Small-Town Politics: Everything but Safeway

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The Current covered the November 5th ANC 3E meeting, but it’s worth discussing it in a format that’s indexed by Google – and one that doesn’t use two inflammatory headlines for one ANC meeting. Hyperbole is something that can only be applied to Zoning Commission cage fights. Speaking of which, the obvious topic of the night was the Tenleytown Safeway, but like any good spectacle, that discussion came only after a long development. Actually, the debate over Safeway’s PUD was so long that I’m going to put it up as another post tomorrow.

After the crime report and some perfunctory zoning adjustments, a manager at Maggiano’s in Friendship Heights discussed their mandatory re-application for valet parking. The loss of parking is one of DC’s bugaboos, but he assuaged the concerns with cold, hard facts about where they park. Friendship Heights’ traffic is particularly bad and people from nearby neighborhoods complain about visitors parking in along the narrow streets to the east. So it was a huge surprise to learn that the garage under that block is largely empty most of the time. That suggests that most people will take the stress of driving around Jenifer Street over paying to store their cars, have parked in one of the other garages, or that a good number of the shoppers crowding the streets have arrived on transit. It definitely requires further study. The application was approved, and they moved on to the Reno School.

Jane Maroney, the newly elected Deal PTA chair spoke on behalf of the school in regard to the future of the Jesse Reno School. She explained Deal’s intents for the building in general: that it will be used as a performing arts facility and school nursery that could double as public meeting location. Apparently the two major goals are to keep the main building secure at night and reserve the dulcet tones of the band for infants who will only remember the experience subconsciously.

The blocked archway became a source of contention.
The Reno School. The blocked archway above was a source of contention.

The Jesse Reno building is unquestionably a historic structure, so the debate came down to whether to landmark it now and then renovate, or to renovate and then landmark it. Either way, renovations have to undergo Historic Preservation review because the structure was built in 1903. Deal received money from the city to renovate it, but hasn’t yet hired an architect. Board Member Waldmann of the Tenleytown Historical Society explained a little about its history as a segregated school and the lone survivor of the town of Reno, but her justification for why landmarking was so essential with everyone on board could only be justified with shadows of reckless demolitions during Barry years, so eventually the board voted 3-2 against the nomination. Oddly, the Bender-Frumin-Serebin and Eldredge-Sklover split is the same way they voted on the Janney application.

So, that was the lesser part of the meeting. The rest comes tomorrow.

Two accomplishments

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I just saw these two things last night and thought they were impressive enough about what is possible with some elbow grease, a Ph.D, and a few billion dollars. So learn what it’s like to stand on the top of the Burj Dubai: It’s wobbly and tall. And it warms my heart to the hellhole that is Dubai. (gizmodo)

Closer to home, DARPA is paying the University of Maryland to weaponize maple seeds or samaras. That might seem insane, but watch the whole video to see what 3 years of research on single-wing rotary aircraft can get you. Go terps!?    (hackaday)

Don’t get “samara” confused with the city in Russia, or samsara, or you may experience endless cycles of misunderstanding.

Reno Park Update 091115: Cyclist’s Perception

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Sorry for the break between posts; the past few weeks have been pretty hectic, but there’s some good stuff coming down the pipeline. First off, let’s finish off the analysis of space and access. The subject now is the bicyclist.

bike buildings

Bicycling exists in a strange middle-area of the law. A bike is a vehicle in DC, but bikers can ride on the sidewalk and don’t have to register or undergo inspections. Culturally, cyclists travel in a more uncertain space, not all that welcome on the street or the sidewalk. A lack of any particular bicycle infrastructure means that there is no place of positive certainty anywhere near Tenleytown. I have to admit that judging conditions was more difficult here because of the more varying conditions cyclists find themselves subject to.

That’s reflected in the composite above; It’s really gray. And pretty dark.

To look at the way the image was composed follow down below.

Continue reading ➞ Reno Park Update 091115: Cyclist’s Perception

Karl Kroeber 1926-2009

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Karl Kroeber

Proud academic and children’s literature critic Karl Kroeber passed away today after a long struggle with cancer. Kroeber had a 50+ year career in education, working on eclectic subjects across literature, but most significantly American Indian literature. In recent years, he railed with a lovable grumpiness against the dumbing down of books and films aimed at the under-12 set. When interviewed by the Blue and White in 2007, he put it this way:

The other side of it, what goes with [my opinion of] Disney, is [my reaction to] this grade-level business, this idea that you must not write a book for a 7-year-old that includes words a 7-year-old might not understand. This is how you encourage dumbing down.

Regrettably, I was never able to fit one of his classes into my schedule, but a single lecture and all the google searching had to suffice for consuming his really brilliant work. The rest of his family is equally distinguished, with an anthropologist father and mother, and celebrated author for a sister (the K. In Ursula K. Le Guin is for Kroeber).

He was also that kind of professor that garnered a large cult following, due in no small part to his open love of scotch and his cat, Mr. Underfoot. Oh, he was also an incredibly nice and generous man. He will be missed.

A temporary future for Friendship Heights

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I’ve got some more details about the new commercial building behind Mazza Gallerie. The National Realty Development Corp. want to have at least one of the five stores open in the 40,000 SF building sometime around 2011, according to the small-town rumor department. Although the FAR is hovering around 1 here, having something to activate the area will bring other business in and encourage other developers to add “units.” All along the course of the Broadway IRT in the early 1900s, speculators threw up one and two story placeholder buildings until the market warranted residential construction. Some lasted two years, a handful are still there. This Friendship Heights Plaza is in the same vein.

home-plate-site-friendship-heights
Site Plan. All images from NRDC

According to the tearsheets, it will have all of its storefronts on Western Avenue, with a tiny amount of parking in the rear. Having the shopping street on Western Avenue will add a lot of vitality to what is a pretty suburban condition now. An empty field and parking lot, part of the GEICO complex, faces the site across Western. The other buildings adjacent to it are two big-box department stores, and there’s a bus garage around the rear.

NRD is apparently aiming for a really high-end market. That’s no surprise, since Friendship Heights has remade itself as an upscale shopping district in recent years. Their research data highlights the affluence, homeownership, high ratio of females to males in adjacent neighborhoods.

Both views show Western Ave.

If the Tenleytown Safeway was modern traditional, then this is traditional modern. In terms of massing, it has asymmetric stone-clad corners with glass and steel in between.  I have to say it’s attractive and comes replete with shadow joints and exposed steel – sculptural I-beams like you’d never believe. Finally, it’s got the usual pro-urban ornaments like fountains and brick sidewalks, which should make it pleasant to walk by.

Like the T-Town Safeway, this isn’t ideal, but it’s still a positive change for the neighborhood.

A lack of trust in Tenleytown

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A week ago, some Tenleytown residents, received letters from Safeway or a Safeway representative.  The letters discussed the project to rebuild the Safeway at Davenport and 42nd Street, asking residents to sign reply cards in support of the project. Safeway hasn’t exactly explained what they intended to do with the card, but the general sense is that Safeway and Venator simply wish to hedge their bets against vocal opposition. A stack of paper and a polished graphic of neighborhood support could prove the existence of a silent majority favoring the project, with some NIMBYs with too much free time getting in the way.

Courtesy Safeway
Courtesy Safeway

Now, that strategy alone would be a cautious and defensive practice for a company. Considering that the Cleveland Park Giant has been under review for nearly half my life, I can sympathize with their fears of endless fighting. However, according to posts on the Tenleytown Listserv and offline as well, it has come out that Safeway excluded the people who live nearby from the mailing. The people who live on the block, and who would be most affected by any changes got no voice in that survey. Considering that there was no way to say “No” on the card, again, the only reasons why Safeway wouldn’t send it out to the residents that are known critics are that the answer is a forgone conclusion, or that they did not want to incite opponents further. The Northwest Current quotes spokesman for the company, Craig Muckle, as saying the omission was an “oversight.”

To be completely honest, I’m pretty split over whether this action was reasonable but defensive or an example of disrespectful cunning. At meetings of ANC 3E, which represents residents on the western side of Tenleytown and all of Friendship Heights, vocal transit-oriented denialists can bring to bear a disproportionate influence on decisions. However, critics of the project include people who want more building or just a shorter one – the opposition is not necessarily opposed to the current project. Some residents worry about the effect of large, blank walls abutting their townhouses. In fact, when presented with their  concerns, the Zoning Commission told Safeway modify the building in response to resident concerns over shadows and massing.

While no wrongdoing has occurred in a legal sense, Safeway may have breached the public trust in going around the public Zoning Commission hearings. Safeway has touted the successful integration of their stores into neighborhoods and their outreach to neighbors. So far, they had done an exemplary job, proposing a fine urban structure, submitting to the public process for a planned-unit development, and presenting a good amount of information to the public. Safeway could have built a multistory building as-of-right with no discussion.

Jon Bender, the ANC3E chair, is trying to broker a deal, and he’s suggesting progress in the right direction. He has mentioned a compromise of a multistory structure on 42nd Street, stepping down into townhouses nearby. That would be an ideal resolution: to not only ameliorate the impact on the community, but also to make it better for the greater city and environment by adding some reasonable density. Whether Bender’s plan has any more support than the current one will come out at the ANC meeting tonight. Hopefully, with that discussion, Safeway and the residents can continue to work together to find a reasonable compromise for Tenleytown’s future.

ANC 3E will discuss the Safeway at their meeting tonight, 7:30 pm at St. Mary’s Church, 42nd and Fessenden Streets.

Cross-posted at GreaterGreaterWashington.

North of Tilden: Corporate Shenanigans

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Upper Northwest has been all abuzz with some recent news, but I’ve been too busy to report on it. Apologies in advance for slamming all these things together, but it’s all worthwhile.

Ward 3: DC’s plans to bring modern streetcars were on display at Stoddert ES yestday. The most frequent question to asked regarding LRT in Ward 3  was “Why are there no plans for streetcars in Ward 3?” The planners were all pretty helpful, and the event seemed to go well.  There was a lot of interest in getting streetcars up MacArthur Boulevard and Connecticut Avenue, but nothing real. The most telling discussion I had was from a consultant on the project, who explained the lack of routes from an economic development perspective. He pointed out that the ability of the lines to spur economic development guided their location; Northwest, he said, is as developed as it can be. Such an assertion is absurd on its face, a condition upheld only because of the disproportionate effect of neighbors on sensible zoning.

Friendship Heights: National Realty and Development continues on with their project to fill in the home-plate lot behind Mazza Gallerie. More on that in another post.

Tenleytown: Last week, some Tenleytown residents began receiving postcards from someone representing Safeway. Apparently, the cards ask homeowners to sign the card in support of Safeway’s plans. The details are fuzzy and Safeway is equivocating in its responses. I get that the Tenleytown crowd can be a little hysterical at times, but this strategy is sneaky at best and otherwise disrespectful of the community. No pictures of the cards yet, but if you get one, I’d really appreciate a forwarded scan.

specs
The Reno Stage is roughly where that first house is. Courtesy TD Banknorth and the DC Historical Society

Also, the TD BankNorth BankBuilding will be having an OpeningParty on November 14. They are so enthusiastic about talking to the community that they sent me a PressRelease. Maybe they really want to have a sincere talk about their love for trees – so ask them about that. Only Tenleytown residents laughed there. Meanwhile, they’ve installed a floor-to-ceiling blow-up of a historical picture from the brick water tower (at right). It dates to 1935, so it shows buildings in Fort Reno Park, and – gasp – the Negroes who occupied them. That should make for a great conversation piece. “Say, Madison, where are those houses now? The Chevy Chase Land Company had the city clear them in the 1930s? Oh, you don’t say…”

ANC 3E: The agenda for the November ANC 3E meeting at 7PM on Thursday the 5th reflects the above issues. In addition to a discussion of the Safeway expansion project, the Tenleytown Historical Society will be talking about plans to landmark the Jesse Reno School, which is one of the few surviving structures of Reno City and a unique artifact (see above picture).

There is still much, much more 

Continue reading ➞ North of Tilden: Corporate Shenanigans

Reno Park Update 091028: Driver’s Perception

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driver-buildings

In the last two updates, I showed that the disconnect between physical and social boundaries complicates any analysis of the spatial architecture of the Tenleytown-Tobago area. Of course, it’s worth looking at the vehicular perception of space.  

Continue reading ➞ Reno Park Update 091028: Driver’s Perception

Best anti-glare solution ever.

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So the room you work in has a large glass wall. It brings in a bit of glare during the day, and this is messing up the view of your computer screen. What do you do? Buy shades? Pff.  Sue the architect? Complain to the faculty advisor? No, of course not – you work in an MIT robotics lab.

Meet Shady, the sunshade robot. Developed by the MIT Distributed Robotics Lab, it actually does many other things, particularly climbing trusses, which they say is hard to do, and I’m in no position to disagree. That is a finely sharpened solution.

via Dwell, which  has been profiling people who live in pieces of starchitecture (only at MIT so far, though).