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Sunday, September 17, 2017

Friends of McMillan Park reminder: ?FINAL? Mayor's Agent hearing -- Monday, 09-18-2017

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


FRIENDS of McMILLAN PARK

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.
Contribute to the Save McMillan Park Legal Fund

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Our mailing address is:
Friends of McMillan Park
16 Franklin Street NE
WashingtonDC 20002

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