Thursday, November 13, 2014

Vision McMillan Partners responds to MAG's most recent set of questions

See this prior blog post. 
                       

From: alc@envisionmcmillan.com
To: kmcduffie@DCCOUNCIL.US
CC: MAG members, etc.
Subject: RE: Request to VMP to answers MAG's questions and provide answers today
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 12:57:02 -0500
 
A Dropbox link to a PDF of the masterplan.
              
It is also on our website under Resources.

Anne L. Corbett
Project Director
VISION MCMILLAN PARTNERS
EYA | JAIR LYNCH Development Partners | Trammell Crow Company
202.494.7523 | alc@envisionmcmillan.com | @VisionMcMillan

From: Anne Corbett
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2014 12:43 PM
To: 'McDuffie, Kenyan (Council)'
Cc:  MAG members, etc.
Subject: RE: Request to VMP to answers MAG's questions and provide answers today
            
Councilmember,
Here are the answers and diagrams the MAG requested. Going forward, may I request that we please confirm the primary point of contact for the MAG – My understanding was that was the Chair, Dianne Barnes. I have consistently and continuously responded to her requests.
                                  
1.      Olmsted Walk. The revisions to the commercial space buildings north of the North Service Court, while decreasing in height, now have expanded footprints at ground level.
No, they do not. See attached Site Plan Adjustment. The red outline is the previous iteration, the black is the approved site plan.
As show in the attachment (I don’t have this attachment), the Olmstead Walk that was previously preserved in VMP's submission to HPRB (left figure) now appears to have substantially disappeared in the NW and NE corners (right figure taken from VMP submission to Zoning Aug 2014).  The newest plans released yesterday appear to have even further negatively impacted the Olmsted Walk.
No, they have not. In fact the opposite. When the west wing of the building shifted east, most of that shift was to the elevated/cantilevered wing of the building NOT the base. The western part of this wing had been cantilevered over the OW on the First Street side. Now it is not and the OW is open to the sky.
On the current plans, can you please indicate (e.g., separate colors) the Olmsted Walk path vs the perimeter sidewalk.  See attached “Diagram OW ROWs” plus page 41 of PUD Application which depicts pedestrian rights of way. I will email a PDF of full PUD Stage 1 PUD application in a follow up email. I have also included a “Line Plan” and an Annotated Masterplan that may help understanding what is “under” the colored lines in my Diagram.
As part of the information, please include a detailed image of the ramp structure on the west end of the North Service Court as well as vehicle access points to the site and the buildings and how that impacts the Olmsted Walk.
The ramp appears on the attached Site Plan Adjustment drawing. It is drawn in section on page 54 & 55 of the PUD application.
            
2.      ADA Accessibility.  Multiple site plan views have repeatedly shown steps as a feature of the Olmsted Walk (see attached figure).  Will a person with mobility difficulties be able to fully access the entire outer boundary Olmsted Walk? Yes, that is the intent, though the changes in topography in and around the site, ranging from 152’ to 174’, make the solutions complex.
Will ramps be installed at every junction of the Olmsted Walk where it intersects with a street, a ramp, building, or other feature?
I do not have this answer. Detailed designs of ADA accommodations are created when construction drawings are created for permitting purposes. We are still in Schematic design phase which will be followed by Design Development (after entitlements are complete), then construction drawings follow that.
              
3.      In VMP's summary letter to Zoning yesterday, it specifies a square footage reduction for the commercial space.  It also states that the "healing garden" has been reduced in size.  Please provide the percentage reduction in the planned open green space.
Virtually none. When the west wing of the building shifted east, most of that shift was accommodated by necking down the public rights of way in that area AND because the shift was to the elevated/cantilevered wing of the building NOT the base. Please see the Site Plan Adjustment pdf attached.
        
4. Underground sand filtration cells.  VMP has repeated said in public meeting and mailed fliers that it is preserving two underground cells... no qualifier or asterisk. Yet, in formal materials submitted to HPRB and Zoning, VMP always includes a qualifier (e.g., based on feasibility studies... structural, financial, other?).  We have repeated asked for detailed information regarding what features of each of the cells slated for preservation are going to be retained or repurposed.  Please provide a detailed account, for each cell, exactly what percentage, what features, for what purpose, and when those historic structures will be made available to the public. If a cell or a part of a cell is not able to be preserved based on your feasibility studies, what features of additional cells will be added to ensure that VMP makes good on its promise of preserving two full cells?
As we testified before the Mayor’s Agent, it is impossible to provide such an answer at this time. We are still in Schematic design phase which will be followed by Design Development (after entitlements are complete), those details are explored and finalized during that phase. We can share progress designs and information as the design process progresses.
            
Anne L. Corbett
Project Director
VISION MCMILLAN PARTNERS
EYA | JAIR LYNCH Development Partners | Trammell Crow Company
202.494.7523 | alc@envisionmcmillan.com | @VisionMcMillan


3 comments:

Citizenalpha said...

There seems to be a lot of talking out of both sides of the mouth stuff going on here.

VMP tells MAG representative that they won't communicate with them anymore and MAG is cut off. Now when they get called out they say they were confused and were always communicating with Barnes.

VMP sends official letter saying that they were reducing the size of a garden. Now they say the reduction is "virtually none."

VMP says in public meetings and fliers there's going to be full preservation of the cells. In official documents they add a qualifier. Now they say it's impossible to confirm anything.

Maybe Corbett needs to add a "we've always been at war with eastasia" while we're in there?

Engagement with MAG should have always been a part of the process, we shouldn't have to wait for Mcduffie to get involved to restore that contact. I used to be leaning in favor of the development but this sort of mushmouth politicking is starting to make me question.

Jenifer said...

I note the reply says there is "intent" to have ADA Accessibility (that is, walkways and entrances that wheelchair users can use without having to go off in weird and unusual directions different from everyone else). But ADA -- the Americans With Disabilities Act -- does not allow for "intent". THEY HAVE TO MAKE THIS WHOLE PLACE WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE from the start, and from conception. There is no getting around this. They need to get real with making this site work for all users and not just for single young people or I will file a federal complaint. No steps! No funny uphill slants! No "special" paths!

Daniel in brookland said...

Co-opting community opposition with groups like MAG, are going to have snafus, cause it's aan abuse of our good intentions in the first place.
Mr. Aakash Thakkar of EYA, said he thanks and respects all the community members, supporters and opponents, at the hearing with Mr. McDuffie. I don't think hiring The Jamie Fontaine carpetbagging PR firm from Baltimore to "neutralize opposition", and " create the appearance of support for VMP", show much respect. I'm not sure which party is more of a slime, Fontaine fake grassroots specialists, EYA with their $55,000 donation to Harry Thomas Jr and Vicky Leonard, phony Ward 5 Business Council, Trammel Crow's paying Carmen Group lobbyists $10,000 a month, Jeff Miller lying about the Fonaine Company to Miss Bowser, or environmentalist David Grosso, and his visit with Carmen Group. David Grosso says we should use the VMP development" fantastic", for outdoor art. Well VMP is making all of us into art, a farce! Mr. Grosso, how about a huge obelisk, dedicated to Mayor Gray, the man who committed massive electoral fraud and screwed everyone, escaped prosecution for 4 years, and pillaged the city budget with corruption.They are all having a pig fest together,,, and laughing at the poor sincere folks in Bloomingdale soon to be overwhelmed with dust, pollution, noise, truck traffic, and houses shaking from the tunnel construction. You can thank the development for the tunnel, and so-called flood mitigation, cause DC would never have done it for you. VMP and twice as much development at AFRH get tunnels built. The problem of run-off from Washington hospital Center just seems to be ignored during this utter train wreck, hideous development. And its all the fault of that damn spontaneous fence, no body is responsible for. At least an Ostrich just keeps it's head in the ground, not like "CREATE MCMILLAN" folks who live in a delusion. Join the lawsuit!