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• Letter to DC Office of Planning

Letter to the D.C. Office of Planning

May 24, 2007

Harriet Tregoning, Director
District of Columbia Office of Planning
801 North Capitol Street, NE
Suite 4000
Washington, DC

Dear Ms. Tregoning:

Gallaudet University appreciates the opportunity to provide our views regarding the Capital City Market study being conducted by the Office of Planning. I want to commend the Office for your ongoing efforts to conduct a transparent process and keep the community engaged in the study. As a member of that community, Gallaudet is pleased to provide the space for public meetings conducted by your office and to assist in outreach efforts regarding these meetings.

I would like to share with you a brief history of Gallaudet University. Deaf students were first educated here in 1857 when six young orphaned deaf children were taught by Edward Miner Gallaudet, who would later become the first president of the University. Gallaudet was established in 1864 by an act of Congress and our Charter was signed by President Abraham Lincoln. At a time when relatively few Americans possessed college degrees, members of Congress had the foresight to establish an institution with the authority to grant college degrees to deaf individuals. For nearly 150 years, Gallaudet students and alumni have paved the way in raising standards and making the world a better place for deaf and hard of hearing individuals.

Gallaudet owns three parcels of property that total 166,574 square feet or a little over 3.8 acres, making us the largest landowner of the area being studied. Two parcels of land are adjoined. One parcel abuts 6th Street and the other abuts 5th and 6th Streets, although DC tax records show both as 5th Street properties. These two parcels total 87,638 square feet. This tract of land serves two purposes. First, it serves as overflow parking space for Gallaudet employees, students, and visitors during the work week. Second, the land is used on weekends as a flea market for local community members. In addition to supporting local commerce, the flea market serves as a neighborhood social and cultural hub. The third parcel of land is north of the other two and abuts 5th and 6th Streets as well as Penn Street and it is 78,936 square feet. Part of this parcel is leased to Maurice Electrical Supply Co. and the remaining property is used by the University as storage space.

The University realizes the tremendous potential that the Capital City Market has to become an attractive location for residents and visitors to gather, shop, and dine. Given the current and planned office and hotel development in the surrounding locations, the Metro stop to the southwest, the neighborhood revival in the south, the presence of Gallaudet University, the baseball field and the school to the east, we believe there is a viable market that can be served. The Market's attractiveness could be enhanced if there were well-designed access points for these different sectors. We realize the strategic and economic importance of warehouses in the Market and we believe that warehouses, retail stores and restaurants are architecturally and physically compatible.

We believe that the Market's character can reflect the wonderful cultural variety that exists within the area. The area is predominantly African American. The property adjacent to ours houses what is considered to be the finest African food market in Washington, DC. There is a large group of Korean and Chinese property owners and merchants in the area. Right next door is the only institution of higher education in the world that exists primarily to educate deaf people and has the highest concentration of deaf people in a single location anywhere. There is an opportunity to demonstrate this diversity in a variety of ways in public areas. For example, street signs could be in English, Korean, Chinese and hand shapes spelling out the street names.

Although the University is the largest single property owner of the study in question, our interests in this matter go beyond our property. Being a good neighbor has been at the heart of Gallaudet University since its inception. During the Civil War the campus housed federal troops and was used as a hospital for Union troops. In 1968, following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., U.S. troops from Pennsylvania bivouacked on campus. Gallaudet continues to work with the local communities and takes its role as a neighbor seriously. Over 25 years ago the University established the Gallaudet Community Relations Council which is made up of business and community leaders from the surrounding Northeast D.C. area. The Council serves as an open line of communication of information and resources sharing between the University and community leaders and among the leaders themselves. The Council hosts an annual appreciation ceremony for local organizations to recognize those who contribute to the community. In 2001, Gallaudet awarded an honorary degree to Mr. George Boyd, long-time chair of the Council in recognition of his invaluable service as a neighborhood and community leader. The Council is one of the oldest university community relations organizations in the country. Although we are a private university, Gallaudet makes its facilities available to local community members for various events. In 2003 Gallaudet established the Gallaudet Connection that allows residents of the Near Northeast area to register and use the University's outside sport facilities. Additionally, Gallaudet employees, alumni and students reside in the area and many are property owners. Given our longtime commitment to and partnership with the neighborhood, we hope the plan will reflect our desire to continue to be a visible participant in the area's growth and an important resource to the neighborhood.

Gallaudet has approximately 2,000 students coming from all parts of the country and the world. Members of your staff have participated in our Deaf Space class and interacted with our students and I am confident they can attest to the lively intellect and vigorous energy our students demonstrate and how this can contribute to the vibrancy of the site. Gallaudet is excited about the employment and internship possibilities this site can present to our students and the opportunity for area employers and residents to learn more about our unique culture and language.

Gallaudet provides an important economic impact to the surrounding area. We have more than 1,100 employees with salaries and benefits totaling over $100 million, making us the 20th largest employer in Washington, DC. 367 of our employees reside in the District. Gallaudet also spends nearly $50 million in goods and services annually. Our Kellogg Conference Center is situated on the western part of our campus and is within comfortable walking distance to the 6th Street part of the site in question. The center serves a wide variety of clientele from all parts of the country and the world. In 2006 the center was the site of 436 events and attracted 41,645 visitors. We believe that if planned and developed properly, the Capital City Market can serve as an attractive dining and shopping option for these center visitors.

As you proceed with the development of the plan, we respectfully ask the Office of Planning to consider the following points that are of particular interest to Gallaudet University:

• The New Town legislation was put forth by the City Council without any meaningful input from the University. In this plan, the design calls for the establishment of warehouses on the northeast quadrant of the site. After a careful review of the site map, it appears that this would call for warehouses to be developed on our property. We do not know the Office of Planning's position on the legislation but we submit that this is clearly not an appropriate use for these parcels. We believe that the plan design should consider Gallaudet as a positive economic and cultural resource in the area and if the parcels are to be developed, they must serve as a "bridge" to the entire project.
• In addition, while we have not yet decided on what direction a development of the market should take, there are several planning principles that we believe are critical for the University:
• • No high rises or warehouses should be developed on 6th Street. This would effectively wall off the campus from the neighboring community. Gallaudet and the surrounding area have a historic relationship that has been mutually beneficial and our desire is to continue and expand this relationship. It would be appropriate that Gallaudet's 6th Street tract and adjacent properties be considered as retail/restaurant and/or farmers market.
  • The vehicular traffic on 6th Street between the site in question and Gallaudet University is not conducive to safe pedestrian egress between these two points. The road is wide and there are no traffic control mechanisms. Pedestrians have to be alert at all times and able to walk briskly in order to cross the street. If left unchecked, this could possibly become an even more serious safety hazard, especially with the development of the site and the ensuing growth in vehicular and pedestrian traffic. It is important that site development planning include consideration of traffic control mechanisms for 6th Street to assure a safe environment for pedestrians such as traffic lights, crosswalks, and median greenery.
  • Our employees and students use the Metro New York Avenue station. They use the Gallaudet shuttle bus as their primary means of commuting to and from the University. A few of the Metro riders occasionally walk between the station and the campus, but they have expressed concern about their safety. They feel they do not have a safe and convenient means of pedestrian egress between the station and Gallaudet University. Although recent steps have been taken by Washington, DC to slow down vehicular traffic on Florida Avenue, the street is still potentially dangerous for pedestrians. Over the years some of our students have been killed while crossing Florida Avenue. Several years ago one of our employees was struck by a city bus while standing on the corner waiting to cross the street and lost his leg. Just a few weeks ago a young neighborhood girl was fatally injured in a hit and run accident. Consideration of additional traffic control measures on Florida Avenue will be important as the area is developed.
  • Adding traffic safety measures on Florida Avenue will allow for the viable development of retail shops and restaurants along the street. This will prove attractive not only to members of the Gallaudet community but residents in the area residing south of the New Town site.
  • We also believe that another possible means of egress between the New York Avenue station and Gallaudet's 6th Street entrance would be for pedestrians to find it beneficial to walk through the Capital City Market en route to Gallaudet. This path could serve as an important artery for neighborhood residents and area employees. Ideally this area should have wide sidewalks, sufficient street lighting and shops along the way.
  • To ensure current and future flexibility of the New Town site, it will be important that the design and traffic flow on Penn Street be made more flexible to allow for different kinds of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The street serves as a major connector to New York Avenue and if designed properly could serve as an attractive access point from a major thoroughfare.
  • As stated earlier, Gallaudet has the highest concentration of deaf people in any one single location in the world and depending on how the Capital City Market is developed, they are likely to be frequent visitors to the area, not to mention the many deaf visitors and alumni who frequent our campus. The primary means of communication for our students and employees is sign language. One of the essential differences between communicating in sign language and spoken language is the use of physical space. Persons who are signing to each other require more personal space between each other to be able to sign freely and also to observe the signs comfortably. Brightness of the environment is also an important consideration to be able to observe the signs. With this in mind, we ask the Office of Planning to consider sidewalk space and street lighting in public areas that will promote pedestrian safety for everyone regardless of the communications mode being used.

Gallaudet University is very pleased that the Office of Planning is focusing on the redevelopment of the market and enhanced integration with the neighborhood. The citizens of the University community have as a high priority the opening of our campus with the market and the neighborhood. Please keep us informed of your progress. We also continue to be open to meeting with your Office and furthering our dual parallel purposes as soon as is appropriate.

Sincerely,

Paul Kelly
Vice President, Administration and Finance

cc: Harry Thomas, Jr., Ward 5 Councilmember