AFRH deadline

[from the Petworth listserv]

July 6 (tomorrow) is the deadline for public comments on the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed large-scale development on the Soldiers Home (“AFRH”) property. This is the only public comment opportunity in the development schedule. You can submit comments via e-mail or via US Mail to:

Donald Dailey ([email protected])
Armed Forces Retirement Home
3700 North Capitol Street, NW
Washington, DC 20011

Now available on the web is a draft letter with a lengthy list of proposed comments – for your own letter, you can pick, choose, and add your own comments as you see fit:

http://www.geocities.com/unc_dc/deis-comments.doc

If you subscribe to the e-mail group about the proposed AFRH development, you can also access the draft letter via:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/afrhdevelopment/files/deis-comments.doc

Many thanks to Sandy H. and Drew T. for all of their hard work in drafting most of the comments that were incorporated into the letter!

Comments

[crazydem]

Okay-- we got ours in. Bill you may want to remind everyone again. It was helpful to have that link to the draft page.

[AJS]

In the background of the draft EIS for the Armed Forces Retirement Home development, we read that, by law, women who have served in the military, except that now small pool who served in WWII, are ineligible to live in this posh facility.

That's not correct at all. Those WW2 women are granted a special exemption from gender-neutral rules that would otherwise exclude them. Otherwise they are treated exactly the same, and indeed there are many women residents. Thus, women get more access -- not less -- than men.

[Lisa]

In the background of the draft EIS for the Armed Forces Retirement Home development, we read that, by law, women who have served in the military, except that now small pool who served in WWII, are ineligible to live in this posh facility. The demand for additional millions of dollars per year in operating funds for another federally sponsored sex discrimination program is unacceptable. Just say no.

[Andrew]

It is important for any comments/suggestions (like the one above) to be made directly to the AFRH management -- via the process outlined in the first post in this thread -- in addition to posting them to this blog, list-servs, etc. (Supposedly, the final version of the AFRH EIS must address all comments and alternatives that have been submitted by the public.) There will not be a centralized community response to the draft EIS!

[John Q]

The Gulfport location had nothing to do with the Confederacy. Rather, it was the location of the Sailors Retirement Home, while DC was the location of the Soldiers and Airmens Home. The Army (and Air Force) and Navy gave up their respective claims on the two Homes at some point and they both came under the AFRH banner.

[Jason]

A better option:

The AFRH needs money, but the Washington DC campus is not operating at full capacity. In order to rectify this, the current residents of the AFRH in Gulfport should be relocated to Washington and the entire Gulfport campus should be sold for development.

The historical and environmental value of the Washington DC campus clearly makes it the asset to preserve. The historical value of the Gulfport campus is negligible, but its commercial value is great ("The Mississippi Gulf Coast region boasts some of the finest beaches, fishing, casinos, restaurants, resorts, entertainment, shopping, and championship golf courses in the southeast United States." -- AFRH web site). Liquidation of the Gulfport campus should therefore yield considerable revenue.

In the 21st century it is not fitting for our nation to continue maintenance of redundant unsustainable facilities for the segregation of veterans from Union and Confederate states. In reverent memory of President Lincoln, the Washington DC campus should be preserved and improved for it's original purpose, the care and honor of our veterans from every state, and be rededicated with the opening of the Lincoln Cottage as a monument to the preservation of the Union.

Jason Glance
Petworth neighbor