DC Government

Dear PoP – DC Needs to Rethink Its Sidewalk Clearing Laws

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Suse_dc

The following was written by Josh Glasstetter in American City.

Snow Excuse

Right now, the city is inadvertently letting sidewalk scofflaws off the hook. If a sidewalk isn’t cleared, the city is supposed to clear it and charge the cost to the responsible party—plus a $25 maximum fine. That sounds good in theory, but the city simply doesn’t have a shovel-wielding army to unleash on city sidewalks. The result is that many sidewalks go uncleared, and nobody pays for it—except for the city’s pedestrians.

Washington needs an ordinance that has teeth and can be enforced. If some residents, landlords, and business owners are unwilling to clear their sidewalks, then the city should be able to issue citations akin to parking tickets. The police and public works employees clearly have their hands full during snowstorms, so citations should be issued primarily by other city employees (e.g. parking enforcement staff). And the city could prioritize enforcement by relying largely on tips from 311.

I, for one, would eagerly phone in a report about about a grocery store near me—fully staffed and open for business, but with unshoveled sidewalks—or the gas stations I’ve passed with plowed and salted lots but unshoveled sidewalks. But without a revised law on the books, there’s little any pedestrian can do but trudge on in disgust.

You can read the full story here. Do you agree? Does DC need to change its shoveling laws?

Dear PoP – Snow Emergency Parking Tickets

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user dullshick

“Dear PoP,

I wonder if you’ve heard from anyone else getting “snow route emergency” tickets after the storm. We parked our car in front of our house in Columbia Heights Friday right at 6:30p.m., as we often do on weekends, and it’s good on that side of the street until rush hour on Monday morning. This weekend, some city government ass literally tunneled a hole through the snow bank in which our car was buried in order to place a $250 ticket on our windshield. The ticket was time stamped just before 3a.m. on Sunday morning. My first question is, WTF? My second question is, is a ticket enforceable if the car was parked legally prior to the declaration of an emergency, and while the car is parked legally the spot suddenly becomes illegal due to weather? Our entire side of the street was lined with cars, as it pretty much is every weekend, but I haven’t confirmed if everyone got the same ticket. As far as we can tell the jackasses doing the ticketing made no effort to tow anyone, so it’s hard to see any point to it other than just a shameless effort to capitalize on the fact that people were immobilized by the storm in order to generate extra revenue. This strikes me as wrong on several levels.

I’d appreciate any insight from you or your readership. We do intend to dispute the ticket, but are still trying
to figure out the best angle.”

Well, I think you may be out of luck here. If a snow emergency has been declared it doesn’t matter if it is a weekend or weekday. (Snow emergency was lifted at 9:30 this morning.) I’d be sure to check the sign on your street. If the sign says snow emergency route then you have to pay. It is brutal to move one’s car in these situations but that’s the law.

What do you guys think am I missing something here?

Snow is Coming – Free Parking and Metro Schedule

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user D©Bloom

According to DDOTDC’s twitter account there will be free parking at the DC USA Complex in Columbia Heights. They write:

“District has identified some free parking for residents at DC USA retail center garage after 10pm Friday night.

Residents can park for free at DC USA throughout the weekend. Cars must be moved by noon on Monday to avoid charges.”

Given that the fee for parking on a snow emergency route is $250 plus towing that is a pretty sweet option.

From WMATA:

Metrorail anticipates opening at 5 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 5. and closing above ground portions of the Metrorail system when snow accumulations reach eight inches or higher. Customers riding Metrorail are encouraged to use care and caution on Friday afternoon while entering and exiting Metrorail stations as station platforms may be wet and slippery due to weather conditions.

In the event above-ground rail service is suspended, the modified underground service will operate every 30 minutes as follows:

Yellow Line – Pentagon to Crystal City only
Red Line – Medical Center to Union Station only
Orange Line – Ballston to Stadium-Armory only
Green Line – Fort Totten to Congress Heights only
Blue Line – Ballston (extended to Blue Line) and Stadium-Armory only

DCCH and DC Bar Pro Bono Program Small Business Brief Advice Legal Clinic- Tuesday, January 26th

By Prince Of Petworth

Sorry for the late notice. From an email:

“The Development Corporation of Columbia Heights and the DC Bar Pro Bono Program are working together to offer a free Small Business Brief Advice Legal Clinic on Tuesday, January 26th, 5pm – 7:30pm. The site is the Columbia Heights Community Center, which is located at 1480 Girard Street, NW. This clinic is for aspiring or existing small business owners. Attendees will meet one-on-one with attorneys for brief advice on any legal issues their businesses may be facing.

If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact Catherine Fisher, DCCH Business Development Specialist at 202-483-4986 or [email protected], or Darryl Maxwell, Staff Attorney for the DC Pro Bono Program at 202-737-4700 ext. 3369 or via email at [email protected].”

Public Meeting on 2 DC Bills Regarding Neighborhood Preservation and Blighted Properties

By Prince Of Petworth

This meeting will take place Wed. Jan. 27th at 2pm in room 412 of 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. The two bills to be discussed are B18-448 which was introduced by Evans and would eliminate the vacant property registration system and focus only on blighted properties.

and

B18-546 which was introduced by Bowser and would keep the vacant property registration system, eliminate the exemptions, allow for an upward sliding scale for registration fee depending on amount of time property is vacant, simplify the citation issuance process, and require property insurance for vacant properties.

You can find links to the full text of the bills here.

Do you think it is a good idea that the $5 – $10 tax penalties be removed for all vacant properties except for those determined to be “blighted.” Which properties do you think should be defined as “blighted”? Do you think the Council should support penalties for vacant properties or only ones deemed blighted?

The Challenges of Building Green Under DCRA’s Watchful Eye by Michael Kiefer

By Prince Of Petworth

Ed. Note: Michael Kiefer from GreenDCRealty will be contributing a monthly column about various aspects of real estate in DC.

GreenSpur Inc.one of Washington’s exciting new green developers recently took on quite possibly one of the more challenging adaptive reuse projects I have seen in years in an effort to demonstrate that “carbon neutral” construction is possible at all levels, even with a dilapidated pre Civil War era home. This adaptive reuse home at 19 4Th St NE being just blocks from the Nation’s Capitol was to be emblematic of the challenges GreenSpur Inc was looking for, however rebuilding of it was the easy part, the real challenges didn’t come about until the layers of DCRA began to unfold.

As most are familiar dealing with local government agencies in large city there are the normal hurdles that one must overcome to get projects up and running and with DCRA the District’s building regulation department is no different, that is until you start proposing elements of sustainability and historical preservation. Preserving the historic makeup of Washington is something we all want to see and be a part of but we seem to be caught in the midst of some conflicts when it comes to proposing some really exciting opportunities to reducing a buildings total life-cycle impact on the environment. DCRA’s primary focus is to make sure that buildings are constructed properly however their knowledge of some fairly mainstream technologies such as geothermal HVAC systems presented this group with a few more challenges.

Greenspur’s president Mark Turner is no stranger to the DC permitting process, he previously worked as Vice President of Construction for Abdo Development. Personally I was surprised when I heard that it took over 6 months, just to acquire a building permit when all you hear is that the Mayor’s office is seeking to find ways of expanding green development and green collar jobs here in the Nation’s Capitol. After acquiring the building permits DCRA proceeded to shut this firms job down twice for lack of permits, which as anyone who has ever attempted to build something in DC knows being shut down does nothing but cost time and money. From my discussions with Turner he mentioned that DCRA finally acknowledged that the proper permits had already been obtained and that it was an internal issue within their department that caused the delay.

Continues after the jump. (more…)

Water main break on 1500 block of Spring Place NW

By Prince Of Petworth


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Thanks to a reader for sending:

“We have a water main break at the 1500 block of Spring Place NW. Residents notified WASA’s emergency line at 8 PM on December 30 and have been without water since 9 PM on December 30. WASA began digging up the street at 8 AM, December 31.

It is a sewer and main line break, “very bad” in WASA’s words.”

From WASA:

“So right now, we have both a water main and sewer break. Spring Place between 16th and Perry is shut down in order to facilitate repairs. Our Water Services Foreman said that crews are working hard to restore water today.”

CM Graham Says Ward 1 Park Projects Back on Track

By Prince Of Petworth

Council Member Jim Graham sends an update of Ward 1 parks in an email:

“After the D.C. Council’s vote on Tuesday, December 14, to rescind $83 million in Parks and Recreation Contracts many of you called and wrote to me asking what that meant for Justice Park, Park View and LeDroit Park.

I am happy to report that these parks construction projects are already “back on track.” The Deputy Mayor for Economic Development has assured me that the $750K Justice Park project and the $1.2 million Park View project will be overseen by Allen Lew − Executive Director of the Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization − and will move forward. This is excellent news given the great speed and success with which Mr. Lew has handled school renovations and constructions.

The final project, the LeDroit Park (former Gage school transformation) will remain in the Deputy Mayor’s portfolio and the contract for the reconstruction will be re-bid and move forward.”

DC Among “Worst States In America For Starting A Business”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo from PoPville flickr user rockcreek

Thanks to a reader for sending this depressing news from the Business Insider:

Small Business Survival Index: 84.795 (#51)

Personal Income Tax Rates: 8.500 (#44t)

Corporate Income Tax Rates: 9.975 (#50)

Property Taxes: 4.13 (#41)

Workers’ Compensation Benefits Per $100 of Covered Wages: 0.26 (#1)

Note: According to the report, the District of Columbia was not included in the studies on the states’ liability systems, eminent domain legislation and highway cost efficiency, so “D.C.’s last place score actually should be even worse.”

From speaking to small business owners this is sadly not surprising. You can see the full list here.

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