Lookingfor a very rewarding chance to participate in city government? Want to stop complaining about city government and start doing something about it? Do you want a chance to work for and with your neighbors?
Your Advisory Neighborhood Commission - ANC6A - has been one of, if not the, best in the City. Since 2003, the ANC has led the way to new zoning laws (restaurant, school siting, H Street Overlay, etc.), street and alley reconstruction, a moratorium on the single sales of beer and spirits, encouraged the streetcars on H Street, fought for tax relief and TIFs for merchants hurt by H Street construction, helped drive the change in the law to allow dog-parks, worked with the City to slow traffic in residential areas, and worked to upgrade the physical facilities and equipment at Maury, Miner, Eastern, and Eliot-Hine schools.
The ANC does most of its work in citizen volunteer-led committees, a model that has now been adopted in other ANCs. The committees are a pool of expertise and experience that informs the recommendations of the ANC. New committee volunteers should either have or be willing to develop expertise in important policy or technical issues related to governmental functions as they affect our neighborhood.
Our committees are Alcoholic Beverage Licensing, Transportation and Public Space, Economic Development and Zoning, and Community Outreach.
The Alcoholic Beverage Licensing Committee makes recommendations about licenses for liquor stores, markets, restaurants and taverns. This committee is the voice of our community about violations of appropriate behavior by liquor licensees (excess noise and community complaints), appropriateness of a particular site, hours of operation, roof top decks and sidewalk service, for example. This committee is vital to economic health of our area and to the public safety and livability of homes and public areas near bars, stores and restaurants.
The 6A Transportation and Public Space Committee assesses the condition of our roadways, traffic flow and speed, and the use of public space (valet parking, curb cuts, street trees, etc.). It reviews the activities of the District Department of Transportation within ANC 6A.
Community Outreach determines how the Commission informs the community about the ANC's activities, and administers the grants program through which ANC 6A has been able to support charitable activities within the ANC. This committee does not need additional volunteers.
Economic Development and Zoning reviews projects seeking approval before the Board of Zoning Adjustment, the Zoning Commission, and the Historic Preservation Review Board (for properties within the Capitol Hill Historic District). It reviews the actions of such city departments as DCRA, DDOE, and HPO within ANC 6A. Many exterior projects that involve changing the front of a building (other than painting) or expansion of a building need ANC approval. Help us be appropriately helpful to the home- or business-owner while protecting the neighborhood.
If you would like to serve, attend a meeting or two to learn more about the way they operate and determine if the fit is right for you. Then ask the committee chair or your ANC commissioner to nominate you for a seat on the committee. The ANC web site has the meeting times and places - www.ANC6A.org/committees.html
You will have a positive impact on your community.
David Holmes
Chair, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6A
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