Bates Area Civic Association

This is written to provide you with a friendly reminder of the October 5, 2009 meeting of the Bates Area Civic Association, Inc. as well as to give you a sense of the issues that will be addressed in this forum. Please help us to spread the word to others about this monthly meeting and do make your best effort to attend. If you are willing to help with the circulation of flyers about this meeting, please let me know and I will get them to you.

Speakers:

Honorable Adrian M. Fenty, Mayor of the District of Columbia, will be the featured speaker for the evening. I expect Mayor Fenty to be with us for at least one hour; however, access to His Honor’s time and attention is so important that we will suspend other items on the agenda to accommodate his presence and participation in our meeting, if it turns out that he is willing to stay with us for the entire two hour time-frame.

In terms of format, Mayor Fenty will update us on the city’s efforts to address the problems/issues that were raised by residents during his walk-through of the community in July 2009 and during the question and answer period, we will be able to bring other problems/issues to his attention. It is important to add that Mayor Fenty’s report will also involve community concerns that were identified by residents of the Hanover Area on the recent walk-through. So, we will need to keep this reality in mind as we think about the evening.

A short list of issues on which the Mayor is expected to report concerns the following:

John F. Cook School – Significant concerns were raised with Mayor Fenty about the proposed use of this former elementary school building. At this point, the Latin American Youth Center (LAYC) has been given site control by the city to operate a charter school for low-income young people between the ages 16-24 years who would be working towards their GEDs or high school diplomas and would be learning job skills by building affordable housing. The LAYC plan also involves a residential component, consisting of 40 units for their students and in some instances their children.

Unfortunately, this proposed use of the former JF Cook School building by LAYC is inconsistent and in conflict with the expressed desire of residents with regard to this significant community asset and a resolution to this effect will be put before the body for adoption at the meeting on Monday. More than 300 persons have signed a petition in opposition to this proposed use of the JF Cook School building and the members of neighboring civic organizations are being asked to do the same.

Indeed, if we expect to attract meaningful, quality development opportunities to this portion of the North Capitol Street corridor, it is the general sentiment of our membership that the number and size of existing social service programs which saturate the surrounding area will need to be substantially reduced

Pocket Park at First and Florida Avenue, N.W. – Is expected to be renovated at some point. An architect has reportedly been assigned to this project and we are told that their current thinking involves the removal of the wrought iron fencing that presently surrounds the park. It will be interesting to hear the visioning of city officials with respect to this park because its productive transformation could have a major, positive impact upon the immediate area.

Public Safety — The problem of chronic loitering on the Unit block of O Street, N.W. and elsewhere throughout the community, the nuisance behaviors demonstrated by some who attend the social service programs in area, as well as the overall and continued presence of open-air drug sales/use, are all of major interest to residents throughout the community. Additionally, there appears to be an uptick in crimes of violence in the area, as evidenced by the relatively recent murder that took place on Q Street, N.W.

Billboards at 4th and P Streets, N.W. – As you know, the BACA has taken the position that the billboards currently located at 4th and P Streets, N.W. are there illegally; that they are a visual blight for local residents; that the site has tended to attract folks who engage in negative, nuisance, and sometimes criminal behaviors; and, therefore, the billboards should be removed from this location on the earliest possible date. Neighbors have signed petitions in support of this position. The civic groups in our area are responding in kind. Council Member Thomas has submitted a letter in support of the removal of the billboards. And, ANC 5C very recently passed a resolution supporting the BACA position on this matter. At this point, we are trying to inventory resident preferences for alternative uses of the site once the billboards are removed. To weigh in on this issue, you may participate in an electronic poll that is currently being conducted via the BACA Blog at https://dcbaca.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/billboard-poll/.

Dunbar High School: According to city officials, the Olympic size swimming pool at Dunbar is scheduled to be renovated in the not too distant future. In addition, there is a DC Public Schools regulation that requires school officials to allow residents of a given area reasonable access to their respective track and field The unfortunate condition of the swimming pool at Dunbar High School (and the building in general) as well as reasonable resident access to the track and field for exercise and recreation opportunities were both brought to Mayor Fenty’s attention at the walk-through.

Area Alleys: There is a narrow walk-way that runs parallel to houses in the 1500 block of First Street, N.W., between Bates Street and P Street that has been an avenue of escape and the site of nuisance behavior for many years. This walk way can only be accessed from P Street, A number of efforts have been made by local leaders over the years to get the city to seal off this pathway, to no avail. However, upon bringing this situation to the attention of Mayor Fenty during the walk-through, he apparently pledged to help rectify the situation. In recent weeks, crews of city workers have been spotted cleaning up this location and it is hoped that we will be able to count on Mayor Fenty to help us to get the pathway closed.

Also, there is a very narrow alley behind the houses on the 1500 block of Third Street, N.W. and the 1500 block of Fourth Street, N.W. (i.e., between P and Q Streets, N.W.) which needs city attention. At this point, trash trucks can only back down the alley to access the supercans of folks who reside on these blocks and the situation creates all sorts of other problems for them which I am confident that these residents will raise at Monday’s meeting.

Nuisance and Vacant Properties: DCRA’s Nicholas Majett participated in the walk through and made note of such properties in the area – both real and suspected. It will be interesting to hear what has been done to address the community’s concerns about these properties since July 2009. To report such properties, Mr. Majett can be contacted at Nicholas.majett@dc.gov.