From DPW:
“The Department of Public Works (DPW) will resume residential mechanical street sweeping on Thursday, March 1. To ensure streets are swept thoroughly, motorists are asked to obey the signs posted with the days of the week and hours of the day when parking restrictions will be enforced. The fine for violating this restriction is $45. Signs posted along street sweeping routes indicate that the program runs from March 1 through October 31. (more…)
Photo by PoPville flickr user dullshick
From the Mayor’s Office:
“Mayor Bowser today celebrated that Washington, DC is now home to at least 700,000 residents. In December, the Bowser Administration announced that, according to new U.S. Census Bureau estimates, Washington, DC was quickly approaching 700,000 residents. Based on calculations by the DC Office of Planning’s State Data Center, it was predicted that the District would hit 700,000 residents in February 2018. (more…)
“Dear PoPville,
DC tax question for you….I’m planning a client event and one of the new venues on the SW waterfront are trying to tell me that ‘services charges’ are taxable. We’re talking about a $20K event and it blows my mind that the sales manager is telling me this. So, like when you go to a restaurant and your tab is $20…that includes tax. You put ‘service charge or gratuity’ of $4 and the final is $24. In the case if this venue, they are putting 10% tax on the $4.
D.C. Municipal Regulations (Last Updated: June 21, 2017)
Title 9. TAXATION AND ASSESSMENTS
Chapter 9-4. SALES AND USE TAXES
“Charges for room service and other service charges in connection with the serving of food or beverages (including alcoholic beverages) in hotels, motels, inns, cafes, bars, and similar establishments where food or drink are served shall be subject to tax under § 116 of the Act.”
You heard of this before? I’ve been here 10 years, thrown events and have never been charged this. Any help is appreciated.”
The following was written by PoPville contributor David McAuley, founder of Short Articles about Long Meetings.
photos from the files of DC’s Office of Zoning
The historical preservation and zoning relief necessary to build an eight-story, 242-unit apartment building at 2122 14th Street NW (between V and W Streets) received endorsement from a committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street on February 20. ANC1B’s Zoning, Preservation and Development Committee heard a presentation of a revised design by the developers of the long-time site of Martha’s Table, and then heard objections from members of the community. (more…)
From the Mayor’s Office:
“Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Attorney General Karl A. Racine issued the statements below regarding a $3.5 million settlement agreement the District reached with the family of the late Terrence Sterling. The agreement resolves a lawsuit filed by the family against the District in the wake of Mr. Sterling’s 2016 shooting death at the hands of a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer.
Statement from Mayor Bowser: (more…)
via DCPS
Update:
Breaking: DC Public Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson will resign by the end of today in the wake of revelations hat he violated a school policy to enroll his daughter in a coveted high school, according to District government officials.
— Peter Jamison (@PeteJamison) February 20, 2018
“Dear PoPville,
Any plans to have a posting on the Antwan Wilson scandal? The story may have gotten somewhat buried with its late release the Friday afternoon before a 3-day weekend. I’d think this story would be of great interest to DCPS parents and others concerned about the integrity and fairness expected from our school and other officials.”
The Washington Post reported:
“By Tuesday morning, seven members of the D.C. Council – a majority – said Chancellor Antwan Wilson should step down following revelations that he sought special treatment to enroll his daughter in a top D.C. high school, just two months after Wilson crafted rules prohibiting such behavior.”
From Councilmember Mary Cheh’s Office:
“There are increasing calls for DCPS Chancellor Wilson to resign following news that he violated his own policy and sought a preferential placement for his daughter. Residents are angry and that’s understandable. But I think the Chancellor should be replaced for reasons that go well beyond the placement issue. (more…)
The following was written by PoPville contributor David McAuley, founder of Short Articles about Long Meetings.
Photo of the Gryphon in July 2017 from google street view
A team of developers briefed Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont at its regular monthly meeting February 14 on its plans for the proposed “Penelope Hotel” at 1337 Connecticut Avenue NW, south of Dupont Circle. The space currently hosts “The Gryphon” bar and restaurant.
Photo by David McAuley
As currently planned, the hotel will have 73 “keys” and space for a bar/restaurant on the Connecticut Avenue. Since it is located on a wedge-shaped block, it will have entrances both on Connecticut Avenue and 18th Street.
Felipe Serpa, Development Manager at Valor Development, told the ANC the developers were close to a deal with a hotel operator and would be “back in front of you guys” when the deal was finalized.
The purpose of the briefing was to present the construction schedule and let the ANC know about possible disruptions to Dupont life, such as the closing of traffic lanes on 18th Street and when construction cranes will be used. The developers are adding an additional floor to the existing five-story building.
Exterior construction work is scheduled to begin on April and end in February 2019. (more…)
Photo by PoPville flickr user Victoria Pickering
“Dear PoPville,
Tuesday I went to the local police station to fill out a form for reserved parking for an upcoming move in Columbia Heights. In addition to having to pay $55 to reserve a parking space – which seems excessive on its own – I got a voicemail today from a moving company who got my name/number from the public occupancy moving truck permit list offering moving services to me.
So unless I’m mistaken, I paid and reserved parking and the city has now given out my contact information. Surely this must be unethical on the part of the city? Is there something I’m missing here?”
“Dear PoPville,
This scooter appeared in our alley about a month ago. It has a lock, but none of the neighbors know anything about it. The city has refused to remove it saying it doesn’t meet their standards for an abandoned vehicle.
What’s our next move here?”
Photo by PoPville flickr user Rusty Shuffelton
“Dear PoPville,
My wife, cats, and I aren’t sure how to get help for this situation. We live in a quad-plex apartment in Kingman Park and we work from home. The quad-plex next door to us has been undergoing renovations including a full basement dig out. The contractor did not take any steps to ventilate the carbon monoxide from the building. Since he operated the excavator equipment inside the empty shell of the building, the carbon monoxide built up to a level high enough that it set off the carbon monoxide detector in my apartment.
Despite the firewall between our “buildings”, there’s a pretty clear airflow between our carpet and baseboard running the length of the common wall between our buildings. I noticed it initially a couple months ago when the neighboring building was gutted, so their air was suddenly much colder and we could feel it seeping into our apartment.
If my combo smoke/CO alarm is to be believed, it doesn’t alarm until it reaches 400ppm. I very unwisely attempted to silence the alarm the first time it went off. It went off on 3 separate days, usually for several hours at a time. I bought a dedicated CO alarm from Amazon as validation and immediately it read 66ppm inside my apartment. On multiple days since receiving this dedicated alarm, I have observed readings in the 50 to 60ppm range inside my apartment.
I have gone next door and explained to the foreman that they are creating an extremely dangerous situation. I’ve tried to explain that it’s even more unhealthy for his crew. (more…)