NEW FARMERS MARKET: A new "producers only" farmers market is scheduled to begin May 31 at Lamont Plaza in Mount Pleasant’s commercial corridor. The market, to be operated by the Regional Food Council in cooperation with the Mount Pleasant Main Street program, will operate from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Rules for the market require all goods sold to be produced within 125 miles of the Capital Beltway and all fruits and vegetables to be "home grown."

Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1D voted unanimously at its April 7 meeting to endorse the new farmers market. ANC Vice Chairman Will Grant, noting that the market has widespread support from the neighborhood’s business community, said the commission hopes the market "will encourage Mount Pleasant residents to shop in our neighborhood."

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS LAND DEALS: The quasi-public National Capital Revitalization Corp.’s RLA Revitalization Corp. (RLARC) has scheduled public hearings for April 26 on the proposed disposition of two city-owned land parcels along 14th Street NW. Both hearings will be held at Kelsey Temple Church of God In Christ, 1435 Park Road NW.

At 10 a.m., RLARC members will hear public comments on the proposed sale/lease of Parcel 29, including the historic Tivoli Theater at 14th Street and Park Road NW, to Tivoli Partners LLC. The development group plans a mixed-use development containing a Giant Food store and other retail, office space, arts organization use of the Tivoli, and for-sale townhouse units. Principals of Tivoli Partners are Joseph F. Horning Jr., Sunrise Development Corp., Winston Development Corp., Fort Lincoln Realty Corp. and the Development Corp. of Columbia Heights.

At 1:30 p.m., public comment will be heard on the proposed sale of the Hines Building at 14th and Harvard streets NW to the nonprofit Greater Washington Urban League for $628,000. The local Urban League, currently housed at 3501 14th St. NW, plans to redevelop the site as its future headquarters.

GEORGETOWN BOATHOUSE PLANS: The Washington Canoe Club and the D.C. chapter of the Sierra Club are among groups that are lining up to oppose plans by Georgetown University to build a boathouse for its crew team west of Key Bridge on the Potomac River. Opponents of the university’s plan contend that the private boathouse and protruding dock, to be situated within the C&O Canal National Historic Park, would restrict access to public parkland and public use of the Potomac River.

Georgetown University acquired the land for the proposed boathouse in a 1998 land swap with the National Park Service, contingent upon the rezoning of the parkland to accommodate a boathouse. A public hearing on a joint request from the university and the National Park Service to obtain the appropriate zoning is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. May 19 before the D.C. Zoning Commission in Room 220-South at One Judiciary square, 441 Fourth St. NW.

EARTH DAY CLEANUP: Two days of parkland cleanup, combined with sessions on exotic and invasive plant identification training, are planned along the Whitehaven Parkway for April 26 and 28. Persons interested in helping with the cleanup should meet at Foxhall Road and Whitehaven Parkway at 10 a.m. on either day and are advised to dress appropriately and bring water and a brown bag lunch. Spaces are limited for the plant identification training and may be reserved by calling (202) 338-9534.

PETWORTH METRO DEVELOPMENT: Developer Jay Hellman of the Hellman Companies will discuss his proposal for retail development near the Petworth Metro station during the May 7 meeting of the North Columbia Heights Civic Association. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Raymond Elementary School, 915 Spring Road NW.

Hellman has proposed constructing a two-story building with a turret at Georgia and New Hampshire avenues NW, compatible with surrounding architecture, along with retail partner Allied Domecq, corporate parent of Dunkin Donuts, Baskin Robbins and Togo’s Great Sandwiches.

ANC CHAIRMAN DISPUTE: Six members of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 5B have requested a special meeting on April 30 to consider the proposed removal of Commissioner Regina James as the ANC’s chairman. The special meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Langdon Recreation Center, 2901 20th St. NE.

The meeting to oust James was first requested in a letter, dated April 2, addressed to the chairman from fellow Commissioners Rayseen Woodland and Rhonda Chappelle. Chappelle was chairman of the ANC in 2002. A subsequent letter requesting the chairman’s removal was submitted by Woodland, Chappelle and Commissioners William Shelton, Rebecca Scates, Wilhemina Lawson and Kathy Henderson. D.C. law requires at least half of an ANC’s members to request a special meeting to remove an officer; ANC 5B has 12 commissioners.

In a written response to Woodland and Chappelle, dated April 4, James charged that the effort to remove her as ANC chairman "is an orchestrated move in an attempt to cripple the efforts of the current chairperson’s involvement on behalf of the commission and community concerning the [Board of Zoning Adjustment] appeals process."

ANC 5B, under James’ leadership, has appealed to the Board of Zoning Adjustment to revoke building permits issued for a controversial halfway house for soon-to-be-released felons at 2210 Adams Place NE. Opponents of the halfway house contend that the site’s zoning does not permit a community-based residential facility, as the city has in the past defined halfway houses, and that the building permit applications failed to correctly identify the intended use of the site. Chappelle was among elected officials who last year accepted a trip to Florida from Bannum Inc., the contractor for the proposed Federal Bureau of Prisons halfway house, to visit one of the company’s facilities there.

The BZA hearing on the appeal is scheduled for April 22. Woodland and Chappelle’s original letter informed James that they had called a special meeting for April 10 to remove her as commission chairman. The request for James’ removal was resubmitted by six commissioners, with enumerated charges, and the special meeting rescheduled after James informed Woodland and Chappelle that their original request did not comply with D.C. law.

REDEVELOPING H STREET: A series of three public meetings is planned by Advisory Neighborhood Commissions 6A and 6C, which share jurisdiction over the H Street NE area, to seek public consensus and make recommendations on the city’s H Street Strategic Development Plan for improving the long-neglected commercial corridor.

The first two meetings will be held by the ANCs’ zoning commissions and the last meeting will be a joint meeting of the two full commissions. The meetings will be held:

• May 1 at 6:30 p.m. at Capital Children’s Museum, 800 Third St. NE.
• May 22 at 6:30 p.m. at J.O. Wilson Elementary School, 660 K St. NE.
• June 25 at 6:30 p.m. at Capital Children’s Museum.

The strategic plan, completed by the D.C. Office of Planning in March, requires zoning changes along the commercial corridor and proposes creation of a zoning overlay district for the area. The two ANCs decided to work together on formulating their H Street recommendations to the D.C. Zoning Commission, which must approve any changes. The effort is aimed at maintaining the standard of "great weight" that D.C. government agencies are legally required to give to ANC recommendations, a standard that would be diminished if the two ANCs were to submit competing concerns.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CELEBRATION: Live music and a local awards presentation will be part of National Community Economic Development Day on April 23 in the East River Park Shopping Center parking lot near Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road NE.

The annual event, which will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., brings together local and national community development leaders, elected officials and residents to honor achievements and address the future of community development across the country. This year’s theme is "Keeping the FOCUS (Failies, Opportunities, Collaboration, Unity, Strength)."

The Marshall Heights Community Development Organization was selected to host this year’s celebration by the National Congress for Community Economic Development, which sponsors the event.

ST. ELIZABETH’S DEVELOPMENT: City officials will hold one of a series of planning workshops April 26 to seek public comment on how the 300-acre St. Elizabeth’s Hospital campus should be redeveloped. A team of planners and architects from the Urban Land Institute and RTKL, a planning and architectural firm, are working with the D.C. Office of Planning to devise a final plan for the site by this fall.

The April 26 workshop, to be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the St. Elizabeth’s Chapel, will focus on vision and goals, challenges and opportunities, and development scenarios. Officials said participants should use the main entrance, Gate 4, on the fenced hospital campus at 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE. The hospital is located adjacent to the Congress Heights Metro station on the Green Line.

Other public workshops are planned on May 31 and at a time to be determined in June. City planners expect to give a public presentation of the final plan in September.

In January, Mayor Anthony A. Williams kicked off the St. Elizabeth’s Framework Plan by encouraging public participation in creating "a place that strengthens community, creates new jobs and provides amenities for our citizens." Shortly after becoming mayor in 1999, Williams proposed moving the University of the District of Columbia from Connecticut Avenue NW to the historic St. Elizabeth’s west campus with its sweeping view of Washington, but he was heavily criticized for failing to seek public input on the proposal and withdrew it.

WHEELER CREEK COMMUNITY DAY: Residents will celebrate the completion of Wheeler Creek Estates, a redevelopment of the former Valley Green and Skytower public housing projects site overlooking Oxon Creek on Wheeler Road SE, during the first annual Wheeler Creek Community Day on April 26. The day-long event, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., will feature free recreational activities, a fashion show, a talent show and festival vendors selling their wares.

"We really just want everyone to come out and enjoy the day together," said Janice Tucker, resident services coordinator for the Wheeler Creek Community Development Corp. "This is our first event since completing the physical development. ...We want to celebrate as a community all that we have accomplished."

The CDC recently received a $5,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help expand and fund operation of its farm stand for a second year. The farm stand will be open 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays from June 4 through Nov. 5 behind the Senior Building. The farm stand accepts USDA food vouchers.

Copyright 2003, The Common Denominator