Eckington Civic Association Meeting

I attended the Eckington Civic Association (ECA) monthly meeting tonight as I often have in the past. The ECA meetings are held at McKinley Technology High School.

My election opponent was not present. Perhaps that is because the Bloomingdale Civic Association (BCA) meetings are the same night as the ECA. Bloomingdale is essentially outside our ANC single-member district, but Commissioner Jones is a former (?) resident of Bloomingdale and former president of the BCA.

The Joe Mamo condo project at Florida Avenue and North Capitol Street came up first. For those of you not familar with "amenities packages," those buzz words refer to what some might call bribery of the community by developers who want to grease the regulatory machinery. Most people view it as a way for developers to compensate the community for some of the externalities (costs) imposed by their projects on the community.

ECA President Eartha Isaac noted that the first Mamo proposal (as suggested by someone at the Planning Commission) was to build an $80,000 statue as a community amenity (that was quickly shot down). Instead, Mamo will donate $110,000 to a list of 16 organizations and schools, with money going "to schools I've never heard of," Isaac said.

Notably, Emery Elementary School is not on the amenities recipients list.

Isaac asserted that there is no written ANC policy on amenities packages, and that the policy is a "moving target" that "depends on the development." Beginning with the Mamo project, the amenities benefits are suppose to be spread throughout ANC 5-c rather than just within a close radius of a project. But Isaac pointed out that there is nothing to stop the new ANC in January from changing the new policy yet again, when the current "policy" would otherwise benefit the North Capitol Street cooridor.

Joe Lilavois spoke about the fact that the D.C. Preservation League is holding a September 28 hearing on the application to grant historical status to the St. Martin's Convent and City Lights School (possibly against the will of the owner, St. Martins Catholic Church). Lilavois may have ulterior motives here... namely, his secret affection for nuns (just kidding you, Joe).

Stacie Birenbach raised awareness about a traffic calming study she had reviewed. She is particularly concerned about traffic traveling up Eckington Place, then onto R Street N.E. The intersection of Eckington, Florida and New York Avenue is a mess, definitely not "calm" during rush hour. But none of three proposals in the study looked satisfying.

One thing looks to be a good bet: the employees at the Wendy's located on Florida Avenue should have an exit strategy for when the city decides to raze "our only local sitdown restaurant" in favor of a traffic circle.

Finally, Charlene McCullers is organizing a community clean-up project for October 28.