other surrounding SMDs. According to our sign-in sheet we had approximately 65 constituents in attendance.

Below are additional comments derived from the February 11^th meeting regarding The Large Track Review application. The following comments were detailed in a third resolution, adopted in a unanimous show-of-hands vote:

Outdated zoning laws. We are questioning whether the present zoning laws are relevant for this project considering the existing laws are over 60 years old.
With the increase in usage on the existing water and sewage infrastructure how will the already strained system be impacted in its current state of disrepair?
Are there plans to revitalize the water and sewage infrastructure outside of the project?
Considering a fair amount of area fire hydrants are either out of service or in need of maintenance; what is the impact to these critical life saving systems and what is the plan to repair the faulty fire hydrants?
There is an underground stream in the vicinity of 7^th and Peabody St, which is down hill from the project. What environment safety precautions will be put in place to protect this watershed from contamination?
During normal rains the current sewage system is not able to move the water and it creates minor flooding and deposits debris in the nearby neighborhoods. What measures will be taken during and after construction to either reduce this current situation or ensure there will not be an increased impact to the flooding and debris deposits?
Though the current vehicle traffic study implies traffic will decease with the absence of the Curtis Chevrolet dealership, it does not allow for the increase in residential vehicle traffic. Please provide a study that incorporates the increase of residential vehicle traffic of approximately 800 residences, retail traffic similar to Park Place located in Silver Spring, MD, and the current local traffic flows.
Due to the increase in residential and retail vehicle traffic what will be the environmental impacts, specifically air pollution from vehicular exhaust?
With a large senior citizen and school age population and the location of Paul Public Charter School directly across the street from the construction site; what health and human safety measures will be implemented to ensure safety during confusing pedestrian detouring?
How will the construction impact parking for the residents living in the co-ops directly behind the site?

Adopted Minutes - February 23, 2009 - Page Three

When will the staging plan be available for public viewing?
When will Impact studies be available for public viewing?
During construction how will the rodent population be addressed and will there be assistance to residents affected by the relocation of the rodents due to the construction?
What is the waste removal plan?
After construction what is the plan to increase health and human services to meet the increased residential and retail population? Specifically Police and Fire coverage, additional lighting, and pedestrian safety.
Instead of using the median income from the entire District of Columbia why not use the same method as realtors when developing comparables to set prices to sell a home? These are derived from a local radius surrounding the home for sell.
We like to see a higher percentage of affordable rent apartments available on the residential side of the project; somewhere around 12 to 15 percent.
What will be the framework for attracting desired retailers?
Can an agreement be put in place for retailers to agree to make and show the effort to hire and maintain 5% of their workforce from the affected SMDs?

In addition to the aforementioned concerns and questions, below is a short list of desired retailers and/or types of retail stores. The intent is to have an atmosphere similar to Park Place located in the Silver Spring business area.

Health food store and restaurant
Whole food store
Ice cream parlor
Sit down restaurants
Trader Joe's or Harris Teeter
Hardware store
Affordable coffee shop with Wi-Fi availability
At leas one popular fast food restaurant

These are the expressed concerns and desires of the affected constituents surrounding the proposed redevelopment of the Curtis Chevrolet Site. Our expectation is to receive feedback regarding the aforementioned. Additionally we are excited to continue this collaborative effort through open lines of communications and periodic updates regarding the progress of the project.

Please provide a point of contact that will be in touch with our ANC to discuss the future of the project. Commissioner James Sydnor will be the point of contact for our ANC and he can be reached at 202-421-3541 or via email at 4b04@anc.dc.gov."

Adopted Minutes - February 23, 2009 - Page Four

The vote followed a long discussion on the Curtis site, along with a report from Commissioner Sydnor on his joint community meeting earlier that month with Council Member Muriel Bowser to discuss the project.

Several residents, including Betty Florence and Bettye Straughter, said that they were unaware of the project and called for better communication.

4. In a unanimous show-of-hands vote following a motion made by Commissioner Wheeler, the Commission agreed to support the petition made by Joe Cabigas, of the 6900 Block of 9^th Street, NW, for speed hump(s). Mr. Cabigas said that this is the third time that he has sent petitions to the DC Department of Transportation for the speed hump(s), all without a response. He said he was told that the request was passed around to several Department staff.

5. In a 6-1-0 show-of-hands vote following a motion made by Commissioner Green, the Commission adopted the First Quarterly Report for Fiscal Year 2009 as presented by Treasurer Sydnor. He said that the report would be submitted to the Auditor's Office with the back-up documents that include cancelled checks, invoices and bills.

6. In a 5-0-2 show-of-hands vote following a motion made by Commissioner Wheeler, the Commission adopted the minutes for the January 22, 2009 public meeting.

Presentations, Announcements, and Reports

1. Commissioner Wheeler read an announcement from DC Vote about an upcoming vote in the US Congress.

2. Walter Reed Garrison Commander Bruce Haselden was introduced. He offered to meet with any member of the community with a question or concern about Walter Reed.

3. Commissioner Jones said there is a problem with the location of bus stop(s) in her community. She said she will bring the Commission a resolution asking that the stop(s) be moved.

The meeting adjourned at about 10:20 pm.

---- Submitted by Sara Green, Secretary