Posts about Hine School

A group of Hine neighbors was unalterably opposed to anything more than 5. At Dumbarton Oaks, 4 stories is "shocking."

Developers often try to accommodate resident objections and make their projects smaller. In Brookland, the Colonel' Brooks Tavern project lost 9 residences but opponents are still opposed. Hine lost 13 between March and April. There's a constant drumbeat of news of projects being scaled back.

Each time, that means fewer people can live in our great city.

Everyone else loses when this happens. We have fewer taxpaying residents to shore up the budget. We have fewer people to patronize shops and restaurants. Fewer people can ride the bus to justify more frequent service. Housing is more expensive because of limited supply.

And when resistance is too great, projects simply don't get built and lots stay vacant, or end up with less desirable uses. Because a zoning board limited a bed and breakfast at 16th and Riggs to 6 rooms instead of 10 in 2001, it couldn't stay profitable and will become a chancery instead, which adds less to the neighborhood than a stream of visitors who will eat in restaurants and go to museums and shows.

Fortunately, many of our current HPRB members recognize this. They tweaked Hine and pushed for a better design but ultimately didn't try to substantially shrink the project. The inclusionary zoning law provides a development bonus to create affordable housing, and HPRB chair Catherine Buell said that the current board recognizes the importance of allowing properties to use this density. Their role isn't to lop off several floors entirely.

HPRB isn't the zoning board, as former chair Tersh Boasberg was fond of saying. If zoning says a 5-story building is appropriate, it's not the role of HPRB to say that they think 3 stories should be the maximum. It is their role to make sure it fits into the historic district. Some, though, argue that "fitting in" means "being no taller than some of the shorter buildings in."

Mayor Gray was about to make 4 appointments to HPRB, but received strong pushback against some of his nominees. Now, he still has to fill those spots and has to find even more as another wave of members' terms are ending.

It's critically important to find people who respect this balance, who want to make projects look better and feel more compatible but who also recognize the importance of actually getting vacant sites developed, accommodating more residents in DC, and taking advantage of the very limited heights that our zoning and federal laws allow.

These decisions don't just affect surrounding neighbors or architects. They determine the very direction of DC, its budget, its housing affordability, and its ability to become more self-sufficient.

Without its august associations with its namesake and its designer, the MLK Library would have been demolished or gutted during the last real estate boom. That would never happen to the Old City Library, regardless of its historical merit as one of Andrew Carnegie's.

That building endures because there is something attractive and innately human in its scale. It elicits a sense of reverence and respect appropriate for its purpose. One cannot say the same for the MLK Library or the projects designed by TEN Arquitectos.

Of the West End project, Weber approvingly writes the viewer perceives the structure as a "pixilated glass amoeba," which is nearly as good a simile as that used by an architect who once appeared before ANC 6C who described his project as "two tectonic plates colliding." The Glass Amoeba overhangs the public space—an expedient trick that is about maximizing profit rather than design.

It reminds me of the J. Edgar Hoover Building. It's mass looms above the pedestrian, which always gives me a sense of unease as I walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. What they lack in an architectural idiom grounding them within an historic setting, neighboring architectural blunders aside, they make up for in shock value. They are stunning, but so is much of pop culture and neither will stand the test of time.

There are very few examples in DC where "new" (post-World War II) traditional design is done well. The Ronald Reagan building approaches it. The Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building alludes to it.

But in the wrong hands traditional architecture becomes kitsch. Some of the most vocal opponents of the current Amy Weinstein design for the Hine School site are neighbors that live in the 300 block of 8th Street SE, an example of 1970-ish infill where misapplication of traditional form is on display.

Turn the corner at 8th and C Street, SE and it continues, complete with curb cuts and garage entrances the degrade the pedestrian experience. Were these structures to be subjected to design review today, they would not be permitted.

Architecture can be a restorative act. When an architect takes cues from community and not her or his creative impulse, the design result can reconcile the built and natural environment, healing the mistakes of previous generations. I often think of what was lost—and what we were given—in the Southwest waterfront during the Great Society endeavors of the 1960s.

Architecture and urbanism in practice should seek to form a whole, to make something complete. Each element, be it a room, a house, a porch, a garden, a block, a neighborhood, or a city, provides transition and each element relies upon the previous.

This shared state of transition is the underlying principle of unity found in all things. It applies to cities, to ecosystems and agriculture, to art, to human systems of organization as bureaucratic and inefficient as Congress and to things as natural and enduring as families.

I think about this in the case of Hine School project at Eastern Market. I sympathize when I hear residents say they want something that is in keeping with the character of the neighborhood. Those parts of the Hill we love the most, we love for their "completeness."

Eastern Market is already "complete", not simply because of the attention Adolf Cluss gave to brick course and cornice (and, after the fire, the careful hands that restored it), but of the neighborhood that exists around it; the activity and personal connections formed through commerce and community across generations.

Paraphrasing architect Steven Mouzon: "If a building cannot be loved, it will not endure. And if does not endure, it is not sustainable." Progressive planners and some architects get this concept of sustainability. We demand it in our transportation systems, in our food systems. There is an interest in all things local. Why not in our buildings? Why is it that an architects practicing in the early 20th century understood this balance better than many practicing today?

The buildings will range from 4 stories across the street from townhouses to 7 stories right on Pennsylvania Avenue. On some residential façades, ground-floor units will have separate entrances to resemble the townhouses nearby. On the commercial streets, the buildings will have ground-floor retail and possibly some retail on the floor immediately below ground as well.

Opponents of the Hine project focused on a key word in the historic preservation law: "compatible." Any project in a historic district must be compatible with the neighborhood. But what does "compatible" mean?

To many people, a project is only compatible if it's no larger than any other buildings. One resident, in fact, argued that no project in a historic district should be allowed to be more than a single story taller than any other building nearby. Since Eastern Market is 2 stories, that means he opposes anything more than 3.

But that's not what "compatible" really means. Already on Capitol Hill are some 2-story buildings across the street from 5-story buildings. There are some 6- and 7-story buildings. Another resident argued that those buildings aren't compatible either, and shouldn't be built if they were proposed today. That's not how the historic district rules work. Compatibility takes into account all the conributing buildings in a district, not just the shortest ones.

The man also argued said this would become the tallest building between the Library of Congress and around 11th Street, SE. That is based on the building's tallest point, which is only a small piece of the building, but even so: it'll be the tallest between the next Metro station to the west and the next Metro station to the east.

That's how an urban form ought to look. Buildings right on commercial corridors and at transit nodes should be the largest, with smaller buildings like townhouses in the spaces between.

Fortunately, the Historic Preservation Office agrees. In an excellent staff report by Amanda Molson and Steve Callcott, HPO argued that the height of a building is not the only criterion for compatibility, and that at this prominent corner, something taller may be just what belongs in the historic district:

The Board's design guidelines for new construction do not explicitly lay out an acceptable ratio of the height of new construction to surrounding buildings. Instead, the guidelines state: "Perhaps the best way to think about a compatible new building is that it should be a good neighbor, enhancing the character of the district and respecting the context." As has been shown in historic districts throughout the city, this can be done with taller new construction if careful attention is paid to the design, proportions, materials and other characteristics that collectively work to achieve compatibility. ...

The Pennsylvania Avenue office building will be the project's "beacon" as viewed from the avenue, attracting the attention of riders emerging from Metro and drivers on the avenue. It will also likely be the tallest building on Pennsylvania Avenue. However, being the tallest building doesn't necessarily mean that it will be incompatible with the historic district. This location facing the commercial corridors of Pennsylvania Avenue and 7th Street is certainly the most logical place to locate taller construction.

Historically, the Wallach School, while not as tall as the proposed office building, provided a similar punctuation on the avenue with one of Capitol Hill's most important civic buildings. Given the breadth of the wide avenue, the relative hierarchical importance of this building in the totality of project, and the site's frontage on a L'Enfant square and adjacency to a Metro station, additional height in this location is not inappropriate provided that the
building is otherwise designed to "enhance the character of the district and respect its context."

The staff report had plenty of specific quibbles with design elements. It suggests angling the top floor of the office building to provide visual interest and reduce a bit of the perceived massing. (One thing height opponents often don't realize is that small changes to a roofline can greatly affect how tall a building looks, without changing how tall it really is.) Likewise, they suggest shrinking some of the retail bays or adding projections.

HPO staff also recommend rethinking the design of the northern residential building, which was designed as a "single pavilion" to evoke elements of Eastern Market. The staff feel that Eastern Market shouldn't get a "companion" and remain distinctive, and want to replace horizontal architectural elements with vertical ones, a common request HPO has also made elsewhere.

After much debate, the ANC came up with a resolution that also supports the overall density, though they do also ask to lower the heights of several buildings, creating two somewhat incompatible requests. Maintaining density while decreasing height might be possible if the developer can move some more retail and mechanical equipment to basement levels, though this is probably only feasible to a small degree.

The ANC made several other reasonable recommendations, including keeping the central courtyard open to the public instead of just to residents, and rethinking some of the architectural aesthetics that yielded negative reactions from residents.

There are plenty of architectural elements that could change for this project, and the design review that comes with historic preservation regulation as well as community involvement often makes buildings look much better than the initial proposals. Preservation the and ANCs are filling a valuable role when they focus on these elements.

If preservation instead gets hijacked by those who simply oppose new residents or don't want to look at any moderate-sized buildings, it not only starts to stretch beyond its mandate but risks politically alienating the majority of residents who think more neighbors and more stores to patronize would be lovely.

HPRB has deferred some of the decisions to next month. They should be very restrained in those to avoid cutting down on the overall ability of the project to bring in new residents and stores.

Update: The original version of this article suggested that the HPRB had fully adopted the staff report. Instead, they made comments in support of many elements but deferred other decisions. I've updated the post to reflect this.

About 40 residents gathered for the meeting at St. Coletta's School, which, for all of you fellow architecture nerds, has a fantastic Michael Graves interior even more intriguing than his design of the exterior.

Truth be told, I am a little concerned about the structure proposed for the corner of 7th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. It's a dominant glass block girded with undulating ribbons of brick, conveying a feeling more of Southwest DC's prevailing brutalist style than that of late 19th-Century Eastern Market.

After an extensive presentation by architect Amy Weinstein—an expert in the pattern language of the Hill—I was con­vinced that the project strives to integrate into the neigh­bor­hood in very innovative, yet historically sensitive, ways.

A human scaled plaza (maybe more appropriately termed a "piazza"?) on C Street graciously engages the Adolf Cluss-designed Market Hall in conversation. The plan blurs the division between the pedestrian and the vehicular, articulating a Dutch-like concept of shared spaces.

These qualities will enliven the streetscape while honoring the very ancient concept of a central market that, in this instance, reaches back to the Jefferson Administration and remains the heart of the Capitol Hill community.

Given this fact, it's understandable that passions should run so high. But among all of the hyperbole of "too big" and misinformation surrounding the development process, are the arguments against the project based in reality?

The foundational argument of opponents is that there has been a lack of community engagement in this project. While not mentioned last night, this assertion has been bandied about by more than one ANC 6B commissioner and Ward 6 civic association, has been made by individuals on the always-colorful New Hill East listserv, and was a central issue in the contentious 2010 ANC election.

This is more urban legend than fact. There have been numerous opportunities for the public to participate in this discussion, going back to at least 2009 prior to the city's selection of a development team from a pool of capable respondents to the initial request for proposal. This myth should be put to rest if we are to have a productive discussion moving forward.

Development is complex. Even with a background in planning and historic preservation, there are frequently issues on which I need to seek more experienced and knowledgeable opinions. Some of the comments made by ANC 6B commissioners last night indicate that a more nuanced understanding of the planning, architecture and historic preservation fields is required.

One commissioner, who should know better, expressed concern about the proposed public courtyard on the interior of the project. This public space would be accessed from either C Street or Pennsylvania Avenue and provides valuable pedestrian connectivity mid-block.

This senior member of the Commission cited the social problems and crime such a configuration would create and asked if "MPD had been consulted about this" (a new level of project review, perhaps?) This surely sent Jane Jacobs spinning.

One freshman commissioner aggressively asked the development team if they would pursue a LEED-ND rating and if so would they comply with the 20% open space requirement. I am imagining a frantic Google search for "LEED-ND" at 5:00 in advance of a 6:00 meeting.

Here's the bottom line. The Hine site represents a rare opportunity for transit-oriented development in the heart of our community.

Problems with the design are one thing and, as presented, they are few. Size is another matter entirely. To say we are opposed to anything of this size is to disregard the many opportunities such a project at its current ratios and composition presents.

Of the three business owners who came out to the meeting—one small bookseller, one hair stylist and another on behalf of a popular clothing and house wares boutique—all openly welcomed such a project for the additional customer base it would attract.

All were enthusiastic supporters of the project and their perspectives helped to ground the discussions in the pragmatic, something we should consider in a neighborhood where debate rages about the proper retail mix. As one supporter of the project pointed out, we need to think about this project within a larger context and how it will support sustainable growth.

We would be mistaken to weigh the concerns of those neighbors immediately surrounding the project greater than those from throughout Ward 6 and across the city. The future of DC is a denser one, but with that density comes a promise of more vibrancy and options that by my unapologetically urban-centric way of thinking, will result in a better quality of life.

Ryan Velasco is the former Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for 6C07 and former chair of ANC 6C's committee on Planning, Zoning and the Environment. He holds a B.A. in Historic Preservation and Community Planning from the College of Charleston and is an alumnus the of GW University's DC Neighborhood College. Proximity to Eastern Market directly influenced his decision to live on the Hill.

The project contains a number of sections that will be designed as individual buildings, some commercial, some residential. Some will have brick, to reflect brick on nearby buildings, while others will use slate or clay tile. Some portions will be taller than others to give a varied roofline and emphasize entrances.

Unfortunately, developer Stanton Eastbanc hasn't posted their presentation online, forcing people to judge the project based on lower-quality photos of projected slides that don't necessarily reflect the colors correctly. Even so, just a good sketch doesn't say everything about the materials used or really how a building will look when completed.

For a successful recent example, look to Jenkins Row, the apartment complex containing the Harris Teeter a few blocks away at the corner of Potomac and Pennsylvania Avenues, SE.

Jenkins Row takes up about half of a pretty large block, but it doesn't look like a huge building from the street. To avoid visual monotony, the building has a number of different facades that read like different buildings.

That tan brick section with the metal bays doesn't look bad in person. While it is clearly contemporary, it fits in fine with the nearby townhouses. It's just a reasonably well-done new building in a historic neighborhood. Its ground-floor retail addresses the street well, and the facades have a clear top, middle, and bottom.

Historic review will, and should, push to improve architectural quality. Being right at Eastern Market, perhaps a higher level of detail than Jenkins Row, and high-quality materials, are especially appropriate. What's not appropriate is efforts to push for a uniformly low building that stands away from, rather than engaging, the street.

Yesterday, EMMCA also listed a number of objections from a group called "Eyes on Hine." They object to a "monolithic" appearance, but primarily seek to address that by shrinking the building rather than breaking up the visual appearance architecturally.

One recommendation is to remove a 5-story section on the corner of 8th and D and a 5-story piece above the 8th Street entrance. But taller sections are one great way to reduce monotony. As for the height, an earlier presentation from the developer (PDF) shows that there are, and have been, similarly tall buildings in the area. 5 stories will not "destroy the neighborhood" in any way.

The EOH letter also criticizes the 4-story bays, which the architects added to meet resident requests that they make the building look more residential. Instead, it asks for more and varied setbacks on the building, and to create a recessed entrance on 8th.

However, on 14th Street, NW, the ARTS overlay review recently criticized recessed entrances, which zoning had encouraged. Those lead to dead spaces that take away from potential residents and stores without actually adding useful public space.

Reducing connections between the building and the street would not improve the project. 8th Street is the closest very close to the Metro, and ideal for the "quiet retail" Stanton Eastbanc is proposing, not wide buffers. More space could serve sidewalk cafes, but that probably would not constitute "quiet retail" or please residents across the street.

Ironically, many blocks of Capitol Hill have long, unbroken rows of townhouses, all with the same setback. Except for variations in color, often they are all nearly identical. On many blocks, there is little to no setback from the property line.

We've seen this same reaction over and over, from Ravenwood Park to Wheaton to Brookland to 14th and U. Anything that's even the same height as some neighboring buildings but taller than others will "destroy the neighborhood" and "choke off light and air." Everything is "too massive" unless it's virtually invisible.

Enough is enough. Buildings are a part of metropolitan areas. Some of them are taller than others. Blocking any reasonable, attractive buildings that are just a tiny bit taller than one's house should not be a right.

This project is very reasonable in size. It's hard to tell how good the architecture is from these limited drawings, but if community input and historic review can lead to a more attractive building occupying the same envelope, it will pay off in residents who can patronize area businesses, tax revenue for DC, eyes on the street to make the neighborhood safer, and an attractive building people can enjoy having in the center of this beautiful neighborhood.

This exemplifies a common problem with ANC 6D as well as some others around the city, which don't see new retail and sidewalk cafes as a benefit on themselves but demand contributions to other projects in exchange for permission to exist. Garber would bring a breath of fresh air to this ANC and we endorse his candidacy.

The main street in ANC 6D is M Street SE/SW, where neighbors fought Tommy Wells' efforts to change the high-speed traffic sewer into a boulevard with better pedestrian and bicycle amenities. Several commissioners haven't been the leaders on walking and biking issues we might hope for, but their challengers are far worse. For example, current chair Ron McBee (6D03, north side of M between 4th and South Capitol) faces staunch anti-bicycle challenger Mary Williams. McBee has also worked hard to help the young people in public housing in his district.

At the M Street community meeting, one woman called neighbors "irresponsible parents" who dared to take their children to school or buy groceries by bicycle. That was Grace Daughtridge, who is challenging incumbent Roger Moffatt in 6D05. The district contains the southeast corner of 4th and M and then skips across Fort McNair to the southern tip of Buzzard Point. We endorse Moffatt.

Rhonda Hamilton (6D06), who represents the rest of Buzzard Point up to 1st and M SW, deserves reelection; she has done substantial work with at-risk youth and on public housing issues, which comprise much of her district, and she served on the campaign committee for Councilmember Tommy Wells.

Across the Southeast Freeway in southern Capitol Hill is ANC 6B. The Eastern Market Metro Community Association (EMMCA), led by a pair of residents who live at Eastern Market Metro, Thomas and Barbara Riehle, is trying to unseat most of the current ANC.

The ANC has some real problems, such as a less than stellar record of transparency and inclusiveness toward non-commissioner residents. At the same time, EMMCA and the Riehles are particularly upset by the development choices at Hine Junior High School and the suggestion of making Pennsylvania Avenue into an oval or square at Eastern Market.

At community meetings on the Pennsylvania Avenue project, called Capitol Hill Town Square, it was extremely disturbing the way project opponents tried to drown out the project team, rudely applauded every hostile comment, and made absolute declarations of opposition to any change whatsoever even before the team had developed any options. Clearly any project at this spot needs to consider the needs of the immediate residents, but when those residents assume that no conceivable approach could possibly gain their acceptance, sight unseen, no constructive discussion can take place.

At Hine, meanwhile, the developers conducted a very open process to solicit community input, but EMMCA continues to allege a lack of transparency because they are not pleased with the outcome. We don't like having a huge parking lot under Hine either, but otherwise look forward to seeing the project built.

While we would like to see a fresher perspective in the often staid ANC 6B, having two factions with absolute views on neighborhood issues battling for a majority on the ANC is not the best thing for southern Capitol Hill.

We do endorse Brian Pate in 6B05, south of Lincoln Park and extending to Hine. Pate has taken a clear pro-bicycling stance while his opponent, incumbent Ken Jarboe, was behind DDOT scuttling a Capital Bikeshare station on the southeast corner of Lincoln Park, according to neighboring commissioner Nicholas Alberti.

Jarboe was also one of the few residents who testified in favor of keeping parking minimums which force property owners to build more parking than they think is appropriate. We appreciate Jarboe's role as chair of Tommy Wells' campaign committee, but feel Pate would do more to build consensus in this district.

The other challenger we endorse is Brian Flahaven, running in Barney Circle's 6B09 against incumbent Michael Patterson. A proposed historic district designation recently roiled Barney Circle, with many residents feeling that they weren't approached about the proposal and that the primary proponents came from outside the area.

There are arguments for and against a historic district, but people on both sides agree that Commissioner Patterson fell far short in informing his constituents about the issue, pro or con, and bringing their concerns to the table.

For 6B08 southeast of Lincoln Park, incumbent Neil Glick is facing two strong candidates, DC school teacher Laura McSorley and Michael McCamman. Glick has been an excellent Commissioner, and we endorse him for another term, but we encourage his challengers to stay active and continue to contribute. The community could benefit from both of them.

In the other 6B races, we have not heard convincing arguments to favor the challengers over incumbents Mary Wright (6B02), Norman Metzger (6B03), Kirsten Oldenburg (6B04), and Carol Green (6B07). All have worked hard for their districts and made positive contributions to the neighborhood. While complaints about ANC 6B's openness to other ideas are valid, the commission might be most open to ideas, participation and debate if its members represent a diversity of different views instead of a solid bloc from any specific faction.

Market Row: Samuelson described this presentation by Seven Penn Partners as looking like Bethesda, and that is more accurate than SPP might hope. Their plan would move the flea market to C Street, closing the street to car traffic on the weekends. A below ground garage would contain 350 parking spaces, two-thirds for the public and one-third for residents. An alley offset to the south would break up the site, though it wouldn't line up with the alley between 8th and 9th. A pedestrian walk from the alley to C Street offset to the west. In addition to residences and retail, they would include office space, a park along C and a courtyard. The biggest weakness is that, unlike the other two, they didn't mention any explicit tenants (except St. Colleta's for crafts) which makes is hard for people to imagine themselves going there.

Kimpton Hotel Anchor: The proposal from DSF/Street Sense/Menkiti Group presented a high end set of proposals with more specifics. One key element was the inclusion of an 80-room Kimpton Hotel and Spa on the corner of 7th and Penn. They had more specific numbers than others: 235 residential units, 40,000 sf of retail, 15,000 sf of private open space (including for-rent rooftop space). They plan to add a 35 foot wide sidewalk along 7th and to move the flea market there. Unlike Market Row, the only way to traverse the site is on an L-shaped alley from C to 8th that does align with the alley between 8th and 9th. They plan fewer than 350 parking spaces, though they didn't give a number, and think they can do it by doing a shared space analysis.

They said they would spruce up the currently sad triangle of open space at the northwest corner of 8th and Pennsylvania. They have commitment letters from Yes! Organic Market about moving down the block for a larger location, and with Busboys and Poets, who would provide a community room. For an added touch of class, they're bringing in Robert Wiedmaier, 2009 Rammy Chef of the Year, to do the cooking at the Kimpton. They would build below the maximum allowable building height and FAR "to keep the development consistent with the existing neighborhood." Finally, they'd also build a small park along C Street.

It was a strong entry, and probably the one most in line with New Urbanist principles. The quality of its design and the strong list of partners they've added make this one of my two favorites.

Stanton/Eastbanc: This is the homer choice. With Amy Weinstein and her husband Philip Esocoff as the prime architects, they bring in a team who knows the area, knows the history, and knows the neighborhood (though every group brought someone who could tell a story of living on the Hill). They spent significantly longer than the others promoting their experience and knowledge of the history of the area. Weinstein designed the addition to the building across 7th Street, a building on 7th just north of the Hine site and is designing the proposed Capitol Hill Town Square just south of the site. Knowledge and experience is definitely a strong suit for this team.

Despite their "emphasis on people"—they showed photos of Hill residents eating Al fresco and of the artistic bike rack on 7th—their proposal is most donut-like, without an alley or walk to traverse the site. It also has the greatest density. A large amount of space is set aside for the Shakespeare Theatre, which has office space down 8th, a rehearsal space across the street from that, and a prop storage area in Mt. Rainier; they would love to combine these into one location.

The plan includes a piazza on C Street, where the Shakespeare Theatre could do free performances, a sunken courtyard in the middle, and over two acres of green roof and roof gardens. Like Market Row, they'd place the flea market on C Street and close it to car traffic on weekends (as well as during 'special events' in the piazza). Other than the Shakespeare Theatre, the only other specific user mentioned was International Relief and Development, which would move into a large block of office space along 7th. The garage would have parking for 390 cars. They would pursue a LEED platinum rating. This group seemed the most prepared and gave the most information about the site and their plans. With their connections to the Hill, the project is almost theirs to lose, and at this point it's probably a two-horse race between the last two groups.

Overall, I felt they were all better proposals than what I expected to see, with three very strong ones.

Followup from David A: A group of neighbors, called the Eastern Market Metro Community Association, laid out five principles in advance, including accommodating the flea market, keeping the neighborhood's residential character, working with the community, and designing for people and bicycles rather than cars, including avoiding excessive parking. According to EMMCA organizer Thomas Riehle, the Stanton and Street Sense groups have been aggressively reaching out to neighbors, particularly Street Sense. Riehle says that Bozzutto, the lead developer in the Seven Penn group, "was actively hostile" to neighbors' outreach efforts, limiting the number of attendees at a meeting to 12 and insisting they had to check with the Mayor's office before scheduling anything. NLC was "the hardest to reach," routing EMMCA's outreach efforts to an assistant.