January 17 2012 minutes

Mount Pleasant Advisory
Yasmin Romero-Castillo, 1D01
Gregg Edwards, 1D04
Neighborhood Commission
Laura Wilson Phelan, 1D02
China Terrell, 1D05
Jack McKay, 1D03
1380 Monroe St NW, #117, Washington DC 20010 Angelia D. Scott, 1D06
Minutes of the January 17, 2012 meeting of Advisory Neighborhood
Commission 1-D
These minutes accepted at the February 21, 2012 meeting. Call to order
[7:13 pm] Chair Edwards Scott called this January business meeting of ANC1D to order at 7:13 pm. Five commissioners were present: Gregg, Jack, Yasmin, Stormy, and China, constituting a quorum. Julian Gonzalez of HearSay Interpreting provided simultaneous English-to-Spanish interpretation. The commission agreed to put off the election of officers for 2012 until Laura's arrival. [7:18 pm] Representatives of Bozzuto Homes provided a description of the plans for the Meridian Hill Baptist Church development, specifically as pertaining to their application to the Board of Zoning Adjustment for a zoning variance. At 7:25 pm, Laura arrived, so all six commissioners were present. Approve zoning variance for the Meridian Hill Baptist Church development
[7:28 pm] Stormy introduced this resolution: Resolved, that ANC1D advises the Board of Zoning Adjustment to approve Application No. 18317, by Bozzuto Homes, Inc., on behalf of Meridian Hill Baptist Church. Why: ANC1D finds no “substantial detriment to the public good” as a result of granting this variance. The principal concern here has been the possibility of fire crossing the gap at the rear of this building to a planned apartment house on the opposite side of this gap. The spacing to the lot line, currently 5 feet, is to be expanded to 15 feet typical, 6 feet at the ground floor. Given the masonry, windowless structure of the ground-floor design, a stairwell for a parking garage, the possibility of a fire developing in this structure and spreading to the planned building across this enclosed alley is very low. Passed, 4 to 0, with two abstentions. Voting “yes”: Jack, Stormy, China, Laura. Voting “no”: none. Abstaining: Gregg, Yasmin. ANC 1D: Minutes of the January 17, 2012 meeting, p. 1 of 4 Election of chairperson
[7:33 pm] Gregg opened the floor for nominations for chairperson. China nominated Stormy. Jack nominated Gregg. China moved that the discussion of the nomination be opened to the public. Gregg ruled that motion out of order. Laura moved that the chair's ruling be overturned. Motion to overturn the chair's ruling failed, two votes “yes” (Laura, China), three votes “no” (Yasmin, Jack, Gregg). The vote for chair yielded a 3 to 3 tie: Laura, China, and Stormy voting for Stormy, Yasmin, Jack, and Gregg voting for Gregg. Following the tie-breaking procedure specified in the 1D by-laws, the nomination was opened to a second round of discussion, and another vote taken. The second vote resulted initially in a tie, the votes being as after the first round. Gregg then voluntarily withdrew his name from nomination. Hence, Stormy Scott was declared ANC1D chairperson for 2012. Election of vice-chairperson
[8:03 pm] Stormy, now chairing the meeting, asked for nominations for vice-chairperson. China nominated Laura; Yasmin nominated Gregg. Gregg nominated Yasmin, and withdrew as nominee. The vote for vice chair was as follows: Gregg and Yasmin voted for Yasmin; China, Laura, and Jack voted for Laura. Hence, by a 3 to 2 vote, Laura was named vice-chairperson for 2012. Election of secretary
[8:09 pm] China nominated Jack for secretary. There were no other nominations, so Jack was named secretary for 2012. Election of treasurer
[8:09 pm] China nominated Jack for treasurer. There were no other nominations, so Jack was named ANC treasurer for 2012. Public Discussion
[8:10 pm] The meeting proceeded with the public discussion period. Schedule of meetings
[8:22 pm] Gregg moved that the commission continue with the third Tuesdays for business meetings, and dispense with the first-Tuesday informal meetings. Agreed to by 6 to 0 vote. The business meeting calendar for 2012 is thus Jan 17, Feb 21, March 20, April 17, May 15, June 19, July 17, Aug 21, Sept 18, Oct 16, Nov 20, Dec 18. Gregg moved that the meeting start time continue to be 7:00 pm. Agreed, by 3 to 2 vote, one abstention. Voting “yes”: Gregg, Stormy, Yasmin. Voting “no”: China, Laura. Abstaining: Jack. Security Fund
[8:37 pm] Jack, as treasurer, moved the following resolution: Resolved that this Commission approves the ANC's participation in the Advisory Neighborhood Commission Security Fund and authorizes the Treasurer to pay the $25 fee ANC 1D: Minutes of the January 17, 2012 meeting, p. 2 of 4 for the period January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012. The Chairperson and Secretary are authorized to execute the agreement. Secretary's report
[8:38 pm] Jack asked if there were any corrections to be made to the minutes of the December 6, 2011 meeting. There being no corrections, the minutes were declared accepted. Treasurer's report
[8:38 pm] Jack moved approval of the ANC quarterly financial report for the first quarter of FY2012. Approved, 6 to 0. Jack noted the following expenditures: $50 to Tony Grillo for January 17 meeting postering. $100 to Hearsay Interpreting for Spanish interpretation at this meeting. [8:41 pm] Gregg moved that such routine expenditures be allowed without explicit commission approval, in order to expedite meetings. Motion approved, 6 to 0. Proceed with the Harvard Triangle Project
[8:49 pm] Stormy moved the following resolution: Resolved, that ANC1D approves the DDOT design for the location of the Kenyon/Irving bus stop, and the wheelchair-accessible sidewalk connecting the bus stop to the Harvard Towers driveway, and advises DDOT to proceed with this project. Passed, 4 to 1, with one abstention. Voting “yes”: Laura, China, Stormy, Jack. Voting “no”: Gregg. Abstaining: Yasmin. Appoint representatives of the public to the Historic Preservation Review
Board
[8:57 pm] Jack moved the following resolution: Resolved, that ANC1D advises the Council of the District to fill at least one “public member” of the Historic Preservation Review Board with a true representative of the public, not a representative of the historic preservation community. Why: No one on the Historic Preservation Review Board speaks for the homeowners who may be directly affected by the Board's decisions. The Board is, by law, supposed to “represent to the greatest practicable extent the composition of the adult population of the District of Columbia with regard to race, sex, geographic distribution and other demographic characteristics”. The clear intent of the law is to have the Board represent all of the residents of the District, not just historic preservation advocates. But the practice has been to fill the “citizen member” seats with representatives of historic preservation advocacy groups, not representatives of the public at large. These members contribute to HPRB decisions which directly affect the public, not merely choosing which properties qualify as “historic” and which do not, but frequently imposing expensive and demanding maintenance and renovation requirements on residents of historic districts. Because these “citizen members” are drawn from the community of passionate historic preservation advocates, they are naturally aggressive in their decisions on the Board. They speak as preservationists, not as members of the public. ANC 1D: Minutes of the January 17, 2012 meeting, p. 3 of 4 Federal law requires “public participation” in any state historic preservation program. The “citizen members” of the HPRB do not satisfy this requirement when they are drawn only from the community of historic preservation advocates, and never from the public at large. ANC1D advises the District Council to choose a true member of the public, perhaps a homeowner in a historic district, familiar with historic preservation, but neutral on the topic, to give the public, and the homeowners affected by the Board's preservation decisions, a voice on this board. Adjournment
ANC 1D: Minutes of the January 17, 2012 meeting, p. 4 of 4

Source: http://www.anc1d.org/sites/default/files/files/anc1d%20minutes_Jan%2017%202012.pdf