(This article originally appeared in the June 2019 edition of the newsletter of the Foxhall Community Citizens Association.)

A full Field House greeted Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh for her annual visit with the Foxhall Community Citizens Association membership, with residents airing concerns that spanned the clamor for control of the old Hardy School, potholes, homeless people using city vouchers to occupy apartments and worries about what might come from the next generation of cell phone service.

Cheh, who took questions for nearly 90 minutes during the April 17 meeting, opened by noting that the City Council is now going through Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed 2020 budget of $15.5 billion. The figure is $872.6 million, or about 6 percent, over the approved 2019 budget of $14.6 billion, with the top increases in local money identified as $224 million for WMATA, $61.9 million for repayment of loans and interest and $47.2 million for public schools, according to D.C. Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey S. DeWitt.

DeWitt, in his budget transmittal letter to the mayor, noted that federal tax reform provided an immediate economic boost this past year, but cautioned that federal efforts to “control domestic spending and possible major restructuring of federal agencies would also adversely impact federal spending in the District,” effects that might be partly offset with Amazon corporation’s anticipated second headquarters project in Arlington, Va.

Asked about her main concerns about development in the Foxhall area, Cheh cited the construction of homes that are far larger than neighboring dwellings. “It’s jarring and it’s troublesome,” she said. Building heights and density on lots are controlled by city regulations. “There is very little to be done unless the rules change,” Cheh said. “It’s happening in my neighborhood.”

But regulations that permit construction of buildings that block the sun from neighboring dwellings might be in conflict with another city initiative tout-ed by Cheh at the meeting – a push for more use of renewable energy, such as solar. DC’s Department of Energy and Environment spent $23.6 million for services and grants in 2017 to support solar energy, exclaiming “Solar for All”, with residences included in the program, according to an annual report filed with City Council.

Cheh said electricity customers can sign up to order that their power come from renewable sources, but she wants the default position to be renewables so that customers must choose fossil fuels. She said the city’s efforts include creation of a “Green Bank” that enables low-cost borrowing to fund improvement in building energy efficiency and repayment with savings from the work.

Transportation, Blues And Lights

Foxhall Road, with much of its length pocked and grooved, is to be paved this year, work usually done in the summer. Meanwhile, motorists can collect compensation for vehicle damage caused by a pothole. Cheh said the city’s risk management office handles claims and forms can be found at orm.dc.gov. Claims must be filed within six months of an incident.Cheh said she does not know why potholes plague the roads, particularly those paved with asphalt. She said she has lived in her house for 30 years and the street is paved with cement and has remained in good shape. “Why don’t we use it?” she wondered. A resident said concrete is more expensive.

The condition of streetlights has drawn complaints and Cheh said a major re-lighting project is underway that will deploy LED technology, with a contract out for bid. She said a private contractor would be responsible for managing the streetlights. She said the company would be able to install sensors that will prompt replacement of lights before they expire, adding that the system will be more efficient and better for the environment. But she also noted that the experience with other locations has been mixed, with some big cities losing money and Michigan asserting its freeway lighting had been improved. “I’m hoping we’ll get it right,” she said.

People with concerns about the condition of roads can call 311 for service. Cheh Chief of Staff Jonathan Willingham said an app also is available that allows residents to upload photos that clarify issues. He said he used it for a bulk pick-up request. “They know exactly what they are getting,” he said.

One resident complained about lack of easy access to information through the Department of Parks and Recreation about dog park start-up in the city and the agency’s unresponsiveness to requests for information. Cheh said DPR’s personnel might be inadequate for the task and the agency might “have to take a look at their whole operation.”

A resident also expressed interest in better accessibility for bikes around the city. Cheh said she favors designated lanes for pedestrians, cyclists and cars. “We need some sort of impetus for DDOT,” she said. “I say to the director all the time, why can’t we be like Copenhagen,” Cheh said. A stretch of Water Street, which runs under Whitehurst Freeway, has been reconfigured to provide for a pedestrian sidewalk, a two-way bike route protected from traffic by planters and parked cars, and separate traffic lanes.

One resident expressed concern about emissions from heavy truck traffic. Cheh said the city has anti-idling regulations and encouraged people to report violators. Idling, even to power air conditioning, for more than three minutes is barred, except under certain circumstances, including to run heating equipment for no more than five minutes when the temperature goes below freezing. The regulation also applies to tour buses.

Traffic could be producing money for the city. A resident noted installation of more tolling along Interstates 395 and 66 in Northern Virginia and suggested that the city put in its own tolls for Potomac River bridges. “I hear you,” Cheh said. But she said the city cannot tax the income of people who work in D.C. but don’t live in the city. “There is a high degree of sensitivity.” (See, Toll Trolling On I-66)

What about putting power lines to houses underground? Willingham said the emphasis is on minimizing blackouts and that the priority is on burying main transmission lines, not residential connections, because the impact is greater for the investment. A resident, describing himself as Italian, called Washington, D.C., the capital of the world and said he was surprised that utility lines are not buried, as they are in Italy.

MacArthur Boulevard Safeway’s fate? Cheh said she had spoken with officials of the company that bought control of the site, but said the conversation was confidential. She said company officials said they want community feedback. “They sounded sincere,” she said. Residents voiced desire to continue to have a grocery at the site. (See, So Long Safeway; Palisades Site Primed For “Memory Care”)

Housing The Homeless

A resident said that, in Cleveland Park, homeless people are being moved into an apartment building and that the same thing is happening at a building on MacArthur Boulevard. Cheh said the city housing office does not place people, but provides a list of potential accommodations and that vouchers used to pay rent are the highest they’ve been. The resident said it’s important to house people, but that he is concerned about the vetting of such pro-gram participants and how dense their populations may become. The resident suggested that the MacArthur Boulevard building is not being maintained and the vouchers are propping up owner revenue.

Residents also voiced concern about the health effects of deployment of the next generation of cell service, called 5G, which requires more technology deployment.“I don’t know that I would state that it’s a given that it’s bad for your health,” Cheh said. She said the system allows for faster transmission of more data, using sending of information for a person being transported in an ambulance as an example. She said the Federal Communications Commission is imposing the system and “we’re preempted.”

Mill Valley, California, located just north of San Francisco, enacted an “urgency ordinance” to limit rollout of 5G towers in the wake of a campaign by residents concerned about health effects identified by the “EMF Safety Network,” according to a September 2018 article in the Marin Independent Journal. One resident and activist, cited by the article, said 5G “adds another cloud to what we refer to as ‘electromagnetic smog’ into an environment that is already pretty saturated.” “Symptoms can include fatigue, head-aches, sleep problems, anxiety, heart problems, learning and memory disorders, ringing in the ears and increased cancer risk, according to the EMF Safety Network website,” the article stated.

Regarding the old Hardy School building’s future, supporters of the Lab School of Washington showed up to praise the school and back its use of the building, which has been the focus of an appeal to return it to use as a community public school. Cheh said she did not dispute the value of Lab, which has been seeking to renew its long-term lease on the site. But she said she is obligated not to give away a public facility that could help relieve crowded public schools. One meeting attendee said she had no quarrel with the private school for students with learning differences, but questioned the “influence of Lab School lobbyists” and asked why the school couldn’t find another location. “Is there something magical about that building?”