Burleith Newsletter February, 2000

Please circle Wednesday, March 8 on your calendar, as the date for one of the most interesting, informative and important meetings of the Burleith Citizens Association. We are taking the lead from Mayor Williams' Neighborhood Summits and are planning a Burleith Summit.

What do we want this neighborhood to be in the years ahead? What are the most important issues to address? How can we generate more interest and get more people involved? These are some of the questions that will be addressed.

It is important to have both long term residents and newcomers participate in these discussion groups. Long term residents bring unique history and experiences to the discussion; and we recognize that the young families and young professionals moving into this community may have other interests and priorities. We would like to know what they want from their community. At this Summit, everyone will be heard!

Holly Dempsey and Pat Scolaro are working on the format and will facilitate the discussion groups. The March Newsletter will have additional information.

The next BCA meeting will be on Wednesday, February 9 at 7:00 pm at the Washington International School. Note the new time! There will be some preliminary work preparing for the March Summit.

On Saturday, February 26, the BCA will hold its annual winter picnic and pot luck supper. Everyone is invited! It is a pleasant, casual evening where snowbound neighbors can catch up on the latest news. Good food from Burleith cooks, a roaring fire, door prizes, fun and games and nice people make this traditional event a great evening. Small children are welcome...

Oh yes, it did snow. You're right, the ice will never melt. Why don't people shovel sidewalks? And, aren't the alleys a mess.

Ice plus snow and more snow and ice bring many problems and inconveniences-but the community did look lovely. And neighbors helped neighbors dig out cars and shovel sidewalks. It was Guy Gwynne who called any number of residents to confirm they were "OK" and he even made grocery runs - thanks, Guy! Also thanks to Charles Mallett, who shoveled the snow from most of the 3500 block of "S" and part of the alley. I'm sure there were many other acts of kindness these past weeks. To those who did reach out, - thank you on behalf of the community.

On Saturday, February 26, at 6:30 p.m., come on over to the Burleith Winter Picnic, a casual evening of fun, games and good food. Newcomers to Burleith are especially welcome, including young families! Long-time residents, plan to welcome the newcomers and catch up with old friends.

The good food represents the "Best of Burleith" - your contributions! Whether your specialty is a main course, dessert or side dish, make that your contribution to the buffet. Beverages and incidentals are provided.

If you bring a main course, it should serve six; a salad, side dish or dessert should serve eight to ten. Since cooking facilities are not available on site, food should be ready to serve (small dishes can be warmed up on site).

Children of all ages are welcome, but call if you have special needs or would like to help entertain the children. The event has always been held in the Lodge at the Visitation School campus, and it looks like it will be there again this year.

This event is arranged and paid for by the BCA - that is, your membership dues! Help is always welcome. Call Peter Pulsifer (337-3065) or Pat Scolaro (338-5321) with questions or to volunteer.

I have several hundred hanging files, with plastic tabs, and some manila folders. All are in perfectly good condition and would be handy for students or someone with a home office. They are free for the taking-just call 338-7579 if you can use any or all.

This new feature of the newsletter, aims to keep the community aware of discussions held and decisions made by the elected Board of the Burleith Citizens Association.

The Board met on Monday, January 31 with ten of fifteen members present. The flu, not the weather, kept people away. Topics discussed included the following:

• Trash. Frustration is high in Burleith and surrounding communities, as supercans are overloaded and trash spills into the alleys. Poorly defined policies and poor communications added to the problems. Carol Schwartz has scheduled a hearing about trash and snow removal policies as complaints were streaming into the Councilmembers' offices. This undtidy situation pointed to the need for more than one supercan for group houses.
• BCA Secretary. Third Vice President Marilyn Reis is taking over the Secretary's duties.
• Board meeting date will continue to be the fourth Wednesday of the month (no change, since the ANC isn't changing its meeting day after all).
• Tot Lot. The Corcoran has not gotten back to us on any plans or ideas. This is of concern since the Tot Lot is a vital part of this Community.
• Ellington School Parking. DPW has approved the change in residential parking on streets surrounding the school pending a petition requiring approval of 51% of neighbors on affected streets. Until the petition is received, residential sticker parking will not be enforced on the Ellington side of R St and 35th St. Peter Pulsifer and Charles Mallett to follow through.
• Evans Noise Legislation is waiting for Councilmember Sharon Ambrose (she heads committee on Consumer and Regulatory Affairs) to schedule a hearing.
• February Indoor Picnic. Peter Pulsifer will head Committee with help from others. Mark the date: Saturday, February 26.
• By-Laws with recent changes require re-printing.
• GU Ten Year Plan is being reviewed and evaluated by Pat Scolaro and Bonnie Hardy. Issues include increased enrollment with no additional housing, purchase of GU Hospital by MedStar, the 38th Street entrance, and Reservoir Road traffic. Surrounding Communities have same reservations as Burleith regarding this plan. Property Values are at stake if the community is adversely affected.
• GU Dean Jim Donahue is leaving on July 1 to become President of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. Residents are encouraged to acknowledge this on an individual basis. In the search for a replacement for Dean Donahue, the title has been upgraded: the new "Dean" will be a Vice President. Reportedly, students have been given significant input in the selection process.
• Concern about resident participation, poor attendance at meetings, lack of interest in community events, etc. prompted a discussion on the role of the BCA and the need to define the needs of the residents, particularly newer residents, both singles and young families. What are the important issues for most people? (Quality of life and property values were quickly identified). Are monthly meetings important? Would quarterly meetings meet our needs? What about the time, topics, speakers at meetings, events? There was a consensus that monthly meetings are important for continuity and communications. This is an important issue and it was agreed that we should have our own Burleith Summit -just like the Mayor's. It is scheduled for the March 8 meeting and we look for a large attendance of all Burleith residents.
• Loose Dogs. Dogs are being let loose to run on the Ellington fields, and are chasing people on the track. One runner was bitten. A proposal was made that the city be asked to enforce the leash laws. This will be discussed at the February 9 meeting.

At its January 12 the BCA membership took a strong position against the 500 student increase in the enrollment cap that Georgetown University has proposed as part of its new campus plan. BCA President Pat Scolaro reported on the campus plan, which has several other proposals of particular concern to Burleith. No action was taken on the other proposals, however.

The following motion, which had been approved by the Board, was passed unanimously by the assembly:

The Burleith Citizens Association expresses its opposition to any increase in the Georgetown University student enrollment cap for the next ten years.

A proposed amendment was rejected that would have allowed an enrollment increase as long as the additional students were housed on campus. It was felt that the University's operations were already of such large magnitude and had such an impact in the neighborhood that Burleith could not support an increase in size.

It is expected that the Campus Plan will be submitted in late January and have a hearing at the Board of Zoning Adjustment in June or July.

Theresa Lewis, Chief of Staff at the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA), was the special guest at the January 12 BCA meeting. She described significant improvements being made at what had been a moribund agency: "This Mayor has a whole new perspective on what's valuable." By the end of March, a newly-trained cadre of housing inspectors will be ready for action, and their first priority will be Burleith. They plan to have inspectors in Burleith at that time for at least three nights per week.

Ms. Lewis was introduced as "Ms. Housing Inspector" by Guy Gwynne, who had invited her, because of her many years of experience and her encyclopedic memory. She said she came to speak because she felt the city "owed Burleith." She has been aware for many years of the housing problems here, but has seen no way to address them. Recently, new DCRA head Lloyd Jordan returned from Ward 2 and 3 town meetings and told senior managers to "come up with a strategy" to attack the kind of quality of life problems we suffer from in Burleith.

The problem has many elements. Inspectors have been inappropriately trained, both in terms of what to look for in a community like Burleith and in terms of how to gather good evidence of violations. At the hearings on alleged violations, neither inspectors nor citizens have been notified and had the opportunity to attend, so the people who know the situation best are not giving evidence. Conflicting regulations are written that don't support the zoning laws; and the Board of Zoning Adjustment, which acts as the court of appeals for violations, has been reluctant to take a stand to clean things up. People are able to manipulate the system.

Addressing the problem, DCRA staff attorneys wrote instructions for inspectors on how to get proper evidence for violations. Inspectors were tested on their knowledge of occupancy rules (what constitutes a family) and code requirements for basement apartments, and almost all failed. In response, a group of ten inspectors was selected and given training with construction inspectors, with the Caddel Code for one- and two-family residences. They will be trained to look for zoning violations like faulty construction and oversize garages. Position descriptions for the inspectors are being rewritten, and they will have to be certified by the national association BOCA. So far, each has received about 200 hours of training. Inspector training should be completed by the end of February, and the new system will be in place by the end of March.

As a result of this effort, no violations will be ignored. The retrained inspectors should not respond to a violation by saying, "that's DPW's problem." Furthermore, the training will enable the inspectors to go to court and defend their citations on the basis of law.

Though staffing is far below levels of a decade ago (there were once over 150 inspectors citywide, now there are about 50), new inspectors are being hired (five new positions are being filled now). Inspector hours are being changed, so there are split shifts, the first from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. (Before this, when inspectors were on duty, most people were not at home; and most illegal construction is done after hours). They have done weekend inspections for about three years, as part of the Mayor commitment to neighborhood stabilization.

Contrary to earlier thinking, inspectors are entitled to enter a house to inspect. Residents can refuse entry at a particular time, but not unreasonably or indefinitely. The last Burleith inspections were about a year ago, and these cases are now either before the BZA or the DCRA Adjudication office. There has been some delay in adjudication because an administrative judge was removed about four months ago and not yet replaced.

There was a discussion at the meeting of occupancy limits: How many people can live in a house? The simple answer is that it depends on the habitable area (living area excluding halls, bathrooms, closet and kitchen): 70 square feet for the first person, 50 square feet for each additional person. This would allow vast numbers in a typical Burleith house, but they apply primarily to how large a family can be before it's unsafe for them to occupy the house. The issue in Burleith, zoned for single family occupancy, is more "what constitutes a family?"

Regulations are still in conflict. For example, the housing regulations state that five or more roomers is a "rooming house" that requires approval and a Certificate of Occupancy. The zoning regulations say three of more roomers defines a rooming house, but also state that up to six unrelated individuals can constitute a "family" (and not a rooming house).

The Omnibus Reform Act made things worse by blurring distinctions. Group houses fall under the "residential transient" class of licenses; all approvals will be endorsements on a single license. Any individual or corporation making over $2,000 in gross profit must have a license. However, the license must ordinarily be granted; it doesn't restrict the use. Ms. Lewis is very concerned that these licenses may give the appearance that an establishment is safe and sanctioned when it's not.

There was some dispute over whether citing student houses for excessive occupancy would violate the DC Human Rights Law, which says that ``matriculation status'' is protected. (This argument was featured in the recent dispute about the proposed zoning overlay). Ms. Lewis does not think this would be a problem.

DCRA is streamlining and automating its operations. In the next two months, the building permit process will be completely automated. After testing, by late May or early June, all permit information should be available on the Web. Anyone who suspects a construction project is not properly permitted will be able to check the records over the Internet.

Ms. Lewis acknowledged serious problems with how DCRA answers the telephones. She is now training seven staff members with the gadget-rich phones at their new offices. These staff members will rotate duties until they've worked at every desk, so eventually they should be able to give correct answers without needing to transfer calls.

The Hardy Middle School Local School Restructuring Team (LSRT) is holding community meetings to plan the coming year. The District has implemented a new way of funding the schools. As a result, individual schools now have a great deal of control and responsibility with the resources allocated to the school, and they can design a school program to meet the needs of their students.

The LSRT will be working on a draft plan and budget to share with the school community before submitting it to the central schools office.

The first meeting was on January 31. The second meeting will be on

Thursday, February 24 at 8:30 p.m.

in the Hardy School Library.

Meeting attendees will learn what a local school plan is and what the Hardy School community is planning to do in the next year.

Wednesday, February 9, 2000, 7:00 p.m. (Snow date: February 16)
Washington International School

Meet new PSA 205 leader Lt. Pat Burke Learn about the University campus plan Help plan the Burleith summit!!

Meet your neighbors, share your concerns and learn what you can do about them!

All are Welcome - Refreshments served

Route and service changes were introduced on the D2 and D4 routes last fall. The big change was on the D2 route, where traditional large buses were replaced by new small buses, and the crosstown bus route was largely eliminated in favor of a shorter shuttle route ending at the Dupont Circle Metro station.

Implementation of the changes has not been smooth. The new buses have had numerous maintenance problems, which have kept them off the road and forced the use of the large buses at times. Especially noticeable to residents is the deafening screech of the brakes, a problem that still persists. Reportedly, Metro has several hundred of these buses in service on suburban routes, and they have been consistently plagued by maintenance problems.

When the service changes were made, Metro promised to hold a meeting after several months to see how things were going. That meeting has now been scheduled:

Wednesday, March 1, 2000, 7:30 PM

WMATA Meeting Room 600 5th Street NW

The public meeting will include consideration of the changes on the D2, D4, H2, and H4 routes.

At the meeting, WMATA staff will present a report on operation of the bus service to date, including ridership data, issues with the small buses, and additional schedule adjustments implemented in December or planned for this year. Ample time will be allowed for comments and questions from those in attendance. For more information, call Fairfax McCandlish at 962-1092.

by Suzi Gookin

Upon trying to maneuver my way down the S and 38th Street sidewalks the day of the first snowstorm, I thought I should write this suggestion:

Unless you can sweep the sidewalks within approximately five or six hours after it snows, forget it; it's safer to walk on soft snowy sidewalks than those that were shoveled too late, leaving a slippery and dangerous layer of ice.

Having dinned canvas hiking boots, I felt much safer walking in the unshoveled snow beside the walks!

by Peter Pulsifer

Regardless of what you might read elsewhere in this Newsletter, please, shovel your walk! The law clearly says the occupants of a house (owners or renters, too!) are responsible for clearing the sidewalk. If you fail to do so, not only are you subject to a fine, but you could be liable if anybody falls and is injured.

Burleith is blessed with many pedestrians (including dog-walkers, joggers and babies), and the many unshoveled walks have created a serious hardship for many. It has become common in the past two weeks to see people abandon the untamed sidewalks and walk down the middle of the street, a truly dangerous thing to do when curbside drifts have funneled all the cars onto a single slippery lane.

The best strategy is to shovel early, and add salt. If you wait, the snow only gets packed down and icy.

Burleithians learned probably more than they wanted to know about the connection between snow and trash as a result of the recent winter weather. First, the Martin Luther King holiday delayed trash pickup; then a snowstorm diverted sanitation workers onto plows; then a blizzard further tied up crews and made alleys impassible. Many houses are now approaching their third week without garbage service. Almost in desperation, the city has offered to pick up on the regular trash day from the front curbside until the snow and ice have thawed sufficiently from alleys to allow garbage trucks through. The BCA has put up notices throughout Burleith to alert residents to the situation.

At the Feb. 1 ANC meeting (orginally scheduled for Jan. 26 but snowed out), two senior solid waste administrators, Tom Henderson and Tony Duckett, appeared to explain their situation and hear complaints. Mr. Henderson recently arrived from Ft. Lauderdale to direct DC garbage pickup, and has had a real introduction to northern winter weather. In DC, plows are operated by sanitation employees. They work two 12 hour shifts, with the first taken by street and alley cleaning and the second by garbage collection workers. These are supported by some contract plows, but they mostly operate downtown. The department attempts to do both plowing and garbage collection, but with heavy snow there's just not enough manpower. Right now, all personnel are fairly fatigued.

At present, 95% of the alleys in the city are totally inaccessible, with ice sometimes a foot deep. (The city has never plowed the alleys.) Some trucks have ventured into the alleys, but there has been one accident and one truck that had to be dug out, so DPW is now waiting for warm weather. Further complicating trash collection efforts are the large number of trucks that are reportedly disabled by poor maintenance and the cold weather.

There's no question that DPW is working heroically, and its workers should be commended. But this situation should serve as a wake-up call to the Williams administration, that it must do better planning-including possibly budgeting more contract plows-and invest in the equipment to support their dedicated employees.

Traffic

At the February 2 quarterly meeting between the Washington International School and all surrounding communities, the school announced preliminary results of a traffic study that was conducted over the week of November 15-19. The traffic study, approved by the WIS Liaison Committee, included one-day human observations of traffic at 36th and R St and full-week automated counting of all cars entering the WIS driveway. The study was required by the Development Agreement to show that the goals of the agreement had been met for mitigating the disruption caused by school-related traffic. It will serve as the basis for a later decision by the Liaison Committee on whether to increase the WIS enrollment cap to 475 from the current 375 students.

At the meeting, the traffic study was attacked for being too restricted and too focused on Burleith. Barbara Zartman, of Cloisters East, complained that there were no observations of 37th and Reservoir Rd, or at 35th and Reservoir, congested intersections where some WIS traffic must pass, But there are apparently no pre-WIS measurements at those intersections for comparison, and even if there were, the effect of the school is probably negligible compared to other factors. (One such important factor now is the Q St bridge construction). Reservoir Rd carries roughly 1500 cars eastbound in the morning rush hour, while the new traffic study showed that WIS added no more than 76 new cars to this. The narrow, low-capacity intersection of 36th and R St is undoubtedly where the impact of the school is greatest.

Because of changes in the standard traffic engineering software since the Agreement was signed, no direct comparison can be made between the delay forecasts there and the new measurements. However, it appears that the current traffic situation is not bad, and would not appreciably worsen if the enrollment were increased. Measured delay at the intersection in the peak morning hour (8-9 a.m.) is 10.5 seconds, and with the increase it would grow to 11.5 seconds, both rating a "B" grade (best is "A"). Observed queues were usually no more than 3 cars.

During the peak morning hour, 190 cars entered WIS on average, with 40% coming from 37th and R, 30% coming from 35th and R, 20% coming south on 36th St and 10% coming north on 36th St.

There remains a significant problem around 3:30 in the afternoon, when parents arrive early and wait, forming a line of cars that stretches onto R St. The school is struggling to find a solution, and posts an employee at the intersection to keep through traffic moving.

The final traffic study will be released, and the Liaison Committee will meet probably sometime in the next month to consider whether to allow the enrollment increase.

New construction

Meanwhile, WIS is looking ahead to finishing construction on the building. Budget constraints forced them to leave off part of the approved design, but plans are now being drawn and funds are being sought to complete the third floor on the Reservoir Rd side. The additional space will be used for music, science and some classrooms. Only when this is completed will WIS be able to accommodate its ultimate goal of about 425 students (though they seek a 475 student cap, they don't plan to fill it; current enrollment is about 360).

Before construction can start, about $200,000 must be raised. If fundraising is successful, construction would begin immediately after school ends in the spring. Most work would be done over the summer, but construction would continue through January. There would be no demolition, no road cuts, no damage to landscaping. At this point, construction this year seems possible, but unlikely.

For more information or to comment on WIS operations, contact BCA liaison committee members Charlotte Kroll, 333-7676, Larry Schaffner, 333-8739, or Peter Pulsifer, 337-3065.

The Washington International School is looking for local residents interested in full or part-time employment. Possible opportunities include part-time receptionist or office worker, as well as substitute teacher. Call to see what positions are available and their specific qualifications. Contact Michelle Broadie, 243-1700, fax: 243-1797 or email broadie@wis.edu.

Note! New non-emergency police number: Dial 311

The Fillmore Arts Workshop has announced its Spring 2000 After School Program, open to any metropolitan area child. Fillmore is located at the Hardy/Fillmore building at 35th and T Streets-easy walking distance to anywhere in Burleith. Financial assistance is available and should be requested directly from the Director, Sara Friendly. There are classes for children from ages 5 to 16 years. Classes begin on February 7, 8 and 10 and run for 9 weeks. Most 9-week classes cost $85, but a few are cheaper and a few more expensive.

Classes include gymnastics, music, dance (ballet), drama, and art (sculpting and drawing). For older children, there are classes in digital arts (grades 3-5) and a popular social dancing class (grades 6-8). Several classes are designed to allow children and parents to learn together.

Music lessons are also available in piano, violin and voice at Fillmore. After-school ensembles are also open to interested children (grade 3 and older) for a fee: the string sinfonia, a chorus, and a jazz ensemble (open by audition to grade 4 and older).

For more information, or to get on the mailing list for future programs, call 333-8340.

Commander Peter Newsham, the new head of the Second Police District, greeted the BCA at the January 12 meeting. Commander Newsham has an email address, which he checks at home: MPDC2DCMDR@aol.com; his telephone number is 282-0042.

Burleith's Police Service Area (PSA) 205 has also had a change in command. Assistant Chief Shannon Cockett has asked PSA 205 leader Lt. Tommie Hayes to accompany her in her new duty. Replacing Lt. Hayes will be Lt. Pat Burke, who will resume his double duty as leader of both PSA 205 and PSA 206 (Georgetown). Lt. Burke can be reached via voice mail at 282-1162 box 25147; his office number is 282-0055.

There will be a PSA 205 community meeting on Tuesday, February 28 at 6 p.m. at St. Luke's Church (Wisconsin Ave. and Calvert St.).

Cmdr. Newsham spoke briefly about his goals, and asked the audience to comment on issues they were concerned about. Issues mentioned by residents:

• Trucks on 37th Street, and the need for better signage.
• Noise and rowdy parties. Cmdr. Newsham commented that the Chief has "cracked down" on overtime, and it's unlikely that the party overtime we had last year will be repeated unless we really fight for it.
• Rudeness by police. A resident reported that a guest of hers had been rudely treated by an officer. Cmdr. Newsham stressed that any less-than-professional conduct should be reported directly to him.
• Destruction of mailbox at 37th and R St. This vandalism was being investigated by US Postal Service Police.

NAMES OF MEMBERS WILL BE PUBLISHED NEXT MONTH!