Mount Pleasant DC Forum

[jack]

The ANC never asked to be involved in the issuance of permits by the District Department of Parks and Recreation, and we were taken by surprise when people began coming to us for "letters of support". On the DPR permit application there is this line:

A Letter of Support from the Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner must be submitted for amplification.

The background of this is that there have been, in the past, a number of musical performances in the park that were extremely loud and disturbing to the neighbors (probably at parks other than ours, too). So DPR established this policy of getting an ANC endorsement, if only so that they could then blame us for any such disturbances.

Note that this says "Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner". This statement has caused us considerable difficulty, because the commissioner for the district in which Lamont Park lies has asserted that he must be consulted, and that he can issue such endorsements on his own, without consulting with anyone else on the commission. I think that's absurd, if only because the nearest neighbors, the ones most likely to be disturbed, are in Wayne Kahn's and Rich Wysocki's districts. Why should they not have a say?

I have obtained an oral confirmation from DPR that this was supposed to read "Commission", not "Commissioner", and that the letter is to be from the group, not from a single commissioner. That's consistent with DPR regulations, which say this:

In cases where an event is expected to disturb the normal flow of routine in a residential community, the requestor will be required to attain a letter of endorsement, for their event, from the ANC presiding over the specific area: examples of such cases are; amplification is expected to exceed 60 decibels and or large crowds are expected and parking will be an issue. The DC Parks and Recreation-Permit Office will make the determination on whether or not an ANC letter is required.

Henceforth, then, applicants for park use permits have to bring their applications to the full ANC, via whichever commissioner they like, and the ANC will have to provide the letter. That means, unfortunately, that applicants will have to start the process long enough ahead of an event that there will be an ANC monthly meeting beforehand.

Our policy will be to grant such letters pretty much without argument, insisting only that applicants respect the legal and reasonable requirement that "any music produced shall not disturb the peace or quiet of the neighborhood”.

-- Jack