tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11075666807885639432024-03-20T11:06:54.725-04:00Takoma TalkA virtual meeting place for meaningful discussion by all who call Takoma (DC and MD) home.Tony Camillihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15088299609340862762noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1107566680788563943.post-86449420496750946142017-10-20T12:30:00.000-04:002017-10-20T12:38:25.324-04:00A small business uses its patrons to threaten a Takoma Park development project more than 20 years in the making<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Over the past couple of years, the city’s staff and its chosen developer have endured pushback on this project by a small grocery store and some of its patrons. As Takoma Park now reviews the developer’s initial concept plan, the grocery store has asked its patrons to petition Takoma Park officials yet again in an effort to kill or stall the project.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u>A grocery store with a story</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Back in 1981, the </span><a href="http://www.tpss.coop/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Takoma Park - Silver Spring Cooperative</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> grocery store opened for business. </span><a href="http://takomavoice.com/2016/03/25/tales-of-takoma-the-roots-of-the-tpss-co-op/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to a local historian</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, residents of Takoma Park and Silver Spring founded the Co-op as a vegetarian storefront in a community that shares the values first laid out by the cooperative tradition. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Co-op store today. Image from </span><a href="http://takomavoice.com/2016/03/25/tales-of-takoma-the-roots-of-the-tpss-co-op/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the Takoma Voice</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1998, the Co-op moved into a single-story building in Takoma Park at the confluence of two major roadways that share the road for one block: Carroll Avenue (MD-195) and Ethan Allen Avenue (MD-410). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These roads are both owned and controlled by the </span><a href="http://www.roads.maryland.gov/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maryland State Highway Administration</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and the commercial area around this busy intersection is known as Takoma Junction. The Co-op is located about 7 blocks from the Takoma metrorail station and is serviced by multiple Metrobus and </span><a href="http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/dot-transit/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ride On</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> bus routes in a </span><a href="https://www.walkscore.com/score/201-ethan-allen-ave-takoma-park-md-20912" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">very walkable area</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of Takoma Park.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the uninitiated, a cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In this case, it’s selling groceries and, as of the autumn of 2015 </span><a href="https://takomaparkmd.gov/newsletter/beer-and-wine-sales-increase-local-choices/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">beer and wine</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> too. The Co-op expanded in the autumn of 2001 by opening a second location on Grubb Road in Silver Spring, which </span><a href="https://patch.com/maryland/silverspring/silver-spring-coop-location-closes-nov-1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">closed in November of 2013</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> due to underperformance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to their latest annual report, the Co-op has adopted the values and principles of the International Cooperative Alliance from 1995. It claims that it subscribes to ethical values of “honesty, social responsibility, and caring for others.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While the Co-op sounds like a egalitarian or even aspiring socialist movement, it is in fact a </span><a href="http://www.tpss.coop/PDFs/Governance/articles.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for-profit corporation</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that grossed </span><a href="http://www.tpss.coop/PDFs/TPSS_AnnualReport_2016.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">more than $3 million dollars</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in revenue last year and has over $1.4 million in cash reserves from sales. As an aside, I asked the Co-op’s Board of Directors for a list of all the Co-op’s shareholders and/or members, to which they responded they could not provide it to me “due to privacy and confidentiality issues.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u>Development was planned before the Co-op arrived</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In September of 1995, the City of Takoma Park paid $483,000 for two parcels of land near the Co-op. One of the parcels is a triangularly-shaped wooded area that is residentially zoned and slopes heavily towards Columbia Avenue. The other parcel is a paved parking lot that is commercially zoned and directly adjacent to the west of the Co-op. The development site has been recently expanded to the west by the developer who has a contract to purchase the </span><a href="http://www.takomaautoclinic.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Takoma Auto Clinic</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which is closing. The full development site and its position relative to the Co-op is shown below.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Satellite image of the Takoma Junction site from Google Maps with the development boundary in yellow and the TPSS Co-op’s leased building and parking lot in red.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">For a while now, the Co-op has rented some of the surface parking lot in order to facilitate deliveries that they claim cannot be scheduled and must be done with 18-wheeled trucks. According to one source, the Co-op’s deliveries cannot be fulfilled by these large trucks on their dedicated parking lot east of their store. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In January of 2014, Takoma Park issued a </span><a href="http://hcd-takomapark.s3.amazonaws.com/public/planning/takoma_junction_rfp_2014.01.22.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Request for Proposals</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to redevelop the surface parking lot in accordance with many recommendations made by the citizen-led </span><a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/bcc-takomapark/takoma-junction-task-force/takoma-junction-task-force-report-02-2012.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Takoma Junction task force</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to the RFP, Takoma Park acquired these parcels of land “for purposes of stabilizing this small but important historic neighborhood commercial district and facilitating the redevelopment of the area in furtherance of the City’s master plan.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The RFP’s guidance to developers encouraged them to create proposals that will “act as a stimulus to the commercial district and locally-owned, independent businesses; improve the aesthetic appeal of the district; and be contextually sensitive and environmentally sustainable.” </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Co-op’s </span><a href="http://www.tpss.coop/PDFs/Announcements/BoardHandout_2014-09-08.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">own market research</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> showed there is demand for their expansion. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite not having any experience in development, the Co-op responded to the RFP with their own proposal to double their store size and offered Takoma Park $0 for the purchase of the Junction site. Not surprisingly, in September of 2014, when Takoma Park </span><a href="https://hcd-takomapark.s3.amazonaws.com/public/planning/2014-09-05-redevelopment-at-the-takoma-junction.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">selected four finalists</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the Co-op was not among them. In April of 2015, Takoma Park selected </span><a href="https://www.neighborhooddevelopment.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Neighborhood Development Company</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to redevelop the Junction site. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u>The Co-op strikes back</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Notwithstanding being passed over to develop the Junction site, the Co-op managed to marshall its most vocal patrons to lobby Takoma Park’s elected leaders to protect its business from the “encroaching” development. Passionate local residents and other patrons showed up in droves at many city council meetings and spoke about the Co-op’s special status and how it is part of the very fabric of Takoma Park. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And it worked. Takoma Park’s elected officials were swayed to intervene on behalf of the Co-op. After selecting NDC to redevelop the Junction site, Takoma Park crafted a </span><a href="https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/initiatives/project-directory/Takoma-Junction/DA-forWebsite.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">development agreement</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that required NDC to negotiate in good-faith with the Co-op to expand its existing store somehow as part of the development and provide the Co-op with reasonable accommodation of certain parking and/or access areas located at the Junction site.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even more significant, Takoma Park officials included a clause in the development agreement that prevents NDC from leasing any of the future Takoma Junction space to “another food co-operative (meaning a food distribution outlet organized as a co-operative) or grocery store (meaning a retail grocer or supermarket selling a large variety of food and household items).” This amounts to providing the Co-op with a government-sponsored monopoly at the Takoma Junction as there is no other commercial space large enough to accommodate a grocery store.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Over the course of many months NDC and the Co-op </span><a href="http://www.tpss.coop/Expansion_CityUpdates.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tried </span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to negotiate a Letter of Intent over the Co-op’s expansion into the new development. The Co-op publicly stated that they wanted to expand their store, but they signed a 20-year lease in 2015 for their current building that not only needs major upgrades but does not provide any expansion opportunities. Of note, the City of Takoma Park is retaining ownership of the Junction site and is providing NDC with a 99-year ground lease.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even with Takoma Park officials providing the Co-op </span><a href="https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/resolutions/2016/resolution-2016-46.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with additional time</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to get a LOI in place, NDC and the Co-op could not come to an agreement. The major sticking point appears to be that the Co-op’s rent in their current building ($28 per square foot) is much lower than what NDC is asking ($45 per square foot) if the Co-op wants to expand into newly-built commercial space at the Junction site. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s noteworthy here is that the Co-op itself identified the desirability of moving into a new building </span><a href="http://www.tpss.coop/PDFs/Official_Statement.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">back in 2011</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Using the data from the </span><a href="http://www.mainstreettakoma.org/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Old Takoma Business Association’s</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> recent area rent analysis, it appears that the Co-op’s current rent is the lowest in the Junction area and NDC’s proposed rent is within the normal range for new construction.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In addition to their demand for a custom-built, new construction addition tied into its existing building at (or near their) below-market rent, the Co-op included other questionable demands from NDC, such as exclusive, non-compete agreements within 50 feet of the Co-op for coffee shops, wine/liquor stores, and, oddly, educational facilities. As stated in a </span><a href="https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/initiatives/project-directory/Takoma-Junction/20170508-Ltr-NDC-to-TPSS.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">letter from NDC </span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to the Co-op, “these exclusions would materially increase the value of [the Co-op] while lowering the value of the rest of the project.” Unsurprisingly, the parties were unable to come to terms. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u>Stall, delay and make it go away</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the failed LOI negotiations between NDC and the Co-op, Takoma Park passed a resolution that permitted NDC to secure a new anchor tenant, so long as it is not another food cooperative or grocery store that would compete with the Co-op. NDC was also cleared to begin its required community outreach with the </span><a href="https://takomaparkmd.gov/government/boards-commissions-and-committees/takoma-junction-community-consultation-process-advisory-committee/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">assistance of a citizen advisory committee</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. NDC held four community meetings and conducted two surveys to gather input. Disclosure: I served on this committee.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After almost four years since Takoma Park issued its initial RFP for the Junction site, many local residents have attended numerous public meetings, listened to countless hours of testimony and read hundreds of neighborhood emails from Co-op patrons and advocates that have tried to derail this project. Thanks to an intrepid group of neighbors that want to </span><a href="https://takomajunction.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">revitalize the Junction</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Takoma Park officials have stayed the course in a deliberate, but cautious manner.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s just plain maddening is that it has taken Takoma Park so long to get to this point, and even though </span><a href="https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/initiatives/project-directory/Takoma-Junction/Takoma%20Junction%20-%20Schedule%20Update%20to%20City%20-%206.15.17.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the timeline</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> shows the groundbreaking in May of 2019, city officials said it is likely to be pushed back again! For perspective, the Empire State building was </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_State_Building" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">built in just over a year</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If the Co-op gets its way, this timeline will almost certainly be extended again. All this effort for a grocery store that </span><a href="https://takomaparktundra.wordpress.com/2017/05/20/tpss-co-op-a-beacon-of-lies/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">some people have observed</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is very expensive and does not serve the middle or lower socioeconomic classes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In late September 2017, NDC, partnering with </span><a href="https://www.streetsense.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Streetsense</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, finally presented its </span><a href="https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2017/ndc-streetsense-presentation-2017-09-27.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">concept plan</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for the Junction site. The concept is a mixed-use development that provides 72 underground parking spaces, along with three levels of retail, office and community space as shown in the concept drawing below. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whatever one’s view is of the design, NDC’s concept is transformative and could turn an otherwise neglected commercial district into another </span><a href="https://ggwash.org/view/987/a-new-third-place-enhances-a-walkable-space" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">third-place</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for the Takoma Park community (with Old Town and the Takoma/Langley Crossroads being others). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But now that NDC has presented its concept plan, the Co-op has doubled-down on their “special status” and encouraged more anti-development rhetoric. You can read their latest rally cry to their 9,000+ members </span><a href="http://www.tpss.coop/Expansion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Below I will address the Co-op's points against NDC's concept plan.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus">Festivus </a>(i.e. airing of the Co-op’s grievances)</u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have reviewed NDC’s concept plan as presented to the Council on September 27, and we believe it could seriously harm the operation of our 36-year-old food market. … As submitted, your Co-op leadership believes the development gambles with the future of the Co-op and is a danger to the safety and character of our neighborhood in Central Takoma Park.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Co-op first claims that NDC’s concept plan threatens its survival, despite the fact that Takoma Park officials gave the Co-op a 99-year monopoly to sell groceries at the Junction site. What other local businesses may be wondering is if Takoma Park officials are also going to provide them similar protections against competition? Without this protection, NDC could very likely convince one of the Co-op’s competitors (e.g. </span><a href="http://www.yesorganicmarket.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes! Organic</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://momsorganicmarket.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mom’s Organic Market</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) to become the anchor tenant at the Junction site. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some people say that it’s ok for Takoma Park to provide this protection to the Co-op from competition because it’s a local business that provides jobs, but the data shows that </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoma_Park,_Maryland#Economy" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Republic restaurant and a few other</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> local businesses employ more people than the Co-op. I think the Co-op should be humbly grateful that it’s been provided with this tremendous gift at taxpayer expense - but instead it has the audacity to ask for even more special treatment. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In addition, by arguing that NDC’s concept plan development is a danger to the “safety and character” of the neighborhood, the Co-op has aligned itself with anti-development opponents, who are </span><a href="https://ggwash.org/view/42844/its-time-to-build-housing-at-the-takoma-metro-station" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">alive and well in Takoma Park</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It’s ironic for sure, but not unprecedented, to see a private, for-profit business use this strategy. Let’s hope that Takoma Park officials recognize this statement for what it is - a </span><a href="https://ggwash.org/view/699/a-field-guide-to-nimbyism" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">typical NIMBY argument</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; white-space: pre-wrap;">The latest design by NDC is too large for the available space. Although earlier discussions centered on an environmentally friendly, low-density building with green space, the new version is not that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I find it odd that the Co-op is making judgments about the concept plan after it chose not to be part of the development, but I’ll analyze this assertion nonetheless. It’s true that NDC’s prior rendering was slightly smaller than their proposed concept, but that concept isn’t all that different as shown below. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">What the Co-op also fails to mention is that the prior concept was based on NDC’s offer to build the Co-op an entirely new, larger space and to either acquire or have the Co-op sublease their current building. In other words, the Co-op is comparing “organic” apples and “conventional” oranges here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="199" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Q1YIqKcrVKt7UVcpoyD1lKpyM7hrpsepW6J5AX9yE4uQX8V2WT0D22p0Gqyg0ghO93xGBmzhirK8BYlgFj0nGAOp5HXUqDorQBn_6fF7DJuvRoFTaawrWa7Khcxdsaa3mO3VNKYP" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="400" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Previous rendering of Junction development site. Image from NDC.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As explained in </span><a href="https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/initiatives/project-directory/Takoma-Junction/HCD-20171010-takoma-junction-concept-plan-qa-sheet.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Takoma Park’s FAQ handout</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on the Junction site, NDC’s concept plan is only 3,000 square feet or 6.4% larger; moreover, let’s not forget that NDC’s current concept is … well … a concept. Anyone who works in development knows that concepts are often changed at least a few times before shovels start digging. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Takoma Park officials have already indicated that they will likely ask NDC to refine their concept, but instead of being patient and letting city officials do their job the Co-op sent alarmist signals to its members and they came out swinging.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In addition, according to OTBA’s recent market analysis, gross demand for commercial space on its main street corridor in 2017 is 195,000 square feet and there is it currently 115,000 available square feet. By 2022, OTBA predicts that total gross demand for commercial space on its main street corridor is estimated to be 211,000 square feet. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the question of massing, a 3-story building is hardly a high-density one for a development less than a mile from a Metrorail station and arguments against it sound more like a </span><a href="https://ggwash.org/view/38823/neighborhood-commission-catches-height-itis-on-a-dupont-circle-church-and-condo-project" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">case of “height-itis</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” Plus NDC’s proposed concept provides a rooftop community green space that is set back from the second story.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">NDC's concept is not out of scale with the neighborhood</span>, as the </span><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9779314,-77.0075066,3a,75y,141h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sh8zp8DHD_N6JAznka1hf3g!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dh8zp8DHD_N6JAznka1hf3g%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dsearch.TACTILE.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D96%26h%3D64%26yaw%3D141.7418%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nearby fire station</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9759476,-77.0113273,3a,75y,175.39h,93.12t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s3y7V7rAzJgcs2RhwLuq70g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">apartment buildings</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and </span><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9764046,-77.0086371,3a,75y,119.47h,90.31t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sin5mhMWijltCP2a1T3qrlA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">many houses</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in Takoma Park are also 3-stories. Let’s hope that Takoma Park officials are open-minded and creative about a third-floor and do not fall victim to the narrow viewpoints of a small, vocal minority.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; white-space: pre-wrap;">The latest proposal does not leave adequate room for the big-truck deliveries that are necessary each morning to supply our grocery store (and future tenants) and keep it operating, nor for proper handling of our (and future tenants’) waste and recycling. Pushing these trucks into the street to wait their turn at a cramped loading facility will impinge on our business and upon residential neighbors and create traffic bottlenecks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To me this is what the Co-op is fighting most. The Co-op has had the luxury of using the adjacent parking lot for their deliveries since 1998. The Co-op claims that it is not a normal grocery store in that it cannot control the arrival and/or size of their delivery trucks and that most of its deliveries is with 18-wheelers. The Co-op currently rents much of the surface parking lot so that these 18-wheelers can drive head-first into the parking lot and do a U-turn to facilitate deliveries, which </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYYskkTBjQE" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">takes up a lot of space</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. This ties into their next concern.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; white-space: pre-wrap;">NDC’s proposed lay-by on Carroll Avenue is a serious safety concern, situated adjacent to pedestrian and biking lanes, a bus stop, emergency lanes for fire trucks and trash pickup, and near cross walks at an already too-busy intersection.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since the Co-op has decided against expanding into the Junction site, NDC’s development agreement with Takoma Park only requires that it “provide reasonable accommodation to the Co-op’s operation of its business in the Co-op Existing Premises, which accommodation shall include access for loading of deliveries and Co-op customer parking, provided the Co-op is operating in the Co-op Existing Premises.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lay-bys are a fairly common urban development tool used in many cities to provide parking space for buses and other large delivery vehicles. Below is a sketch from NDC that shows how the lay-by will look in context to the Junction site.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sketch of ground floor plan for Junction site showing the “lay-by”. Image from NDC.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will agree that the lay-by concept is less than ideal. NDC’s current concept shows restaurants and cafes along Carroll Avenue and -- while most of the Co-op deliveries are in the early dawn hours -- nobody wants to be sitting outside for dinner or having a drink with friends when a loud 18-wheeled truck shows up and has to unload boxes of produce for 1-2 hours. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As an aside, I think any restaurants on Carroll Avenue should be located closer to the ramp in NDC’s concept and away from the lay-by, or why not move all dining </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">al fresco </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on the 2nd or 3rd floors away from the noise and smell of car exhaust?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">My own reading of the development agreement makes me believe that NDC doesn’t even have to provide the Co-op with the lay-by and could instead require the Co-op to figure out deliveries on its own parking lot or any of the three sides of its building over which it exercises control.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Co-op doesn’t consider that while the lay-by concept is being done for their benefit it’s an eyesore and traffic headache being done solely for their business operation. It’s reprehensible that the Co-op is playing the “safety” card in an effort to convince its members to lobby Takoma Park officials on its behalf - and it’s another example of their </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">rent-seeking behavior</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is too little parking planned for the site – forcing our customers and those of businesses at the new building to look for parking in adjacent residential and business areas. Frankly, we fear that many of our customers will give up on parking and go elsewhere to shop. The proposed 72 spaces are simply not enough.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to the original RFP, the current surface parking lot has 56 spaces, of which the Co-op currently rents 16 spaces. I also count 16 spaces on the Co-op’s own parking lot to the east of their building. NDC’s concept plan replaces the current 56 parking spaces with 72 underground ones, and despite no expansion plans the Co-op has requested to reserve 25 of these parking spots (for an increase of 9 spaces). NDC's concept adds 14,600 square feet of retail space, 19,800 square feet of office space, and 9,500 square feet of community/event space on the third floor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The task force report and the RFP make it clear that Takoma Park wants the Junction site to be a neighborhood gathering space that provides people with options as to how they arrive at the Junction site (i.e. walk, bike or drive). It’s the same reason that Takoma Park located a </span><a href="https://www.capitalbikeshare.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Capital Bikeshare</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> station at the Junction (despite being a terrifying place to ride on the road - something this project could rectify by simply removing one driving lane and replacing it with bike lanes).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s true that some patrons will avoid shopping at the Co-op if it’s hard to find parking, but the Co-op is a niche grocery store with less than 5,500 square feet and therefore already not competing with normal grocery stores that lure shoppers with the promise of easy, free parking. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As for traffic, a study will help figure out how much more traffic will result although many experts find </span><a href="http://freakonomics.com/podcast/new-freakonomics-radio-podcast-the-folly-of-prediction/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">predictions to be dubious </span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">at best. And so what if a traffic study does predict an increase. As noted by former Montgomery County planning director </span><a href="https://ggwash.org/view/5449/the-quotable-rollin-stanley" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rollin Stanley</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, “the best places to visit have the worst traffic.” </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u>Ask Takoma Park to move forward</u></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Takoma Park made the decision to develop the Junction site, the Co-op claimed that it wanted to expand and be a part of the project. When the Co-op wasn’t chosen to develop the site it claimed it still wanted to expand, but it was unwilling to either break its current lease and move into the new development or pay a higher rent to connect its current building with the new development. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now that the Co-op is stuck in its current building with no plans to expand, it is relying once again on its special status and using its weight in the community to convince Takoma Park officials to delay and/or cancel the Takoma Junction project altogether. To me, this does not sound like an organization that values “honesty, social responsibility, and caring for others.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">If elected officials decide to delay or cancel the Junction site it may cause a ripple effect on any future developer to pause when considering to pursue development in Takoma Park, especially in the Takoma/Langley “Crossroads” of New Hampshire Avenue and University Boulevard, a less-affluent part of Takoma Park.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">NDC’s concept plan isn’t perfect, but it’s a transformative vision that represents the real compromises that Takoma Park officials made when they chose to protect the Co-op’s business needs. The sad irony here is that a larger, more robust development will benefit the Co-op’s business by bringing more foot-traffic to its doors and the Co-op has instead chosen to see the glass as “half-empty.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On October 25th, Takoma Park’s officials will be voting on NDC’s concept plan. If you want them to see the glass as “half-full” and move forward with the Junction site, you can tell them to vote “Yes” by </span><a href="mailto:clerk@takomaparkmd.gov" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">clicking here</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span>Tony Camillihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15088299609340862762noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1107566680788563943.post-39974038227501221102017-09-08T09:39:00.000-04:002017-09-08T11:06:51.151-04:00Extension of the Met Branch Trail to Maryland once again highlights the challenge of change in Washington<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ward 4 residents and bicycle riders of all stripes have been waiting for the </span><a href="https://ddot.dc.gov/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">District Department of Transportation</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (DDOT) to complete a missing segment the </span><a href="http://metbranchtrail.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Metropolitan Branch Trail</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> between Fort Totten and Eastern Avenue for more than two decades. But some residents aren’t happy with proposed designs to make the trail a wide sidewalk in some places, and an on-street route in others.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="446" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/U66Du18_9kVIwiOU9j6WLtyo7AVKlfvXzvsnR_cs1UJcD4sFPptMGEMJcjm0MuQEcrJ_FeRk86SDB6ZJ1Vzm0m10S9triQseWQZmQtBpdcjKALipaNIKHpjAFLCWuxwpsA4EiiUC" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="336" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Overview of DDOT’s plan to extend the MBT to Maryland</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">At a recent meeting, DDOT planners discussed plans for two segments of the Metropolitan Branch Trail, between Riggs Road and Blair Road, and between Kansas Avenue and Sandy Spring Road.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u>Riggs Road to Blair Road</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">DDOT’s proposed route for this segment of the MBT is a real compromise. Here, the trail will consist of sharrows and speed humps for the trail on 1st Street, and a full traffic signal at the intersection of Riggs Road and 1st Street, NE. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The trail would turn from 1st Street onto South Dakota Avenue, where a new traffic signal would also be added at the intersection of South Dakota Avenue, New Hampshire Avenue and McDonald Place NE, along with enlarged curb bump-outs to increase safety and decrease speeding. The trail then takes a left turn onto McDonald Place, where DDOT is proposing to add a contraflow bike lane heading west that is opposite sharrows heading east. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="243" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/9JGTointLuFpqXQpVEOMlJq0yuhVnZdycQtj7hMIqWJ740pMHvnx7IGHXB9mtFsd_PnKl9e28cpdA0oxFgiQZTU6pPtumpjQWbPS-snpqtDghl_bcBBrrjuKCza0wuug4tQdjUG1" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="400" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DDOT map showing improvements to intersection of SD Ave, NH Ave, and McDonald Pl, NE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some local residents spoke out against the trail alignment on 1st Street. A woman representing the </span><a href="http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/South_Manor_Neighborhood_Association" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">South Manor Park Neighborhood Association</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> argued that 1st Street is too narrow to “bring all these bikes there” and that parking is also very difficult. She also alleged that the adjacent </span><a href="http://dcbilingual.org/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DC Bilingual Public Charter School </span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">creates additional problems as it generates lots of car traffic and walking kids such that placing the trail here would increase conflicts and could be dangerous. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bike advocates, including leadership from the </span><a href="http://www.waba.org/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Washington Area Bicyclists Association</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, pointed out that bicyclists can already use these streets without sharrows, and that DDOT’s proposal is reasonable because it does not take any parking spaces or other public space for the benefit of the trail. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DDOT officials say that they couldn’t get approval from the </span><a href="http://www.nps.gov/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">National Park Service</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to build the trail on land it owns between the railroad tracks and 1st Street NE, which is why they propose routing it on the street. Both bike advocates and trail opponents agree that DDOT should work with NPS to get approval to align the trail on their land, but put the trail on the street in the meantime.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="nps map.png" height="386" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/58cOjDkpGFw8nSGliEvwUfWhekRqlp0Z25V4c8EgmoCTUKACLgs4G97r6N7Dmk-qYwqLTMdFWsUXQ-XGNY9aYX5W-IDU8ux3iBxYProI9P78z-9ciUJzvIUu16Q7-kGHPJZdp3Im" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="448" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DDOT map of MBT showing proposed alignment in red and possible realignment on NPS land in blue. The dotted green line will be discussed in the next segment.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u>Kansas Avenue to Sandy Spring Road</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The other segment of contention was regarding DDOT’s proposal to build the trail as a shared use path along Blair Road between McDonald Place and Rittenhouse Street, essentially replacing the sidewalk on the eastern side of Blair Road. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, this layout simply preserves space for cars at the expense of making the trail worse. For example, when the trail transitions from McDonald Place to Blair Road, Blair Road has four lanes, but one of the southbound lanes is also available for parking except during peak commuting hours (7:00-9:30 am and 4:00-6:30 pm).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Both of Blair Road’s northbound lanes are open to traffic all of the time with no parking allowed. One of the northbound lanes could have been turned into a protected bike lane while leaving the same amount of space for cars as in the southbound direction.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instead of creating a protected trail similar to the MBT further south that bicyclists can safely use for commuting, this design puts cyclists at risk of getting “doored,” colliding with people using the nearby community garden, or shopping at the dozen different businesses that line this section of Blair Road. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="blair to ritten.png" height="383" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/BUhlrSalXXfoDD_U3c12xrBf_1OJacsZ-j5I4n_-_LLnVfHBLZyuWaFbzeUMDX1OAosbdEjs9qlgA4lzsNsgnZtivhCp6XfeoKNvpdNeUAZ8xr6DAe6tcvu0vYCqGh12oZKCl_rQ" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="563" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DDOT street layout on Blair Road with a rendering of the future shared trail</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In fact, DDOT is already proposing an on-street trail along Blair Road further north, reducing Blair Road’s northbound lanes from two to one. At the meeting, DDOT planners shared that its traffic forecast estimates for removing one northbound lane on Blair Road will add 0.9 minutes of additional travel time during the peak PM travel period. One can imagine that removing the second northbound lane on Blair Road beginning at McDonald Place would not add more than 1 or 2 minutes at peak times for car trips, yet provide immense safety benefits for cyclists and pedestrians in this area.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">DDOT’s current plan has the trail turning right onto Aspen Street before going north on Sandy Spring Road, which some residents say will add to traffic congestion. ANC subcommittee head Faith Wheeler said Aspen Street is already busy and about to get busier with all of the construction that is underway on the former Walter Reed site. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">She and some residents implored DDOT to consider putting the trail on Van Buren Street, but DDOT noted that Sandy Spring Road is too narrow there for the trail to fit. Bicycling advocates countered that putting the trail closer to the new development at Walter Reed will encourage new residents to bike rather than take more trips by car. Building more bike infrastructure in order to relieve car congestion is a paradigm that seems to get lost in the discussion sometimes and this meeting was a good example of that problem.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A new MBT trail idea</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At least one ANC Commissioner has her own concept for the MBT that could bring trail users closer to the Takoma Community Center, which has a pool, playgrounds, and a spray park. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ANC4B Commissioner Tanya Topolewski, asked DDOT to explore whether the trail could or should be realigned along North Dakota Avenue and 3rd Street NW..</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">DDOT’s analysis says that North Dakota Avenue is too narrow for an on-street, protected trail, and would increase the number of intersection crossings (i.e. conflict points) from 3 to 10. But her innovation was acknowledged, and bike advocates asked DDOT to analyze building a MBT spur that would connect the MBT to Takoma’s amenities, but only after the MBT is actually built. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Commissioner Topolewski went so far to suggest a catchy name: the “Rec Loop.” DDOT would not comment on the feasibility of building the Rec Loop, but, given how long it’s taking to extend the MBT to Maryland, I wouldn’t place any bets it will be done before 2037.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ANC4B will be voting very soon to write a resolution in support or in opposition to the MBT alignment proposed by DDOT. </span><a href="http://anc4b.info/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Click here</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to contact ANC4B and register your support.</span>Tony Camillihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15088299609340862762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1107566680788563943.post-10689980293192841692016-10-26T14:06:00.000-04:002016-12-13T10:13:29.186-05:00Lots of people want a dog park at the Takoma recreation center, but since a few don't, it isn’t happening<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In December 2015, dog owners across Ward 4 submitted the largest petition ever to build a dog park in DC. But a small group of neighbors put up a big fight, and last week the Department of Parks and Recreation (</span><a href="http://dpr.dc.gov/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DPR</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) made it official: no dog park. Here’s what happened. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="265" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/GDrbaLG-_gT70o1Lvueg6f5eS_XlNXjyIn2fzAQWVtZJN9d0o4xRnNCEm4nMaFiT0Zk7-KsodgJ_oF2_knycSDZHT1RRY88BwN_PO1PXxQlEa-RbmP0utmpuLjdMOvCh9hiBZLYx" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="400" /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Image from New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.</span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In late 2014, a group of dog owners that live around the Takoma Recreation Center started meeting regularly to let their dogs play together in one of the fields. </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It turns out the closest canine closure was at </span><a href="https://goo.gl/maps/4WorxYaukvP2" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Upshur Park</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which is the only dog park in Ward 4, and is about 2.5 miles away from the rec center. With the goal of getting a dog park built closer to them, the neighbors organized into the </span><a href="http://northernward4dogpark.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Northern Ward 4 Dog Park Group</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The full list of DC’s 13 dog parks can be found </span><a href="http://dpr.dc.gov/page/dog-parks" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How DPR decides whether to build a dog park</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The application to build a dog park in DC is a gauntlet of work. It requires the applicant to gather lots of signatures of support from their neighbors; it requires a letter of support from the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC); it also requires applications be posted in </span><a href="http://www.dcregs.dc.gov/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DC Register</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for a 30-day public comment period.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the public comment period, a Dog Park Application Review Committee reviews the entire application and provides the DPR Director a recommendation, but DPR’s regulations give the DPR Director the sole authority to decide whether to approve or reject applications.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The criteria for making that ultimate decision? The </span><a href="http://www.dcregs.dc.gov/Gateway/RuleHome.aspx?RuleNumber=19-730" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">preamble</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for DPR’s regulations on dog parks states that flexibility is required when making decisions about where to put them because DC is dense and parkland is scarce. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DPR’s regulations also state that dog parks should be placed on under-utilized land where possible, but not in areas specifically designated as playgrounds or children’s play areas, including athletic fields and courts.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Neighbors found all kinds of options for a dog park, but they keep getting shot down </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In early 2015, the Dog Park Group started talking to DPR and neighbors of the rec center about possible locations for a dog park. If you look at the map below, you’ll see the corner of 4th and Whittier Streets, NW marked as Site #1, as that’s where the Dog Park Group initially proposed that the park be located.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="226" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p_VYHijkWvnbvZ5WzOxiJfe8uHVzEOcMIN5kXzeOAn987Rh5xEPvQQxueN1WzKRgIEF4IZ5C5KWzyPxn_y4OgnlhBBgnjFLokKjzCHFTqhW78P6hg_6qyShfbmQKMXBHBUVEjmow" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="400" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Satellite view of the proposed sites for a dog park at the Takoma Recreation Center. On this map, north is to the right. Image from Google Maps.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All that sits at that site is an abandoned shuffleboard court and some trees. Across the street, there are a few single-family homes.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="304" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/aed6eemQko_N1tjE_eDOj-gKzFYzEZ0QG-WNMe2CbSU4Hz4hlaEg5X3BVTLby8N6UrkTrMhTCZ5PaTfED5nqtz_zbXZ1jOhlGMcA9wHwiwKfUjCRtujXABRLGujAG2JBW3AuCwLh" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="400" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Close-up of the Dog Park Group’s first proposed site. Image from Google Maps.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I interviewed Michael Cohen, a representative from the Dog Park Group, and he said DPR initially agreed to this site. But, he added, after they gathered almost 300 signatures for their petition, a DPR official told him that a few neighbors that lived across the street objected to the proposed site because it was too close to their homes and DPR advised picking another site. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I asked DPR about this claim, and Communications Director Gwendolyn Crump told me the first site was rejected by the </span><a href="http://doee.dc.gov/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Department of Energy and Environment</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> due to concerns about stormwater runoff.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cohen told me his group worked with members of the ANC covering the rec center, </span><a href="http://anc4b.info/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ANC 4B</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, to find a better site. As shown in the map below, the second site was not adjacent to any streets or housing, instead bordering the Takoma indoor pool and was just north of Coolidge High School.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/u-AU2XRlVhFpjXqSdIBpYmEEx5-yf-Z2J7B0PVbPXcXEwVDBr4QRX40CBadFuarILwctKMsveyVujVuuK4eWz6K7FcnsBl3O-3aP3BHe2lGkzQYJCGUwcedd1uUw3xqCUaUTM3eU" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="433" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Close-up of the Dog Park Group’s second proposed site. Image from Google Maps.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cohen told me DPR again initially supported the site location, so the group again began conducting outreach and collecting signatures. But, again, prior to making a formal application to DPR, he claims that DPR told them that the principal for Coolidge High School objected to the location. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also asked Crump about this, and she said that a nearby church objected to the site over noise concerns.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cohen said the Dog Park Group was disappointed but again worked with ANC 4B to find another alternative site. As shown on the map below, the third chosen site was near the intersection of Underwood and 3rd Streets NW, wedged between a baseball/soccer field and a parking lot. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="314" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/DYZ0hqTl9YuY55kUNRC9t6Ob032fwzrWy6T2pzk90RqOlZlbHxWn34MpZsMuNJqjqUyhIxLH4R8lx6QQOa47jkdYt0-ceu3oaUX7MRsnTHXsqDyLvP-fVPNG2mEZVKShjDXdiDQn" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="397" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Close-up of the Dog Park Group’s third proposed site. Image from Google Maps.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Again, DPR initially supported this location for a dog park, so the Dog Park Group began to conduct outreach to their neighbors. The group collected 563 signatures in favor of building at this site -- the largest dog park petition ever recorded by DPR. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The people petitioning for a dog park made a strong case for one</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The group’s December 2015 </span><a href="http://dpr.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dpr/publication/attachments/Dog%20Park%20Application%2012.10.2015.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">application</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> made a pretty clear case for why northern Ward 4 should have a dog park. The zip code of the Takoma Rec Center, 20011, has the second-highest number of registered dogs in DC; DPR’s own master plan, </span><a href="http://dpr.dc.gov/publication/play-dc-master-plan-vision-framework" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Play DC</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, designated a future dog park around the rec center; and finally, the rec center has more than six acres of unutilized land.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also in December 2015, the group managed to secure a </span><a href="http://media.wix.com/ugd/44a3e8_14dc5dcc39c04d449e13eb91be6e531f.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">written endorsement</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of support from ANC 4B. As required, the application was published in the DC register from February 26 - May 1, 2016 (even though DPR’s regulations only require 30-days of public comment). </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DPR was not required but held community meetings in July and October of 2015 and March and April of 2016. The Dog Park Group is opposed primarily by</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> a small, opaque organization known as the “Friends of the Takoma Recreation Center”. That group is one of many community advisory groups created under Mayor Anthony Williams to help DPR manage its facilities.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Dog Park Group made repeated attempts to work with the Friends of the Rec Center toward a compromise. I attended a public Friends meeting in March of this year to observe the discussion and wrote about it on </span><a href="http://takomatalk.blogspot.com/2016/03/dog-owners-want-dog-park-at-takoma.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">my blog</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but here’s what they </span><a href="http://media.wix.com/ugd/44a3e8_fc2b438e93634feda134a0f06820a6e4.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">put in writing</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to the Dog Park Group as their bottom line: “Our mission is to support a clean, safe and fun environment at our park. The Friends' focus is and has always been programs and activities for children. We hope you find a community that is interested in supporting your cause.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite opposition, on September 12, 2016, the Dog Park Application Review Committee voted 5-3 in favor of the third chosen site.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="383" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/F5peBPLYTMEAK3nVfnQzxtsHRW84Rn9iKruRLODkXrjUTzs7aoXpkMCA4awlyVx6hNxAQ8p2XTBHKs9JhwHm3blirqImj_A34Sihxqle8QfnP2KLhOwZO3Aj4ZBE9eObXezr29xL" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="400" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Map showing some of the addresses of the Petitioners seeking a Dog Park at the Takoma Rec Center. Image from Google Maps.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This month, the dog park effort received a formal “no”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On October 16, 2016, DPR Director </span><a href="http://dpr.dc.gov/biography/keith-anderson" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Keith Anderson</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/327800506/Takoma-Dog-Park-Application-DPR-Response-2016-10-14" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">formally denied</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the Dog Park Group’s application. Mr. Anderson noted that he considered the application, community meetings, the public comments and various letters and emails in support and opposition. Despite a positive endorsement from the DPARC, Mr. Anderson’s denial rested on three reasons: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(i) Its too-close proximity to nearby residences' front porches; </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(ii) Its failure to streamline with the existing use of the open space where adults and children play, walk, and rest; and </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(iii) Its location between two heavily used athletic fields.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mr. Anderson ended his denial letter with the following statement: </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Please note, however, this does not foreclose the possibility of a dog park being located in an alternative site within the community. DPR is committed to collaborating with the community to ensure the needs of dog enthusiasts are met.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dog owners need a place to let their dogs play</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have reviewed Mr. Anderson’s stated reasons for denying the Dog Park Group’s application and find them to be curious when you consider that DC’s other dog parks are mostly on DPR parks and adjacent to housing and athletic fields. The larger issue, however, is that DPR completely ignored the preamble to its own regulations, which requires flexibility and compromise. Playgrounds can and already do co-exist for both kids and dogs.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to some </span><a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-12-07/dog-parks/51715340/1" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">reports</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, there are now more households with dogs (43 million) than with kids (38 million), and urban dog parks are the fastest growing. That’s because urban dog owners usually lack the outside space needed to let their dogs exercise and play with other canines. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="dogs playing.jpg" height="242" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/EPJp8BefHLui3iVYa0mLzzfb287m5zN1v7F_hp654qDIt6JTjSxPwfVzrBhZO6Hu_JYAZPTV2dupDCsJW1y6Gj1eLB6OJ7YMw7cIGfMc3vqGdxfu4HPdj6d7XHz96ZyyXlnMIjXu" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="400" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Image from Pinterest.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Dog Park Group proposed using unutilized land at the Takoma Rec Center to let their dogs exercise and socialize. They followed all of DPR’s rules, made multiple attempts to find a site that DPR would support, conducted extensive outreach with the opposition group and received a positive recommendation from the review committee. What more could they have done?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where do we go from here?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I contacted Keith Anderson and posed a few questions to better understand his denial letter. DPR’s communications director politely responded to some of my questions, although I was told to submit a Freedom Of Information Act request to answer others. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My final question to DPR was "is Director Anderson willing to reconsider his decision?" DPR responded basically no, but that they have </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">already contacted Mr. Cohen and plan to collaborate “to find an area within Takoma that is best situated to handle a dog park while not impacting use of the park by those without dogs.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I confirmed that DPR did indeed contact Cohen to discuss an alternative site. But the entire experience is ponderous - why is building this dog park on unused land so controversial? Could the Dog Park Group have done more to alleviate concerns by the Friends group? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you think DPR’s director should support the Dog Park Group application, you can let him know by sending an e-mail to </span><a href="mailto:keith.anderson@dc.gov" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">keith.anderson@dc.gov</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and copy Mr. Cohen (</span><a href="mailto:michaelcohen5@gmail.com" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">michaelcohen5@gmail.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). If you live in Ward 4, please copy your e-mail to Councilmember Brandon Todd at </span><a href="mailto:btodd@dccouncil.us" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">btodd@dccouncil.us</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (I contacted Brandon Todd to get a comment for this post and he did not respond).</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Full Disclosure: The author lives in Maryland and has no “dog” in this fight, but has a dog that loves to play with other dogs.</span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-b8e91b69-0221-073d-fc70-cfd33e81c0c9"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cross-posted at <a href="http://ggwash.org/view/43320/a-record-number-of-people-petitioned-for-a-dog-park-at-the-takoma-rec-center-but-its-still-not-happening">Greater Greater Washington</a></span></div>
Tony Camillihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15088299609340862762noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1107566680788563943.post-77643786104214905252016-09-13T15:48:00.000-04:002016-09-13T15:48:03.659-04:00It's time to build housing at the Takoma Metro station<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Metro has been trying for over a decade to spur development around the Takoma station in DC, but in the past, opposing neighbors and their elected officials have created years of delay. The project is ready to move forward again, and hopefully, the cycle won’t repeat itself this time. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Existing conditions at the Takoma Metro station. Image from Google Earth.</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u>What’s the problem?</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Since before the turn of the millennium, <a href="https://www.wmata.com/about_metro/board_of_directors/board_docs/071113_Takoma71113.pdf">Metro has planned</a> to redevelop an underused parking lot next to the Takoma station, where parking usage is less than 50% most days. Housing developments on top of or adjacent to Metro stations is <a href="http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/23333/otherwise-progressive-maryland-elected-officials-choose-obstruction-at-the-takoma-metro/">hardly controversial</a>; it's a logical idea and part of <a href="http://www.wmata.com/business/joint_development_opportunities/about.cfm">Metro's development policy</a> to promote them at or near Metro stations in order to make it easy for residents to get around.<br /><br />In 2000, Metro selected <a href="http://www.eya.com/DC/">EYA</a> to develop the Takoma station’s parking lot, and the first plan developed in 2006 called for the construction of 90 townhouses. Some local neighbors in Takoma, DC, as well as elected representatives of Takoma Park, MD, <a href="http://ww2.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2000/200031/wheaton/news/20948-1.html">opposed the first plan</a>, with groups like <a href="http://www.historictakoma.org/">Historic Takoma</a> saying the proposal was “too dense.” They also argued that the two-car garages in each townhouse would bring too much traffic. <br /><br />Some smart growth supporters didn’t think townhouses were unreasonable for an area right by a Metro station, but many did feel such large garages were unnecessary. EYA’s original plan got sidelined by a combination of opposition and the recession, but in 2013 the company drew up a <a href="http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/19417/takoma-tod-moving-again-after-5-year-lull-is-it-better/">new plan</a> to build a medium-density apartment building between five and seven stories high (but scaling down to four stories at Eastern Avenue) instead, with about 200 units and with fewer parking spaces per unit.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="260" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/svWdaJj1m-N8eV6AIaN1GBFKYqFtNbzyNQ75EmEPMsWP2gJtyx45iMFXdIHjpn5EeCsWeSo05oAeK6QoEvtVP6Thg2SKXsOO76ceDmlPTibKLKOBUpcnI0iuFRh9XAbwNnQmlMKl" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>EYA’s revised plan to build apartments by the Takoma Metro station. Image from EYA.</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Many neighbors again opposed EYA’s plans, but this time, they had a much more effective online campaign, building and maintaining two separate opposition websites as well as both a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/455428461219338/">Facebook page</a> and <a href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/takomametro/info">Yahoo group</a>. The neighbors also managed to garner support from elected officials this time around. Complaints about EYA’s proposal are varied, but the theme is evident: “it’s too big and has too much parking.” <br /><br />The neighbors’ <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdPi6WPN20FqnO9N74y8H8HrbqSMLJ5rDKBCV3tJE0ALkc7tA/viewform">petition</a> cites their concerns over the size of EYA’s proposed building, the loss of green space, and EYA’s use of an above-ground parking garage with the building wrapping around it (rather than underground parking). <a href="http://www.anc4b.info/TakomaMetroRes11-25-13.htm">ANC4B also raised concerns</a> about traffic and said the size of the proposed building violates DC zoning rules for being higher than 50 feet. <br /><br />Meanwhile, elected officials of Takoma Park <a href="http://dc-mdneighborsfortakomatransit.org/Resolution2013-68TP-TakomaTransitResolution2013Oct28-final_bk.pdf">also raised concerns</a> about the size of the proposed building, the location of a loading dock for apartment residents, too much parking and that the plan steals public parking spots for the benefit of apartment residents. <br /><br /><u>Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good</u><br /><br />The latest development isn’t perfect, but it’s <a href="http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/22181/takoma-metro-development-proposal-is-a-real-compromise/">not terrible either</a>. Looking first at the size, even if the neighbors are technically correct that the proposed building is greater than the underlying zoning, a four-story apartment building abutting Eastern Avenue and adjacent to a Metro station is hardly <a href="https://goo.gl/maps/7a9QeTxmhos">out of character</a> for the neighborhood. DC law does allow projects (like this one) to go through a process called a Planned Unit Development, which can give a project some latitude, such as to increase density near a Metro station or for affordable housing. That seems like good policy. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Elevation drawings of EYA’s proposed apartment building. Image from EYA.</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The argument that this development will increase parking and traffic is wrong-headed. This development is adjacent to the Takoma station, where people will have to drive less, not more. It does shift a significant number of parking spaces from public to private use, but will retain the number of Metro parking spaces for riders and expands the number of bus bays serving Metro and <a href="https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/dot-transit/">Montgomery County’s RideOn</a>. <br /><br />Former Takoma Park Councilmember <a href="http://www.onetakoma.com/">Seth Grimes</a> represented Takoma Parkers, who border the site and <a href="http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/23333/otherwise-progressive-maryland-elected-officials-choose-obstruction-at-the-takoma-metro">led the charge</a> opposing EYA’s proposal. He told me that Metro and EYA’s motives are good with this project, as he fully supports development around the Takoma station, but he echoed what other neighbors have said: that EYA’s plan is still too focused on parking and encourages car ownership and driving. However, the number of parking spaces has dropped from two per unit in the original plan to 0.7 per unit, and at the same time, the housing that would be available would increase from 90 to 200 homes. <br /><br />Grimes opined that the size issues could be remedied by either building the parking below ground or by greatly reducing it. “EYA designed a building for 10 years ago as opposed to 10 years in the future,” he remarked.<br /><br /><u>You can't always get what you want</u><br /><br />The irony to all of this is that the neighborhood is struggling to attract businesses to its commercial street where the Takoma station is located. There is some good news in that Starbucks is <a href="http://takomavoice.com/2016/07/25/does-starbucks-signal-a-new-takoma/">opening a store in Takoma</a>; even if it does upset some anti-corporate locals, many see it as a positive sign for the neighborhood’s business climate. Heck, despite the announcement by Starbucks to open a store in Takoma, a <a href="https://www.popville.com/2016/08/mitigating-starbucks-news-for-some/">new local coffee shop</a> announced plans to open nearby too.<br /><br />But if you walk around Takoma's main street (i.e. Carroll and 4th Streets, DC and Carroll Avenue, MD) you'll find plenty of empty space for lease, including the old <a href="https://www.rockcreekpg.com/?option=com_content&view=article&id=191&Itemid=63">Takoma theater</a> - a grand property ripe for reuse. Given Takoma's <a href="http://takomatalk.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-battle-for-future-of-takoma.html">reluctance to supporting chain businesses</a>, such a result is not unforeseeable. Additionally, Takoma’s historic districts <a href="http://takomatalk.blogspot.com/2016/01/do-historic-designations-hinder-takomas.html">may dissuade developers </a>and businesses from wanting to build and invest here. <br /><br />As an aside here, it’s richly ironic that Takoma <a href="http://www.historictakoma.org/documents/HistoricSignificanceofTakomaPark.pdf">was founded</a> by B.F. Gilbert, a "New York venture capitalist" who is beloved by many of the same neighbors that are leading the charge against EYA. Meanwhile, people in Takoma are clamoring for more shops, restaurants and services. Look <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MainStreetTakoma/photos/?tab=album&album_id=822589641207704">here</a> to see how excited the community was for the startup of a local food truck! Gilbert would have probably supported an even larger mixed-use development than what EYA has proposed.<br /><br />Personally, I think Metro could do even more development at this site by rerouting the buses to the Silver Spring transit center and developing the entire parcel into a larger mixed-use space, but I doubt that the community would support the loss of neighborhood bus service or the loss of the greenspace that is never used. Yet there is a housing crisis in DC and Takoma has a lot of <a href="http://www.moving.com/real-estate/city-profile/details.asp?format=popup&Zip=20012&SectionID=6&SectionName=Personal+Crime+Risk#Personal_Crime_Risk">crime</a> that could be decreased with more “eyes on the street.” If only Metro was more ambitious.<br /><br /><u>More development is coming to Takoma, so let’s stop fighting already</u><br /><br />With the recent opening of <a href="http://www.livewillowandmaple.com/">two new apartment buildings</a> on Willow and Maple Streets, Takoma, like the rest of DC, is growing. Does this mean that we should start building skyscrapers adjacent to the Takoma station? Of course not, but Takoma residents cannot claim to be “progressive” and concerned about gentrification while simultaneously opposing new housing developments around a Metro station on the basis of zoning technicalities. <br /><br />The effects of such diametrically opposed views results in pushing new development outside DC, which increases traffic and sprawl, and only isolates lower-income people from the jobs they need to make a living. While opposing activists may have slowed this development, with the support of other neighbors, the WMATA board <a href="http://www.wmata.com/community_outreach/R14-01_landing/Exhibit%20A.pdf">approved it</a> so it is now a question of when, not if. I spoke with Jack Lester from EYA and he confirmed that the project is still moving forward as EYA and WMATA work out some of the finer details.<br /><br />But how do we thread the needle so that Takomans get more shops, restaurants and services while retaining the small-town feel (i.e. no significant traffic increase)? It’s not rocket science and <a href="http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/6725/more-housing-could-bolster-takoma-parks-business-district/">a lesson for all business districts</a>: increased density = more people living in the area = more demand for more local shops and services = more supply of local shops and services. <br /><br />What is most perplexing to me is that much of the opposition to this development appears to be coming from Takoma Park even though the development sits in Takoma, which, again, is in DC. Takoma Park is an extremely progressive community that has laws protecting trees, bans on styrofoam containers and is the only rent control municipality in Maryland. <br /><br />How can a community that cares so much about the environment and those who are less fortunate be so opposed to increasing the amount of available housing (some of which will be reserved for people who are at or below the poverty line), increasing the number of people who live close to public transportation (which supports Metro’s future) and are thereby unlikely to drive very much (which is better for the environment)? <br /><br />In a Washington City Paper article about this whole ordeal, there was an interesting <a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/news/housing-complex/blog/13124002/takoma-metro-development-set-for-approval-despite-cross-border-opposition#platformComments">comment</a> that may provide some insight. It reads: </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There's an in increasingly common NIMBY strategy to pretend that what you’re really fighting is evil developers. Complaining about the future residents can come off too classist or racist, but complain about the developers who enable those “others” to move in is supposedly going to convince us that the NIMBYs are pure hearted.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Developers wouldn't be interested if they couldn't find a buyer. They are merely agents for the future residents. There is no isolating your objections against "developers' greed" and your objections to the people that simply want a place to live near where you have found a place to live. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What do you think? Does this sounds like what is happening in Takoma or does the opposition raise some valid concerns?<br /><br />Cross posted at <a href="http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/33518/its-time-to-build-housing-at-the-takoma-metro-station/">Greater Greater Washington</a></span></div>
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Tony Camillihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15088299609340862762noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1107566680788563943.post-68312185249220461272016-03-19T10:29:00.000-04:002016-03-19T10:29:15.183-04:00Dog owners want a dog park at the Takoma Recreation Center, but not everyone supports it.A non-profit organization of Takoma neighbors called the <a href="http://www.northernward4dogpark.org/">Northern Ward 4 Dog Park Group</a> (the Dog Park Group) has been trying since 2011 to build a dog park on land of the Takoma Recreation Center (the TRC). But another community-based organization - known as the Friends of Takoma Recreation Center (the Friends Group) - is opposed to building a dog park at the current location (3rd and Underwood Streets) and anywhere else around the TRC.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy3WlZ3tvL8LPmAxvnuxRhSDI5ytgkhCVfXYR3OoAxEG-7hLY75PMD0_sZkqlxsf_wpnpGoaAVD2ElNtwaw6tS4RzTLlm0ror5a6OF6wQqmsuQ3gJQ9zwsnLKeKyhQ0Q0tJaBCxvnuwQ0/s1600/dog+park+large.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy3WlZ3tvL8LPmAxvnuxRhSDI5ytgkhCVfXYR3OoAxEG-7hLY75PMD0_sZkqlxsf_wpnpGoaAVD2ElNtwaw6tS4RzTLlm0ror5a6OF6wQqmsuQ3gJQ9zwsnLKeKyhQ0Q0tJaBCxvnuwQ0/s640/dog+park+large.png" width="516" /></a></td></tr>
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<i>Satellite view of proposed location of dog park</i></h2>
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Last week the Friends Group, established in 1997, held a quarterly meeting and opposition to the Dog Park Group was on their agenda. Because the Friends' Group meeting was public, some members of the Dog Park Group attended to listen to concerns. I was in attendance too. The Dog Park Group is composed of neighbors from Takoma, Brightwood, Manor Park and Shepherd Park. The Friends Group meeting was initially cordial when the focus of the meeting was on providing equal access to the tennis courts at the TRC and other administrative matters to manage the TRC more efficiently.<br />
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But the Friends Group cordial attitude changed when it turned its attention to <a href="http://dpr.dc.gov/service/takoma-dog-park-full-application-package-documents">the Dog Park Group's application</a> to build a dog park at the TRC. At this point <a href="mailto:john.stokes@dc.gov">John Stokes</a>, the Deputy Director for the DC Department of Parks and Recreation (<a href="http://dpr.dc.gov/">DPR</a>), was also present to listen to the discussion. Mr. Stokes obviously knew the issues well and was mostly there to listen to the Friends Group. The Friends Group was critical of DPR's process; specifically that DPR's process was flawed. <br />
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<u>DPR's Dog Park Process - Input or Comment?</u><br />
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As argued by the Friends Group, DPR's current application process provides local residents with 30-days to comment on an application to build a dog park but this occurs after DPR receives an application and selects a site to build the dog park. Despite the fact that the Friends Group were able to organize <a href="http://media.wix.com/ugd/44a3e8_398e6d67a08c4a73a62d5849102e7416.docx?dn=Petition%20to%20Oppose%20Dog%20Park%20at%20Takoma%20Rec%20Center%20FINAL.docx">an opposition petition</a> during the comment period, members of the Friends Group complained to DPR that they should be given the opportunity to provide input for the site selection of any proposed dog park at the TRC. As noted by Mr. Stokes at the meeting, DPR's process has worked well for every other dog park application in DC (<a href="http://dpr.dc.gov/page/dog-parks">12 and counting</a>) since the rules were written in 2005, but apparently the Friends Group felt the process is flawed and unfair.<br />
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At this point some members of the Dog Park Group noted that the Friends Group repeatedly refused to engage<span id="goog_294224849"></span> with the Dog Park Group when offered the chance to provide input. The Dog Park Group allegedly has <a href="http://media.wix.com/ugd/44a3e8_83791acab6ba4755849f74b4221bbe97.pdf">proof</a> of their <a href="http://media.wix.com/ugd/44a3e8_fc2b438e93634feda134a0f06820a6e4.pdf">attempts</a> to engage the Friends Group. The Dog Park Group also delivered <a href="http://media.wix.com/ugd/44a3e8_115b1a176bfc47e9abf0195087944c88.pdf">info sheets to neighbors</a> surrounding the TRC. In addition, the Dog Park Group noted that the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission (<a href="http://anc4b.org/">ANC-4B</a>) held a special meeting about the Dog Park Group's proposed application and included members of <a href="http://anc4a.org/">ANC-4A</a>, DPR, the <a href="http://doh.dc.gov/">DC Department of Health</a>, the <a href="http://www.washhumane.org/">Washington Humane Society</a> and representatives from the <a href="http://www.brightwooddc.com/">Brightwood </a>and <a href="https://manorparkdc.wordpress.com/">Manor Park</a> community associations. DPR's regulations do not require that applications have a formal letter of support from their local ANC <i>per se</i>, but such a letter of support is persuasive to DPR. ANC-4B ultimately provided <a href="http://media.wix.com/ugd/44a3e8_14dc5dcc39c04d449e13eb91be6e531f.pdf">a formal letter</a> of support based upon a vote of its members.<br />
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<u>Does Takoma need a Dog Park?</u><br />
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As noted in its <a href="http://dpr.dc.gov/service/takoma-dog-park-full-application-package-documents">application</a>, many of the Dog Park Group's members live up to three miles away from the nearest dog park. The Dog Park Group was able to garner the largest number of signatures for any dog park application that DPR has ever seen, and the TRC zip code has the second-largest number of registered dogs in DC. The Dog Park Group also stated in their application that the TRC has over six (6) acres of unused or underused space, which is quite a luxury in DC but not surprising since the TRC is about 17 acres in size. The Dog Park Group asked DPR to build a dog park that would be around 10,000 square feet in size, which is not terribly large when compared to other dog parks throughout DC (e.g. the Shaw dog park is 13,500 square feet in a much more dense neighborhood).<br />
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It would seem that there are plenty of reasons for DPR to build this dog park. There are lots of nearby registered dog owners, strong community desire as evidenced by the Dog Park Group's petition, a formal ANC resolution of support and a DPR site that can clearly provide the space needed to build the dog park. So why is the Friends Group opposing it? Is it really about the DPR process? I spoke with a few people after the Friends Group meeting and heard a few comments that suggested otherwise - for example, that dog parks smell, that they're noisy, and one long-standing local resident said this opposition was really about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentrification">gentrification</a>. Nobody I spoke with from the Friends Group suggested that there are better locations in Takoma - just that a dog park is wrong for the TRC. But there's no denying that the current proposed site location is directly across the street from a group of houses on 3rd Street, NW.<br />
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<i>Closeup view of proposed dog park location and nearby houses.</i></h3>
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In the end, however, the Friends Group got the special treatment they asked for - Mr. Stokes not only agreed to extend the comment period for an additional 30-days, he even promised that DPR would hold a special meeting of its own about the proposed dog park. What do you think? Is this fair to the Dog Park Group who followed DPR's rules? Does Takoma need a dog park?Tony Camillihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15088299609340862762noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1107566680788563943.post-44949271197710191092016-02-18T04:00:00.000-05:002016-02-19T12:06:12.818-05:00Town and gown are clashing over proposed development in Takoma Park<div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.6615384615384614; margin-bottom: 13pt; margin-top: 11pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Montgomery County's rapidly-growing community college, </span><a href="http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Montgomery College</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, wants to expand its northern Takoma Park campus. A number of Takoma Park residents don't like the idea, and are pushing for the college to expand in nearby Silver Spring instead.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 17.333333333333332px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="343" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/UeohPiByasGT0eHWt4Nch3nER57AZgIHTXyyIYm9F5PtLgDfF4UXW8TP6m741oznmMEGfneEPNBu3_Do3v6qcvv47e8zXhLu8dnU4s44gSlG2L3AuZLF9fXBQrXJnZyRI2kvbesg" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="500" /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.68; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 10.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Montgomery College sits partially in Takoma Park (inside the red line) and partially in Silver Spring.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 10.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Image from Google Maps.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With three campuses in Takoma Park, Rockville and Germantown, Montgomery College serves more than 60,000 students a year, a number that's growing quickly. Its first campus was built in northern Takoma Park in 1950, and in 2004 it expanded by adding new buildings in Silver Spring.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.16; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The college's board of trustees recently approved a new </span><a href="http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Department2.aspx?id=32897" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facilities Master Plan</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for 2013-2023. The Master Plan is full of proposals and ideas for the Takoma Park campus, such as a new math and science center building, a new health and fitness center, and a new library. According to the plan, Montgomery College's Takoma Park campus has more capacity constraints and "obsolete or dysfunctional existing structures" than Rockville and Germantown.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The plan notes that enrollment has increased 18% over the past five years and is projected to increase another 27% by 2023. All of those additional students will need space for classes and laboratories. In order to achieve greater square footage without acquiring any new land, the plan calls for taller, wider buildings to replace the current ones, which are mostly smaller, two-story structures built to blend into the residential character of northern Takoma Park.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of that has the college wanting to expand the Takoma Park campus, to the tune of over 56,000 square feet.</span></div>
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<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 5px 7px 5px; vertical-align: top;"><br /></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 5px 7px 5px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Renovation</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 5px 7px 5px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New Construction</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 5px 7px 5px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Demolition</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 5px 7px 5px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New Growth</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 5px 7px 5px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Takoma Park/Silver Spring</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 5px 7px 5px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9,295</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 5px 7px 5px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">170,532</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 5px 7px 5px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(113,983)</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1px; border-left: solid #000000 1px; border-right: solid #000000 1px; border-top: solid #000000 1px; padding: 7px 5px 7px 5px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">56,549 </span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.16; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the image below, the six buildings colored in yellow are those planned to be demolished and rebuilt, while the orange building is planned for renovation. It's worth noting that the college's daycare center (located on the right side and noted by the letters "DC") will be closed with no plans to reopen, meaning students with kids and some local parents will need to find a new childcare option.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.68; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 13.333333333333332px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="376" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/fePjuoluqkNOKPPK4gAYumOWe00FZ8v9ggwCFRxCjIDJBj13AwXSP7QzRJMJOfivQ11ufKWD09A8nOuh73wkVM2nKAqijr8oIyQGdelUYyXdGoecLBLUSS11Kw1s-7e8O7qCdMWr" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="500" /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.68; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 10.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maps from the Montgomery College Facilities Master Plan.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.16; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Neighbors are opposed, but the college says it can address concerns</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.16; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At a Takoma Park City Council meeting on January 20, 2016, Montgomery College Takoma Park campus provost and vice president </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Department2.aspx?id=26054">Brad Stewart</a> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">described the draft master plan to both residents and the council.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.16; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to </span><a href="http://www.historictakoma.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Historic Takoma</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a non-profit organization founded to preserve the heritage of Takoma Park, MD and the Takoma Park neighborhood of DC, the college agreed in writing in 2002 to consult with neighbors and the City Council on any proposed plans that could impact the neighborhood. While Mr. Mr. Stewart claims that two neighborhood discussions about the plan occurred (one in Takoma Park and one in Rockville), neighbors of the college claim that nobody told them.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.16; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Members of the City Council sided with the college's neighbors and chided Mr. Stewart about what they said was a lack of coordination on the college's part. Neighbors also complained that the larger, wider buildings contemplated in the master plan would be more appropriately located on the western side of its campus, which borders an urban, commercially zoned area on Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.16; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mr. Stewart tried his best to allay concerns, noting that that Master Plan is not the final document with regard to actual design and construction. He assured the City Council that additional outreach will be done the school hires architects and starts considering building designs.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.16; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Regarding the building heights, Mr. Stewart responded that the college's architects heard neighborhood concerns and created setbacks on the top floors of buildings facing neighboring homes.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.16; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can watch residents raise their concerns at the City Council meeting </span><a href="http://takomapark.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=14&clip_id=2068" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, beginning around 13:20, with Mr. Stewart's presentation to the City Council starting around 2:02:00.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.16; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Residents and the college have clashed before</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.16; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As noted above, during the January 20th City Council meeting a few local residents alleged that the college failed to conduct adequate consultation with the local community. But </span><a href="http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=87049" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">deeply embedded in the Master Plan</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a section discussing the college's relations with its Takoma Park neighbors that brings into question whether opposing residents' demands about community involvement are reasonable.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.16; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here's the critical part: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; line-height: 1.92; white-space: pre-wrap;">New development proposals on the Takoma Park side of Campus are nonetheless still opposed by a vocal minority of neighbors, who insist that the College shift all development to the Silver Spring side of Campus, or acquire new properties along Fenton Street and locate College programs there."</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.92; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.16; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jokingly referred to as "</span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/2011/09/12/gIQApBZTXK_story.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The People's Republic of Takoma Park</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," the neighborhood has a rich history as a community that is unafraid to challenge moneyed and other powerful interests. A recent blog post by </span><a href="http://tpssvoice.com/2016/01/21/ganolapark-dr-frozen-out-strikes-back/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Granola Park</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> explains that in the 1970s the college sought to condemn and demolish 22 adjacent Takoma Park homes for new school buildings, but neighbors fought and won against the college.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.16; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Silver Spring development could be in Montgomery College's future</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.16; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Interestingly, and perhaps as a result of repeated neighborhood opposition, the Master Plan does gesture towards future development on the Silver Spring side of the campus. The following map shows possible expansion sites:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.68; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 13.333333333333332px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="410" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/pRBCHJcrdfkuDW6GGvzOEPXHtqT9Fr39zd-BseqVUR7bvtvI91gIfHlokvMuSJ22CnuDsjrwkpu3HZldFzLwk0wPPZQAZ5uyYom2BZOLe5QsiIkMPm0-uEhhbzrfKyZfewq-Vtkq" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="500" /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.16; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Three of the four lots above are rather sterile space. The two on the east side of the railroad tracks are a combination of storage buildings, auto body shops and local rental car companies. One lot on the west side of the railroad tracks is a parking lot owned by the college's foundation and the remaining one abuts Jesup Blair Park where the college built a walkway to cross the railroad tracks and connect the campus.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.16; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 11pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Future expansion into Silver Spring would activate this space and make it more pedestrian oriented, which is great since the college is only six blocks from the Silver Spring Metro station and abuts the </span><a href="http://www.waba.org/blog/2015/05/some-met-branch-trail-construction-this-year-in-silver-spring/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">planned Met Branch Trail</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. But all of this would require the college to acquire these lots and then redevelop them, which is more costly and would take longer than to simply redevelop the buildings they currently own.</span></div>
</div>
Tony Camillihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15088299609340862762noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1107566680788563943.post-85314835953457118332016-01-29T16:06:00.001-05:002016-02-16T17:21:46.263-05:00Do Historic Designations Hinder Takoma's Future?During the course of some recent dialogue on my <a href="http://takomatalk.blogspot.com/2016/01/we-lost-trohv-but-gained-opportunity.html">prior post about losing Trohv</a>, an interesting question arose: Should a house located in the Takoma Park, DC or Takoma Park, MD historic district retain its historic status if the owner(s) modified it in such a way as to hide or remove the historic qualities that made it historic in the first place?<br />
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Luckily, there are a few examples lining the commercial Takoma Park, DC corridor:<br />
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Here's the trio of businesses <a href="http://lamanocoffee.com/">La Mano Coffee Bar</a>, <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/takoma-station-barbershop-washington">Takoma Station Barber</a> and <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/spicy-delight-washington">Spicy Delight</a> hiding two historic homes:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidrhmfrnjm34kj2RnSLXFuZxV2SnDYjY_ZGZz5KW5LupPuAaiQBBlut65VTAiAInAB7zqzgF6IjpeesnrL4E0n7VFMPyPVoGgtHH1OGBmgYn8l5z1e6AJAPykOCTjYSSr0Puohb-Ro3dI/s1600/Spicy+Delight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidrhmfrnjm34kj2RnSLXFuZxV2SnDYjY_ZGZz5KW5LupPuAaiQBBlut65VTAiAInAB7zqzgF6IjpeesnrL4E0n7VFMPyPVoGgtHH1OGBmgYn8l5z1e6AJAPykOCTjYSSr0Puohb-Ro3dI/s320/Spicy+Delight.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The next historic house has been converted into the <a href="http://www.hosteldc.com/">Hilltop Hostel</a> (on the right) and retains its original character, but next to it are another trio of businesses/organizations hiding two historic houses - <a href="http://www.seekerschurch.org/">Seekers Church</a>, <a href="http://electricmaid.org/">Electric Maid Community Exchange</a> and <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/friederich-modern-cleaners-washington">Friedrich's Modern Cleaners</a> (dry cleaning and laundry):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQjCO_NTW-EADQ6_zMOco3ZFKICTjwdk5XOMkUoHU-iaNCuTb_WmWMvCj3u4JyhDo8oHBJeowJsxfE1vQ4Q-y8mp9PBspUCEZfiDz8S4UQxXuuxb9NhWjwc1n5yzp1S2rFzejkxT6gtYA/s1600/Seekers+and+dry+cleaners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQjCO_NTW-EADQ6_zMOco3ZFKICTjwdk5XOMkUoHU-iaNCuTb_WmWMvCj3u4JyhDo8oHBJeowJsxfE1vQ4Q-y8mp9PBspUCEZfiDz8S4UQxXuuxb9NhWjwc1n5yzp1S2rFzejkxT6gtYA/s320/Seekers+and+dry+cleaners.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And finally there are two historic houses behind the <a href="http://www.torchinsky.com/">Torchinsky Hebrew Funeral Home</a> (noted by the red circles because the Google street view didn't show the houses):</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2l_Yhoq7H4563t2FM1f10zWNWXYKzgWtCquKJ_tybM567PwmBefcrg5r_26jTxIFafKmPF8r5ydY7_MUY_Se54uSwDktWJX4TrpIukCTyprCjRo2M29Re0mhiFbA0TNrTtziJ6CwEXeY/s1600/carroll+st+satelite+view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2l_Yhoq7H4563t2FM1f10zWNWXYKzgWtCquKJ_tybM567PwmBefcrg5r_26jTxIFafKmPF8r5ydY7_MUY_Se54uSwDktWJX4TrpIukCTyprCjRo2M29Re0mhiFbA0TNrTtziJ6CwEXeY/s320/carroll+st+satelite+view.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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All of these houses are located in the Takoma Park, DC historic district, yet most of them are hidden from public view (save the Hilltop Hostel) by the storefronts that were added at some point or another - I'm guessing before the <a href="http://planning.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/op/publication/attachments/Takoma_Park_Brochure.pdf">official designation by DC in 1980</a>. </div>
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There's no question that Takoma Park's historic districts are both beautiful and desirable, but does anyone really believe that the houses noted above represent their historic nostalgia behind the storefronts that now hide them? The first question to ask is what makes a house or neighborhood historic? Urban Land Institute Senior Resident Fellow <a href="http://urbanland.uli.org/economy-markets-trends/historical-designations-affect-property-values/">Ed McMahon explains that</a> "historic buildings tell us who we are and where we came from."</div>
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Also, in a recent <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w20446">academic paper</a> on the topic of the effects of historic districts on local housing markets in New York City, the authors state the purpose of preservation policies is to "preserve the aesthetic beauty or amenity level of a neighborhood and minimize the risks that new investment will undermine the distinctive character of an area." </div>
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Don't get me wrong, I believe the diverse stock of historic homes in both DC and MD make Takoma Park the envy of many other neighborhoods around the metro DC area. But it's unclear to me that the small inventory and high prices of houses in Takoma Park is due to their historic designations or the fact that many of them are so close to the <a href="http://www.wmata.com/rail/station_detail.cfm?station_id=29">Takoma Metro station</a>, although I'm leaning towards the latter fact. Yet looking at these pictures doesn't give me the impression of Takoma Park, DC being a historic neighborhood because the beautiful Victorian-era houses are hidden from view behind non-historic storefronts on Takoma Park's most visible main street of commerce.</div>
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Meanwhile, <a href="http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/26526/dcs-housing-affordability-crisis-in-7-charts/">DC has a housing affordability crisis</a> and all of these homes/businesses are a short walking distance from the nearby Takoma Metro station. All of this land could be redeveloped into one or more mixed-use buildings that would increase the supply of local housing, including some units being <a href="http://dhcd.dc.gov/service/inclusionary-zoning-affordable-housing-program">reserved for people that can't afford the rent</a>. But don't take my word for it - <a href="http://mercatus.org/sites/default/files/Ikeda-Land-Use-Regulation.pdf">some scholars</a> believe that historic preservation requirements can limit the supply of new housing and hinder developers’ responses to increases in demand.</div>
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In sum, to answer the question posed at the beginning of this post, I believe that all of these houses (and their land) - save the Hilltop Hostel - should no longer be designated as historic unless the storefronts are removed and the houses are returned to their original appearance, which means that a developer should be able to purchase any or all of these houses and develop them without the noose that a historic designation brings with it. </div>
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Maybe then we could lure <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1035553739796518/">Trader Joe's to open a store in Takoma</a> as part of a large mixed-use development so close to Metro.</div>
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What do you think?</div>
Tony Camillihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15088299609340862762noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1107566680788563943.post-53681708718485922712016-01-05T15:50:00.000-05:002016-02-15T22:06:36.246-05:00We lost Trohv, but gained an opportunity!<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.mainstreettakoma.org/closing-announcement-from-trohv-dc/" style="line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Main Street Takoma</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> recently announced that Takoma's beloved upscale furniture and good store </span><a href="http://trohvshop.com/" style="line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trohv </span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is closing due to lack of business. It's a sad day when any company is forced to close down for lack of business, but especially so when it's a local one or quasi local like Trohv (they also have a shop in Baltimore). According to the </span><a href="http://www.sba.gov/" style="line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">U.S. Small Business Administration</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (SBA), about</span><a href="https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/FAQ_Sept_2012.pdf" style="line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> half of all new businesses survive five years or more</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and about one-third survive 10 years of more, so survival is not a given by any means.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But ever the optimist we see the loss of Trohv as an opportunity for Takoma. As we noted in a </span><a href="http://takomatalk.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-battle-for-future-of-takoma.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">prior post</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the population around the Takoma Metro station is about to grow by another 604-1812 people. As shown in the map below, the building that housed Trohv is well suited for demolition and/or development - it's a single story building with a parking lot that is one-block from the Takoma Metro station. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="246px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/AHXW-xFJbxY1uF_AzBtsNPGGQVWEd6TGMEMiwFxw20Ur3suGFrV4pZpzIef20c7wUA8PWDc7i5jFLmTimFUq5PfenAu2KWZxiwOmfncxQIsCDW5yrpad9I_woSu7JwAGfuPtgcBx" style="border: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="490px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Map of block on Carroll St with outline of lots for Trohv and Torchinsky Hebrew funeral home</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No offense to the dead here, but a smart developer would also attempt to buy the neighboring lot which is the </span><a href="http://www.torchinsky.com/" style="line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Torchinsky Hebrew funeral home</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. We're not sure how much business Ms. Torchinsky has these days, but what she most certainly has is a prime location and a sizable plot of land. Anyone who frequents this block of Carroll Street can see the potential for housing and other mixed-uses so close to a Metro station. Hopefully the DC </span><a href="http://planning.dc.gov/" style="line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Office of Planning</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> sees this too and is working to increase the supply of housing in an otherwise </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/where-we-live/wp/2015/09/01/d-c-is-among-the-most-expensive-places-to-rent-an-apartment/" style="line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">unaffordable city</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What would you like to see built in this part of Takoma?</span><br />
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<br />Tony Camillihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15088299609340862762noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1107566680788563943.post-38023589635068201492015-12-07T13:45:00.001-05:002015-12-07T14:04:27.014-05:00The Battle for the Future of Takoma<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recently a Takoma neighborhood email distro list exploded when it was announced by our </span><a href="http://www.mainstreettakoma.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">local business chamber</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that </span><a href="http://www.starbucks.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Starbucks</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is considering whether to open a store near the Takoma metro station. Some people decried that Takoma should not follow Silver Spring and Bethesda by inviting national stores to compete against its small, but fiercely independent stores that already sell coffee, such as </span><a href="http://lamanocoffee.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">La Mano coffee bar</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://www.busboysandpoets.com/about/takoma" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Busboys and Poets</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and </span><a href="http://capitalcitycheesecakes.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Capital City Cheesecake</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The whole ordeal got me wondering why some people rejoice or recoil when a national (or more likely international) business like Starbucks decides to open a store in their neighborhood. It’s certainly true that adding a Starbucks in Takoma will put some pressure on other locally-owned coffee/food shops, but I think the concerns are overblown and also fail to recognize the changes that are coming in Takoma as I will discuss below. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As many locals know, the DC border runs clear through Takoma separating the two jurisdictions. People living in DC tend to say they live in </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoma,_Washington,_D.C." style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Takoma</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, while Marylanders actually reside in the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoma_Park,_Maryland" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">City of Takoma Park</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but for purposes of this post I will simply refer to both areas as Takoma as many locals already do. I am rather new to living in Takoma and I am no historian, but I have read with great interest how the Takoma community fought, wailed and gnashed its teeth when </span><a href="http://www.subway.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Subway</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://www.cvs.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CVS</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and an </span><a href="http://www.acehardwaredc.com/stores/old-takoma-ace-hardware.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ACE hardware store </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">moved into the area. I regularly walk to the CVS and ACE to pick up things rather than getting into my car just to save 5-10% at a larger suburban store. And while I do not eat at Subway, it must be doing enough business to stay afloat in Takoma or how could they afford to pay the rent.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="Takoma Map.png" height="131px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/wabfX5me_z9jbRmyNzgtJFwJ-PQ_zJp-a7DSRej6N2cH30Lpo0b4PLeIrD-YAywXOOXYy5WFIcWJWa91tNJFBWpTxZv62-BvHzTwEJp5n5KCVuQ0Fep-sip8M8lYeJI8iGweAi7f" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="624px;" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 13.333333333333332px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Map of DC/MD border running through Takoma</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Takoma is, like many areas of DC, gentrifying with new residents. Over the past few years numerous new businesses have sprung up around the main street that runs through Takoma (Carroll Street in DC and Carroll Avenue in MD), including the aforementioned stores and others like </span><a href="http://www.republictakoma.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Republic</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (which is part of the local </span><a href="http://www.blackrestaurantgroup.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Black’s restaurant group</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), </span><a href="http://www.roscoespizzeria.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Roscoe’s pizzeria</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://kindatakoma.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kin Da restaurant</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://tabletopdc.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tabletop goods</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, etc. I’m sure that I forgot others, but hopefully you get the point. Along with all those businesses Takoma has become more expensive than it used to be. For example, one-bedroom apartments at the swanky new </span><a href="http://www.bozzuto.com/apartments/communities/383-takoma-central" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Takoma Central</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> start at $1,730 a month, which is on par with apartments in downtown Bethesda and Silver Spring. Housing prices in Takoma have also catapulted as of late, with median list prices of </span><a href="https://www.redfin.com/neighborhood/20310/DC/Washington-DC/Takoma-Washington-DC/filter#!uipt=1&sf=3&sold_within_days=365&region_id=20310&region_type=1&market=dc" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">$495,000 in DC</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="https://www.redfin.com/neighborhood/57509/MD/Takoma-Park/Takoma-Park-Historic-District/filter#!uipt=1&sf=3&sold_within_days=365&region_id=57509&region_type=1&market=dc" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">$625,000 in MD</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (in the historic district which spans most of the DC border). </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Developers have clearly taken notice of Takoma’s desirability and multiple buildings near the Takoma metro station are in various stages of development. The aforementioned Takoma Central brought 150 units, while two new buildings on </span><a href="http://www.elevationdcmedia.com/developmentprojects/willowmaplehouse.aspx" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maple and Willow streets</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> are currently being constructed and will bring 102 units. Other developments happening include apartments on </span><a href="http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/two_five-story_apartment_to_go_up_in_takoma/4662" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spring Place</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, NW, which will bring 142 units and the </span><a href="http://www.takomametro.net/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">very controversial</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://www.elevationdcmedia.com/devnews/TakomaConnected_120913.aspx" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EYA project </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">next to the Takoma metro station, which will bring 210 units. In other words, Takoma is booming and will house another 604-1812 people (based upon a mix of 1-3 bedroom units) all nearby the metro station, which will surely increase demand for local shops, restaurants and services. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many of those new residents of Takoma will want to grab a coffee/tea on their way to work or want to meetup with a friend for coffee/tea after work. While the current selection of Takoma stores to grab coffee/tea is great, Starbucks clearly noticed all of the ongoing/planned development and thinks there is room for them too. Whether you love or hate Starbucks, you can’t argue with their logic and I think the current independent stores will continue to thrive in Takoma either way. What do you think? Will the </span><a href="http://qz.com/334269/what-starbucks-has-done-to-american-home-values/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Starbucks effect</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> do more harm than good in Takoma?</span></div>
Tony Camillihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15088299609340862762noreply@blogger.com11