Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) Project Manager Aviad Kopelowitz requested support for an extension in work hours that would permit construction at Barry Farms from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays and holidays, saying the additional days could help keep the affordable-housing project on schedule and financially viable.
Kopelowitz said the 108-unit Asberry, a fully affordable senior-preference building, was completed in 2024 and is fully leased. The 139-unit Edmonson is expected to be completed by the end of the year, he said. It will include about 20,000 square feet of retail space.
POAH is trying to reserve about 10,000 square feet for a grocer that could sell meat and fresh produce, Kopelowitz said. The developer is working to ensure the space has the loading, ventilation and other infrastructure a food retailer would need. He compared the potential store to Streets Market: larger than a corner store but smaller than a Trader Joe’s. No tenant has been announced.
Vice-Chair Kendall Ridley (8C04) said the presentation was the first Barry Farm update brought to the commission in nearly two years. Commissioners should not hear from developers only when they need ANC support, Ridley said. She and other commissioners called for regular briefings and a role in decisions about retail, amenities, the return of former residents and later construction phases.
“We need to be a part of the process,” Chair Salim Adofo (8C07) said, adding that the redevelopment would affect the entire commission, not only residents of Sumner Road and Wade Road. Kopelowitz said POAH would share information about community meetings and invite commissioners into future discussions. Adofo asked the development team to return before the end of the calendar year for a longer presentation on the full project.
Commissioners questioned whether returning residents had been consulted. Kopelowitz said he would have to check with his supervisor and acknowledged the developer had first sought the ANC’s view.
No commissioner moved to approve the added construction days, so the request failed without a vote. The commission unanimously approved POAH’s separate request to support designating an unnamed alley beside the Goodman League courts as Goodman Way.
Drive-Through Restaurants
Liz Batiste of law firm Holland & Knight, representing McDonald’s, asked the ANC to support a proposed citywide zoning text amendment that would create a new path for certain existing drive-through restaurants to rebuild. She said nine restaurants would qualify, including the Popeyes on Malcolm X Avenue SE in ANC 8C.
The affected restaurants are legal nonconforming uses in zones where drive-through fast-food restaurants are no longer permitted. Under current rules, Batiste said, they can renovate but generally cannot demolish and reconstruct the building while retaining the drive-through. The amendment would allow an owner to seek a special exception from the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA), avoiding the longer process of rezoning the property and amending the Comprehensive Plan.
Batiste emphasized that the amendment would not approve a project at Popeyes or any other site. A restaurant seeking to rebuild would still have to submit plans, traffic and circulation information, appear before the ANC and receive BZA approval. Commissioners raised traffic concerns at the Popeyes and noted that some residents would prefer a different restaurant or healthier food.
The commission voted to support the amendment.
Violence Intervention
Delbert McFadden, director of operations for NAARC Cure the Streets, described teams that pair violence interrupters with outreach workers. Violence interrupters build relationships with people at highest risk of involvement in gun violence, he said, while outreach workers connect participants with jobs, mental-health care, identification documents and other services.
Each team has four violence interrupters split between two communities, McFadden said. He reported that Congress Park had gone more than 100 days without an assault with a dangerous weapon and that the Trenton Park and Wahler Place area had gone 107 days before a July incident. He credited employment, culturally competent mental-health services and, in some cases, relocation with reducing risk.
McFadden said changes in how the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE) structures grants could reduce services in some communities. Adofo asked NAARC, MPD and commissioners to coordinate on the next fiscal year and, if another provider takes over an area, to plan a transition rather than abruptly ending relationships.
Federal Presence at Shepherd Park
Ridley said federal law enforcement officers and National Guard members had established a sustained presence at Shepherd Park, at Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X avenues SE. The park had previously been heavily used by residents experiencing homelessness, substance-use problems and other challenges.
Ridley said the visible presence had calmed the intersection in the short term, but businesses told her that problematic activity had simply moved elsewhere. “I don’t believe that long-term occupation, like military occupation of that park, is a solution,” she said. Ridley said she had contacted the National Park Service (NPS) and invited residents and nearby businesses to tell her what they were seeing and what they wanted for the park.
Police Report and Personnel Changes
Seventh District Commander Kevin L. Harding, who took command May 1, said police were struggling with assaults with dangerous weapons, burglaries and thefts from vehicles. PSA 704 recorded a homicide in June, he said, while the district’s most recent homicide had occurred two days before the meeting on Southern Avenue. Harding said every violent-crime category was down in PSA 705, though burglary and theft from vehicles had increased.
Captain Rick Rice reported that the Congress Heights THRIVE initiative brought MPD together with agencies addressing supervision, trash, abandoned vehicles, traffic safety, behavioral health, overdoses and housing conditions. Over four months, he said, violent crime fell 47 percent compared with the same period a year earlier. The area recorded one homicide and four assaults with dangerous weapons; police closed the homicide and three of the four assault cases.
Rice said Sept. 9 was his final night leading that initiative. MPD is ending its practice of rotating an outside captain into a THRIVE area every four months and assigning responsibility to the permanent sector captain. Captain Ashley Archer will oversee the Congress Heights work, Rice and Harding said. Harding said the change gives residents fewer points of contact and provides greater continuity and accountability.
Other Business
At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson (At-Large – I) discussed rodent enforcement, food access and school technology. She said the fiscal year 2027 budget includes $200,000 to continue a grocery-delivery access pilot for 1,000 residents in selected parts of the District, $200,000 for Dreaming Out Loud to replace lost federal funding supporting the Marion Barry Market and Cafe, and $250,000 to expand farmers-market access. Henderson also said the Council’s Committee of the Whole plans a fall hearing on technology in schools.
Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) met Sept. 28 at the R.I.S.E. Demonstration Center (2730 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE). Commissioners Gregory White (8C02, treasurer); Dascha Cleckley (8C03, secretary); Kendall Ridley (8C04, vice-chair); Cheryl Moore (8C05); Salim Adofo (8C07, chair); and Joy Page (8C08) attended. Commissioners Georgette Joy Johnson (8C01), Dascha Cleckley (8C03) and Robbie Woodland (8C06) were absent.
ANC 8C generally meets at 6:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month. For current meeting information and to confirm location, visit [anc8c.org](https://www.anc8c.org/about).
