{"id":587,"date":"2024-02-10T00:02:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-10T00:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/?p=587"},"modified":"2026-04-19T16:49:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T16:49:44","slug":"dear-councilmember-pinto-about-that-monstrous-apartment-project-at-1617-u-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/2024\/02\/10\/dear-councilmember-pinto-about-that-monstrous-apartment-project-at-1617-u-street\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear Councilmember Pinto: About that “monstrous apartment project” at 1617 U Street"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Email note dated July 23, 2023 from Longtime Ward Two Resident, Charles Ellis to Ward Two Councilmember, Brooke Pinto.
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
—<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Dear Ms. Pinto (still awaiting a response):<\/i><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

I saw nothing in your recent update<\/a><\/b> about the apparent intention of the Mayor,
\nwith your agreement and that of Council Member Nadeau and several ANCs
\nabout the city\u2019s support (by way of the Zoning Commission and discussions with
\nreal estate developers) of a monstrous apartment project using the land now
\noccupied by an effective and respected Police District and an essential Fire Department.\u00a0 We do not know where these two city services would be moved.<\/p>\n

The Zoning Commission expected to revise the zoning of the property, which
\ncovers about 2 acres altogether \u2013 including V Street, Florida Avenue, and Seaton
\nPlace. In that case, residents would find themselves next to apartment buildings
\napproximately 125 feet high, as allowed by zoning designation MU-10. (It is
\npresently MU-4; the publicly owned buildings are no more than two stories, and
\nsurrounding apartment buildings no more than four stories.) Such tall buildings
\nwould adversely affect the smaller residences along Florida Avenue (i.e., east of
\n17th Street NW) and Seaton Place to the north, depriving their gardens of sunlight and space for trees and gardens.<\/p>\n

The idea apparently includes city leasing of the public land to developers, as yet unnamed, such that the developers would make lots of money. Low-cost housing is not in the cards for such buildings.\u00a0 I am not surprised that no one in public office wants to discuss this matter via legitimate public media.\u00a0 The damage this scheme would do is incalculable.<\/p>\n

The city would be stealing from itself in several ways; indeed, the whole plan might be carried out, and the property values might sink as we lose the fire and police departments and the area ceases to be attractive to residents and visitors.<\/p>\n

It took effective legal effort that forced the Zoning Commission to pursue a different review process<\/a> that will actually give citizens a voice in the decision.<\/p>\n

People in the city government must stop this secret planning of ill-considered changes in land use. Instead, you and your colleagues should declare that the city government will contribute effectively, including through public participation in critical land use decisions, to the beauty of our city, the well-being of ordinary residents, and the pride we take in democratic governance.<\/p>\n

Charles Ellis<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

1201 16th ST. NW<\/p>\n

Washington, DC 20009<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
###<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Email note dated July 23, 2023 from Longtime Ward Two Resident, Charles Ellis to Ward Two Councilmember, Brooke Pinto. — Dear Ms. Pinto (still awaiting a response): I saw nothing in your recent update about the apparent intention of the Mayor, with your agreement and that of Council Member Nadeau and several ANCs about the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1617u","category-publicland","category-brooke"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/BrookePintoPinkDress.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":915,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587\/revisions\/915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savedcpublicland.org\/the1617project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}