Bloomingdale year-in-review 2018: McMillan

This post follows on yesterday's post titled "Bloomingdale year-in-review 2018".

Bloomingdale year-in-review 2018: McMillan

The Mayor’s proposed development of McMillan Park was back in court for the second time in 2018, this time addressing questions from the Court.

Recall that in 2016, the DC Court of Appeals overruled the proposed development following challenges to the excessive zoning awarded and to the excessive demolition of the DC Historic Landmark.  

The Court also remanded some questions to the District, basically asking for justification of the zoning and historic preservation decisions made.  

Another hearing before the Court is scheduled for late January 2019.  

Dr. Bertha Holliday’s McMillan court case, concerning the so-called “poor doors” in the senior housing building, has been heard by the same Court, but no decision has been issued.  No timeline for Court decisions on any of these matters has been proposed or indicated.

Meanwhile, the Friends of McMillan Park continue to offer periodic tours through the Bloomingdale neighborhood.  The McMillan tours are around the perimeter of the parcel and not inside it.  The most recent public tour was held on Saturday, 11/10/2018.

The District completed some restoration and stabilization work on the sand towers and regulatory houses in the two service courts in September 2018.  There is no work of any kind occurring in the site right now.

It should be noted that requests for tours inside the gate have all been denied in recent years, though Friends of McMillan Park and others previously provided tours inside the Park.  

The McMillan Advisory Group (MAG) continues to meet every two months with representatives of many communities near the parcel to discuss issues related to McMillan and the proposed development.  District government representatives to the MAG have not joined the MAG meetings since the 2016 court decision.