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ANC3D04 Newsletter for February 2003
SPECIAL ALERT -- Our Council
Member Kathy Patterson, at her initiative, will appear at our monthly
meeting on Feb. 5 at Sibley Memorial Hospital's auditorium to discuss
neighborhood issues. Please come if you can. The meeting begins at 7:30,
and the opening agenda item is
"residents' concerns," followed by Ms. Patterson.
WE HAVE a WEB SITE! --Its address (I think its called a URL) is
www.anc3d.org. and for the moment its master and creator is Robert
Andrew, a computer guru who lives in Foxhall Village. As one involved in
communications in one way or another ever since the Navy in 1944 sent a
newly commissioned ensign to Harvard to learn how to type, I am very
excited about the potential of this Web site to provide the
communication links that will tie our neighborhoods together in our
exercise in grassroots democracy. The Web site will provide a record of
what your ANC has decided; it will provide textual material on issues
confronting the neighborhood, and as it evolves, I hope it will become
an electronic forum for registering individual views and suggestions on
neighborhood matters. So have a look at the Web site, and "bookmark" it
as one of your "favorites."
Street Lights in Spring Valley -- Here is a success story in
grassroots democracy at work. When the Department of Transportation put
in new streetlights that lit up some blocks of Rockwood Parkway like
Broadway, some Spring Valley neighbors expressed concern that DDOT would
do the same on their local streets. At ANC3D' January meeting, DDOT
officials listened to residents' concern and agreed to try to work out a
compromise on wattage and
spacing of the new lights. Thanks to the efforts of Commissioners Tanya
Hamilton and Sarah Shapley, an acceptable compromise was reached.
(Details can be found at
www.anc3d.org)
Stenching the Sewer Smells. Another success story, I would
like to think. Prodded by Stephen Day, who likes to canoe on the canal,
the ANC finally got around at its November meeting to a hearing on the
sewer stenches. Thanks to the intervention of a neighbor who happens to
be Chairman of WASA, we got a most articulate, patient, knowledgeable
engineer from WASA, John Trypus, to explain why the stenches and to listen
to malodorous complaints. That was followed by meetings with WASA officials
by individuals living in the vicinity of Potomac Avenue, including Sally
Strain, Loretta Guarda and Robert Sinclair. On Feb. 1st, I received a
three-page letter from Jerry Johnson, WASA General Manager, explaining
"Planned Engineering Solutions for Sewers in the C&O National
Historical Park and the Palisades Community." A copy of that letter
will be placed on the Web site.
Zoning -- One reason towering houses are popping up in our neighborhoods
is because of ambiguities in the zoning code on how to measure the permissible
height of a house and when does a livable basement become a cellar. As
you might expect, developers are able to take advantage of the ambiguities
to stretch if not break the zoning code on height (40 feet) and number
of floors (three). At my request, the zoning administrator in DCRA has
agreed to have a look at two house under construction in the 5500 block
of MacArthur and one nearly directly behind them at 5525 Sherier to see
whether in fact they are four-story houses exceeding the 40-foot height
limit. The long term objective should be to clear up the ambiguities.
That is precisely what an ANC task force is trying to do. The task force,
headed by Alan Aiches with Bill Timmons and George Watson as members,
has drafted and sent to the Zoning Commission proposed new language for
the zoning code that would more clearly define how to measure the permissible
height of new residences. The task force will present its case before
the Zoning Commission on March 17. To read the task force proposals,
go to the web site.
Dalecarlia Water Treatment Plant -- The prospect that the
Washington Aqueduct would be forced by EPA to stop flushing of sediments
into the river and instead truck them through our neighborhoods has
arisen again to haunt us. Without solid scientific evidence in my
opinion, EPA has proposed a strict new order that would stop the
flushing in four or five years. That is a tight deadline to study and
build alternatives for on-land processing the sediments. The fear is
that with the time constraints, the Army Engineers will grab plans off
the shelf and build a huge centrifuge on its back lot and truck the
sediments through our residential streets.
Testimony on the subject can
be found on the Web site.
Enough for now. Hope to see you Wednesday evening at the meeting
with Kathy Patterson.
All the best, John Finney
ANC3D04 (and Commission Chair for 2003)
John Finney
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