Upshur St sidewalk

[from Joe Martin]

Neighbors who've been reading this board since last spring may remember several of us (Petworth News included) in sounding the charge for the city to fix a messed-up sidewalk on the 200 block of Upshur Street NW.

This week, the sidewalk got repaved.

That's a block a lot of us are working to help including my ANC 4C colleague Commissioner Joey Henson. Ken Rubotsky plans to open a bakery a few doors away, and a lot of us have talked about having a little outdoor coffee spot on the block.

Councilmember Adrian Fenty, DDOT's Muhammed Khalid, Ayana Rockett, the Ward 4 Neighborhood Services Coordinator, and Merrit Drucker of the Clean City Office have all played a helpful role. My thanks to each of them. Through word spread via this board and various other Petworth Yahoo Groups, several residents took action by calling 727-1000 or emailing DDOT offices and keeping the pressure up.

The results are there to see this week: A new sidewalk replacing a dangerously broken patch of sidewalk on the 200 block of Upshur. I learned the sidewalk is considered partly privately-owned, part city-controlled and owned. The city cited the owner for his part. He fixed his part of the sidewalk this week. The city's efforts came as a direct result of our neighborhood pressure. That sidewalk had been broken apart for years, sadly.

Once again, as was the case of the Grant Circle lights last winter, as was the case with Domku, as was the case with the recent arrest of a suspected drug dealer who initimated residents on Emerson Street NW about five weeks ago, we are seeing example after example where we are getting things done through collective, community effort. No one of us can do it alone. My thanks to my many neighbors who helped out.

The large grocery store on that block is for sale. A building next to it is also on the market and may be owned soon by a couple who live on the same block as Minnie Green. Duke's recently settled in. The attractive prospect of that block being busy with neighborhood businesses, achieving its full potential as a neighborhood commerical spot, looks better all the time.

Now let's keep the pressure up to help Ken Rubotsky with his plans for a bakery at 225 Upshur so that someday soon we can raise a cup of java and a freshly-baked muffin and celebrate another neighborhood success.

Just yesterday, when I was looking at the sidewalk, an older gentleman from nearby chatted with me to complain about the city. "The city doesn't do anything. Nothing gets done."

Pointing to the sidewalk, I said, "Sir, you're talking to the wrong man. See this new sidewalk. You can thank several of your neighbors, Commissioner Joey Henson and me. It didn't just happen. We made it happen."

Another small victory.

Joseph Martin
ANC 4C09 Commissioner / ANC 4C Vice Chair
202-309-1817 cell

Comments

[Joseph Martin]

EVC,

Get your neighbors to call 727-1000, please, about that alley.

Get Ayana Rockett, the Ward 4 Neighborhood Services Coordinator involved (202-576-8104 or [email protected]) and you will stop the perpetrators from using your alley as a dumping ground.

Residents in two areas in my Single Member District accomplished this. It took work, but we got it done.

Moreover, MPD has a unit that investigates illegal dumping (usually done by contractors who could care less about our alleys) and prosecutes.

Email me for the contact info for the MPD unit if need be. I don't have the info with me at the moment or I'd post it now.

Joe Martin
Advisory Neighborhood Pest
202-309-1817 cell

[Joseph Martin]

The sidewalk isn't exactly Paris' Champs Elysee, but the most important thing is that we made it happen. It's a prelude to turning that block back to the way the seniors amongst us remember: a safe place to shop, bump into and chat with neighbors, and purchase quality goods for home.

As a result of this little story, I got call today from a woman trying to open up a coffee-bagel-muffin place across from Domku. She was asking for my and our support.

At a City Council hearing today at which I was testifying, I spoke with Patrick Canavan, the interim director of Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA), DC's main permitting agency. He agreed to meet with me next week to talk about ways to expedite permitting for small businesses that want to come our way.

Stay tuned.

Joe Martin

[Ken Rubotzky]

When I spoke to DDOT on the phone they explained it wasn't their domain. But they found a way to solve the problem. We should remember to send an official neighborhood thank you letter to DDOT and to others involved. Is there such a thing as ANC letterhead?

[evc]

It is encouraging to see this kind of progress, no matter how long it takes. ...now if I could only see the alley near my house paved and not used as the official dumping ground... There's hope yet! ;-)

[AJS]

Congratulations to Joey Henson, Joe Martin and to all of us for successfully working to accomplish a concrete goal. [pardon the pun]