Paul Andrew Kirk, the Man Behind “No Drilling at McMillan” Blog
In December, I wrote several times about the McMillan Sand Filtration Plant site, a 25-acre parcel of land by the intersection of North Capitol Street and Michigan Avenue, Northwest. Recently, a development team unveiled plans re-imagining the land as a mixed-use community with up to 1,200 housing units, a grocery store, retail—the works.
Soon after, Bloomingdale resident Paul Andrew Kirk launched a blog—“No Drilling at McMillan”— attacking the developers’ vision, and hopefully appealing to locals’ gnawing inner environmentalist. As Kirk writes at the top of his blog: “While people who say they care about the environment are outraged about drilling in the northern tundra of Alaska, there seems to be little concern for turning 25 acres of green space in the nation’s capital into concrete and asphalt.”
Thus far, his blog has ignited a vibrant dialogue (read: brutal keyboard lashing) on Greater, Greater Washington. And Kirk has been right there responding to every claim…which made me wonder: Who is this man? And why was he writing this blog in the first place? He responded in e-mail, and later gave me permission to publish said response:
I live right on Channing. I’ve lived in DC for 20 years, on Capitol Hill for 14 years and here since 2002.
With regard to McMillan, I would like to see some leadership. This is such a unique piece of land. It overlooks the reservoir and the city. Having the benefit of overlooking the property for six years, I can tell you there is abundant wildlife there including migratory birds and birds of prey. If it is to be developed, there should continue to be some connection between the reservoir and this site. The fence around the reservoir does nothing really from a security standpoint. Someone with vision should look at the bigger picture, including the Armed Forces Home and the great need for fixed rail at the Hospital Center (which includes 4 hospitals and is the most densely populated commuter destination in the city).
I could go on and on.
Bloomingdale is a nice neighborhood. First Street is the heart of Bloomingdale. Adding thousands of cars a day to First Street will forever change the feel you get now walking your dog up and down First. Developing the land north of Channing will eliminate the safe zone that exists between Channing and Michigan. Criminals hate this stretch because there is a good chance if they run in that direction, they have no place to hide and they will be caught.
Mostly, I am against the process being left to a private developer whose profit is dependent on the amount of square footage produced. That’s why they don’t say the Channing Street rowhouses will be the same as the South side of the street, they say they will be somewhat like them. This means duplexes of low-income housing. This means two houses for every one on the South side, greatly decreasing the number of parking places on the street and greatly increasing the number of people you find around public housing projects. I support public housing assistance for those truly in need. I just think the Howard/Shaw area has more than its share already.
I have been to the “listening sessions”. At the first one, they spoke at us 45 minutes, then broke us into smaller groups and use every opportunity to sell the idea of this utopia they were building that would have a Trader Joes and sushi restaurants. At the first listening session I was told I couldn’t ask any (not any more, any) questions. By the way, where the heck did they get the idea to build an amphitheater? I certainly haven’t heard anyone in my neighborhood, rich or poor, black or white, young or old clamoring for a community amphitheater. Maybe Childrens Hospital requested it for puppet shows?
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Linked From: January 26th, 2009No, You Didn’t Miss the Next McMillan Site Meeting! - Housing Complex - Washington City Paper
3:21 pm[...] plans for the 25-acre site. Since then, conversation about the proposal has really heated up here, and [...]
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Linked From: February 9th, 2009Saturday’s McMillan Site Meeting, Part 1 - Housing Complex - Washington City Paper
11:33 am[...] grocery store, retail—the works. In the following month, a Bloomingdale resident launched a blog “No Drilling at McMillan” and local residents started banding together and holding neighbors-only meetings, claiming [...]
5:20 pm
I’m glad Mr. Kirk responded to you, Ms. Samuelson. He has never replied to my repeated requests for email or phone conversation.
Mr. Kirk continues to inaccurately restate facts, both on his blog and in replies at Greater Greater Washington. I object to his characterization of the community meetings Vision McMillan Partners have hosted.
At Meeting #1 we literally asked the participants to draw and list their ideas for the site. The meeting was comprised of people from Bloomingdale, Eckington, Stronghold, Park View, Le Droit Park and Brookland. We compiled the findings and continued our monthly meetings with the McMillan Advisory Group, itself comprised of neighborhood representatives as well. We brought the DRAFT plan back to the 2nd community meeting in December, which we extended to accommodate the Q& A session that ran very long. The MAG asked us to conduct a town hall style meeting and allow people to ask questions and offer commentary, which is how it was run.
Mr. Kirk keeps trotting out his pithy comment about the amphitheatre, which was requested by several neighborhood residents; mischaracterizes the proposal as “1200 units of low income housing” on his blog; asserts that the retail will be all chicken joints and check cashing places; in his email to you he presents the idea of connecting the site to the resevoir as though it has not been discussed at all of the meetings thus far (despite our deep desire to do so, it’s ultimately up to the Army Corps of Engineers everyone agrees that the view of the resevoir is one of the greatest ammenities to the site).
Further, there are two members of the MAG who live on Channing Street. They have taken on the task of making sure that the proposed streetscape meets the desires of the block’s residents, literally walking three possible plans up to every house and asking people to sign the one they find most desirable.
Vision McMillan Partners and the MAG are hard at work on this project. We have not finalized any plans. We are committed to neighborhood input and will continue to meet with the MAG and the larger neighborhoods that surround the site, with the end goal of developing a plan that everyone likes.
I’m disappointed that Mr. Kirk would rather throw stones from blogs and rather than meeting face to face or even talking via email. It doesn’t seem to be aimed at finding resolution, rather, it seems to be aimed at sowing dissent through misinformation.
3:21 pm
I have communicated with the developer’s agent, Tania. Specifically, I suggested we have this conversation in a public forum, which I think is better than the Bethesda developer’s preferred MO, which is meeting behind closed doors.
Meeting #1 was exactly how I described it. At least 18 team members took the first 45 minutes to introduce themselves. When I rose to ask a question, I was told no questions would be fielded. Then, when we broke into groups, there was a very tight schedule and the conversation was controlled by the developer’s agent.
As for anyone on Channing Street knocking on my door, it never happened. It appears from the proposed plan that we will be looking at the backs of the 3 to 4 story high low-income housing buildings within the Superblock, nothing like the developer’s original assertion that the north side of Channing would match the south.
Speaking of 3 to 4 story high low-income housing projects, I concede that my earlier number of 1,200 is higher then what the developer is currently telling us. But, the developer doesn’t have a final number either. And, the city, in the final negotiation for the “sales price” of the land will certainly be pressing to maximize the number of low-income housing units.
Just like trying to sell us the deal with romantic notions of whether it will be Trader Joes or Harris Teeter, the developer really has no definitive notion how many low-income units will be included. Nevertheless, they are pushing forward as fast as possible by finalizing plans and setting dates to transfer the land and select a vertical partner.
I don’t equate the discussion of connecting the reservoir to property with the developer’s responsibility to make every effort to actually get something done in this regard. This goes for discussing a fixed rail solution as well. The reason the developer is content to discuss things and not actually do anything is that it will take time, and they are most interested in the profits to be made by signing building contracts and moving things along as quickly as possible.
With the enormous stimulus package now under consideration, and the emphasis on energy and transportation solutions, the city should take some a leadership role and insist on a metro station at this site. The developer has no interest in this idea, or working with the Army Corps of Engineers (whose Commander in Chief is now none other than Adrian Fenty’s friend Barack Obama). The developer’s priority is to move this along as quickly as possible to fully profit from being pre-selected in this process to offer contracts and dictate all of the decisions that will be made with regard to this publicly-owned property. We keep hearing that the problem with public works projects is that there are too few that can be started immediately. Well, they can immediately start digging a new Metro stop here if there was anyone with Vision involved. Again, the Washington Hospital Center, which includes four large hospitals, is the largest commuter destination in the city not served by fixed rail. This is the source of our existing traffic problems, not to mention the added traffic created by $1 Billion in additional development.
I guess, in the end, we may have an amphitheater, so the developer will be able to say the neighborhood involvement was respected. Could someone answer my non-pithy question: Just who in the neighborhood is clamoring for an amphitheater? I guess this is the ideal thing for the developer, just more concrete they can count as “open space”. It has been suggested that “several” neighbors have contacted the developer with this as their priority. If you can’t say who, can you say why?
PS – Tania should look up the definition of the word “pithy’.
1:56 am
I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. I actually purchased an EYA house in Hyattsville about 2 years ago and I think they are one of the coolest developer’s in this area. In Hyattsville they are turning an abandoned strip of auto dealerships into a mixed-use neighborhood with rowhomes, condos, live-work units, artists studios and gallery space, and a whole lot of much needed retail and restaurants. They’ve convinced Busboys & Poets, Tara Thai, and an organic grocery store to come to Hyattsville, which I think is pretty remarkable. I find it hard to believe they are the kind of developer that would bring a check cashing and fried chicken shop to one of their projects. The other project I know they’ve done that includes retail is in Alexandria where they have a high-end local coffee shop, some clothing boutiques, and some other great restaurants. Unless they are changing their business strategy, I don’t know why the community would be concerned that they are going to bring anything but a great mix of new businesses to the neighborhood.
If the community doesn’t want an amphitheater then it seems to make sense to tell EYA what they do want. If they can’t let you interrupt public meetings with questions then post the kind of things you think the development needs right here. I’m sure they will read it.
I know in Hyattsville they were going to tear down the Lustine Auto Dealership showroom to build some condos but the community requested instead that they rehab it so EYA turned it into a great gym, community room, and local art gallery. It seems like in that case they listened to community concerns. The rehab actually won an award you can read about if you visit the community website http://www.eya.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=microsites.welcome&neighborhoodid=6B5240AC-96B6-175C-99CE06061246A2C6. I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t do the same here if the concerns were reasonable and residents offered alternative ideas. I just think its unrealistic to say the site should be left as parkland or something like that. Doesn’t DC have a shortage of money they desperately need for schools, police, and other city needs? It seems far more productive to make suggestions to the developer on what you want to see rather than just bash the development, tell them they have no vision, and demand that the place stays undeveloped.
As far as what they are going to build, have you guys visited any of their projects or seen their website http://www.eya.com/? I’ve never seen a new homebuilder build homes like they do that look like they could have been there for 60 or 70+ years. I actually found out about them 5 or 6 years before I bought one of their homes and I went to visit all of their communities because I think the houses they build are so cool. When they came to Hyattsville and I could finally afford one of their homes, I camped out overnight with 35 other people all just to make sure we could buy one (this was in 06 when the real estate boom was pretty much over). I know the last project they did also in Alexandria where they had to include low income housing in some of the units won national awards. Developers certainly don’t maximize their profits or make a ton of money by building low-income housing so I’m sure they are only including it in the development because the city requires it. In fact its been all over the news that Fenty is trying to increase the amount of housing for low income as well as workforce housing for firefighters, teachers, and other middle class people that are often priced out of DC house. As far as density it seems like if they really wanted to build as much as possible they’d build 8-10 story condos and offices all over the entire site instead of rowhomes that fit in with the rest of the neighborhood.
I just find it hard to believe people are so opposed to EYA coming to their neighborhood. I’m excited to see what they do at McMillan and I might even consider buying my next house there. I think if any developer has great vision and has proved it over time it’s EYA. I’m sure the project will turn out great in the end, and I’m sure if the community comes together to give constructive feedback instead of fighting amongst themselves the final result will be even better just as it happened in Hyattsville with the Lustine Center.
6:57 am
I live on S street N.W. I totally support what you’re doing !
11:13 am
I am a W St resident and I completely agree with Mr Kirk. We are being sold on promises of high-end retail and lovelly park space. The reality is going to be:
* Massive traffic jams;
* low-end retail (think dollar stores and nail salons)
* gangs of kids hanging out at said crap retail.
Bloomingdale is in a very delicate “transitional” state. The only reason it’s a fairly nice, quiet place to live is that it’s a little out of the way, so we avoid some of the problems of Georgia Avenue and RI Avenue. Putting a big glob of low-income housing and crap retail on Michigan Ave will wreck the desirable qualities of the neighborhood.
12:22 pm
I find Paul Kirk to be a very condescending, bitter individual. See his comment to Tania regarding “pithy.” (for which he should apologize)
1:42 pm
Thank you Hyattsville! I wish more neighborhood people would express their opinions.
My guess is that most pro-development comments are written by the developers themselves, or by folks who do not live next to the property as I do. So, for those who live down on S Street, or Bethesda (and ‘Brent’ in Hyattsville), you don’t already see the current traffic problems like we do. Do people understand that the plan is to install timed lights up and down First Street? Is there ANYONE in Bloomingdale that wants to see timed traffic lights going up and down our First Street?
And, Tania, I apologize if my ‘pithy’ remark seemed rude to you. This medium is the worst for attempts at humor. If you look up “pithy”, it means concise. So, I was trying to be funny suggesting that you may want to reconsider calling me concise!
Have a nice day!
10:22 pm
Are you talking about Aakash Thakkar, Mr. Kirk? We’re both on the team; he’s from EYA and I’m from JAIR LYNCH. I would appreciate a direct reply to my inquiries.
Tania Jackson
tbj@jairlynch.com
10:44 pm
Also, we’re not based in Bethesda. JAIR LYNCH Development Partners is a U Street based business; we’ve been DC-based for the entire 10 year life of the company. You’re still getting a lot wrong in your assertions, and it’s pretty frustrating.
Dr. Williams (3.5 years on the block) and Mrs. Rippey (an over 40 year resident of Channing Street) have been vocal, great proponents for houses of equal size and no set back on the street. In their tenure on the MAG, they have been very clear about the perspective of people on the block. Dr. Williams has been walking the renderings up and down the block, which has 26 houses. Last count saw about 15 signatures, with the majority showing opposition to any setback or berm; and asserting that the houses need to be alike in size. This was shown to OP… we are actively listening to the residents of the block on the issue, and to state that we refuse to change the plans is to share inaccurate information in the blogosphere.
Where did you see timed lights on First Street? That isn’t part of the current DRAFT plan.
You omitted the design and input (retail, open space and housing) part from your description of Meeting #1, and it sounds like you didn’t make Meeting #2, where there was an open mike from almost the beginning.
At the very least I wish you would ask questions before making assertions. Your insistence on not having a direct conversation with me is just going to perpetuate this bizarre back and forth. If you’re scared to talk to me directly, at least talk to a member of the MAG– like the Channing Street reps, Dr. Williams and Ms. Rippey. Or contact Aakash, since you seem more comfortable talking to him (I guess so you can continue to assert that all of the development team is based in Bethesda and only builds in Bethesda and doesn’t know any thing about the city — despite their projects in DC. . . negating the fact that Jair and I are DC natives and have been developing in the city for 10 years and also live with in walking distance of the site).
My point about the reservoir, the “lake so blue” (I find it really funny that you posted the Alma Mater, so we’d “know” about it… I quoted it at both meetings– that’s where my grandparents courted when my grandfather was in med school there), was that it’s something that comes up over and over again, and despite the fact that we don’t have any development rights to it, or ownership of it, it’s something we’re committed to trying to work on. We can’t promise to change something we don’t have ownership or rights to, but we can promise to try– I don’t really understand what more you’d like for us to say on the matter.
I also don’t understand the shoot first, NEVER ask questions approach. Again, I would appreciate a direct reply.
BTW, “pithy” doesn’t just mean brief– it’s “brief” combined with “forceful” and “terse”… I was objecting to your interest in trying to be so brief and forceful, at the expense of the full truth of the matter. But I guess the joke is on me?
Tania Jackson
tbj@jairlynch.com
12:10 pm
So, is there another meeting soon?
3:45 pm
I agree with Mr. Kirk and support him in his effort to keep these not at all truthful developers in line and off that space.
Something needs to be done to preserve more green space for residents. Tania sounds like the same mouth pieces that sold us lies about the Home Depot development on RI Ave.
For the record, I do not beliwve Mr. Kirk is the one doing the lying. My money is on EWA and Jair Lynch.
8:28 am
Dear T Street Resident (and any others with concerns about this project), Please attend the neighbors-only meeting 7PM on Tuesday, Feb 3rd at my home: 2429 1st Street, NW.
If you plan to attend, please rsvp to me at don@dcmatters.com.