Hi Haley et al:
??? I think a get together to discuss this issue is a great idea, so that there is a give & take discussion.? Even though I live on the odd side of 10th Street, the alley is in front of my front yard.? Also, I have lived in my house for 40 years and would like to take part in the discussion.? Zoom is probably the best way to meet and if someone does not have a computer then that person can possibly go to someone else's home for a Zoom meeting.
?? ? Some questions:? where did you get the information that the alley has to be named before you can get a P.O. address?? I am aware of properties that have the same house number with the addition of a Letter or Number for another dwelling.? Is that no longer possible?? It doesn't seem fair to me that you and your husband have to take on this project in order to get your mail delivered.? Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Ellen Opper-Weiner
223 10th Street, SE
?
-----Original Message-----
From: Johanna Bockman <johanna.bockman@...>
To: Tina Giffin <tinagiffin@...>
Cc: Kyle Nicholls Cobb <kenicholls@...>; Haley Huang <haley.huang.0329@...>; [email protected] < [email protected]>; 200 10th street <200-block-10th-st-se@...>
Sent: Thu, Mar 4, 2021 2:06 pm
Subject: Re: alley naming
This sounds like a great idea. I also don't have any suggestions about how to meet.
Johanna
Hi all:? I was wondering if others would like to find to time a time and way to chat in person the list of possible names and some of the questions Johanna raised about what we, as a community, see as the shared values we'd like to see reflected in the alley
name.? I finally reviewed the ongoing list and you all have so many great ideas.? I'd welcome the chance to hear more about everything thoughts as I ponder what my vote might be.? We could do a Zoom call but that may not reach everyone and I know many of us
have Zoom fatigue these days.? I'm hesitant to suggest an outdoor gathering until we are closer to full vaccination rates.? Any other thoughts?? And if there's not a ground swell of interest, that's fine too.
Tina
248
Hi all,
I'm just for a set of alley names that represent whatever people are interested in. It seemed like some collective discussion was required beyond individual or small group discussion. Since the application doesn't require the two-year deceased requirement,
then waiting isn't needed.
Johanna
On Thu, Mar 4, 2021 at 11:18 AM Kyle Nicholls Cobb < kenicholls@...> wrote:
Jumping into this a bit late and I want to make sure this dialog includes our 11th St neighbors since the alley is bounded by both streets.
Johanna, I completely understand your sentiment to honor Mr Bellinger in some way, but is the alley name the best way to do it?? ?Is there something else that we can do to commemorate him?? Maybe a plaque on a lampost, or even a naming of the intersection
of C and 10th???
The alley naming is a practical and important issue that supports our new neighbors Haley and Corey and I'd like to move forward with the proposed timeline that Haley shared.?
Kyle
218 10th St
Hi All,
?
Thank you for all the feedback today. Below is information in response to the issues or questions you raised.
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Timeline
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We have adapted the timeline based on the level of interest and response we have been receiving.
Here¡¯s a rundown of the timeline, with changes noted.
?
Pre-February 16th: Informal discussions with the neighbors we¡¯ve managed to run into.
February 16th: Emails about the ¡°name our alley¡± initiative sent to the 200 block of 10th and 11th St group email lists.
February 20th: Physical letters to everyone abutting the alley (who had not responded to emails) requesting support, feedback, and name suggestions.
February 24th: Because no more name suggestions were coming in, we sent out a reminder email, explained how voting would work,
and set March 7th as a deadline for names. (March 7th was selected based on the feedback we previously received from several neighbors.)
In response to today¡¯s concerns about the speed of the initiative, we are extending the naming deadline to March 31st to give everyone more time to reflect while also maintaining momentum. After that, everyone will have another
month to debate amongst the names before the final voting deadline. We trust that this extension will give sufficient breathing room; however, if anyone believes this is still not enough time, please suggest other concrete dates. The current list of names
is available here:
March 31st: Name suggestion deadline.
April 10th (tentative): Ballots are released.
May 9th (tentative): Voting submission deadline.
May 10th (tentative): Voting result released.
May 16th (tentative): Petition is released for signing.
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There is no real deadline for the signing process. Once the required number of signatures is reached (a majority of homeowners), we will notify everyone and move forward with our ANC Steve Holtzman. The rest of the process will probably take at least
a year (just a gut feeling). Details here:
?
Our Address
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For those curious about our address, here¡¯s the full run down.
?
If you look up our property address on the DC zoning map, we are Square/Suffix/Lot 0969??? 0042. Our address listed by the city is 210 10TH ST SE WASHINGTON DC 20003. However, this is obviously incorrect ¨C that is the address of Laura¡¯s house Square/Suffix/Lot
0969??? 0801. On our deed, we are both 210 REAR 10TH ST SE WASHINGTON DC 20003 and 210 10TH ST SE
REAR WASHINGTON DC 20003. However, the first is an invalid address because ¡°210 REAR¡± cannot be a house number and ¡°REAR 10TH ST SE¡± isn¡¯t a street. We have confirmed this with the USPS multiple times. Therefore, we must address ourselves as 210
10TH ST SE REAR WASHINGTON DC 20003. This implies that we are an apartment attached to 210 10TH ST SE, and thus mail is
always delivered to Laura. Not to mention we don¡¯t show up on GPS, so any delivery or visitor always gets lost.
Pretty confusing right?
?
As for what we have done to try to fix this problem ¨C on multiple occasions we have visited the USPS distribution center located at 45 L St SW, Washington, DC 20024, which is the post office in charge of sending out the mail for our address. We¡¯ve tried
explaining the situation to them, but they insist that the mail is technically being delivered properly. We have also submitted official cases with the USPS to try to get something to happen from higher up, but they were dismissed. We even tried to manually
add ourselves to Google Maps as a business to at least show up somewhere, but the app just continued to route to the main street.
However, this is not the main point.?Our address may have been the catalyst that began this journey with the community, but it has grown into so much more. We have enjoyed learning about the history of the alley through our conversations with all
of you. It has made us feel part of the community even considering the current circumstances. We want to make sure that the alley¡¯s chosen name is reflective of its past, present, and future.
Inclusivity
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Our goal has been and still is to involve and include everyone who cares about the alley. We did not mean to exclude anyone who is not directly abutting the alley.
Anyone who has reached out to us, abutting or not, can absolutely offer name suggestions and join in on discussions. However, per D.C. Law, only the abutting properties are supposed to sign the final petition with the chosen name.
?
D.C. Law ¡ì 9¨C204.21. Designation of official names of streets and alleys. (f)?
¡shall submit to the Council letters or a petition in support of the proposal that have been signed by a majority of
the owners of property and households occupying property that abuts the portion of the alley or street proposed to be designated with an official name.
?
Nevertheless, we will reach out to our ANC representative to see whether it would be helpful to also include the signatures of those who do not abut the alley but wish to support the effort.
?
Respectfully,
Haley and Corey
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Following up on Johanna¡¯s thoughtful comments about a name that captures what ¡®we wish it might be¡¯ I can¡¯t help but think of the many times as parents we scurried to get our ball-playing or bike-riding kids out of the way of a car passing through
a bit too fast. I wonder if a name like ¡°Children¡¯s Alley¡¯ - or ¡®Playground Alley¡¯ - or something to that effect - would promote the sense of safety, decorum and community ownership we wish for. ?
Jim
?
I like the idea of naming the alley, but am opposed to naming it after Mr Bellinger by himself. He and his wife, Frontis, had twelve children. She is the reason Mr Bellinger had the time to be so neighborly, because she was taking care of the?kids.
If we are honoring him, she should be honored equally. Frontis died in 2014.
If it is simply named "Bellinger Court" (or Way, or Lane, etc.) that gets around the requirement that the person must have been dead two years.?
Best regards,
Peter Mott
250 Tenth
Haley,
Your address is 210 Rear 10th Street SE. You do have an address.?
There are many struggles for living in the city and even more struggles living in a historic district. As a block resident of almost 39 years, I too am not comfortable with the pressure to push this through so fast. Also, frankly, it felt a little weird
to me that you let me know my approval was not a factor because I live across the street. Maybe you did not mean to disenfranchise me but that doesn¡¯t change how it felt to me. All of us had a hand in advocating for the historic paving with the river stones,
so I am invested in your alley. I even sent you pictures of your home before you lived here.
Have you really exhausted all the other avenues such as talking to our mail delivery person? Or the post office? I don¡¯t believe that naming the alley will fix your delivery issues. We live on 10th Street with one door and have delivery issues. 38 + years
of it.
I¡¯m glad Joanna and Tina spoke up because I was feeling rushed and panicked that a new resident would try to force something down our throats. Nobody¡¯s trying to oppose you but you might want to slow it down a bit.?
We¡¯re all going to see the sign when we walk through the alley and we all should feel good about it.
Rosina Teri Memolo
She/her/hers
Plinked out on an iPhone
?
I appreciate the significant time and attention that Haley & Corey have already put into the project and am very sorry to hear about the troubles associated with owning a house located in a nameless alley. I fully support the effort moving forward without
delay.
Lauren
242
On Wed, Mar 3, 2021 at 12:29 PM Michael David-Fox < md672@...> wrote:
I was acquainted with Mr. Bellinger, who tried to help people on the block so much in small but meaningful ways, well enough to suspect he himself would never want all this work to go to waste on his account. I support the sentiment that now that it has
been started it should not be delayed. As a historian, I think the historical name is the most compelling but that of course is to be determined.
Michael, 236
Hello All,
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Please do not delay renaming the alley. To explain why, we¡¯d like to share a bit of backstory about how this initiative got started.
?
Last June, my husband and I purchased the 210-REAR alley house ¨C our first home together. In most ways, it¡¯s been a dream to live and own in the heart of Capitol Hill. However, in one way, it¡¯s been a nightmare. Our house doesn¡¯t have a real address. This has
meant that NO ONE can find our house. Not friends, family, visitors, delivery people¡ no one. Our kind neighbor Laura from house 210 10th St has been bringing over our mail every day. And not just for our tenure ¨C she¡¯s had to do so since 2015 when the carriage
house was converted to a home -- crazy!! All of these moments when we¡¯ve had to carry large packages from Laura¡¯s front door, run out to the street to wave down a parent, and stand out in the rain as a delivery man runs laps around the square have made
it feel like we¡¯ve purchased an afterthought instead of a home.
?
That¡¯s why we started researching the steps on how to name the alley. As we spoke to the neighbors around us, we learned there had already been many thoughts and wonders about why the alley hadn¡¯t been named yet, as well as strong considerations for what names
should be if it were ever to get done. Neighbors were also voicing concerns about the increased level of traffic coming through the alley, and one person even attempted to reach out to DDOT for some traffic control signs. However, they were essentially turned
down because we¡¯re just an unnamed alley. To us, it sounded like there was already a lot of thought put into naming the alley as well as real, practical benefits for the community. Therefore, we decided to take up the mantle to move the idea forward.
?
There are two reasons why the alley never got a name prior to now.
?
Firstly, because of law ¡ì 9¨C204.03. Alleys. (a) An alley that does not provide the primary access to a residential or commercial property shall not be designated with an official name.
This law meant that the first time the alley had an opportunity to be named was in 2015 when Jim Connor converted the carriage house and moved in. The other alley house 211-REAR was being used primarily as an office space and would not have been considered
a primary residence.
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Secondly, because of the level of effort it takes. Someone had to realize it could be done and then be willing to go through the process. Thus far, it¡¯s taken a lot of time, energy, and emotion for us to put this initiative together. Even though our interactions
may seem like an email now and then, we¡¯re also writing letters in the background; trying to reach out to homeowners that have been non-respondent; thinking of ways to give everyone a voice; all of which take many hours of hemming and hawing to ensure we¡¯re
doing the best we can.
In regards to honoring the memories of those recently passed, we believe that family names are permissible. We can make a case that ¡°Bellinger Court¡± or ¡°Au Alley¡± honor many great people who lived on the block, not just one. If the recommendation was ¡°Watson
Bellinger Sr Court¡± then perhaps there would be a concern. Of course, we will take these concerns to our ANC to see if we can get more clarification.
?
This is a community decision. The reason we will be sending out a petition is because a majority of homeowners have reached out to us and pledged to support the naming. However, if we don¡¯t get the signatures, then we understand that more time may be needed
for a decision. We encourage more people to voice their thoughts on these email threads so that we can have those discussions.
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For everyone on the block, this a very exciting and meaningful moment in history. But to us, it¡¯s so much more. It¡¯s our home. And we are happy to be able to organize this initiative for the block.
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Sincerely,
Haley & Corey
210-REAR
I agree with Johanna that we should take a bit more time to consider and discuss.
Tina at 248
Hi all,
I would like to suggest that we delay the renaming of the alley mainly because, as I understand from another group renaming an alley elsewhere, any person that is being honored must be deceased for more than 2 years:
Section 3 of D.C. Law 13-106 provided: "Pursuant to section 403a the Street and Alley Closing and Acquisition Procedures Act of 1982, effective April 9, 1997 (D.C. Law 11-236; D.C. Code ¡ì 7-453.1 ) ("Act'), and notwithstanding the requirement set forth
in section 405 of the Act (D.C. Code ¡ì 7-455 ), that no public space shall be named in honor of any person who has been deceased less than 2 years, the alley running east to west between the 100 block of 10th Street, N.E., and the 100 block of 11th Street,
N.E., shall be designated as 'Al Arrighi Way', in honor of Mr. Al Arrighi's contributions to the quality of life of the Capitol Hill neighborhood in the District of Columbia."
If this is true, then we couldn't consider many names suggested, including Mr. Bellinger. It would be great to delay the discussion in order to consider our kind neighbor. I talked a bit about him in regards to our block's first history day (he's the one
that arrived in 1961): ?
Also, some people on the block may remember what a wonderful neighbor he was, like when he would suddenly say, "I love you."
In addition, the naming of the alley might have a more meta-discussion and more collective discussion, like maybe there is a good reason the alley hasn't had a name?? What is erased or obscured by an alley name? should the name capture the spirit of the
alley? Or do we want to capture what we wish that an alley might be or document what it has been?? Joy? Friendship? Neighborliness? Social justice? Real estate development? Economic activities??
A delay would allow us to consider Mr. Bellinger and others..
Johanna
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