COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20004

               

TO:                  Nyasha Smith, Secretary to the Council

             

FROM:            Phil Mendelson, Chairman

                                               

DATE:             June 13, 2019

 

I am writing to request the following measures be placed on the June 18 legislative agenda, at the request of the Mayor:

 

• PR 23-65, “Closing of a Portion of South Dakota Avenue, N.E., Adjacent to Squares 3760 and 3766, S.O. 18-40261, Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2019”
• Bill 23-10, “Closing of a Portion of South Dakota Avenue, N.E., Adjacent to Squares 3760 and 3766, S.O. 18-40261, Emergency Act of 2019”

 

This measure would close a portion of South Dakota Avenue, N.E., as shown on the Surveyor’s plat filed in S.O. 18-402621, adjacent to squares 3760 and 3766, in Ward 4.

 

The portion of South Dakota Avenue N.E. to be closed covers land formerly functioning as a right turn slip lane northbound traffic. The lane was removed in 2012 as part of an intersection realignment project intended to facilitate future land development. The development team of JBG Associates LLC and EYA Development LLC proposed a development plan to provide affordable housing, market-rate housing, and retail space in 2014. The project will create approximately 25,300 square feet of ground floor retail and 180 for-sale townhomes and loft-style units, with units affordable to families earning 50 percent and 80 percent of area median income (AMI). Council approved the development plan in 2016 via the “South Dakota Avenue Riggs Road Excess Property Disposition Approval Resolution of 2016” (R. 21-717; 64 D.C. Reg 11441). This legislation is identical to the permanent measure approved first reading by the Council on June 4, 2019.  Enacting legislation on an emergency basis would make the closing effective sooner than congressional review and enable the project to proceed without further delay.