SPEAK UP FOR MOVING MCMILLAN FORWARD
Done right, the planned redevelopment of the McMillan Sand Filtration Plant will create the city’s largest new park and foster a vibrant, walkable neighborhood. The planned transformation will sensibly complement the surrounding neighborhoods of Bloomingdale and Stronghold and bring the isolated Washington Hospital Center campus back into the city’s fabric.
While the extensive planning process has built broad community support, the future of the former sand filtration site is still contested.
Some who are opposing the transformation of this long off-limits city-owned parcel have mischaracterized the plans and are urging the D.C. government to halt progress despite the many proposed public benefits.
We need you to step up and show that many fair-minded D.C. residents believe moving McMillan forward in a responsible way is the right thing to do. It will add greater vibrancy to our community, contributing a grand new park (over 6 acres), restoration of historic buildings and landscaping, along with a compatible mix of housing, offices, and retail. It will also create much-needed affordable homes, though the number has diminished as the proposed park has expanded in size.
Please send an email to the office of the D.C. Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, expressing your support for a new McMillan right now!
Subject: Surplus the McMillan Sand Filtration Site
Your Letter:
I wish to express my support for deeming the McMillan Sand Filtration Plant "surplus" in order to move forward with the ambitious plans to create a six acre large park, restore the unique historic resources of the site, and create new housing, retail and medical office buildings. After decades of isolation, I am eager to see the site opened up to public access with the city’s largest new park and thoughtful restoration of distinctive historic buildings and landscapes. I recognize that that these public benefits would not be possible without the redevelopment program that helps pay for the cost of the restoration.
While overall I believe the plans for the site offer a tremendous amount of public benefits, I ask that that city pursue more affordable housing as a part of this mixed use development plan. Redevelopment of our public lands offer an opportunity to create many new public benefits. While some affordable housing is included in the proposed plans, I ask that more affordable housing be included to ensure we are making the most of this important opportunity.
I ask the city to move forward with its plans to surplus the sand filtration site so we can enjoy the benefits of a new park and compatible mixed use development of this unique place.
Thank you for your consideration.
7 comments:
Isn't this the same Coalition for Smarter Growth who is intimately linked to the Developer of McMillan? I am pretty sure there is a major link and crossing of interests between this Coalition for Smarter Growth and Jair Lynch and VMP. I am actually pretty sure their director, Cheryl Cort and the Developer from VMP, Jair Lynch serve on boards together and are both members in the same organizations throughout the metro area. Maybe that is why no one from the Coalition for Smarter Growth was willing to put their name on this appeal for fear a quick internet query would reveal the close ties between those that stand to make millions on this project and the "non-profits" out there trying to hoodwink the residents of the city into allowing the planned and permanent destruction of one of the only untouched national treasures we have left.
If you follow us on twitter, you'll see that we've been asking the Coalition for Smart Growth to admit whether they get funding from developers and what their connection is to Jair Lynch -- the developer behind the medical office buildings. The Coalition, which has been quite talkative in terms of drumming up support for the VMP plan, has gone oddly silent regarding our request for transparency.
It remains to be seen whether a group of people (more than 2000 strong) with no money can influence a system that is heavily-influenced by cash contributions to political campaigns from big developers. It's sad to think our history and park will be destroyed without a fair discussion, yet that seems to be the direction in which we are heading. And it's certainly not a story within DC that is unique to McMillan.
Your biggest problem is your 2000 strong members aren't all from this neighborhood. I would suspect some may not even live in the city and those who do don't live any where near McMillian or Bloomingdale. Why don't you try and be more transparent and reveal the break down of addresses of your members
I like the layout of the plan (size of the park ..etc)...well mostly. The architecture of the entire thing is an abomination. and the whole thing is so inorganic as to bring up shade of failed developments around the country... IM Pei Boston City Hall, L'enfant Plaza and the urban wastelands of the 70s and early 80s. Remember the Waterfront Mall? that space behind on 4th looked just like this. I got mugged there twice. No living thing was ever attracted to that "green space." The design as is now, won't age well. All concrete, no brick. Give it a few decades and it's the set of Blade Runner. The good news is that with some work, you could redeem the bones of the plan. The layout and basic concepts are fine. But the entire architecture design needs a major rework...and this just to get to "acceptable"... which is sort of a pity if you think about what could be possible on this site. In fact the only ones approaching this thing with any measure of vision and creativity is the Collage City Studio at Catholic... http://www.mcmillanpark.com/whoweare.html and i don't love alot of the archtecture there either. At least there is creative integration of the vaults/cells into the architecture. VMG would be wise to learn from these guys....already you see they have copied the community center, but unfortunately they dumbed down the design and turned it into blah blah blah.
I don't know Mona. There was a non-stop stream of people signing the petition at the Bloomingdale Farmers Market for two weeks running and also at the Crispus Attucks Yard Sale. No one who lived outside the district was permitted to sign the petition as this is a DC issue. There is also an online petition. Anyone working with petitions knows that addresses and names are scrutinized and therefore I expect any out-of-district signatures are not included in the 2000 count. At any rate, grass-roots campaigns are how change is most effective. What petition or evidence to you have to show overwhelming support (as you have suggested here and elsewhere) for the development of McMillan to look like Columbia Heights or Tysons Corner? Hmmm?
I don't believe that for a second. My sister was at the market with me and she was asked to sign and she lives in Maryland. If she had signed she could have easily put my address down. As for the online document...Plleease....you can't tell me they are checking the IP addresses of the people coming online to sign it and even if they were there isn't a way to distinguish a IP address from MD or VA or DC unless you have some very detailed information from all the local ISP and very sophisticated developer to write the code for your online petition. On top of that most online petitions allow you to put anything you like as your name and address so how is this all so legit? Talk about lack of transparency and just hoping you can say some random things and wave people off to believe you with the hope they don't know any better.
Also, it doesn't look like Tysons or Columbia Heights and even if it did maybe people like that look. Who are you to say they are wrong for liking it? Or is your opinion all that counts?
McMillan is a National issue, of National significance. Your govt. in DC, and the felons who populate it, have tried to diminish McMillan, GET A BRAIN! Read the nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, and see what a fabulous thing DC govt. is destroying, Not preserving,, please wake up, Don't you ever realize what a huge scam the govt, and it's client developers are pulling?
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