[Mintwood-place] ANC likely to vote on the First Church of Christ Scientist hotel project this Wednesday

Mon Mar 5 15:33:59 EST 2012

Hi Justin: 

It' s good to hear your perspective as a business owner.  I, too, am an Adams Morgan  resident and business owner, although my business doesn't rely on foot traffic in the neighborhood.  Also, I fully agree with you that the clearest ideas are best shared in a mutually respectful environment.  

That doesn't mean we can't disagree. 

I'm very interested in how the Adams Morgan Partnership Business Improvement District has analyzed the potential impact of the hotel and presented those findings to its business-owning members. 

Have BID members asked themselves:  If I lived on Champlain or Euclid street, would I want a 10-story hotel on my block?  Despite the temporary inconvenience of construction, would I want a hotel and its constant stream of delivery trucks and guest and employee traffic on my narrow street?  Should Adams Morgan businesses seek "big impact" from the transient population of a large hotel, or, by creating a more diverse business district, become more reliant on neighborhood and city residents?  

How has the BID arrived at its position of support for this project? 

--Has the BID done an objective analysis of how a hotel will affect foot traffic in the neighborhood?   

--Has the BID examined the impact that hotels elsewhere in the city have on neighborhood businesses? 

--Has the BID examined closely the promises made by the developers for job creation?  Does the BID agree that in the developer's promise of the creation of 565 jobs, there might be something askew in the fact that the developer's job-creation assessment includes 135 "trainers" in the gym an annual salaries of $105,000; and 8 trainers in the spa an annual salaries of $124,800?  Does the BID find the other job-creation numbers in the developer's analysis realistic? 

Anyone wishing to read any of the hotel developer's plans and analyses can see them on the ANC-1-C website at:     http://www.anc1c.org/index.php?option=com_phocadownload&view=category&id=16:proposed-hotel-at-first-church-of-christ-scientist&Itemid=76 

-- Mary Belcher 

1869 Mintwood 

----- Original Message -----

From: "A.M. Wine Shoppe" <am.wineshoppe at gmail.com> 
To: "John Cloud" <john.cloud666 at yahoo.com> 
Cc: ahhjlh at verizon.net, "Denis James" <denisjames at verizon.net>, maryjbelcher at comcast.net, "Cynthia Pols" <polscm at aol.com>, "mintwood place" <mintwood-place at lists.mutualaid.org> 
Sent: Monday, March 5, 2012 1:00:39 PM 
Subject: Re: [Mintwood-place] ANC likely to vote on the First Church of Christ Scientist hotel project this Wednesday 

I think it is wise for all members of the community to share their thoughts, ideas, and support/concerns about the proposed hotel project at the ANC meeting. 

However, I do not see how emails with decisive and abrasive tones serve any practical function for constructive and civil discourse. 

As a small business owner of two locations in Adams Morgan (Cashion's Eat Place and A.M. Wine Shoppe), as well as a 9 year resident of the community, I personally believe the hotel project's potential positive impact will outweigh the initial inconvenience it will cause.  

Likewise, I also agree that it will change the landscape of Adams Morgan- but it is my opinion, for the better.  If Foxhall partners continue to proceed with rational community concerns in mind, than I think the Hotel has the potential to serve as a daytime anchor for other retail businesses in the neighborhood and ultimately help change the public's perception of Adams Morgan for the better. 

Again, these are my personal opinions as a resident and small business owner in the community. 

For the sake of full disclosure I also want to make clear that I am a member of the Adams Morgan BID and public record will show that I have voted in support of the Hotel in the past (and all things being equal, plan to do so in the future). 

Both support and protest to this project, I believe, share a common root: what do "I" believe is best for "our" community.  If we keep that in mind, perhaps we will have more constructive conversation and find common ground moving forward... 

Sincerely, 

Justin Abad 

--- 
Proprietor, Community Member 
Cashion's Eat Place & A.M. Wine Shoppe 

On 3/5/2012 10:25 AM, John Cloud wrote: 

Re: " The church has made it clear that if the project fails and there is no landmark, they will likely tear the church down.  It is quite possible that on that site an even larger building will emerge". 

Hotel boosters don't do their cause any good by threatening blackmail, in which the community is warned to give in to this specific mega-development plan, lest we get something completely undefined but even worse in response.  That just makes no sense at all.  The reality is that the District long ago declared the main purpose of the area of the Reed-Cook Overlay was to to be residential housing and the kinds of small businesses that complemented residents in living in that neighborhood. That is the zoning in place right now. I think the great majority of the people who live in or adjacent to the overlay would thoroughly agree with that plan, if they were ever asked.  

But the point is, we were never asked.  The Admo Millionaires Hotel has been thrust upon the 'hood from the top down, starting with the developers and the integrity-challenged DC Council, especially Councilman Graham.  But this also includes the relatively spineless ANC-1C, chaired by a Graham employee with an obvious conflict of interest (Wilson Reynolds) who has never recused himself once from any vote over the hotel.  Since the ANC-1C has approved the hotel scheme at every single previous stage it was put before them, I wouldn't get my hopes up too high that somehow they are miraculously going to see the light now.  

What will doom the hotel scheme is: (1) the very old law of Location, Location, Location, which is to say the entire scheme is just a really dumb idea for what to do at Champlain and Euclid Streets in that neighborhood, and (2) it's hard to see how the scheme can continue if it loses its great champion, Councilman Graham, who might be indicted any day now.  In that context, the ANC-1C is just little grass blades shaking in the breeze.  Just show up at the meeting and blow on them and watch them bend. 

From: "ahhjlh at verizon.net" <ahhjlh at verizon.net> 
To: Denis James <denisjames at verizon.net> ; "maryjbelcher at comcast.net" <maryjbelcher at comcast.net> ; 'Cynthia Pols' <polscm at aol.com> 
Cc: 'mintwood place' <mintwood-place at lists.mutualaid.org> 
Sent: Monday, March 5, 2012 9:23 AM 
Subject: Re: [Mintwood-place] ANC likely to vote on the First Church of Christ Scientist hotel project this Wednesday 

The church has made it clear that if the project fails and there is no landmark, they will likely tear the church down.  It is quite possible that on that site an even larger building will emerge, and we will lose another reminder of the history of our neighborhood and a very well-designed roman style church.  Things are not easy, and neither are choices, but the church is important and the possible future scenario worse.  Ann Hargrove 

<blockquote>

From: Denis James <denisjames at verizon.net> 
To: maryjbelcher at comcast.net ; 'Cynthia Pols' <polscm at aol.com> 
Cc: 'mintwood place' <mintwood-place at lists.mutualaid.org> 
Sent: Monday, March 5, 2012 9:04 AM 
Subject: Re: [Mintwood-place] ANC likely to vote on the First Church of Christ Scientist hotel project this Wednesday 

Mary is correct. The owners of the Church building, the congregation of that branch of the Church of Christ Scientist, don’t want the building “Landmarked” until approval of the whole project is forthcoming. That approval would enable their big payday. If the approval is something less than what has been requested, and the potential “profits” aren’t a certainty, the Church may pull out of the deal. Thus, they don’t want to be saddled with the Landmark status, which may limit what can be done with the property. 

From: mintwood-place-bounces at lists.mutualaid.org [ mailto:mintwood-place-bounces at lists.mutualaid.org ] On Behalf Of maryjbelcher at comcast.net 
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 8:22 AM 
To: Cynthia Pols 
Cc: mintwood place 
Subject: Re: [Mintwood-place] ANC likely to vote on the First Church of Christ Scientist hotel project this Wednesday 

Hi Cynthia & Mintwood List:  

You are correct in noting that the ANC is voting on a measure related to the First Church of Christ Scientist "Church-Hotel" at its upcoming meeting this Wednesday night, March 7, at 7 p.m. at Mary's Center.  But the ANC is voting on the design concept of the hotel, not whether it should be historically landmarked.  (The historic-landmarking issue is down the road a ways.)  

This upcoming ANC vote is very important, however, because if the ANC gives its nod to the "design" of the hotel--most notably its height and mass--this approval will carry weight when the church-hotel design-concept matter goes before the Historic Preservation Review Board later this month (on Thursday, March 22).  In fact, the question of the design of the hotel is a more important matter for the ANC to take a position on than whether the church deserve historic designation: The design of the hotel will change the residential, low-rise character of Champlain and Euclid streets forever, and it will be our several-member ANC helping make that decision on our behalf. 

There is great difference of opinion in the neighborhood about whether this hotel is a good idea for Adams Morgan.  But there is no question, design-wise, that the 10-story hotel will tower over everything else in its midst, and it will out-mass every other building in the Reed-Cooke section of Adams Morgan. 

Now the pro-hotel folks can go crazy with my comments on this listserv.  Have at it, everybody!  You can't change the fact that this is a giant building being squeezed into an intersection of two very narrow residential streets.  And you can't change the fact that this upcoming ANC meeting is very important, although you  know that the controversy tends to cause people to shut down and lose interest. 

Thanks, Cynthia, for letting the neighbors know about this upcoming ANC meeting on Wednesday night.  It's time for everybody to show up at Wednesday night, 

Mary Belcher 

1869 Mintwood  

From: "Cynthia Pols" <polscm at aol.com> 
To: "mintwood place" <mintwood-place at lists.mutualaid.org> 
Sent: Monday, March 5, 2012 12:48:40 AM 
Subject: [Mintwood-place] ANC likely to vote on the First Church of Christ        Scientist hotel project this Wednesday 

Our advisory neighborhood commission, ANC 1C, is scheduled to meet this Wednesday (March 7) at 7PM in the Mary's Center building (the pink building) on 2355 Ontario Road. On the agenda is possible support of designation of the First Church of Christ Scientist church building as an historic landmark. People who have concerns about the proposed hotel project to be built in connection with the pending request for landmark status for the church should consider attending this meeting to voice those concerns and otherwise convey their concerns.   It is likely that the ANC will vote at this meeting on whether to support the developers' request for landmark designation for the church (as it is to be developed through the hotel project) and, in doing so, will be voting to approve (or disapprove) the developers' proposal as it currently stands, including the size and height of the proposed hotel building. 

The meeting begins at 7PM but it is probably o.k. to arrive a few minutes late as several other items are scheduled to precede the hotel discussion, including an update on the 18th Street construction project, and are likely to take up some time. 

The church item is listed on the agenda for the meeting as item VII.C.1 and entitled "Review by ANC 1C of First Church of Christ Scientists Application for Historic Designation before the Historic Planning Review Board (HPRB)." Here is a link to the agenda for the March 7 ANC meeting. 

http://www.anc1c.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68&Itemid=77 

The hotel developers revised and updated their plans in late January in response to criticisms received at the November 15, 2011, meeting of the Zoning Commission (ZC). At that meeting, the ZC decided to "set down" the developers' "planned unit development" (PUD) application for redevelopment of the church and an adjacent property that presently contains the City Paper offices and several other offices. The ZC voted in favor of "setting down" the PUD application for consideration at the commission level in spite of negative recommendations made about the proposal by the District's Office of Planning. (The standard process is for PUD applications to be reviewed and revised at the staff level and then presented to the ZC for final approval in relatively polished form; in this case , there are many issues unresolved that would have to be dealt with in a less structured way at the commission level.) Among other things, the professional planners at the Office of Planning deemed the height of the proposed hotel to be excessive for the neighborhood and the application to be flawed in numerous other ways.  

Here is a link to a video of the Zoning Commission's Nov 15, 2011, discussion of the developers' PUD application and decision to "set down" the application for disposition: 

http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSLMQ.aspx?indexPointSKU=SHCxj82tLP2HHyUmjLVbRw%3d%3d 

Go to this link to download and see the developers' latest plans: 

http://adamsmorganhistorichotel.com/index.php/home 

As you can see in the latest plans, the developers still plan to construct a large hotel just behind (and attached to) the church that will be significantly taller than the church building and will loom large over it and the immediate neighborhood. While the developers revised their plans following the Nov 15 ZC meeting, they elected not to reduce the height of the building in any meaningful way (it went from something like 96 feet to something like 94 feet in the latest plans even though several of the zoning commissioners made clear at the Nov 15 meeting that they expected the developers to revise the plans by reducing the height of the building by eliminating a floor or two. 

The hotel project is apparently on the March 22 agenda of DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) for "conceptual review" for possible designation as an historic landmark based on the revised plans by the hotel developer for the building. Go to this website for the agenda for this meeting: 

http://planning.dc.gov/DC/Planning/Historic+Preservation/About+HPO+&+HPRB/Who+We+Are/Historic+Preservation+Review+Board/Agendas+and+Reports/HPRB,+March+22,+2012 

If you cannot attend Wednesday's ANC meeting and would like to convey your concerns to any and all ANC members, here is a link containing their names and contact info: 

http://www.anc1c.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=25&Itemid=62 

Like most community residents, I would like to see the church building preserved and used for new purposes that will enhance the neighborhood. I was initially attracted to the hotel and am not necessarily unalterably opposed to the idea of a hotel (if properly scaled and dimensioned and if more is done to preserve its interior) but believe that perhaps we are missing out on an opportunity to turn the church building into a much more valuable community asset such as a library/community center that would not depend on appending a large-sized hotel to the church.  

Please feel free to contact me if you would like additional information.  

Cynthia M. Pols 

1862 Mintwood Place, NW - # 304 

Washington , DC  20009 

202-328-0654 

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