The Issue: The community is already, um, barking about a dog park that opened last month on 17^th and  S Street. The astroturf park was established by the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and is maintained by the non-profit Circle Dogs DC, which opened it before a set of rules was established. At an Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting to deal with the canine-related backlash this week, issues raised included: the number of dogs allowed in the park (optimal number was calculated to be 12.2), the distinction between dog toys and tennis balls, and whether humping is an owner-control issue or a reason to keep out un-neutered dogs. But according to Borderstan, the meeting hasn't yet resolved two important questions: Why are children still allowed to play in the park? And who exactly will be dealing with neighbor's complaints in the future? 

Dogs, Dogs, Dogs! The original petition for the dog park states: “We do not believe that dogs are more important than people, but we do believe that dog owners are equal to other park patrons.” On that note, Circle Dogs DC has supported the notion of a “culture of responsibility”—making sure dog-owners (who preferred to be called “guardians”) respect hours, curb barking, etc. The group says that once more people are involved on its board, it shouldn’t be difficult to enforce rules. The park is undoubtedly a success, at least by one measure: ANC 2B commissioner Bob Meehan told City Desk: “Sometimes there are 20 to 30 dogs in the park at one time.”

Rules, Rules, Rules! But neighbors are concerned that dog-owners are failing to self-police, and DC Circle Dogs isn’t big enough (i.e., four volunteer board members) to handle all the issues. This has left DPR National Park Service to pick up the slack—a solution that, as in the case of opening and closing the area, doesn’t always work. Others contend dogs aren’t the real issue, children are. Says Meehan: “Sometimes parents treat it like a petting zoo.” Matt, commenting on Borderstan, adds: “So…it’s just fine for parents to place toddlers on the ground with strange dogs running around in all directions. Have we lost our minds?”

Next Step: ANC 2B passed a resolution this week dealing with the opening/closing hours issue, and there's a proposed meeting in one or two months. In terms of children, “it’s against the rules for dogs to be in children parks. It’s not against the rules for [supervised children] to play with dogs," says Meehan. He adds that, "The [Tuesday meeting] was the first one where dog-owners and neighbors were listening to each other! It was also the most constructive meeting in which nothing was accomplished.”

Photo of park by Jess Erfer, Creative Commons Attribution License

The Issue: What should be done about raucous revelers and their search for drunken munchies?  Last Tuesday, the 2E Advisory Neighborhood Commission met with the owner of Philadelphia Pizza Company to discuss the antics of the late-night bar crowd—which consists largely of Georgetown Students—that gathers on Potomac Street NW for pizza. Georgetown residents complain that they are unable to sleep—but owner, Matt Kocak tells the Georgetown Voice that it’s the students, not the restaurant, that’s causing the problem.

Go to Bed! Residents argue that the pizza place is in a mixed zone, and needs to abide by residential rules: Ward 2 Commissioner Bill Starrels told City Desk, “The pizza place established itself as a sit-down restaurant, and the occupancy is only seven people. On the weekends, you get crowds going in—it’s messy, noisy and people [in the nearby condominiums] literally cannot sleep.”

Party and Pepperoni! Due to the fact that the establishment does not serve liquor, Kocak maintains that the ANC is not able to dictate his hours (the restaurant currently closes at 3:30 AM on Friday and Saturday nights). Additionally, he places the blame on the students, saying the issue should be brought up with the school or the police. As far as the pizza-munchers themselves: Keon D, blogging on foodie site Yelp says, “Ranch dressing on a pizza... GENIUS! Eww dude, please don’t vomit on me…DUDE!”

Next Step: Starrels says the ANC has contacted “friends in the Mayor’s office” to make sure that the restaurant is abiding by the appropriate laws. There also might be another meeting with the stakeholders down the road. In the meantime, kids, keep it down.

Photo by Leedav, Creative Commons License

The Issue:

Cast Again Please: According to a Bloomingdale blogger, the community climate at the meeting on Monday—which Mayor Fenty attended—was emotional and discouraging: Advisory neighborhood commissioner Anita Bonds told City Desk: “The neighbors feel they were not included at all in the decision-making process.” She also fears that the school won’t have a positive impact on the neighborhood: “Kids trying to establish themselves in new neighborhoods tend to generate friction.”  Bates Area Civic Association (BACA) president Jim Berry took that a step further, saying at the meeting that the school will “push back neighborhood retail development 30 years.”

It's a Catch: Mai Fernandez, LAYC’s legal and strategic director said at the meeting that the program has been operating in Columbia Heights for 35 years, and they have successfully provided job training and diplomas for youth between the ages of 16-24. In terms of addressing the community’s fears about the negative impact on the neighborhood, she promised 24-hour security, and both she and Mayor Fenty defended other program’s success at meshing with the neighborhood.

Next Step: BACA has put together a resolution opposing the school, and there will likely be another community meeting with LAYC. According to the Bloomingdale blogger, Mayor Fenty promised to have his staff walk through the community in the next 30 days to address issues such as drug dealing and homelessness. Bonds says that if the school is already a done deal, “there will definitely be some trials and tribulations getting used to the new neighborhood.”

Photo of Youth Center by Elizabeth Thomsen, Creative Commons License

The Issue:

Fire Sale: SOME says they have opened same-model housing in wards all over the city, including Logan Circle and Capitol Hill, and in the past the housing has raised property values. Richard Gerlach, Executive Director of SOME, told City Desk, “That property was on the market for a long, long time, so to say it’s a golden opportunity is just not true. The buildings we take over are a blight…we fix them up and they become a positive influence that promote growth.”  He also stressed that the housing is independent and non-transitional.

Missed Opportunity: Some Ward 8 residents argue that the space should be used to encourage higher income residents to move to the neighborhood: Resident Brian Townes told City Desk, “The area is prime redevelopment for the [Department of Homeland Security] alone... how many of these types of housing developments are within a three-mile radius of the Pentagon?” Congress Heights on Rise also says the community wasn’t notified about the project by the Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC), despite the neighborhood becoming, in his her opinion, “the designated social services arm of the entire district.”

Next Step: Construction is slated to begin in October, although Gerlach says the housing’s opening date has not yet been determined due to the economic climate. Disgruntled residents still have time to voice complaints to their local ANC.

Photo by Lydia, Creative Commons Attribution License

The Issue:

Burger, Hold the Booze: Former commissioner Kathy Henderson told City Desk that the area is “out of control with public drunkenness, drug dealings, and robberies—the police are doing a lot, but we need alternative solutions.” She says that the chain restaurant exception is a compromise: “If you are not a chain with a proven track record, such as T.G.I. Friday's or Ruby Tuesday, you will not be welcome to come.”

Burger and a Beer, Please: Others argue the proposal discriminates against locally owned businesses; plus, you can loiter just as easily outside Ruby Tuesday. Some think the proposal is aimed at Matt Ashburn's Capital City Diner, but he appeared at an ANC meeting this month to reassure the commission that he didn't even want to sell liquor. A resident commenting on the blog We Love DC says: “This is clearly targeted at them....The diner is the one hope that there won’t be bullet-proof glass between you and your food.”

Next Step: There is a public hearing on Oct. 21. Mark, also commenting on the blog, says: “Please attend, this promises to be excellent sport.”

Photo by Roadsidepictures, Creative Commons Attribution License

The Issue:

No More Pitching: Some community members think horseshoeing is contributing to the park's problems: The blog Congress Heights on the Rise says, "Despite their [the club's] best efforts, the horseshoe players do not attract children to the park - only adults. And most of those adults are drinking." Additionally, there are already pits set up in nearby Oxon Hill Park where the club could relocate.

Pitching Isn't the Problem: Many argue that public drinking is the real problem: In an informal online poll conducted by Southeast Socialite blog on what Congress Heights residents would like to see on MLK Avenue, 75 percent said what they really wanted was "10 less liquor stores."

Next Step: An advisory neighborhood commissioner, William Ellis, told City Desk: "What to do with the park is a big deal in the neighborhood. It has been the center of drug addicts and shootings in recent years, and the Park Service hasn't made the changes needed." He added that the ANC is reaching out to the community for suggestions on using the space; the park could include a community garden or Martin Luther King Jr. memorial.

"Memo to everyone: DC is not a safe place. That home that sold at 14th and Fairmont for $499,999 was not a good deal. In all of these recent shootings, and Oh, I forgot about the murder outside the Mt. Vernon Square metro--the police have been close enough to hear the shots and respond immediately. Still no arrests in any of these homicides. I'm not about to criticize the officers on the scene, but clearly there is a failing at some level of administration here. Obviously. You don't need someone who rarely updates a blog to tell you that.

My speculation is that things are only going to get worse as summer drags on, with the economy still in the pisser, and gang rivalry flaring up. You can tell me that violent crime is down and all of that (and maybe it is), but we'll see how those statistics work out once it's August. I've lived here long enough (in the grand scheme of things, not very long) to know that we haven't done anything magical to put a lid on crime in DC."

In case you don't trust bloggers who rarely update their blogs, how about the latest crime news from Borderstan. Crime is all the blog appears to be reporting on lately. And while we're hating on ourselves, 14th & You would like cleaner streets like they have in London.

New Columbia Heights notes that the Circulator bus is now on youtube. I prefer DCRA on twitter.

The New Teacher On The Block scolds one of their aides for letting one of her students wander off: "Seriously, people, DCPS does not ask much of you...but if you could not lose my students, that would be excellent. And I know kiddos are prone to wander sometimes, but the fact that you didn't even notice one of your kids was gone is awful. Especially because [if] something had happened to him, it would certainly have come back on me."

Congress Heights on the Rise makes more great points about a bad ANC.

Our own Black Plastic Bag breaks big news on the upcoming Sonic Circuits 2009 lineup. And Young & Hungry breaks the news on Spike's eviction from his Cap Hill rental.

Maryland State Del. Bill Frick (D-Montgomery County) sent a letter Monday to the superintendent of Rock Creek Park as an appeal to close Beach Drive to car traffic for an extended period. Currently, the park road popular with cyclists, Rollerbladers, runners, etc., opens at 7 p.m. That's all well and good when it's winter, but with an early Daylight Savings upon us, Frick wanted to throw his weight, or at least his letterhead, behind keeping cars off for longer.

This is not an original idea. Frick came to it as a regular reader of everyone's favorite anti-car blog, Greater Greater Washington. The blog aggregated a rant from Mount Pleasant ANC Commissioner Jack McKay:

Who decided on 7:00 p.m., and why? Why not 8:00 p.m., or even later, to make certain that recreational users are off the road before the cars are turned onto it? It’s Sunday, there’s no weekday rush of traffic, and there are no large numbers of automobile drivers needing to take Beach Drive through the park to the Maryland suburbs. The cars can take 16th Street and Connecticut Avenue, and don’t need Beach Drive on Sunday evening. Let the cars stay on those roads, and keep Beach Drive safe for weekend recreational use, at least until darkness falls.

Frick says he was moved by McKay's logic. In a phone call, he says he grew up in Kensington, "a stone's throw" from the park and Beach Drive, and has many happy memories of riding the road on a bike with his parents. "We should let other families enjoy their time there," he says. Plus: "It didn't take much effort on my part" to send the letter. (Read: ANC Commissioners' letterhead=not that impressive.)

Posniak's family does not want to comment at this time. A neighbor who did not want to be named out of respect for them said by phone this morning that Posniak never struck anyone "as a person who would ever act in a malicious way." Another neighbor who spoke to the Grand Forks Herald said Posniak, who lived in his neighborhood for many years, “spent a lot of time outdoors, walking, in all types of weather.”

Posniak's lawyer in Minnesota, Mark Larsen, told the press Posniak camped in the area that burned nearly every year for 20 years and "cherished his time" there. He also told the Washington Post that Posniak was "a gentle, kind, caring individual" and that the indictment against him was "an exercise in overcharging."

His trial was set to begin in Duluth next month. When reached by phone following the charges, Posniak---whom City Paper had interviewed regarding a fight he led against cutting bus routes in Tenleytown---said he could not comment, but promised to call when he could.

A personal note: As someone who camps and loves the woods, I have been thinking a lot about him since that brief conversation. It's unfortunate he did not have the chance to tell his side of the story publicly. We send condolences to his family and friends.

Definitive evidence below the jump.

Don't be fooled by the blazer, folks. Arthur Delaney may look like your typical District politico, but he drinks his beers one at a time. Just like the rest of us.

Trouble viewing? Try the YouTube version.

City Desk just called Arthur Delaney to check in on his historic campaign for an ANC post in Cap. Hill. He is standing outside his precinct at Payne Elementary. It is 5:35 p.m.

Delaney has big news. His mom has joined his campaign!

"My mom is here campaigning with me," Delaney says. "She voted for me over in a different SMD (Single Member District)."

And Delaney's opponent? He's nowhere in sight.

"I'm not sure where he is," Delaney says.

I ask if he thinks his opponent is runnin' scared. This is Delaney's response: "He damn well should be. He's in deep shit."

We will be posting updates on Delaney's ANC race throughout the night. Stay tuned.

*photo by Darrow Montgomery