Re: Board of Zoning and Adjustment case 20467, 232 10th St SE
Peter, thanks for bringing this up for discussion. We are concerned not only about the pop-up, but the pop-back--the plans call for building an extension that will take up most of the back yard.
Aside from all the aesthetic problems of pop-ups, building essentially a two-family rental property creates many problems. Neighbors will be living in tunnels with views and light blocked. Given property values, this will open the door to others to be incentivized to build big rentals in their backyard too. In the long term, this will change the character of the neighborhood, and owners who live in their houses will be at a disadvantage.
Are these essentially landlords starting to act as developers? I have no objection to fixing up a deteriorated property within the existing rules. But the big changes that come with these variances should involve the neighborhood. At very least, neighbors should be aware of them.
All best,
Good evening neighbors!
I just received this letter from the Zoning Board this week, which is something that concerns us all (I have also posted to the alley group).
I downloaded the relevant files from?(enter case number 20467). There are 20 exhibits, of which #6 is one you want to see (attached, 15 pages) -- it has pictures of the existing property, drawings of the proposed changes, and sightlines.
I have two thoughts. (1) All of the houses along the East side of 10th Street are two stories. This is unquestionably a pop-up, and it will make a new precedent. It is the "camel's nose in the tent" -- after this, any homeowner can also build a pop-up, and no doubt some will. (2) That might not be a bad thing, as I'm sure many of us would like more room, and this could make our houses more valuable.
I am interested in people's opinions.?
There will be an?ANC 6B hearing, followed by a BZA hearing. The ANC hearing has not been scheduled; the BZA hearing is Wednesday May 26th.
Best regards, Peter Mott
250 10th
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Get a Pack-of-5 KN95 Masks for Free
Hey everyone,
We¡¯re offering free KN95 masks to anyone who may be in need!
You could order your free pack here:?
Just simply click on the ¡°5 Masks (Free)¡± Option and then ¡°Add To Cart.¡±?
We are also selling other types of masks including N95 masks for the best deals on the internet
We¡¯re only charging for shipping to cover our shipping & handling expenses.?
The free pack-of-five is limited to one pack per order. If you¡¯re in need of more, we¡¯re offering more masks at very low prices.?
Stay safe everyone!
|
Re: Looking to Giveaway PPE Masks to the 200 Block Neighbors
Thanks Linda.?
Nate: can you please email me directly with additional details and I¡¯ll make the connection. Danielle at Websterious dot com.?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Mar 18, 2021, at 8:19 PM, John Payne & Linda Mellgren <p3mp4@...> wrote:
?
If Ward 6 mutual aid is interested and can't pay for shipping contact me and i can cover. Linda
On 3/18/21 4:55 PM, danielle_drissel wrote:
Hi Nate. Thanks for reaching out.?
Ward 6 Mutual Aid is a great group helping neighbors throughout the ward with a focus on those in public housing. I don¡¯t think the group could pay for shipping. Please lmk if you would like me to make a contact.?
Danielle?
?
Hey everyone,
?
The company I work at is looking to give away masks
to communities in need and we felt that reaching out to other communities would be a great way to do so.? Is there anyone in this group that¡¯s in need of any? We could send some to you for free and (you just cover the shipping & handling).
?
Please comment on this post if you need...
Stay safe everyone!
?
|
Re: Looking to Giveaway PPE Masks to the 200 Block Neighbors
If Ward 6 mutual aid is interested and can't pay for shipping
contact me and i can cover. Linda
On 3/18/21 4:55 PM, danielle_drissel
wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Hi Nate. Thanks for reaching out.?
Ward 6 Mutual Aid is a great group helping
neighbors throughout the ward with a focus on those in public
housing. I don¡¯t think the group could pay for shipping. Please
lmk if you would like me to make a contact.?
Danielle?
?
Hey
everyone,
?
The
company I work at is looking to give away masks to communities in need and we felt that reaching out to other communities would be a great way to do so.? Is there anyone in this group that¡¯s in need of any? We could send some to you for free and (you just
cover the shipping & handling).
?
Please
comment on this post if you need...
Stay
safe everyone!
?
|
Re: Looking to Giveaway PPE Masks to the 200 Block Neighbors
Hi Nate. Thanks for reaching out.?
Ward 6 Mutual Aid is a great group helping neighbors throughout the ward with a focus on those in public housing. I don¡¯t think the group could pay for shipping. Please lmk if you would like me to make a contact.?
Danielle?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Mar 18, 2021, at 3:52 PM, natefarmar31@... wrote:
?
Hey
everyone,
?
The
company I work at is looking to give away masks to communities in need and we felt that reaching out to other communities would be a great way to do so.? Is there anyone in this group that¡¯s in need of any? We could send some to you for free and (you just
cover the shipping & handling).
?
Please
comment on this post if you need...
Stay
safe everyone!
?
|
Looking to Giveaway PPE Masks to the 200 Block Neighbors
Hey everyone,
?
The company I work at is looking to give away masks to communities in need and we felt that reaching out to other communities would be a great way to do so.? Is there anyone in this group that¡¯s in need of any? We could send some to you for free and (you just cover the shipping & handling).
?
Please comment on this post if you need...
Stay safe everyone!
?
|
Re: A Petition to Name Our Alley -- Becoming a Part of History!
Holtzman, Steve (SMD 6B05)
Neighbors abutting Alley between 10th and 11th,
Just want to let you all know. On February 18th, I sent the following questions to the Mayor's office to request clarity on a few of the pivotal issues and expectations around the effort to name this alley. (Haley, if my email does not automatically go directly
to 10th and 11th St distribution lists, which it may not, please forward to all).
I received no substantive reply despite multiple follow ups. This morning, I got an answer that the questions have been submitted to their legal team. So, so far, no answer. But these are all questions that you should be aware of. When I get definitive answers,
I'll share them immediately.
If there are any further questions which you wish an answer for, moving forward, ask. If there's anything obvious missing now, let me know and I will send additional questions on so they can be reviewed.
Note I had advised Haley incorrectly early in the process and had said DC law required informing homeowners and majority of these agreed to naming and to the name chosen.
(As Susan Eades Role pointed out, the language of the law says "home owners and residents" which implies all residents abutting the alley, whether owning the property or renting, should be included in this process. I have independently already sent this question
to the Mayor's office legal team just to reconfirm. That question is not reflected in the list below.)
The questions I sent were the following:
I think I'm pretty clear on the procedure as per city regulations, but there are?three questions?I'm hoping you could help me clarify.?
I.?Procedures via petitions of property owners, notification, review by ANC, submission by Council, support by Mayor are clear. What's not clear to me is whether this is how it works in practice.?If
all property owners are duly notified, majority sign a petition in agreement, ANC endorses and Council votes to support, when it comes to the Mayor's office, is this a straightforward, pro forma thing or is it something which still has significant hurdles
on different signoffs, within DC govt? And more to the point,?is it generally likely to be approved?or is there a distinct case-by-case review?
II.?There is a distinction made in the Code that the official naming of an alley does not constitute a change in status and "shall not authorize the addition of any District services to the
alley..."?These residents are, I think, hoping that a name for the alley will result in those residences/tax lots in the alley can get?mail service?(obviously not DC but USPS issue), and at minimum a?dedicated
address with a house number?for their residences.?Do you know if it's fair for them to anticipate that??Or something else they'd need to do to get that additional element achieved?
(b)?The
designation of an alley with an official name or symbolic name shall not constitute a change to its status as an alley, and shall not authorize the addition of any District services to the alley or structures abutting the alley.
?
III. Should they expect some level of fees to be responsible for if, in the end, they do get this approved througth Council and it comes to the Mayor's office?? ¡ì 9¨C204.21. Para (h)?says
the following:
(h)?The
Mayor may establish, by rulemaking, fees to be paid by the initiator of a proposal to designate an official name of an alley or street, or portion thereof, to recoup costs associated with satisfying the requirements of this section, including obtaining consideration
of the proposal by the Council and implementation of the proposal by the Mayor; provided, that fees shall not be assessed pursuant to this subsection on an initiator that is a governmental entity, including an Advisory Neighborhood Commission.
?
In practice, is this something that I need to let these residents know about? Is there any practice or policy of charging a group of residents for the cost of this process,(putting up signs and whatever other
auxiliary costs are incurred in other ways) or?is this something which is waived when a situation like this arises??And, assuming they are successful, and?if there are fees associated with this, what kind of
magnitude of fees should they expect to have to be responsible for??Just a magnitude to give them an idea, as they start their petition, so they know what they would be possibly letting themselves in for. Or is it not a very big deal. I have
no idea.
best,
?Steve
Steve Holtzman, 6B05
From: Haley Huang <haley.huang.0329@...>
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2021 8:43 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Cc: 10th Street List <200-block-10th-st-se@...>; Allen, Charles (COUNCIL) <CAllen@...>; Holtzman, Steve (SMD 6B05) <6B05@...>
Subject: Re: [200block11thstSE] A Petition to Name Our Alley -- Becoming a Part of History!
?
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the DC Government. Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know that the content is safe. If you believe that this email
is suspicious, please forward to phishing@... for additional analysis by OCTO Security Operations Center (SOC).
Happy Spring Everyone!
To keep the Name Our Alley initiative moving along, we've decided to set
March 7th as the deadline for submitting alley name suggestions! Email, text, letter, or in-person -- whatever is easiest for you.
Here's our plan for the alley name selection process: First, we will work with 211-REAR (the other alley house) to cross off any name suggestions that wouldn't work very well as a mailing address. Then, we will send the list to our ANC Steve Holtzman and
request that he help veto names that he believes wouldn't pass D.C. council approval. Finally, we will send out the remaining names to everyone on the block for a vote. It will be one vote per house (unless there are tenants, in which case homeowners and tenants
can cast separate votes). The vote will be "multiple choice" -- in other words, each house will be able to vote for as many of the names on the list as they'd like. The name with the most votes after 2 weeks wins!
Here's the link to currently suggested names for inspiration:
Sincerely,
Haley & Corey
P.S. We are VERY close to reaching the majority of household support we need for a successful petition! If you haven't already, please reach out to us so that we know we have the support we need. Thank you!
On Sat, Feb 20, 2021 at 9:33 PM Haley Huang via
<Haley.huang.0329= [email protected]> wrote:
Good Evening Everyone --
Update! We've moved onto "Step 2: Attempt to reach all property owners to notify them of this initiative."
We've dropped off letters at all the homes on the 10th/11th/C/Independence square. If you've already contacted us, then you most likely did not receive a letter. If you did receive a letter, we would greatly appreciate it if you could let us know so that
we can fulfill our ANC's requirement about making contact with everyone on the block.
One important detail that was left off my initial email but was included in the letter:
Only property owners can sign the final petition. Therefore, if you are a tenant or visitor, please let the property owner know about this initiative!! And if possible, please also let us know if you are a renter so that we can track which property owners
will be more difficult to reach. We are trying our best to match everyone's names to those found on D.C. Tax Records to make sure that we have all households covered, but we suspect the owners' addresses that D.C. has on file are not completely up-to-date.
We will most likely be on this step for a while. Therefore, we would greatly appreciate your help if you can check with neighbors to see if they've heard about this "name our alley" initiative and let us know who you've touched base with.
Thanks again for everyone's support!
Haley & Corey
On Thu, Feb 18, 2021 at 4:38 PM Susan Eads Role < seadsrole@...> wrote:
Haley -- Please add the following names to your proposed name list.
River Rock: the natural material used in the construction of the half-alley on the 10th Street SE side. The alley's river rock composition was preserved through advocacy by neighbors and the assistance of Councilmember Allen.
Phaeton: a light, open four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage. In the late 19th century, the Herdic Phaeton Company's stables occupied the area south of the alley running between 10th and 11th Streets SE.
Thank you!
Susan
Susan Eads Role
238 10th St SE
202-905- 8016 (office/mobile)
Welcome to the neighborhood!? I love this idea, Mark and I are all in. We¡¯re at 255 11th, on the corner with the tall hedge. I¡¯m not sure if the small block of C st between 10th and 11th has a list serve, but we can share the info with our neighbors
behind us.?
Best,?
?
Everyone --
Thank you all so much for your support! In just a single evening we've heard back from 12 households and more seem to be joining in as the morning moves along. We're also trying to also reach out to the C and Independence St through their listservs, so
if anyone has any insight into how to get on them, please let me know!
Since everyone's excited about potential names, I've created a Google Doc of all the suggestions we've received thus far and will continue to update it as more names come in (I will be watching and adding names from this thread, texts/emails, word of mouth,
and FB group posts). We will determine a way to narrow them down as we move on to later steps:
Let's keep up the momentum!!
Sincerely,
Haley & Corey
210-REAR
On Wed, Feb 17, 2021 at 9:10 AM Kyle Nicholls Cobb < kenicholls@...>
wrote:
Riverstone Court???
On Wed, Feb 17, 2021 at 8:57 AM Dan Kolker < dakolker@...>
wrote:
One of our neighbors suggested Riverstone Alley to refer to those stones on the western side of it that make everyone drive slower.
-Dan (224 10th)
On Tue, Feb 16, 2021 at 11:13 PM Susan Eads Role < seadsrole@...>
wrote:
Haley and Corey -- Welcome neighbors! My husband Jerry and I look forward to meeting you, and we support your project to name our alley.
In the event residents are interested in looking to history to select a name, the following information may be of interest.
The author of the blog post immediately above is neighbor Robert S. Pohl. Robert also is the author of several books regarding DC, including one about his family's home, which abuts the alley:?A House on the Hill: The History of 219 11th St
SE.
You also may want to consult with Sandy Harrelson, whom I believe is on the 200 block of 10th Street SE distribution list, regarding her knowledge of the history of the people and the properties served by the alley.
Regarding the modern alley, it was resurfaced a few years ago. Neighbors worked to preserve the historic river rock portion of the half-alley on the 10th Street SE side, with the assistance of Councilmember Charles Allen.
Best of luck with your project, and please let me know whether I can be of assistance.
Susan
Susan Eads Role
238 10th St SE
202-905-8016 (office/mobile)
Thanks for initiating this Haley & Corey and welcome again to the neighborhood. Adding in the listserv for the 200 block of 10th Street as well for folks whose properties abut the alley.?
Thanks again and good luck!
Nick
242 10th
Dear
Friends & Neighbors,
Our
names are Haley and Corey, and we are the new owners of alley house 210-REAR. We moved in a couple months ago and have since learned quite a lot about being the owners of a historic alley home. The most amazing thing we learned, however, was that we (as a
block) have
the opportunity to name our alley!
Because
there are a couple independent homes (210-REAR and 211-REAR) whose primary access is through the alley, we are able to petition the city to give our alley a name.* Not only would this be an amazing chance to cement our alley in D.C. history but also offer
some practical benefits such as traffic control signs, GPS-discoverable/USPS-deliverable mailing addresses for all the alley homes, and increased property values.
In
pursuit of this opportunity, we reached out to our ANC Steve Holtzmann who kindly provided us a run-down of the actions we would have to take in order to gain his endorsement for this initiative:
Step
1:
Assess people¡¯s interest in naming the alley.
Step
2:
Attempt to reach all property owners to notify them of this initiative.
Step
3:
Put together a petition that is signed by a majority of property owners whose property abuts the alley. (There are 64 properties but 62 homeowners, so as of today, we would need 32 or more signatures.)
After
these steps are taken, the petition would go through various stages of procedural voting and eventually reach the Mayor for a final sign-off.** There are a couple fine-print details that we¡¯re still working out with Steve, but for the most part, that¡¯s it
-- in a couple months, a
signature on a petition is the only requirement we will need from you.
However,
to really forge ahead, we need your support.
As
we mentioned above, Step 1 is a general assessment of interest. Therefore, we¡¯ve created a Facebook Group for this Name Our Alley initiative:
.
Please join
the Facebook Group if
you are yea for a name! Or, feel free to call or text me at 678-523-4050, email me at
haley.huang.0329@...,
or respond to this thread to express your interest, convey your concerns, ask any questions, or offer your expertise. And of course, please
spread
the word!
Although we will be doing our best to reach out to as many people as we can through emails, letters, and social media, we can only do so much on our own. Once we've established that there is significant interest in this initiative, we will move on to Step
2.
We
understand that we¡¯re still in the middle of a pandemic and therefore haven¡¯t had the chance to meet everyone face-to-face, but we still hope that this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to name a historical D.C. alley resonates with you as much as it does with
us!
Thank
you all for your time.
Sincerely,
Haley
& Corey
*
**
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Hi neighbors,
I hope you¡¯re out enjoying this gorgeous Saturday!
Just dropping in to let you know that my husband Tom and I (and our small dachshund and enormous cat) are moving into 1015 Independence Ave today (north side of the alley). While we reserved parking spots for our moving truck on Independence Ave, it appears that people have ignored our signs and taken the reserved spots. While we work to sort that out, we may have to have our moving truck start in the alley. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.
If you have any problems at all, call me at 202-320-4062.
Best,
Shannon
|
Please Read: Any Resident 65 or older who pre-registers by midnight tonight has a very good chance to get a vaccine appointment next week
In case you are 65+ and didn't already get this. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Holtzman, Steve (SMD 6B05) <6B05@...>Date: Thu, Mar 11, 2021 at 5:14 PM Subject: Please Read: Any Resident 65 or older who pre-registers by midnight tonight has a very good chance to get a vaccine appointment next week To: Holtzman, Steve (SMD 6B05) < 6B05@...>
Neighbors,
Any DC resident 65 years or older, if they pre-register NOW, has a very good chance of getting a confirmed vaccination appointment invitation tomorrow morning.
The primary message I want to send is that all residents in the 65 yrs of age or older category, if they haven't gotten a vaccine or already pre-registered should consider seriously doing so now. TODAY before midnight.
If you are not 65 or older, but you have
a friend or neighbor in this neighborhood or know someone anywhere in the city,
in this category...please reach out and call them or send them an email to pre-register NOW.? It's easy and takes 5 minutes
to do so.
Online Registration Site:? ?
Call center: 1-855-363-0333
As of 8pm last night:?
- 2692 residents had pre-registered in the 65+ category for all zip codes.
-
2710 appointments in this category will be allocated tomorrow morning.
As you can see, at current numbers, every resident who registered in this category will get an appointment tomorrow. There are more people who have registered or will register today.?
However, the numbers from yesterday seem likely to be a good proportion of the total registered by this evening.?
Even if the same number register today, that would still give anyone in this category a 50% chance of getting invited for an appointment tomorrow morning.
The point is if you are 65 or over and you pre-register before midnight tonight, you have a very high likelihood of getting an immediate opportunity tomorrow morning to reliably get a confirmed vaccination appointment booked now.
NOTE: DC Health says that it will try to accommodate Senior residents in this process who need an appointment in their community. Not feeling capable to have to go far for a vaccine is not a reason to delay pre-registering.
In addition, by 8pm last night, another 1379 residents pre-registered in the category of 65 plus residing in priority zip codes. There are another 2700 appointments reserved for booking tomorrow morning in this category. Do the numbers.
There are other items of interest in today's Mayor's Update, I'll touch on these tomorrow. For now, this is the topic of urgent interest.
Here is a link to the written presentation of the Update:?
?
best,
?Steve
Steve Holtzman, 6B05
|
Eastern Market Metro Park playground area will host a Cherry Blossom Sculpture for the upcoming festival
In case you missed this.? Antonia
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Holtzman, Steve (SMD 6B05) <6b05@...> To: Holtzman, Steve (SMD 6B05) <6b05@...> Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2021, 01:33:40 AM EST Subject: Eastern Market Metro Park playground area will host a Cherry Blossom Sculpture for the upcoming festival
The National Cherry Blossom Festival is placing 25 large fiberglass sculptures of cherry blossoms in locations around DC for the upcoming festival. The sculptures will be put in place late next week and will remain until May 31st. The sculptures are about 5
feet high and are being fabricated by the same source who produced the Pandas and, before that, the Elephants and Donkeys that many of us remember. In a similar process, selected local artists will paint each of the sculptures.
Thanks to a proposal by Eastern Market Main Street,
the Festival has selected Parcel One of the Eastern Market Metro Park to host one of the sculptures.
The plan is for the 1200-pound sculpture and base to be set up in the splashpad area adjoining the playground. The base will be delivered in the next few days.
The sculpture itself is scheduled to be installed around March 18th.?
Eastern Market Main Street worked with ANC6B to decide on the placement for the sculpture to maximize community access and benefit. ANC6B unanimously passed a resolution earlier this evening to endorse the idea and the site selection. Dimensions of the sculpture,
sketches and other background information are available in the attached sheet provided by the Festival.
best,
?Steve
Steve Holtzman, 6B05
|
Tom and Shannon, welcome to the block.?
Thanks so much for this heads up and your consideration?in trying to reduce the impact of your construction work?on?our alley!
On Monday, March 8, 2021, 8:46 AM, tom.williams25@... wrote: Hello neighbours,
?
We are Tom and Shannon and will shortly be moving into 1015 Independence Ave. We wanted to introduce ourselves ?.
?
This week we¡¯re having a little bit of work done on the house, starting tomorrow (Monday 8th). It will be mainly located inside though we are having the existing fence replaced so you may notice some people working in the rear yard. We¡¯ve reserved parking, on Independence Ave, from Tuesday, for our contractor.
?
Hopefully this will not be disruptive to anyone but if you have any questions or concerns please do reach out to us. Tom¡¯s number is ?202 322 1432 ?and his email is tom.williams25@...?I¡¯ll do my best to help. ?
Best wishes
?
Tom
?
|
Re: Busted yard corner at 10th St T into Alley
Hi Everyone,
?
Adding to the litany of examples of contractors behaving badly (both our car and our fence have been damaged), the sanitation truck was unable to enter our alley just now on account of a van that was parked in the intersection (!), impeding
the flow of traffic in every possible direction. This is very frustrating.
?
Best,
?
Jonathan
?
Sent from for Windows 10
?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
From: grcwdc@...
Sent: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 1:10 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [200block11thstSE] Busted yard corner at 10th St T into Alley
?
I don¡¯t know anything about it but this isn¡¯t the first time something like this has happened. Our tree box has been destroyed by trucks running into it. And our neighbors at 227 had a truck sideswipe their
van when pulling into the alley.
Howdy friends and neighbors -?
Does anyone know anything about this accident? ?The tenant in the house said someone told them about it yesterday morning and it was a service truck.
Just curious ?- this really upsets me, how little regard some of the trucks/vans coming in and out of our alley have for our neighborhood. ?And those rocks are heavy as all get out - I tried to move them out of the way but wasn¡¯t able.
Not sure if the party responsible can be located, but I¡¯d sure like to try.?
<IMG_0325.jpeg>
?
|
Hello neighbours,
?
We are Tom and Shannon and will shortly be moving into 1015 Independence Ave. We wanted to introduce ourselves ?.
?
This week we¡¯re having a little bit of work done on the house, starting tomorrow (Monday 8th). It will be mainly located inside though we are having the existing fence replaced so you may notice some people working in the rear yard. We¡¯ve reserved parking, on Independence Ave, from Tuesday, for our contractor.
?
Hopefully this will not be disruptive to anyone but if you have any questions or concerns please do reach out to us. Tom¡¯s number is ?202 322 1432 ?and his email is tom.williams25@...?I¡¯ll do my best to help. ?
Best wishes
?
Tom
?
|
Neighbors from 245 11th-with a suggestion about the voting. There
are a lot of name suggestions. We could have a winner with just a
few votes because every suggestions gets one or two votes and one
gets three votes. I would suggest either a rank order voting or a
two stage voting so that what ever name is chosen reflects
something closer to a majority agreement.
Linda
On 3/4/21 11:18 AM, kenicholls13 wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
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.
?
Timeline
?
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.
?
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
?
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
?
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
?
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,
?
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.
?
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.
?
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.
?
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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Re: UPDATE: Alley Naming Discussions
Haley and Corey,
I am weighing in here a little late, but first, let me thank
you for your time and energy in engaging in this significant effort to name our
alley.? We are so glad to welcome you to our neighborhood.? And, to
our other neighbors, if you have not had a chance to meet Haley and Corey, we
encourage you to so do.? They are a delightful young couple and the type
of new blood that adds tremendous value to any community.? ?
As the owners of 211 11th ST SE, Rear, we have
experienced all of the same issues associated with a ¡°rear¡± address that you
described in your earlier emails.? The only difference is that these
issues have not significantly impacted us like they do you since our primary
residence is 211 11th ST SE.? The most compelling requirement
for both of our properties to have a separate address are for all of the safety
reasons that Greg expertly outlined below.? ?
I have also lived on Capitol Hill for 30 years and in our
current home for almost 20 years.? I love the Hill and our neighborhood,
and I especially love the diversity among us. Our alley is the backyard for so
many kids (and now dogs) and a place for real community among all of the
residents on 10th, 11th, C ST and Independence. ?It
should be a safe and welcoming place and should have a name to reflect
that.? I have worked for years to engage neighbors in an inclusive and
constructive way and have to admit that I was so sad and disappointed to read
the negative email traffic (shared from 10th ST listserv)
discouraging your labors and suggesting delay.? Please know, that we fully
support your alley naming efforts and encourage you to stay the course and
build on the momentum that you have already achieved.?
I welcome the opportunity to continue to have a constructive
dialogue around this important issue.
All the best,
Liz Roberts
211 11th ST SE
On Friday, March 5, 2021, 01:49:44 PM EST, Haley Huang <haley.huang.0329@...> wrote:
To the 200 Block of 11th St:
Looking back at the emails that the listserv has received, we realized that a majority of the discussion involving the 10th St email group did not make it to your inboxes. Therefore, we wanted to summarize a couple key takeaways from the other group's discussion:
- Several neighbors suggested organizing a Covid-friendly get together to discuss names. Zoom was offered as an option, but we'd love other suggestions as well. If anyone is willing to help us put something together, please let us know! - There was some sentiment that things were moving too quickly, so we delayed the name suggestion deadline to March 31st to give people more time. Hopefully everyone received our email about the updated timeline and voting process.
- In the discussion, we mentioned that part of the reason we started this initiative was so that 210-REAR 10th St and 211-REAR 11th St alley homes could receive valid addresses instead of being misunderstood as attached to 210 10th St and 211 11th St main street homes. This has resulted in many questions about our personal mail situation. However, there are problems greater than just receiving mail (for example, see Gregory's analysis below), and naming the alley is much greater than any problem. This is an awesome opportunity, and we shouldn't let it pass!
Hope this helps clarify some of the emails you may have been receiving. We will do our best to summarize and share discussions across listservs as they occur. Many thanks to everyone who is listening, watching, and sending us their support.
Sincerely, Haley & Corey 210 REAR
Current names:
Dear Neighbors:
?
I wanted to share some considerations related to the safety aspects of this discussion over naming the alley in the 200 block between 10th and 11th streets, SE.? As some of you know, I work in the public safety communications
industry and I have been involved in the development and deployment of 9-1-1 call center technology.? Some neighbors have asked me whether the question we are all discussing related to establishing a name for the alley and creating a specific address for a
house in the alley between 10th and 11th Street on the 200 block has any impact on 9-1-1 calls in the event of an emergency.? The answer is: Yes, this address issue could have an impact on a 9-1-1 call.?
?
The database that the DC United Communications Center (the 9-1-1 call center that manages all 9-1-1 calls in the District) references will reflect whatever address DC has in its records.? If Haley and Corey call 9-1-1 from their landline
phone, the call taker in the 9-1-1 call center will see their phone number and the address associated with that phone number.? Currently that means that 9-1-1 dispatches will give first responders ¡°210 10th Street, SE Rear, DC¡± as the address to
respond to.? The first responders will have the same information the USPS has and therefore they will encounter the same difficulties related to the mail delivery.? Knowing exactly where to go will depend on the first responder (EMT, police, or fire) and their
knowledge of what ¡°210 10th Street Rear¡± means.? In an emergency, this could be a serious difference. (e.g., Consider a crime in progress when the police show up at the front door of 210 10th Street, SE with sirens and the crime is occurring
in the alley ¨C the assailants would have time to get away).
?
On the other hand, if the 9-1-1 call comes from a mobile phone, the location information is provided by the mobile operator using a combination of GPS and cell tower triangulation data.? In a mobile 9-1-1 call, the call taker receives location
data on a map that shows the location of the call in a more imprecise manner (usually starting with a circle within 100 meters in diameter then increasingly shrinking as the call continues, but it may never be accurate enough to locate the call within 50 meters).?
The call taker in the 9-1-1 call center may be able to provide first responder dispatchers with an estimate on the address using the same database referenced above, comparing against the circle or dot appearing on their map based on the GPS and triangulation
data provided by the mobile operator.? The accuracy depends on wireless systems which are not always accurate or confirmation from the caller.
?
However, all DC residents can sign up for Smart 9-1-1
(at no cost) and register their mobile phone numbers (everyone in the household is possible) with their street address.? For Haley and Corey, that takes them back to the original issue of the street address.
?
While this address issue has a direct impact on Haley and Corey with respect to their safety, it also effects the rest of the community as well.? ?The more precise the DC address database is, the better off all of us are in the event of
an emergency because the 9-1-1 call taker we are talking to will have more precision to relay in dispatching first responders.? First responders can only deal with the information they are provided in responding to a 9-1-1 emergency.? Sometimes, the person
calling 9-1-1 can be very accurate and clear on directions.? But sometimes, the location information is less clear in situations where a mobile device is being used.? The more accurate the database that DC has, the better the chances are that first responders
will have more precise location information.?
?
The most important thing I have learned in the 9-1-1 business is that in
every emergency, the single most important information in any emergency is ¡°location.¡±
?
Feel free to call me to discuss if you wish.
?
Gregory L. Rohde
222 10th Street, SE
Washington, DC? 20003
+1.202.292.4600 (office)
+1.202.246.9004 (mobile)
glr@...
|
UPDATE: Alley Naming Discussions
To the 200 Block of 11th St:
Looking back at the emails that the listserv has received, we realized that a majority of the discussion involving the 10th St email group did not make it to your inboxes. Therefore, we wanted to summarize a couple key takeaways from the other group's discussion:
- Several neighbors suggested organizing a Covid-friendly get together to discuss names. Zoom was offered as an option, but we'd love other suggestions as well. If anyone is willing to help us put something together, please let us know! - There was some sentiment that things were moving too quickly, so we delayed the name suggestion deadline to March 31st to give people more time. Hopefully everyone received our email about the updated timeline and voting process.
- In the discussion, we mentioned that part of the reason we started this initiative was so that 210-REAR 10th St and 211-REAR 11th St alley homes could receive valid addresses instead of being misunderstood as attached to 210 10th St and 211 11th St main street homes. This has resulted in many questions about our personal mail situation. However, there are problems greater than just receiving mail (for example, see Gregory's analysis below), and naming the alley is much greater than any problem. This is an awesome opportunity, and we shouldn't let it pass!
Hope this helps clarify some of the emails you may have been receiving. We will do our best to summarize and share discussions across listservs as they occur. Many thanks to everyone who is listening, watching, and sending us their support.
Sincerely, Haley & Corey 210 REAR
Current names:
Dear Neighbors:
?
I wanted to share some considerations related to the safety aspects of this discussion over naming the alley in the 200 block between 10th and 11th streets, SE.? As some of you know, I work in the public safety communications
industry and I have been involved in the development and deployment of 9-1-1 call center technology.? Some neighbors have asked me whether the question we are all discussing related to establishing a name for the alley and creating a specific address for a
house in the alley between 10th and 11th Street on the 200 block has any impact on 9-1-1 calls in the event of an emergency.? The answer is: Yes, this address issue could have an impact on a 9-1-1 call.?
?
The database that the DC United Communications Center (the 9-1-1 call center that manages all 9-1-1 calls in the District) references will reflect whatever address DC has in its records.? If Haley and Corey call 9-1-1 from their landline
phone, the call taker in the 9-1-1 call center will see their phone number and the address associated with that phone number.? Currently that means that 9-1-1 dispatches will give first responders ¡°210 10th Street, SE Rear, DC¡± as the address to
respond to.? The first responders will have the same information the USPS has and therefore they will encounter the same difficulties related to the mail delivery.? Knowing exactly where to go will depend on the first responder (EMT, police, or fire) and their
knowledge of what ¡°210 10th Street Rear¡± means.? In an emergency, this could be a serious difference. (e.g., Consider a crime in progress when the police show up at the front door of 210 10th Street, SE with sirens and the crime is occurring
in the alley ¨C the assailants would have time to get away).
?
On the other hand, if the 9-1-1 call comes from a mobile phone, the location information is provided by the mobile operator using a combination of GPS and cell tower triangulation data.? In a mobile 9-1-1 call, the call taker receives location
data on a map that shows the location of the call in a more imprecise manner (usually starting with a circle within 100 meters in diameter then increasingly shrinking as the call continues, but it may never be accurate enough to locate the call within 50 meters).?
The call taker in the 9-1-1 call center may be able to provide first responder dispatchers with an estimate on the address using the same database referenced above, comparing against the circle or dot appearing on their map based on the GPS and triangulation
data provided by the mobile operator.? The accuracy depends on wireless systems which are not always accurate or confirmation from the caller.
?
However, all DC residents can sign up for Smart 9-1-1
(at no cost) and register their mobile phone numbers (everyone in the household is possible) with their street address.? For Haley and Corey, that takes them back to the original issue of the street address.
?
While this address issue has a direct impact on Haley and Corey with respect to their safety, it also effects the rest of the community as well.? ?The more precise the DC address database is, the better off all of us are in the event of
an emergency because the 9-1-1 call taker we are talking to will have more precision to relay in dispatching first responders.? First responders can only deal with the information they are provided in responding to a 9-1-1 emergency.? Sometimes, the person
calling 9-1-1 can be very accurate and clear on directions.? But sometimes, the location information is less clear in situations where a mobile device is being used.? The more accurate the database that DC has, the better the chances are that first responders
will have more precise location information.?
?
The most important thing I have learned in the 9-1-1 business is that in
every emergency, the single most important information in any emergency is ¡°location.¡±
?
Feel free to call me to discuss if you wish.
?
Gregory L. Rohde
222 10th Street, SE
Washington, DC? 20003
+1.202.292.4600 (office)
+1.202.246.9004 (mobile)
glr@...
|
Hi ?Haley - Maybe I¡¯ve missed this in the discussions, but I have a question: Do you have written assurance from the US Postal Service that they will indeed add mail delivery to addresses in the alley if the alley is named?
Marci Hilt
219 10th, SE??
-----Original Message-----
From: Johanna Bockman <johanna.bockman@...>
To: Kyle Nicholls Cobb <kenicholls@...>
Cc: Haley Huang <haley.huang.0329@...>; [email protected]; 200 10th street <200-block-10th-st-se@...>
Sent: Thu, Mar 4, 2021 11:35 am
Subject: Re: alley naming
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.
?
Timeline
?
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.
?
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
?
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
?
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
?
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,
?
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.
?
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.
?
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.
?
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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|
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.
?
Timeline
?
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.
?
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
?
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
?
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
?
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,
?
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.
?
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.
?
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.
?
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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UPDATE: Alley Naming Timeline and Voting Process
Hello All,
?
We have extended the deadline for
name suggestions to March 31st. Below you will find an updated timeline and an
explanation of how voting will be done.
?
Timeline
?
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.
May 16th onwards: Wait for
a majority of alley-abutting property owners to sign the petition then move on
to next steps required by the city (details here:
)
?
Voting Process
?
Between April 1st - April 9th, we
(210-REAR) and the owners of 211-REAR will work together with ANC Steve
Holtzman to pre-filter names that are either invalid mailing addresses (ex.
street name already exists) or unlikely to pass the D.C. council. By doing so,
we will hopefully avoid a scenario where the chosen name is rejected later in
the process.
?
On April 10th, we will release the
final list so the block can begin to vote. An "approval voting"
method will be used. Each eligible household will be able to vote for as
many names as they want to/approve of. The name receiving the greatest number
of votes will be the name selected for the petition. In the unlikely event of a
tie, a standard vote will be held between the tied names. With this method, the
name that is supported by the most households should be the winner.
?
The details on how we plan on
distributing and collecting the ballots is still being worked on. We will share
them with you once they are finalized.
?
In the meantime, please continue
to send us your names along with a short explanation of why your name should be
voted for! Current list can be found here:
?
Sincerely,
Haley and Corey
|
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.
?
Timeline
?
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.
?
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
?
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
?
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
?
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,
?
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.
?
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.
?
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.
?
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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