Petworth News

Assessments

[from mlpetworth]

Has anyone ever contested their Property Tax assessment? What was your experience like? I have been lazy, under the 5 year tax abatement that DC offered when I bought my house, but this year I feel inspired to act. How do they base the increase? Aren't housing prices and therefore housing value, dropping? Didn't it also drop from 2007 to 2008? How can a 16 grand increase be justified in this current market? Also, because of when I bought, my property taxes are much higher than my next door neighbor, who also has a renovated home. Is this fair/correct?

Homeless shelter article

Central Union Mission in Talks For New Site
in Downtown DC
Washington Post, 2/22/08

"Because we are weighing options, we need time, we slowed everything down," said David Treadwell, the mission's executive director. "The District, we believe, is sincerely trying to help us find a place that's closer to downtown." Describing the talks as preliminary, Treadwell cautioned that the mission is prepared to seek a new shelter on Georgia Avenue if it finds no suitable alternative.

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Parking spot

[from Cheryl G.]

Parking available in Petworth, $65/mo.

The space is a very nice and convenient concrete space located just two blocks north of the Petworth metro on New Hampshire. Available now. Park daily, weekly, monthly - whatever you'd like to do! If you're interested, drop me an email anytime!

Clark ES open house

[Angela C. and Mike I.]

Clark Elementary School
Open House/Community Meeting to Keep Clark Open
Monday February 25, 6:30pm
4501 Kansas Ave NW

Please come see and hear about the significant turnaround that Clark ES has achieved in just 1 1/2 years under the leadership of Principal Wright and program partners such as the Center for Inspired Teaching, Fillmore Arts Center, and Sports4Kids. Clark is still being slated to close even though the space usage issues have been resolved, the almost a mile walk crossing Georgia Avenue to Raymond ES is unsafe for children, and Clark is the last remaining neighborhood elementary school in Petworth.

Co-sponsored by ANC Commissioner Shanel Anthony 4C07, UNTS Neighborhood Association, the Clark PTA and Friends of Clark.

Councilmember Bowser will be in attendance and the Mayor has been invited. Refreshments will be served.

Movers and storers

[from Doug Belling]

I'm wondering if other Petworth folks have recommendations or comments on moving companies and portable storage container services to assist with moves/renovations.

Any companies people have used and would recommend?

Moroni & Brothers makeover

[from Valeria Guelman]

I am very happy to announce that we are finished with the makeover project of Moroni and Brother’s Pizzeria Restaurant and we are proud to invite you to its first big inauguration night! Come join the celebration on Thursday, February the 21st at 6:30pm.

In addition to the outstanding thin crust pizza, we look forward to sharing with you an improved ambiance! The new interior, photography by a local artist, and good music are not to be missed. Moroni's will also offer a selection of Italian wines, German and Salvadoran beers, and espresso beverages. Please come and join your friends and fellow Petworthians as we celebrate the reinvention of a true community restaurant.

From the Editor

Your humble publisher will be on semi-hiatus until Feb 25th. I won't be on email as much, but will post when I can. In the meantime, please talk among yourselves.

Cheers, Bill

Safeway meeting recap

[from Heather S.]

The plan is for the existing Safeway to be torn down and a brand new much larger Safeway with its new "Lifestyle?" type store to open that caters to providing all of the types of things you see in a suburban supermarket but here in Petworth. The store will be significantly larger than what we have now and it will be under a residential building. The same architect that designed Park Place is designing this. There will be underground parking.

Of course we also addressed the interim issues of what to do while this Safeway is open in the next year before it's torn down. There is a new district manager who, if you ask me, seems totally on top of it all. He just moved to the area 3 weeks ago and he said he's already been in our store several times and witnessed first hand everything we do when we go in (long lines, perished food, empty shelves, poor selections, etc...) He was honest and said not everything can be fixed since store size limits the amount of things they can get into the store; however, lines should never be long, food should never be expired and the products they stock should always be stocked. He's also going to order motorized wagons for folks that need those. He also has a mystery shopper coming into the store weekly and reporting back to him and he has the store downloading inventory to his blackberry nightly so he knows the status of things. He said that he's aware of an issue in management turnover there and he also has a store manager from another Safeway who has expressed interest in managing our store. This guy is a Petworth resident so he's trying to get that pushed through since he'd rather have someone from the community manage the store. There were plenty of upset people there, rightfully so, but I felt it was a positive meeting.

I am excited about what the future brings for the Safeway. Granted, we're probably looking at 2010 till it's here, but it's nice that it's on the horizon and hopefully the Yes! Organic market will open sooner so we have something coming before then.

[Editor's note - sorry to divorce this from the previous thread 'Development meeting', but I wanted to give it more prominence]

Loftstel article

[from Kevin M.]

Petworth hostel in today's WP District Weekly:

Guests Are Far From Home but Close to Amenities

Most guests at the Loftstel, a youth hostel that just opened in a renovated rowhouse in Petworth, are not hitchhiking anywhere. They're reporting to jobs as interns at government agencies and international organizations.

full text

Soldiers Home update 2/6

[from Reyn A.]

HPRB critical of AFRH plans; supports preservation & park

This past week, the Historic Preservation Review Board re-opened the floor for the public comments on the AFRH Master Plan. Several individuals and organizations, including Washington Central Parks, spoke passionately and articulately on the concept of park on zones B & C.

In general, the board members' comments were unanimous:
- They feel strongly that the AFRH must clearly delineate the specific financial need to justify placing 4.6M square feet (roughly the size of the Pentagon) in upper NW DC.
- They need to carefully describe the uses of buildings (current and proposed) and show how they help the AFRH reach its financial goals.
- They are looking for clearer design concepts that specifically address views into and out of the Home.
- And very importantly - they want to see as much open space as possible preserved.
- They want to preserve the historic value of the AFRH campus and in particular the historic legacy of Lincoln's cottage and its surrounding landscape and views.
- To that end, all of the board members emphasized the importance that Zones C (and B) remain open space, if at all possible. (!!!!)

The HPRB's support for saving zones C and B from development came through loud and clear! WCP could not have hoped for a better outcome of the hearing. We encourage everyone to become active in advocacy for a park. The "showdown" meeting is coming up in April, when the Home will come before the National Capital Planning Commission, who has final approval authority for the Master Plan for the Home. Please mark your calendars for that month and we will be updating the listserves with logistics. Remember, north-central Washington has the smallest per-capita park space of any area in DC and we have a clear opportunity to change that!

Lincoln Cottage to open

[from Joe M.]

Lincoln Cottage to open on February 18 - President's Day

Here's a link to an Associated Press story on CNN's website. For additional information: www.lincolncottage.org

Admission, $12; ages 6-12, $5. Groups of 15 or more: $8. Reservations recommended. Tours limited to 15 people. Cafe and shop at the visitor's center.

Getting there: Located on the Armed Forces Retirement Home campus here in Petworth. Enter at Eagle Gate at Rock Creek Church Road NW and Upshur Street NW. Parking is available.

4C meeting rescheduled

[from the ANC 4C09 listserv]

Due to the DC Primary Election on February 12, the monthly ANC4C meeting has been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 19, 2008, 6:30pm at the MPD Police Services Bureau (formerly called ROC North) located at 801 Shepherd Street, NW.

Sex offenders

[from Luis D.]

I thought people would like to know about websites where you can check where sex offenders live. Of course parents would be most interested but I think it's also good to be informed and aware of these things in general.

www.familywatchdog.us
www.nationalalertregister.com

[Ed. note - MPD has their own sex offender registry here]

Apt for rent

[from Nina H.]

Large modern 1BR English basement apartment with den/second bedroom on quiet street in Petworth. Separate front and rear entrances, private secure parking, new appliances, central AC, wall to wall carpeting, lots of closet space, and washer/dryer. Walking distance to green line Georgia Ave-Petworth metro and on the 62/70/71 bus routes.

$1200/month includes all utilities, including cable & wireless internet. Some furniture conveys with apartment (if interested). Available March 2008. Dog lovers welcome.

Photo feed 2/2

© Bill Crandall

The 700 block of Quincy St was cordoned off tonight for a major demolition job. Apparently a house collapsed yesterday, more info and pics on Prince of Petworth. Any updates about what happened?

Petworth photo pool on Flickr

Development meeting

[from Son T.]

I thought neighbors would be interested in attending this meeting. It will also discuss the Safeway redevelopment plans.

Community update on Petworth development projects – February 5

On Tuesday, February 5, Councilmember Muriel Bowser will host a meeting at 7pm at the Israel CME Church (557 Randolph St) to update the community on the status of a number of development projects in the Petworth neighborhood.

Representatives from Safeway will be there to present and discuss their plans for construction of a new store at their Petworth location. Other updates will include the Park Place project above the Petworth metro station, the residences at 3910 Georgia Avenue and others. There will be representatives available from all the development teams and DC government agencies.

For more information please call Brandon Todd at 202-724-8052.

Soldiers Home update 2/1

[from Reyn A.]

There's a lot happening with respect to the AFRH development right now. We will have more news in the next couple of days about the HPRB hearing today, and also a copy of a letter from the DC Dept of Transportation that expresses grave concerns about the project.

The Commission of Fine Arts has issued a letter expressing significant concerns about the AFRH’s development plans, rejecting its current proposals and requesting that the AFRH come up with some better alternatives.  You can read the full letter here.

Some quoted highlights (note in point three the stated preference for park land in Zones B and C):

1. The Commission emphasized the singular importance of the property and [...] objected to what they characterized as a lack of a clear design concept in the master plan, commenting that it does not satisfactorily enhance the extraordinary resources of the site nor relate well to the surrounding urban context.

2. The Commission members stated numerous concerns with the proposal for Zone A… [noting that it] does little to acknowledge the urban context, including a lack of expression of the North Capitol Street axis in the proposed development […] and leaves the design intention for the new buildings ambiguous with no clear concept… [likewise] that the outer edge should be carefully designed to appropriately address the site's prominent frontage along North Capitol and Irving Streets, proposed to be lined with exposed parking structures.

3. The Commission members were dissatisfied with the proposed design for new development in Zones B and C, questioning whether the relatively small amount of proposed development would be worthwhile... If possible, the Commission encouraged the consideration of retaining these areas as park land with public access.

4. The Commission requested a revised submission of the master plan, including alternative designs for development in Zone A that explore a more coherent approach to the site.