From: Kirby Vining
Sent: Saturday, September 16, 2017 9:35 PM
To: Kirby Vining
Cc: Kirby Vining
Subject: Fwd: FOMP: REMINDER: ?FINAL? Mayor's Agent Hearing on September
18th BEGINS AT 9AM
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FOMP: Mayor's Agent McMillan
Remand Hearing, Maybe the Final
One, Monday, Sept. 18th at 9am
Dear Friend of McMillan Park,
The continuation of and possibly
the final Mayor's Agent for
Historic Preservation remand hearing will be on Monday,
September 18th, beginning at 9am (NOT
at noon as we were previously told) in the same
room where Zoning hearings are held, 441 4th St. NW, room
220 South.
Community organizations and members of the public will be given
time to testify after the parties in opposition conclude
on Monday: that's the sequencing the Mayor's Agent proposed.
Apparently this hearing will NOT be webcast, in spite of
requests, so the only way to see it is to attend in
person. Our GUESS is that the opposition
presentations will conclude late in the morning, and
then public organizations and individuals will be given the
opportunity to testify -- 3 minutes for persons, 5 minutes for
organizations is what usually happens, but it's up to the
Chair.
This
may be the final opportunity for the public to testify or just
be a witness at a public hearing on this case before the
remand proceedings conclude and the matter likely goes back to
court -- but we have to see the orders before we decide
exactly what to do. Whether you'd like to testify and have
your remarks become part of the record, or simply join the audience
and be part of the 'court of public opinion' on this matter,
this may be your chance: Monday at 9am.
If
you wish to testify, here below are the questions from the court
that are the basis for the hearings, and they should be addressed
in any testimony. You'll note that though these questions are
directed at "the applicant" (DMPED/VMP), these are
the topics anyone presenting should address. Only the
applicant has to address all of them. You may find a position on
one or more of them:
- Do the proposed project’s historic
preservation benefits taken as a whole outweigh its historic
preservation harms? In addressing this question, the
applicants are requested to provide legal analysis as to how such
an inquiry should be conducted consistent with the Historic
Landmark and Historic District Protection Act.
- What are the specific
architecture, land planning, and\or community benefits that
individually or collectively make this a project of special
merit?
- Is the proposed demolition and
subdivision necessary to obtain the special merit benefits
identified? Could an economically viable mixed-use development
meeting the goals of the comprehensive plan be constructed on the
site with less demolition and no subdivision?
- Are there reasonable alternatives that
would achieve the same special merit benefits that would avoid or
reduce the need demolition or subdivision?
****************
Thursday (last night) the
Zoning Commission expressed verbal satisfaction
with VMP/DMPED's responses to the court's questions and
an order will be drafted. There is an article in Urban Turf this
morning, available here,
that looks like it may be from a DMPED/VMP press release as it
is pretty glowing about the project's hopes, but it contains some
points and quotes worth reading. This doesn't come as much of
a surprise as Zoning has been very supportive of the DMPED/VMP
plans all along, but the article suggests that Zoning's conclusions
"pave the way for redevelopment (of the site)," and
that's a bit of a stretch -- no one knows what the Zoning
order will say. Apparently other press will be out soon on
last night's hearing, but only the orders are binding, not last
night's talk. Once the Zoning order comes out -- and
we have no idea when it will come out -- we've got work to do.
In the meantime, join us on Monday for what may be the final
Mayor's Agent hearing on the remand.
*****************
If
you haven't yet, please consider signing our Change
dot org petition to reopen McMillan Park to the
public, here. - And
don't forget that our legal fund always needs donations to
support our legal work, here!
The online version of
our petition is once again available on the FOMP web page, here. If
you have signed our petition previously, this is exactly the same,
no need to sign it again (we remove duplicate signatures for the
sake of integrity), but please share this link with others who may
wish to sign our petition, which has over 8,000 signatures on it so
far.
See the court decision
here.
See
our Op-Ed here.
We cannot do this without your help!
Thank you for your continued interest and support,
John Salatti, Kirby Vining, and Hugh Youngblood
Board of Directors, Friends of McMillan Park, Inc.
If you have any questions, please contact restoremcmillan@gmail.com
or call 202.213.2690.
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