Cross-posted from the Washington Post
Written by Mike DeBonis
Attorney Johny Barnes with Ivy City residents outside of Crummell School.
The activists fighting to keep a tour bus parking lot out of Ivy City won a significant victory Monday when a judge ordered the city to hold off on its plans.
Superior Court Judge Judith Macaluso found that city officials broke the law by not seeking input from the area’s advisory neighborhood commission and by circumventing a mandated environmental assessment.
While the city can finish construction on the lot, next to the Crummell School at Kendall and Gallaudet streets NE, it cannot use the area to stage buses until it seeks approval from the local ANC and seeks a more comprehensive environmental review. That process could take several months.
During court hearings, a former city official said plans were presented to the Ivy City Civic Association rather than the ANC because the ICCA had been ”more vocal” about the project, which involves repaving the lot and erecting a new fence and landscaping.
“To reason that the ANC need not be consulted because it was less vocal and therefore less interested than the ICCA is simply not permitted under District law,” Macaluso wrote.
Jose Sousa, a spokesman for the District’s economic development office, said officials are “examining the decision and evaluating for immediate appeal.”
The city pressed the Crummell School parking plan after the creation of an intercity bus terminal at Union Station in September meant evicting tour buses from parking spaces there. In court, the former city official said a proposal to park the tour buses at the old Greyhound terminal just north of Union Station was eliminated because ANC members there “didn’t want buses there period.”
Johnny Barnes, a civil rights attorney who represented neighborhood residents, called the ruling “a resounding victory, not just for Ivy City but the entire city.”
“The court recognized the role of ANCs in the city,” he said. “The District has not been respectful of that role. This could mean a turning point in the role that ANCs play and were intended to play.”
Barnes acknowledged “some concern” that the city will cross the T’s identified in Macaluso’s ruling, then move ahead with the bus lot plans. “But I have more hope than concern,” he said. “My hope is that the mayor and those in positions of power will recognize that you can’t run roughshod over the right of participation at the grass-roots level.”
Good job, everyone! Here’s a victory for kids, families and clean air!
Congratulations to Johnny Barnes, Empower DC and all who stood up for clean air and the rights of community residents. Some of the strongest voices were Ivy City kids who went door-to-door last summer and spoke at community meetings, saying “we stand up for our community!” Good job!
Mayor Gray …
I am writing in reference to the present Imbroglio involving The Crummel School and Ivy City. I am Jerome Peloquin, Executive Director of The National Capital Jobs Coalition and a resident of Washington, DC and Ward 5. (The Jobs Coalition is a program of our non-profit, MicroVenture Support, Inc.) I realize that many issues pass before your desk and that you must rely on competent staff to deal with many if not most of them. I think, however at this point you need to step in and remedy a problem created by your administration and Mr. Hoskins, deputy Mayor for Economic Development.
Incidentally, in the past held several meetings with Mr. Vincent Glaude who heads your Office of Community Affairs on issues relevant to jobs development and training. He is being copied on this email. The issue of the Curmmel School has reached the point where it is a, “no win,” situation for our city and your administration in particular. I worked for your re election, Mr Mayor … I canvased and served as a poll-watcher for you. I am not a hostile critic. The National Capital Jobs Coalition has been active in the redrafting and crafting of the Workforce Intermediary Act. We worked with Kilan Schroyer-Boardman in Member M. Brown’s office during its journey through committees. We held public awareness meetings in Ward 5 in support. I am neither a crank, nor am I uninformed on the subject as we have attended a number of the meetings at Bethesda Baptist and I have read the Court’s recent ruling against the City.
Perjury by the defendants – Let me be direct. Please do not continue with this unjust, unproductive, and dishonest effort. The findings and facts contained in the Judges granting of the preliminary injunction provide a tawdry picture of overreaching on the part of both defendants in this matter. It is clear that the engineer involved perjured himself at the behest of either your administration or the developers, who were obviously trying to circumvent the environmental regs.
Devaluation of the ANC’s – The evasion and the machinations undertaken by the city in a cynical and wrongful circumvention of the ANC (also noted by the judge) is another example of poor judgement and dishonest practice. It is not a pretty picture. It is simple. Step away from the matter. Move the buses to the former trash site on Benning road. It is in Ward 7 but it raises no such issues. it is accessable and with ]]easier access (down H Street) to Union Station. It is also more directly accessible to I-95.
There is no upside for you or your administration here. Mr. Mayor, move the site and actively engage with the community in turning The Crummel School into a national example of enlightened urban economic development and engagement. You have succeeded admirably in bringing the Ivy City neighborhood together. Turn the existing site over to the community. Let us take advantage of that and make it a plus for the Gray administration. I stand ready to support you in this effort and to volunteer my time and resources to that end. Please see our suggestion as a sustainable alternative to the present course. It will turn a political and social liability into a revenue producing asset.
Respectfully
Jerome Peloquin