Sam Gilliam is relocating his gallery/studio space to 14th & Longfellow

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This is great news for the neighborhood. Artist Sam Gilliam is relocating his gallery/studio space from U Street (his studio there, on the second floor of the same building that Good Wood occupies, was recently sold) to 5507 14th Street NW. Taalib-Din Uqdah, of the 14th Street Uptown Business Association, told me that Gilliam confirmed the new space will open on Monday, January 3.

I'll post more details as I learn them. I'm looking forward to welcoming Gilliam to the neighborhood!

The dialogue with small businesses commences

Last night Councilmember Bowser held the first of several open meetings with Ward 4 small business owners. Present were representatives from Yes! Organic Market, the Missouri Avenue Market, the Korean-American Grocers Association of Greater Washington, the Latino Economic Development Corporation, Colony Liquor, Brightwood Bistro, Sweet Mango Cafe, Jackson-Hewitt, Quality Printers, Crown Bakery, and several others that I failed to scribble down in my notebook.

Bowser stated that regardless of how each particular business owner feels about Wal-Mart (and opinions vary widely among business owners, just as they do among residents), her goal is to negotiate a community benefits agreement that will protect standing businesses should the deal go through, as well as (I hope) make Brightwood and Ward 4 friendly toward new small business development in the future (she mentioned that there are "models that we can look toward in terms of impact mitigation"...I'd like to know more about those models). (I should note here that due to the fact that this is a matter-of-right proposal, Wal-Mart isn't under any obligation to honor a CBA of any kind, and I highly doubt that they would commit to a CBA simply out of the goodness of their little Wal-Mart hearts, which really scares me, but I digress...)

She also mentioned that she is negotiating with the Office of Planning about keeping the mixed-use residential element that Foulger-Pratt had initially planned for the site.

She brought up the well-known dilemma: although there are obviously a lot of people who patronize Georgia Avenue shops, there are also a lot of residents who can't even name a store on Georgia Avenue. She noted that there are basic needs that aren't readily available here. "Where can you buy clothes?" she asked, and the room went silent (that's because I restrained myself from yelling, "The Georgia Avenue Thrift Store, duh! Where about 80% of the 'new' clothing that I've bought since I moved to Brightwood came from! And don't I look fabulous, by the way??").

So what can we do to ensure a palatable business environment here? Various attendees stated ideas: Brightwood needs marketing, and branding; give tax breaks to business owners, not property owners; locate your niche market and cater to it passionately; reinvigorate the Great Streets plan. (Regarding that last point, Bowser mentioned that this can't be done without increasing residential density, and that many Brightwood residents are vehemently opposed to doing so.)

The Beacon Brightwood Business Alliance circulated a questionnaire, aiming to collect data on business owners' thoughts on Wal-Mart's potential impact. I'm looking foward to seeing the results of the survey and seeing how they compare to those of the Latino Economic Development Corporation's survey.

Public meeting with Wal-Mart & Foulger-Pratt tonight @ Bridges Academy

ANC 4B03 Commissioner Monique Michelle Smith has kindly arranged a community forum with representatives from Wal-Mart and Foulger-Pratt this evening. I was hesitating to post it, because both Wal-Mart and Foulger-Pratt were scheduled to attend the ANC 4D meeting yesterday, but they backed out very late in the day, and I'm suspecting a similar flake-out might occur tonight (I'll be sure to update this post if it happens). For now, the details are:

When: Wednesday, December 22, 6:30-8:00 PM

Where: Bridges Academy, 6119 Georgia Avenue NW (same block as the GA Ave. Thrift Store)

"You can't demand fun, high-quality, neighborhood-serving retail without accepting more residents."

At the risk of angering the people who so strongly opposed the mixed-use project for the Curtis Chevrolet site, I'll go on record as saying that I strongly disagree with their stance. Housing Complex boils down the reason quite succinctly.

Here's the bottom line: You can't demand fun, high-quality, neighborhood-serving retail without accepting more residents. Brightwood isn't high-density or high-income enough to support the kinds of things Speaks and Co. are asking for, and when you oppose mixed-use projects, you're just asking for a Walmart.

GGW follows up: Want a Trader Joe's? Then add more residents.

It's simple. Unless your neighborhood is in the process of growing rapidly, it's unlikely to get more retailers and probably not the kind you want. Most of the time, the retail market is close to an equilibrium where the number of retailers matches the demand for retail in that area. Only when a neighborhood is gaining population is the time ripe to add more.

Once upon a time, the commercial corridors thrived without this added housing, except for two factors. First, family sizes were substantially larger, and a typical single-family house might have parents, 3-4 kids and even some relatives living there. Now, family sizes are smaller, but many neighbors also fight proposals to allow basement or garage apartments, even though those would simply restore the numbers of people that the house used to hold.

Second, people shop more online and more in suburban big box centers. That's not going to change. Bringing big box retail into DC, as these Wal-Marts do, might keep more of the tax dollars from big box shopping in DC, but won't create healthy neighborhood shopping corridors.

Neighborhoods can either stay the same size, and see local retail gradually decline as online shopping grows and DC adds big box stores. Or, they can add enough new residents to support new retail options. Most of us prefer the latter. Some people, though, want to stop new residents but also have the retail. That's completely unrealistic.

Blue Banana opens, patrons flock to open bar

Looks like the soft opening of the Blue Banana bar was a resounding success, particularly the open bar hour between 8 and 9 pm (which will be repeated tonight at the same time).

The Blue Banana is located at 3632 Georgia Avenue, just south of the intersection of Georgia and New Hampshire.

Results of Latino Economic Development Corporation's survey of Georgia Ave. small businesses

Last Saturday I canvassed small businesses on Georgia Avenue, along with staff and volunteers from the Latino Economic Development Corporation. We presented business owners and managers with a survey, aiming to find out how they thought the proposed Wal-Mart at Georgia and Missouri Avenues would impact them. We also asked about areas that they felt their businesses needed strengthening. Our target area began at Peabody Street and stretched down to Emerson Street. You can view the results of the survey here.

ANC 4B forms Wal-Mart committee; and an action alert regarding Famous Pawn

ANC 4B is officially forming a committee composed of concerned citizens that will be tasked with scrutinizing all things Wal-Mart. The committee will review the company's proposal as well as the Large Tract Review.

The ANC hopes that people with expertise in certain areas (i.e. architecture, engineering, urban planning, transportation planning) will serve on the committee and/or subcommittees. Interested individuals should drop an e-mail to Jim Irwin at 4B's office, office @ anc4b.info

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And in case you haven't had enough of controversial businesses that want to locate in our area...

DCRA says that the license for Famous Pawn at 7301 Georgia Ave. is now "in order" to be issued. Commissioner Sara Green sent an e-mail earlier today saying that CM Bowser is asking for a reconsideration and that constituents need to raise hell about it right now in order to be effective. Green issued the following sample letter (e-mail addresses to send it to are at the bottom):

To Our City Government:
We have learned that DCRA is about to issue a pawn license for 7301 Georgia Avenue, NW.

Advisory Neighborhood Commissions 4A and 4B, along with residents and dozens of surrounding businesses and civic associations, including the Takoma DC Neighborhood Association and Concerned Neighbors, Inc., actively oppose this license.

If this license is issued for 7301 Georgia, our small corner of the city will have one-third of the pawnshops in DC! They are already located at 6212 Georgia and 6400 Georgia.

The pawn regulations say a license must promote the "advantage" of the community. Georgia Avenue's chances for revival will be crippled if this license is issued. We aren't a dumping ground! This large concentration of pawnshops discourages the new businesses we want here.

Please reconsider and deny this license.

Send To:
Mayor Fenty: amfenty @ hotmail.com
Mayor-Elect Gray: vgray @ dccouncil.us
City Administrator Neil Albert: NeilAlbert @ dc.gov
City Administrator-Designate Allen Lew: AllenLew@ dc.gov
The entire DC City Council: membersonly @ dccouncil.us
DCRA Director Linda Argo: linda.argo @ dc.gov
DCRA Director-Designate Nicholas Majett: nicholas.majett @ dc.gov
DCRA Administrator Harold Pettigrew: harold.pettigrew @ dc.gov

Special ANC 4B meeting tonight to discuss Curtis Chevrolet development

Reminder that tonight is the ANC 4B's special meeting devoted to Curtis Chevrolet/Wal-Mart issues. This is the draft agenda:

• Zoning issue about restricting the Curtis Chevrolet site to commercial only (20 min)
  
• Information presentation from Office of Planning about Large Tract Review process (20 min)
  
• Wal-Mart community discussion (1 hr...?)
  
• Creation of special Wal-Mart committee (20 min)
  
• Filling of standing committees (20 min)
  
• other regular business as agreed to by unanimous consent
  

The meeting will begin at 6:30 and could run as late as 9 pm.

Those of you who live outside of 4B but who are still concerned about the development's effect on the surrounding area are encouraged to attend, as a resolution will be discussed that would allow non-4B residents to serve on the committee.

Bowser on TBD today; DePuyt asks the big questions

Notes from last night's ANC 4B planning meeting regarding the Curtis Chevrolet site

I attended the ANC 4B planning meeting last night. Present were Commissioners Sara Green, Yvonne Jefferson, Monique Michelle Smith, James Sydnor, and 4B04 Commissioner-Elect Doug Smith, as well as staff assistant Jim Irwin. Thanks to Michele Baskin for taking notes throughout the meeting; her summary follows, and additional notes follow the summary.

Noted by Michele Baskin:

This meeting was simply a planning meeting to set the agenda for the Dec 20 meeting. The agreed upon agenda will be sent out to listserves along with a compiled list of ANC4B commissioner's concerns relating to the Wal-Mart development. As discussed, the agenda will look something like this:

• Zoning issue about restricting the Curtis Chevrolet site to commercial only (20 min)
  
• Information presentation from Office of Planning about Large Tract Review process (20 min)
  
• Wal-Mart community discussion (1 hr...?)
  
• creation of special Wal-Mart committee (20 min)
  
• filling of standing committees (20 min)
  
• other regular business as agreed to by unanimous consent
  

The December 20 meeting will begin at 6:30 and could run as late as 9 pm. A draft resolution was reviewed which stated that the committee would be established at the December 20 meeting with a chairperson appointed by the Commission. The Chairperson will be either a commissioner or a resident. Membership to the committee can either be voted on by the commission or by another process that the commission determines.

Important question yet to be answered: can people outside of 4B serve on the committee? This will depend on the language of the resolution that is adopted. Commissioners did mention that it might not be wise to restrict membership to 4B residents only, as expertise could be lost. But it needs to be specified in the resolution adopted on December 20.

It was suggested to create a special ANC4B listserve for Wal-Mart issues only as well as a website to keep communication flowing to the community from the ANC and the special Wal-Mart committee/sub-committees.

Other notes from the meeting:
James Sydnor expressed concern about jobs in terms of the 600 current DC residents working for Wal-Mart in MD/VA and loss of other retail jobs, and Wal-Mart saturating market. He cited a statistic that Wal-Mart has negative effects on businesses for a four mile radius around it. He said that if that's true, it's bad news for DC businesses, since the four planned Wal-Mart stores are within 5 miles of each other.

Jim Irwin will try to get someone from the Office of Planning to come to the Dec. 20 meeting to talk about the Large Tract Review process. This item will lead off the Dec 20th meeting. Yvonne Jefferson reiterated Muriel Bowser's request for the building to be two-level (either more commercial or mixed-use), with Wal-Mart above and ground-floor spaces set aside for other retail. Sydnor expressed concern that the leases be manageable for small businesses if such a structure were to come to fruition.

Regarding the car barn: contrary to popular belief, it has not been designated a historic site.

Traffic issues were discussed. Sydnor noted that Peabody Street will be affected, it might have to become a one-way street. He also wonders if the new development on Riggs Road near the Fort Totten Metro would be a better fit for Wal-Mart. Jefferson said that a big grocery store is already in the works for that site, and we need to look at the impact this Wal-Mart might have on that large development.

Sara Green said several people have mentioned that the proposal is weak in the area of traffic, and that Wal-Mart knows it. Is 362 parking spaces enough? Will it be open parking or paid parking? Jefferson said the Large Tract Review will address the adequacy of the parking. Jefferson doesn't want to see Wal-Mart move in and put Safeway out of business, rather than providing healthy competition for the Safeway. Green - let's get people with real expertise on the committees -- union people, architects, engineers, etc.; also, let's find out what promises and projects Ward 1 able to get out of Target, and can we use that as leverage to get similar community benefits from Wal-Mart and Foulger-Pratt?

Sara Green pointed out that she's not sure, realistically, what the ANC's role can be in telling a private employer how to handle their workforce. She prefers to concentrate on areas that the ANC can impact, such as traffic, architecture. "We have 'great weight' on the Large Tract Review, but that's it." She understands that many people will consider anything short of stopping the Wal-Mart altogether to be a non-victory, but she also knows that there are a lot of people with power in this city who are determined to make sure Wal-Mart gets its way because their presence will "supposedly increase our tax base". Multiple commissioners reiterated that the LTR process is the only leverage that exists and can be used to slow the process down as long as they stay ahead of Foulger-Pratt.


Wal-Mart has said they will pay $8.75 per hour, which is competitive with other big-box retailers (Best Buy and H&M were cited as examples). Multiple commissioners parroted the Wal-Mart talking point of hiring local Ward 4 residents for jobs (which is only a promise and not enforceable...without a legally binding document, they can do what they want).

Jefferson said the city wants ANC4B to make a resolution for this development. F-P wanted it in January. That is not enough time to review the implications of what a Wal-Mart would mean for our community.

Green: Foulger-Pratt made a deal, and it was a deal between private parties. However, there are a lot of people who feel that F-P should chose a tenant for their site more carefully, and those people need to be heard. Can we pressure Wal-Mart to agree to meet with the community on a monthly process through this process? Can we consider that a "victory"?