Brightwood Bistro space is for sale

Too bad. I know that the owners were looking forward to the development of the Curtis Chevy site to help drive traffic, but they couldn't hang on til then.

EDIT: An earlier version of this post stated that the entire building was for sale, which isn't true, it's just the restaurant space and an associated condo unit. The paragraph below was written when I thought the whole building was on the market.

Something needs to be done about the Georgia/Missouri intersection if businesses that locate around it are ever to succeed. Preservationists will hate me for bringing up this (admittedly unlikely) scenario, but if the city were to buy the building, raze it, and use the land to fix the intersection, would it be such a bad thing?

Changes planned for 70/71 bus lines

Dr. Gridlock reports on some proposed changes to the 70/71 bus lines, which could be approved by the Metro board at hearings this week, and which would go into effect in September. The plan:

Shorten Routes 70 and 71 to operate between the Silver Spring and Archives Metrorail stations at all times and reduce peak period frequency.

Metro proposes cutting off the southern portion of the heavily used line and adding a new route, Route 74, to serve the area between Chinatown and Buzzard Point/Fort McNair.

The existing routes carry nearly 11,000 riders a day, making them among the highest-ridership routes in the Metrobus system. The problem, Metro says, is that the routes are long and spend a lot of their time stuck in downtown D.C. traffic, with the usual results: Some passengers get a very crowded ride. Many wait a long time for buses to arrive, only to see them arrive in bunches.

Shortening the route and widening the arrival times are standard tactics in attempting to make a bus line more reliable. In this case, all the buses would go by the 70 designation, and they would be scheduled to arrive every 12 minutes during rush periods, rather than the current 10 minutes.

The new Route 74 would operate from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays. Buses would travel between Chinatown and Buzzard Point every 18 to 20 minutes during peak periods and between Chinatown and Fort McNair every 24 minutes during off-peak periods. Route V8 would be rerouted to operate via Fort McNair and extended to Gallery Place Metrorail station after 8 p.m. on weekdays and weekends.

This plan also eliminates the K1 bus line, which travels between Walter Reed and the Takoma Metro. If this change won't take effect til September, it will align perfectly with the closure of Walter Reed, planned for that same month.

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Speaking of Ward 4 transportation issues, GGW is having a lively debate, sparked by our Councilmember's feelings about increasing residential parking permit fees.

Ecco Park plans moving right along

The plans for the new Ecco Park development, at Carroll and Maple Streets NW, were shown at a public meeting last night. The architect, Sas Gharai, presented the plans along with Jeffrey Blum of Level2, the developer responsible for several other similar projects in the District, including View 14.

Although the plans for Ecco Park have been in place for years, Gharai only recently announced that he also intends to develop 231 Carroll Street, which is adjacent to the Ecco Park site and is currently occupied by a PMI public parking lot. The basic plans show the buildings to essentially be mirror images of each other, though some community members who attended the meeting encouraged Gharai to vary the facades. Both buildings combined will have between 9,000 and 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, and between 60 and 70 rental apartments. Retail tenants have not yet been identified, and Gharai is asking for community input on the types of retailers that are most needed in the neighborhood.

Zoning requires the sidewalk by the building to be at least 15 feet wide, but ANC commissioner Faith Wheeler encouraged Gharai to make them even wider in order to accommodate outdoor seating for the restaurants and coffee shops that are likely to occupy some of the retail spaces. Other community members asked him to reduce the height of the building (zoning limits the height to 55 feet, with an additional 18 feet for penthouse space).

As previously reported, Gharai intends to break ground on Ecco Park in June. He is aiming to work on constructing both Ecco Park and 231 Carroll Street at the same time.

Gharai will make changes to the design based on the comments he received last night. He'll present the changes at another public meeting, to be held in June.

"We want to build the right building, but we want to do it expeditiously," said Blum.

See/discuss the Ecco Park plans: Monday, May 16, 6:30, Shepherd Park Library

A community meeting has been set up to discuss plans for the addition of the PMI parking lot to the Ecco Park development at Carroll and Maple Streets NW. The developer, Sas Gharai, will be there to answer questions.

When: Monday, May 16, 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Where: Shepherd Park Library, 7420 Georgia Avenue, NW (Meeting Room B)

Takoma Park Farmers Market jumps on the farmers market bike clinic train

Yes, a bike clinic is starting up at the Takoma Park Farmers Market on Sunday, May 22. It's a collective effort between the Mount Rainier Bike Coop, Takoma Bicycle, and The Green Commuter.

Bike clinics are great places for the less mechanically inclined to get some help with their bikes' issues. No word yet on whether this will become a regular fixture at the market, but if it did, that would be fantastic.

Takoma Park Farmers Market
Laurel Avenue (bet. Eastern & Carroll)
Sundays, 10am-2pm

Today in DC wildlife: a black vulture munches on carrion by McMillan Reservoir

Saw him on the sidewalk on Fifth St. NW, between Howard University's Greene Memorial Stadium and McMillan Reservoir. I believe he's a black vulture (any ornithologists who happen to read should feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). Bizarre; cool.

Walmart's mailer to DC residents: it's as if they're conducting an ill-fated political campaign

Walmart is feeling a little wobbly about the chances that the four sites that they've chosen for stores in the District will actually become realities, and here's proof. Yesterday, the mailer you see here was received in mailboxes all across the city. You're looking at the "Ward 4 edition" right now; the version that was sent to parts of the city that don't contain potential Walmart sites received different versions (i.e., the headline on the one I saw that was sent to Ward 3 residents proclaims "Walmart's new DC stores will create 1,200 jobs", rather than the Ward 4-specific language you see above). The piece looks very similar to the kind of literature we're used to receiving from candidates during campaign seasons, complete with a disclaimer notice ("Paid for by Walmart Stores, Inc.").





The "73%" statistic is a reference to a telephone poll that Walmart conducted in the fall of 2010, just before they announced their intentions to move into the District. At community meetings, Walmart representatives have repeatedly referred back to the results of the telephone poll. I was not one of the 800 people surveyed, but I've spoken with a few people who were and I've been told that the questions asked were posed more circuitously than "Do you want a Walmart in your neighborhood, yes or no?" (I have yet to obtain a copy of the actual questions that were asked.)




The mailer's interior again emphasizes that Walmart will create new jobs, though they neglect to mention that they're also likely to take jobs away, as small businesses in the surrounding neighborhoods struggle to survive in Walmart's shadow. And, as David Merriman and Joseph Persky of the University of Illinois wrote in their recent Washington Post piece on Walmart's entry into Chicago, "In considering whether to encourage or oppose Wal-Mart’s entry into the District, our results suggest that job creation should not be an overriding factor." Merriman and Persky note that over a period of two years, the number of jobs Walmart created in Chicago was offset by the number of jobs that were lost due to small businesses' shuttering after Walmart's arrival.

"Access to healthy food" is also emphasized here. But as we've learned from the USDA's recently uploaded online tool, Ward 4 is actually not considered a food desert at all. Richard Layman has also taken note of this. From Layman's post:

WRT Brightwood, considering that there is a below average Safeway at Petworth but the store is going to be upgraded to be roughly comparable to the City Vista store, plus the store at Piney Branch Road, plus the Giant Supermarket at Eastern Ave. and Riggs Road just across the border in Maryland, plus the proposed Safeway at Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue as part of the Cafritz project, plus the Safeway on Connecticut Ave. in Chevy Chase, not to mention the Yes Grocery, I think it would be hard to say that people are underserved...

I found a mapping tool, and started mapping 3 mile retail trade areas from a handful of supermarkets that serve Brightwood: Safeway in Petworth, Safeway at Piney Branch Road, Safeway in SW DC, Safeway in Chevy Chase, the Yes Grocery on Georgia Ave. NW, the PanAm Market at Michigan and Eastern Avenues, the Giant Supermarket on the DC-Maryland border at Eastern Avenue and Riggs Road in Prince George's County. But since so much of the city was covered just with these stores, I decided to start over.

I changed the radius to 1.5 miles from the store location. It doesn't include the proposed Safeway location on Riggs Road NE or the proposed Walmart on Georgia Avenue NW or New York Avenue NE. It doesn't include the PanAm store on 14th Street NW, or independent supermarkets in Mt. Pleasant, nor Florida Market. A lot of stores aren't listed.

I'm not saying that I don't think Ward 4 could use more food options than it currently has, just that Walmart's avowals that they're rescuing us from the bowels of food-desertism are rather baseless.

Of course the mailer mentions nothing about the true folly: that it's becoming more and more apparent that the site, near the intersection of Georgia and Missouri Avenues, can't realistically support the proposed development without having a serious adverse affect on traffic, pedestrian safety, and quality of life in the surrounding residential area.




The best part by far is this tear-off response card (which requires a stamp, as postage will not be paid by the addressee; how...presumptuous). The first item that citizens are asked to check reads: "I would like more information on the efforts to bring Walmart to DC" (emphasis mine). Efforts? I didn't realize Walmart felt that they were fighting such an uphill battle; which I suppose is a good thing, as it means that the groups that have been advocating for smart development at the Curtis Chevrolet site are making a difference. The next item reads: "I would like to sign a petition supporting Walmart coming to DC" (again, emphasis mine). I've no doubt that we'll see Walmart's "community action" reps roving the streets of Ward 4 trying to obtain our signatures in an effort to show our elected officials exactly how much they're wanted/needed. The third item is a call to increase the size of their community action network: "I would like to get involved in the efforts to bring Walmart to DC". Yes, Walmart is attempting to bolster a "grassroots" effort on their own behalf.

I would prefer it if the company would directly address the issues that it knows it's dealing with at its proposed Ward 4 site. In February, we (myself and a small group of neighbors) met with Victor Hoskins, the deputy mayor for economic development. We drew him a map of the proposed site, the surrounding streets and current traffic patterns, the six schools that are within a three-block radius of the site (yes, you read that right, six schools within a three-block radius...and five of them are elementary schools), the proximity of the Fourth District Police Headquarters building, and the proposed location of the loading dock off of Missouri Avenue (and how the 18-wheelers will turn from narrow, two-lanes-in-each-direction Missouri Avenue into the loading dock area). Hoskins sat back, looked at the drawing, and said that it looked like a total mess to him, and that if it's really as bad as the drawing made it look, there was a good chance that the project wouldn't pass a traffic study.

We're seeing now that Hoskins was onto something. Yet Walmart still refuses to acknowledge that. They want this deal to go through that badly.


View Larger Map
The section of Missouri Avenue that will soon be the site of a loading dock entry, if Walmart gets its way.

Don't let your criminal record stand in the way of your success!

"How to Succeed with a Criminal Record" is the topic of ANC 4B06 commissioner Gloria Palmer's next monthly meeting. Says Palmer:

There are an estimated 60,000 individuals with criminal records in the District of Columbia. Find out if you or your friends with criminal records are eligible - and how - to get arrest or conviction records sealed or expunged.

Suggestion: Begin to locate old case numbers and other pertinent information. When asked, state that ANC 4B06 G. D. Palmer referred you.

When: Tuesday May 17, 2011, 7-9 pm
Where: 4D Metropolitan Police Department, 6001 Georgia Ave. NW

Urban planners tell Foulger-Pratt exactly what they think of the Curtis Chevrolet site plan

On Wednesday, ANC 4B commissioners Sara Green and Faith Wheeler held a public meeting at the Shepherd Park library to discuss the current Walmart proposal. Representatives from Walmart and Foulger-Pratt were present, along with Stephen Mordfin of the Office of Planning, who is overseeing the Large Tract Review process. Three urban planners who live in Ward 4 were also on the panel: David Hamilton, Richard Layman, and Tanya Topolewski.

The planners had the most insightful comments of the evening. All three expressed opposition to the development in its current form (unsurprisingly, since the development in its current form fails badly from a planning perspective). Richard Layman, noting that the Office of Planning’s Comprehensive Plan for Upper Georgia Avenue calls for a mixed-use development at the Curtis Chevrolet site, told the attendees that Foulger-Pratt is to blame for the single-use status of the current plan, as Walmart has proven that they are willing to locate their stores within mixed-use projects (an example is the Ward 6 Walmart location). The addition of housing to the development would help the surrounding corridor to become a lively node. He implored Foulger-Pratt to consider the future plans for Georgia Avenue (i.e. the streetcar, the redevelopment of the Walter Reed site). Concerned citizens should put pressure on Foulger-Pratt to create a development that enhances the Georgia/Missouri corridor, rather than taking away from it.

Tanya Topolewski made a good point that I haven't heard anyone make before: that the current plan basically forsakes Missouri Avenue. If spaces for smaller retail wrapped around the corner at Missouri and Georgia, the corner would be brought to life (under the current plan, two spaces for small retail will be located at the corner of Georgia and Peabody; both spaces are between 1,500 and 2,000 square feet). As the current plan calls for Missouri Avenue to be used as an entry/exit point for trucks, this means that Missouri Avenue will essentially be wasted for the next 75 years. She admonished Foulger-Pratt for its shoddy plan, and for taking the easy way out at the community’s expense.

David Hamilton, a Takoma resident and retired senior urban designer for the National Capital Planning Commission, expressed concern for the impact on extant small businesses, and on future small business development. Sacrificing Missouri Avenue is a quality-of-life issue, he said, especially since it will cause traffic to spill onto the surrounding residential streets. He said that since the site will have a 75-year lease, it is imperative to get the development right. In response to an attendee who brought forth the argument that the Curtis Chevrolet site has been vacant for long enough, Hamilton cited the Takoma Village Cohousing development on Fourth Street NW as an example of a project that was worth the wait. The community had fought several inferior development plans for many years before Takoma Village was constructed. Hamilton convincingly maintained that it's important to develop the site wisely, rather than just building something for the sake of taking up the empty lot.

ANC 4A commissioner David Wilson asked if the project will be able to go forward even if DDOT determines that there will me a major adverse effect on traffic. Stephen Mordfin said that in that case the Office of Planning and DDOT will continue to work with the applicant until acceptable traffic solutions are devised. This means that the applicants have quite a bit of work to do, as DDOT said that not enough information was provided to them to adequately analyze the plans, and that the metrics used in the traffic study aren't appropriate for an urban setting.

Keeping Mordfin’s statement in mind, it’s important for neighborhood residents to make their feelings about the Large Tract Review known, in writing. The deadline for comments on the Large Tract Review is May 25. Send your comments to Stephen Mordfin or call him at 202-442-8810.

Washington Post: Trohv in pictures

The Post has a series of photos of Trohv. Check them out, especially if you haven't yet had the chance to visit the store in person!