Today, at the new Paul Lawrence Dunbar Senior High School, the community and the whole city came together to celebrate Day One of the Grand Opening of the amazing new educational campus at First and N Streets, N.W. The last speaker on the program was ANC 5E05 Commissioner Joyce Robinson-Paul who read a few prepared remarks and then, astonishingly, concluded her statement by giving cudos to Kent Amos, the owner of the Community Academy Public Charter School for “black-top paving the entire CAPCS parking lot in just three days to make 140 parking spaces available just for this event!” Those of us from the community who were present and who know the history of how CAPCS has been trying for the last two years to get the community to approve of the paving of the former green space primarily to accommodate the needs of Metropolitan Baptist Church and whatever other commercial aspirations may be afoot were stunned. The reality is that in the planning of the Dunbar Grand Opening, Amos offered to pave the lot and to provide 50 spaces for attendees to this week’s festivities. The question we must all ask ourselves is: Is the Dunbar Grand Opening the reason or the cover for the paving? Things that make you go hmmmm??????
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Bates Area Civic Association 
Joyce Robinson-Paul and Kent Amos are passing the true cost of the parking lot along and onto the backs of the residents. Robinson-Paul gets some time on the microphone and Amos get more value applied to his property. The residents have to pay to mitigate the polution and the next generation of residents (along with everyone in the watershed) have to buy back clean water.
Can someone please point us all to the DC Municipal Regulations that govern private parking lot paving that seems to be creating an issue for everyone? Also, how about the EPA requirement that was addressed in this post as well? With as many public officials aware of the paving, I have to believe a proper permit, albeit expedited, was acquired. I will say that DCRA shows permits pending for an unknown project as of 8/20.
I can only find DCMR addressing private parking lots under the following areas:
1) Chapter 10-A6 (Environmental Protection), Section E-3.1 (LOW IMPACT DEVELOPMENT): http://www.dcregs.dc.gov/Gateway/RuleHome.aspx?RuleNumber=10-A613 – Only encourages use of permeable materials for parking lots, driveways, sidewalks, etc.
2) Chapter 11-23 (Garages, Carports, Parking Lots, and Gasoline Service Stations), Section 2303 (PARKING LOTS): http://www.dcregs.dc.gov/Gateway/RuleHome.aspx?RuleNumber=11-2303 – No requirement for porous surface
3) Chapter 24-6 (Parking Facilities and valet parking), Section 605 (Construction, Fire Safety, Fencing, Driveways, and Paving): http://www.dcregs.dc.gov/Gateway/FinalAdoptionHome.aspx?RuleVersionID=3535182
If all are upset with the paving of this parking lot, why are you not clamoring for DC to install porous paving on all new roads and sidewalks being constructed? There are fantastic materials out there to allow for water absorption, yet the city, on public properties, is not utilizing any to my knowledge outside of this area on 8th & K St NE (http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/19401/new-sidewalk-uses-porous-flexible-pavement/).
Matt. Two quick points. Despite the fact that several government officials knew of the black top plans, no permits were pulled. That is from a very highly placed source. There was an attempt to pull permits on 8/20/13 after the fact (i.e., after construction was completed on 8/17/13) when their hands were caught in the cookie jar but that attempt was thwarted. Secondly, I agree that porous surfaces should be put on all roads and sidewalks. But I’m not going to sit back and allow this to happen where I live, work and pay taxes just because the residents at 8th and K NE haven’t risen up against it in their neighborhood. The days of slide a few dollars under the table and do what you want with this community are over. I’m just sayin’!
I can’t speak for others, but I can say that when I moved here in 2001, that parking lot was a field. Over the years, CAPCS has turned it into a parking lot to benefit Sunday church attendees, not children. At least with the blue stone, the lot was allowing water through. We had a flood at that corner in 2001. I can’t imagine this giant mega-lot is going to help our aging storm sewers keep up with deluges. I’m not even going into the other issues at stake here, like how can a property that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, where Duke Ellington went to school essentially be reduced to a parking lot without anyone caring?
I called DCRA yesterday. The permit listed B1310174 is for the parking lot (black topped parking lot over blue stone, the permit office told me). It was only filed on 8/20, which was days after the lot was already finished (illegal). I also called DOE, who were not consulted before the construction (illegal). The DCRA inspector was supposedly out there yesterday, but I have not called back to find out the results. I don’t know if anyone noticed that there are also going to be 3 enormous football stadium light poles in the center of the lot. I can see that lot from my front windows. I know that we don’t need any additional light pollution either.
When we installed a patio in last year, we had to have a DOE engineer come out and tell us we needed a silt fence to minimize impacts of run-off before the building permit was even issued. There were also rules about how much of a private lot can be paved or impervious. I can’t remember what the percentage of allowable impervious material on a lot was, but I think it was no more than 50% of the lot area. If you look at the plat of the school, they must be nearing 90%.
There’s no question that this lot was constructed illegally. Whether or not people in positions of power knew (or cared) about that is another question. The proper channels were clearly not followed, and that makes it illegal and also unfair to the community.
If these actions were as egregious as they sound, and the harm is real, what I’m wondering is whether anyone is planning to do something about this? Isn’t this what law suits are for?