Putting industrial uses and residents in close proximity can be a problem

One of the concerns expressed about the New Town redevelopment plan imposed on the Florida Market District through DC City Council legislation is the fact that by putting residents and industrial uses in close proximity, you add all the elements necessary to create significant conflicts.

This is an issue in lower Manhattan, with the conversion of industrial buildings into housing, and an industrial business district into a hotspot of clubs, galleries, and other uses, in places like the Meatpacking District. But it's an issue in other places too.

The New York Times has a story about this kind of interaction occuring in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, "When the Feathers Really Fly."

From the article:

MOST urban dwellers might expect their interactions with chicken, if any, to occur exclusively on a lunch or dinner plate. So when Kate Coats and her husband moved into their apartment in a new condominium building on Greenpoint Avenue in Brooklyn three months ago, they were surprised to be awakened before sunrise by what she described as screeching chickens. It’s not a fun sound at 5 a.m.” ...

The screeching apparently comes from the building next door, the 86-year-old business with the “Live Poultry Slaughter” sign and graffiti that say, “This Place Stinks” on the door of the garage. In the early morning, Ms. Coats said, chickens are delivered to the slaughterhouse in metal crates that crash to the ground, a sound echoed by chickens lustily protesting their fate...

To some, the juxtaposition of a slaughterhouse and a new residential building where condos sell for up to $675,000 is an amusing effect of gentrification. To others, it is grotesque. Several local residents have complained about seeing blood and bird parts on the sidewalk, along with feathers floating in the breeze. Calls to 311 have been numerous, and on a Greenpoint blog, a commenter described the smell emanating from the slaughterhouse as a mix of “death and ammonia.”

For what it's worth, my girlfriend always admonishes me about the romantic idea of backyard poultry, commenting about the early crowing of roosters.

This also happens in more rural areas, where housing developments on former farms bring constituencies with different ideas about what constitutes appropriate land use to "rural" "agricultural" districts.

Ironically, in Baltimore County, non-farming residents are suing a farm which put agricultural land conservation easements on its land, because they opened a farm store to sell the farms products, which is in line with the idea of increasing the revenue to local farmers instead of distributors, and "buying" and "eating" local. Is a farm just land for crops or is it a working business with a variety of revenue streams.

It makes sense to limit these kinds of conflicts, or put into place for reconciling and resolving these conflicts more equally.

Florida Avenue Market Study - Third Public Meeting - Weds. May 30

(Text from the DC Office of Planning, photo from Elise Bernard)

Florida Market Study
Third Public Meeting
Weds. May 30th
3:30 to 5:30 pm AND 6:00 to 8:00 pm

Please come for a presentation on a conceptual plan for the Market, based on research & community input at our first two public meetings. The concepts presented are just the first step, opening further questions to explore. Korean & Mandarin interpretation available at 3:30pm, & sign language interpretation available at
6:00pm.

(The same presentation will be given twice to accommodate a wide array of the public—You may attend either session.)

Gallaudet University, Foster Auditorium, 800 Florida Ave, NE

Next Steps: We will be analyzing the various findings of our study over the summer. Keep an eye out for further public meetings early this fall. In the meantime, please contact us with any thoughts!

Background: The Office of Planning (OP) has initiated a study of the Florida Avenue Market and is engaging property and business owners within the Market, as well as residents, institutions and other stakeholders surrounding the Market. The purpose of the Study is to conduct an existing conditions analysis, an economic analysis of the wholesale and retail market functions, and an operational analysis. Additionally, the Study will provide demand projections for other potential uses on the site, resulting in various redevelopment/revitalization scenarios for consideration.

The Study will also address sustainable development (green technology), urban design, transportation and historic preservation issues. Before any decisions are made regarding the future of this site, it is critical that the District and all affected parties have a full and balanced understanding of the opportunities, constraints and fiscal impacts of redevelopment, and that the public is significantly involved in considering these findings.

The Florida Avenue Market is at a critical juncture of its history. Your participation in the coming months is critical for creating a successful and responsive plan!

For more information or to RSVP, please contact: Deborah Crain, Ward
5 Neighborhood Planner, 202-442-7615 or deborah.crain@ dc.gov ; or
Jeff Davis, Ward 6 Neighborhood Planner, 202-442-7704 or
jeff.davis@dc. gov.

Florida Avenue Market Study First Presentation

Meeting notices posted in the DC Farmers Market building at the Florida Market.

From Elizabeth Nelson of ANC6A:

A presentation on the Florida Avenue Market Study is now available on the ANC6A homepage. It is a large file and may take a while to open.
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I talked to someone the other day about the meetings. He told me that at both sessions, about 2 people spoke in favor of the New Towns proposal.

He said one of the problems is that people in Ward 5 feel that the area is supposed to contribute to the rest of their Ward, yet the closest residential section to the Florida Market is in Ward 6, and that many people from Ward 6 attended the meetings. It creates a sticky political situation though. Councilmembers tend to be territorial.

I also noticed in the Market that there is some advocacy going on...


The petition included a copy of the New Towns proposal.

It could be argued that the language of the New Town proposal misrepresents the planning process that is underway.

Another community meeting scheduled

Deborah Crain, the Neighborhood Planner for Ward 5, told us that there has been another public meeting scheduled for the Florida Market study--current conditions and possible recommendations for going forward.

Date: May 14, 2007
Time: 6 - 8pm
Place: Galludet University, Student Center, 800 Florida Avenue

She said the meetings last week were very well attended, with about 200 people at the first meeting, and 150 people at the second.

In Shaw: Florida Market Meeting

From the Frozen Tropics blog:

Mari from In Shaw's got a post re: the Florida Market meeting last night. Check out her view, and I'll post something on the topic later. We had a good turnout last night, but there were still lots of empty seats (I attended the second meeting). I think the Office of Planning did a great job of getting the word out. Lots of people stood up to ask questions/give comments. I heard that around 10 people gave comments at the first meeting. It is really terrific that they are doing a study like this.

Florida Avenue Market Planning Study

Mike the owner, restocking at Litteri's, Florida Market District, DC. Photo by Ken Firestone.

As part of the Florida Market redevelopment legislation, the City Council funded a "small area planning process" for the area, to help mediate the various proposals.

Here is the public meeting schedule

First Public Meeting
Tuesday April 24th, 2007
Overview
3:30-5:30 pm -- for Market stakeholders, vendors, etc., especially, but the content at the two meetings is the same.
6:00-8:00 pm -- open to all

The Office of Planning invites property and business owners within the Florida Avenue Market and neighborhood residents and stakeholders around the Market area to help us create development recommendations for this site.

Our goal is to produce recommendations for:
• Urban Design/Public Realm
• Uses
• Parking
• Greening
• Historic Preservation.

2nd Public Meeting
Wednesday May 30th, 2007
Highlights of Possible Redevelopment Session
3:30-5:30 pm
6:00-8:00 pm

Both public meetings will be held at:

Gallaudet University
Foster Auditorium in the Student Academic Center
800 Florida Avenue (enter at 8th Street NE)

Contact: Deborah Crain or Jeff Davis at the Office of Planning, 442-7600

Small Area Planning Process for the Florida Market area

I don't know the status exactly, but last night we learned that the DC Office of Planning has contracted with CORE to conduct a small area planning process for the Florida Market area. Such an action was required as part of the execrable law passed last December about this area.

The law set a time period ending somewhere in September I think, requiring that all the stakeholders come back with a mutually acceptable plan to go forward.

(As well as 50% of the property owners to agree.)

See:
-- The Florida Market bill before City Council