St Martins church is hoping to build a large low income housing project on T street NE. Its become quite the issue in Eckington, just across the street from Bloomingdale. i've mentioned it a few times.here
here
here
here
and here
I don't pretend to know the full details, but i have been reading the Eckington Listserv and i have received a bunch of flyers from st martins.
The war between the two sides has been going on for a few months now. Now it seems that all who oppose the project, and have expressed such opposition on the Ward 5 listserve, have been banned from that listserv.
St Martins claims to have community support, but their support seems to only exist in the Ward 5 listserve, and in the st martins congregation, which many neighbors claim is mostly non residents of the community. St Martins has been engaging in very questionable tactics. Their use ( and ANC rep Cleopatra Jones') of the phrase "workforce housing" is one of their shady spins on the project. The is no such designation, and no possible means of its insurance. It is a lie that is meant to paint the project in a more positive hue.
I'd post a picture of the project, but my requests for an image from st martins have been repeatedly ignored. Perhaps i would be less skeptical of this project if St Martins was more forthcoming and open. they have not been treating this community fairly and will not receive the proper support until they do.
as have been my questions regarding the project to vincent orange and cleopatra jones.
theres a big breakdown in community happeing over here.its very sad
i, too, have been watching from the wings. as a "new" (if we're going to be labeling us based on tenure, measured in decades) resident i have to say i've very disappointed in cleopatra, st martins and some of the supporters of the project. they're making this out to be an anti-affordable housing issue when it's not that. it seems to be an anti-:
ReplyDelete1. very high density in R4 zoning
2. non-mixed income
3. large scale rental complex
it really is shameful how some of the PR people for the project are censoring opposition and misrepresenting "support" for the project.
my only hope is that more people start paying attention and that V Orange realizes this is an opportunity to broker a win-win compromise in an election year... not an opportunity to score cheap "affordable housing" points.
to me, its just #1 and #2 on your list.
ReplyDeleteits the proven track record of failure for high density low income housing, (with enclossed courtyards to boot!)
that i find the most disturbing.
so even #1 is only a slight concern for me.
but i live 3 blocks away, not on the street itself.
i moved to my street because of the scale of buildings here. i hope they stay that way.
Thanks for writing about this. As one of the folks booted from the Ward 5 listserv (I never stated if I was for or against the project, I just called Sharon Robinson and her PR firm out for banning those that were vocally against), I plan on writing about this myself. I don't live that close to the proposed development, but I know the importance of truly engaging the community in dialogue. The whole thing stinks of propaganda and lies, and that's not a good way to get in with the neighbors.
ReplyDeleteyeah, its a shame St Martins is employing the tactics that they are. we really do need affordable housing in the district. but we need transparency and honesty too. they are causing a rift that doesnt need to be.
ReplyDeletefor me, the issue is all three. the first and the third are similar, but a little different. the scale of the thing is absurd compared to the surrounding blocks. that's a problem in itself. however, high density without an ownership stake in the property also seems like a bad idea to me... what's the incentive to keep the property up?
ReplyDeletemy biggest issue is the non-mixed income. that's now believed to be so crucial to these types of developments that it boggles the mind that CCS and St Martins aren't pursuing it. I understand they want to create as much housing as possible, but selling market rate units creates more funds to be reinvested in additional housing.
my pet-peeve with this is that the PR people keep labeling this "mixed-income" "affordable" and "workforce" housing. yes, there is variation in income caps, but they're all relatively low. true mixed income means some low and some high (like, say, above or even at the median for the area, for instance). second, it's not really workforce housing as the income caps are easily exceeded by many jobs in DC that sorely need housing: police, firemen, teachers, city employees, federal employees, etc.
the tactics by those that St Martin's are paying to help get the deal done (Sharon Robinson, Neal Drobenare, etc) are very disconcerting. i cannot say that strongly enough.
To whom should we email our opinion about the development? Is there a contact at the zoning board?
ReplyDelete-JM
"my biggest issue is the non-mixed income. that's now believed to be so crucial to these types of developments that it boggles the mind that CCS and St Martins aren't pursuing it."
ReplyDeleteWhat is so incredible to me is that if you ask them why the project isn't mixed income, they come back at you like asking the question in the first place defines you as anti-affordable housing.
mr
Because of the St. Martin's thing I've almost stopped reading the Eckington listserv and I'm not even on the Ward 5 listserv (should be but what's the point if I'm probably gonna get kicked off?).
ReplyDeleteZoning exists for a reason. I like the low density residental units that surround me. It keeps it so I can know who my neighbors are and folks are less anonymous.
Great topic. Thanks for providing a public discussion of this issue where the participants don't fear being banned.
ReplyDeleteUsually I'm in favor of projects that increase DC's housing stock. However, creating project this large that's not mixed income means we've learned nothing from the past and that's sad.
My biggest beef with them is the "if you're not with us, you're against us, the poor, the elderly, etc". Right, everyone that wants a modified plan is against that... it's actually the opposite, I would argue.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty clear that other high density low income housing projects actually were a disservice to the people that lived in them. How can trying to get a model that has proven to be suboptimal for occupants be in the residents' best interest?
It's bizarre how both sides seem to be talking about the same goals and interests, yet it's a take-it-or-leave it from CCS and St Martins. There's some weird prejudice going on because supporters think that those who oppose the project are incapable of actually supporting affordable house-- which is completely unfounded and untrue.
In the end I really blame the two aforementioned individuals working on behalf of St Martins. Their goal and strategy has seemed to be, foremost, divide the community and then conquer.
truxtonian.
ReplyDeletetrue words. i support government assisted housing, even in my neighborhood. but yep, what you say rings true. i wonder if the ellen wilson project got flack in the devo stage.
as far as contacting people.
contact the dc council, and your reps.