1 GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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ZONING COMMISSION
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PUBLIC HEARING
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------: IN THE MATTER OF: : : VALOR DEVELOPMENT, LLC : Case No. VOLUNTARY DESIGN REVIEW @ : 16-23 SQUARE 1499, LOTS 802, 803, : 806 AND 807 : : ------:
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Hearing Room 220 South 441 4th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C.
The Public Hearing of Case No. 16-23 by the District of Columbia Zoning Commission convened at 6:30 p.m. in the Jerrily R. Kress Memorial Hearing Room at 441 4th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20001, Anthony J. Hood, Chairman, presiding.
ZONING COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT:
ANTHONY J. HOOD, Chairperson ROBERT MILLER, Vice Chairperson MICHAEL G. TURNBULL, FAIA, Commissioner (AOC) PETER G. MAY, Commissioner (NPS) PETER SHAPIRO, Commissioner
OFFICE OF ZONING STAFF PRESENT:
SHARON S. SCHELLIN, Secretary
OFFICE OF PLANNING STAFF PRESENT:
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 2
JOEL LAWSON
The transcript constitutes the minutes from the Public Hearing held on January 25, 2017.
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 3 C-O-N-T-E-N-T-S
Introduction, Chairman Anthony Hood...... 4
Presentation by the Opposition ...... 6
Commission Follow-up Questions ...... 23
Cross-examination...... 36
Organizations in Opposition...... 44
Follow-up Questions...... 62
Individuals in Opposition...... 75
Rebuttal by the Applicant...... 137
Cross Examination of Applicant ...... 172
Adjourned ...... 208
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 4 1 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S
2 6:31 p.m.
3 CHAIRMAN HOOD: Good evening ladies and gentlemen.
4 This is a continuation of Zoning Commission case number 16-
5 23. I'm going to incorporate most of the first part of the
6 introductory remarks into this case as well. Joining me are,
7 soon to join me are, Vice Chair Miller, Mr. Turnbull,
8 Commissioner May, and Commissioner Shapiro. Again my name
9 is Anthony Hood, also joining me are Office of Zoning staff
10 Ms. Sharon Schellin, as well as Office of Planning Mr. Lawson
11 and Ms. Von Teller.
12 Again, we will, we have a set schedule of what
13 we're going to do tonight. We're going to hear the
14 opposition, the party in opposition, the persons in
15 opposition rebuttal, and then we will have cross on rebuttal
16 if any, and then we have closing, by the applicant, in that
17 order. So Ms. Schellin, you want to add anything, did I get
18 that right?
19 MS. SCHELLIN: Yeah, I'm going to put a piece of
20 paper up here, on the end of the dais. For some reason
21 they're not able to, the people who didn't previously sign
22 up, so if they previously signed up their name should already
23 be there. But those who didn't have an opportunity to sign
24 up, in opposition, we've already taken testimony in support.
25 So those in opposition, can print their name so
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 5 1 I can read it. I'll add you to the list up here, I can still
2 add you. I'm not sure what's going on with the kiosk over
3 there. But I'll put a piece of paper up.
4 CHAIRMAN HOOD: Okay, hold on one second. Do you
5 have something to help us to that?
6 MS. SCHELLIN: If you're a party to this, you
7 don't need to do it.
8 CHAIRMAN HOOD: Yeah. You already recorded, you
9 want to say something, introduce yourself –-
10 MR. REPP: Yeah, I was –-
11 CHAIRMAN HOOD: Introduce yourself.
12 MR. REPP: Shelly Repp, from Citizens For
13 Responsible Development, in opposition. People have signed
14 cards, and delivered them over here? It's different.
15 MS. SCHELLIN: That's a, that's for the court
16 reporter. Even if you signed cards –-
17 MR. REPP: They should be on the list.
18 MS. SCHELLIN: You should be on the list.
19 MR. REPP: That's what I, that was my question.
20 CHAIRMAN HOOD: Okay. All right Ms. Schellin's
21 going to set that up, give her a moment to get that set up.
22 She's going to set up a list, and you'll be able to sign in.
23 Again, we're only hearing from folks in opposition. We
24 noticed that we did have some letters, added to the record
25 I believe, since the last time I looked at it, a lot in
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 6 1 support. So we, so noted. I just want to make sure you
2 noted that. Because tonight we have a specific –- yes we did
3 support and undeclared already, thank you.
4 All right. Okay I'm going to give Ms. Schellin
5 just a moment, to get the list, and I guess she's going to
6 put it over here to the left, to my left. Okay, so Mr.
7 Donohue, Ms. Schellin how many, they have fifteen, you will
8 have fifteen minutes? All right, Mr. Donohue, you may begin.
9 MR. DONOHUE: Thank you Mr. Chairman. Members of
10 the Commission, my name is Ed Donohue, with me is Shelly Rep,
11 who you've already met. And he is the lead for Citizens for
12 Responsible Development. We have a number of speakers in a
13 short period of time, so without further ado, I'm going to
14 hand it right over to Mr. Repp.
15 MR. REPP: Thank you. Good evening Commissioners,
16 thank you for the opportunity to speak with you this evening,
17 on behalf of Citizens for Responsible Development. As Ed
18 said, my name is Shelly Rep, I live on Windom Place,
19 Northwest, just five houses removed from the SuperFresh site.
20 I will be joined by three of my colleagues here, my neighbors
21 here, in a second here.
22 Almost 600 D.C. residents have signed a petition
23 in opposition to the Valor project, as currently envisioned.
24 73 households have submitted letters to the Commission in
25 opposition to the project. And 16 of those households are
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 7 1 200-footers. Our goal here this evening is to look at
2 Valor's proposal, and offer the reasons why Citizens for
3 Responsible Development objects to the project.
4 Okay. The applicant proposes using the new design
5 review process to build two 5-7 story buildings on the former
6 SuperFresh site. The site faces two local streets, lined
7 with 2-story residential homes. What would this project look
8 like? You asked that question two weeks ago, what it would
9 look like, and this is an important question, because we
10 believe that Valor's renderings do not show the buildings as
11 they would appear to the human eye.
12 The following images, prepared by Digital Design
13 & Imaging Service were developed in accordance with National
14 Park Service, National Capital Planning Commission, and
15 industry standards. They show, the first one here shows the
16 proposed building, looming over the Spring Valley Shopping
17 Center. The next image here shows the site from -- with the
18 model built in, from Windom Place, where I live, with my
19 wife.
20 The next rendering here, photograph, is an aerial
21 view of the site, it shows how the proposed building sits in
22 the middle of a residential community. Once again, this is
23 a, this project is not