DISTRICT BRIEFING

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

D.C. COUNCIL

Increases Approved in Parking Meter Fees

The D.C. Council passed legislation yesterday to increase parking meter rates from $1 to $2 an hour downtown and by 25 cents an hour in other parts of the city.

The bill is meant to raise an additional $11 million in fiscal 2009 for several programs: the Local Rental Supplement Program, the Housing First program (for homeless people), the Home Purchase Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

A provision that would have enforced meter fees on Saturdays in the central business district was cut from the bill on the grounds that without free curbside parking, people would go to the suburbs to shop.

-- Hamil R. Harris

Bill to Revise Storm Water Charges Passes

The D.C. Council yesterday approved a bill that would rework the way that homeowners and business owners are charged for improvements to the city's storm water system.

The bill would charge owners a fee based on how much of their property is covered by a building, by asphalt or by other substances that prevent rainwater from seeping in. The money would be used to pay for projects that trap and filter rainwater, such as trees and plant-covered "green roofs."

City officials said that for next year the charge would be $1.24 a month for a single-family house, an amount that might change as the city performs individual estimates, and about $11,000 for a typical office building. In most cases, they said, the new fees would not be higher than the current storm water fee, which is based on water use. One exception would be parking lots, which would pay far more.

The bill needs to be signed by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), a spokesman for the city Department of the Environment said.

-- David A. Fahrenthold

WHITMAN-WALKER

Clinic Announces Cuts in Programs, Staff

The Whitman-Walker Clinic, a nonprofit community health organization and the largest provider of HIV-related services in the Washington area, announced cutbacks in client programs and staff yesterday.

The clinic plans to close its Northern Virginia office, which serves 1,100 clients, and shutter an eight-bed residential addiction-treatment program in the District. Whitman-Walker also announced that it will lay off 45 employees.

The reductions are in response to the bleak financial environment, said Donald Blanchon, chief executive officer. Government reimbursements for services have not matched the rising cost of care, according to Blanchon. Private donations are down 29 percent from last year.

Clients using the Northern Virginia office will be welcome at Whitman-Walker's two locations in the District, Blanchon said.

-- Anne Hull

FEDERAL COURT

SE Man Gets 16-Month Sentence in Gun Thefts

A federal judge in the District sentenced a 22-year-old college student to 16 months in prison yesterday for stealing guns from a Virginia sporting goods store and then selling them to drug dealers, prosecutors said.

Leon Waddy of Southeast Washington and an accomplice broke into the Green Top Sporting Goods Store in Glen Allen, Va., on June 13 and stole 34 semiautomatic handguns, prosecutors said. They were arrested a week later after selling several of the guns in Maryland.

The accomplice, ,Michael Henderson, 22, was sentenced to 18 months in prison last week by a federal judge in Greenbelt. The two men were ordered to pay a total of $22,610 in restitution to the store.

-- Del Quentin Wilber

NORTHEAST

Affordable Housing Included in Ivy City Project

More than three dozen vacant properties in Northeast Washington are to be turned into market-rate and affordable housing, Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) said yesterday.

The 37 properties are in Ivy City, a long-struggling neighborhood that District officials say has among the lowest rates of homeownership in the city. The District selected four developers to build 58 units of housing, including condominiums and single-family houses. Fifty-two of the 58 units will be affordable; the remaining six will be market-rate.

The developers chosen for the project are Mi Casa, Manna, DC Habitat for Humanity and MissionFirst. The project is scheduled in four phases, with Mi Casa planning to begin construction of eight apartments next month.

-- Paul Schwartzman