Membership Dues
Dues for new members are $25 for a household and $20 for a single person household. New members are encouraged to pay their dues at this time. Dues for current members are not being collected until the new directory is available.

CCA is Crestwood’s neighborhood association and members are encouraged to let new neighbors know about CCA.

Police Report
Lt. Daniel Aurigama attended the meeting and reported that crime is down in the neighborhood. This drop in crime is mainly due to increased patrols in the area. Lt. Aurigama said that graffiti should be reported to the police by calling the Command Post at (202) 727-1000 or by e-mail danielaurigama@dc.gov. Reports of graffiti are photographed, if the graffiti is gang related, then an investigation is conducted.

Residents inquired about helicopters in the neighborhood. Lt. Aurigama explained that only military and police helicopters are allowed in DC. The police sometimes use helicopters and the K-9 unit to track felons.

Lt. Aurigama stated that residents should reports sightings of suspicious individuals to the police. The police will stop these individuals and run them “through the police stats” before releasing.

Residents inquired about surveillance cameras such as the ones at 4th & Shepherd, the 3700 block of Georgia Avenue, and the 3700 block of 14th Street. Lt. Aurigama stated that these cameras are very expensive and only available for areas with a very high rate of “violent crimes.” The Crestwood neighborhood does not fit that profile. The vast majority of crimes in Crestwood are property crimes, which are considered “non-violent” by the police.

One neighbor suggested that residents double check that both tags are on residents cars; apparently a number of “front tags” have been removed from vehicles.

Crestwood Development
President Black reported that a representative for the developer of 1604 Upshur attended the July board meeting. The representative brought along plats, which demonstrated that the new house is not an R-1 house and that the developer met all city requirements. The lot size meets the city’s square footage requirements and the backyard is not on 16th Street.

Neighbors stressed the importance of asking the zoning commissioners to consider neighborhood values to preserve current density and height characteristics of Crestwood.

Green Team Report
On November 18, 2006, the CCA Green Team, in coordination with Casey Trees, is planting a tree at the “Point.” Rock Creek Park representative Adrian Coleman is working with CCA to raise awareness of the park, and to reduce crime and litter.

Kids Team Report
Nicole is planning a Halloween event on October 28th at the “Point” (18th & Shepherd) for the kids in the neighborhood.

Trees in Crestwood
The city has planted/replaced trees along the streets of Crestwood; however, many trees have died due to a lack of water. Residents are encouraged to water trees abutting their property. Residents reported that even with watering, some of these trees have died. Pollution and pesticides may have caused deaths of trees.

The ANC from Petworth stated that ANC’s could request a grant from the Department of Transportation. He pointed out that Petworth received a $1,000 grant and used that money to purchase 40 gator bags. Gator bags can be filled by neighbors and provide much need water for about a week.

Directory
Tom Chused along is preparing a new edition of the Crestwood Directory. Tom will be sending out e-mails requesting CCA members to update their information. Tom has about 50% to 66% of the e-mail addresses for Crestwood. Tom will send out snail mail to those without e-mail addresses. Block Captains will be asked to collect updated information as well. CCA dues will be collected at the same time the directory is available.

Tom asked that residents let him know about any new Crestwood neighbors.

A resident reported that a new neighbor was unable to obtain a permit to park her moving van in front of her home. Instead she was issued a permit to park on Taylor Street resulting in furniture being carried nearly a block from the van into the home.

Pepco Outages
The September 1st Pepco outage was due to a tree branch that fell on Allison Street. Tom Chused has been tracking Pepco outages since January 1, 2006. He reports 80-85 blips since January 1. A blip was described as an outage that lasts five or fewer seconds.

Ellen Wormser has asked Pepco for an explanation of the outages and what can be done to improve service.

One resident reported that Mr. Washington (a Crestwood neighbor) is hooked up to a generator and wanted to know if the entire community could receive the same service from Pepco. Crestwood is the city’s second worst area for reliability of electrical service. Crestwood’s service is described as a string of Christmas lights know as a “feeder line” and we are at the end of the line. So whenever service is interrupted along the line, Crestwood losses service.

Apparently the poor Pepco service received in Crestwood is an infrastructure issue and extremely costly for Pepco to remedy. Businesses and affluent communities in DC have underground service, which is more desirable than Crestwood’s above ground service. The Public Service Commission (PSC) is asking for public comment on whether power lines should be underground.

In 2005, Crestwood had 6-8 blackouts. In 2006 Crestwood has had 4 blackouts.

DC’s Comprehensive Plan
CCA will provide neighborhood input for DC’s Comprehensive Plan (Plan). The Plan is implemented by the DC Mayor and covers land use, policies, priorities, economic development, environmental protection, and other city issues. The Plan was last updated in 1999.

DC receives a great deal of money from the Federal government for roads that may be used elsewhere. The Plan does not address emergency preparedness, educational quality, human services (mental health and substance abuse) and police services. Also, the stadium is not in the Plan. There is a current initiative by Mayor Williams and the Office of Planning to finalize the Plan before the new mayor takes office. CCA see many opportunities to improve the Plan and would like to have more time for DC residents to provide input before the Plan goes to the Council for a vote.

CCA believes that emergency preparedness must be front and center in the Plan and that health, police, and improved water quality need to be added to the Plan. The proposed Plan provides for “greening dollars” which can be used for other city services – most of the parks in DC are Federal and DC does not have a significant need for greening dollars.

In the past, there has been no tracking of the money spent under the city’s plan – no comparison of budget versus actual dollars spent. The current proposal (nor the old Plan) does not have any measurement guidelines to determine whether Plan goals have been met. Additionally, some of the data in the Plan is unreliable, for example, Crestwood is clustered with Georgia Avenue rather than the area designated west of 16th Street.

Further, there is nothing in the Plan to address “light industry” in DC, there is nothing for “blue collar workers.” However, the Plan does discuss the need to come up with plans for employing “low-skilled and unskilled workers.” The proposal appears to address special interests but does not adequately represent the neighborhoods. Much of the Plan is “fuzzy” on housing density – for example, a 16-student school may be placed in a neighborhood zoned for low-density housing.

The ANC representative noted that Planned Unit Developments (PUD) are used to sidestep development laws. PUDs give a developer a lot of leeway to exceed zoning limits. For example, Senator Rockefeller’s home site is zoned such that it can be used to build 220 units.

There is a Council hearing on September 26. CCA voted to have Gale Black represent Crestwood at that hearing and present, on behalf of CCA, the recommendations outlined in her paper distributed at the board meeting, which strongly encourages the Council to “Put a Hold on the Mayor’s Draft Comprehensive Plan as it is Too Important to Rush.” CCA wants the new Council and new Mayor to work on the final Plan together since the new Mayor is responsible for implementing the Plan. CCA will contact local newspapers to make our position on the Plan known. Press coverage may facilitate the Office of Planning to consider neighborhood issues in the Plan.

CCA encouraged members to submit written testimony to the Council for consideration at the September 26 meeting. Copies of the testimony can be submitted to Stan Jackson.

The Office of Planning is pushing to pass the Plan now because they have worked on it for many years. CCA supports community involvement in the Plan before it is finalized; therefore, the Plan should not be passed at this time.

ANC Jeff Hildebrand who is running for ANC attended the meeting and asked that CCA consider putting ANC candidates’ statements on the Crestwood Web site.

Next CCA Meeting
The next CCA board meeting is scheduled for November 16, 2006.

The September 19, 2006 meeting adjourned at 9:00 PM.

Respectively submitted:

/s/ Patricia M. Hildebrand, Secretary