A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.
Take a Hike With Your Logic: After a member posed questions to the CrestwoodDC email list about disabled person-friendly parking meters—and also offered suggestions for hiking spots—they explain the disparity in a thread titled “Irony but not impropriety”: “Since I have gotten one note about this already, I thought I’d clear up any suggestion of impropriety. Yes, I did make two posts today—one responding to a request for hiking suggestions and the other about disabled parking. This may be somewhat ironic, but not fraudulent. It is my wife who has the disability—and it is for her I have been advocating change to the DDOT parking rules. So, if anyone else is questioning why someone who recommends hikes can also be interested in disabled parking rules, there is your answer. Thank you.”
Ear Plug City: On the MPD email list, a member writes, “Several times over the last month, I’ve been woken up between 3:30-5AM due to construction noise at the New York Avenue road construction site (by FL Ave). It sounds like they are using heavy jackhammer-type equipment, which can be heard on the 200 block of R ST NE. I’ve called 311 to lodge a noise complaint more than once, but it keeps happening. Do they have a permit that allows them to violate noise ordinances? Or do the noise ordinances not apply to the construction site? What type of recourse do we have to stop this type of work in the very early morning?” An MPD officer responds, “Thank you very much for bringing this to our attention. The construction crew has been working on the bridge for about a month. We have been monitoring the traffic flow, but we will also monitor the noise emanating from their work as well. Please continue to call us, and we will have a unit to respond and look into it. Thank you.” In a surprisingly civil response, the original member says, “Thank you to all of you for looking into this – even if the construction doesn’t stop, I feel better knowing you’re addressing our concerns. We’ll invest in some ear plugs.”
There’s an App for That: “I’m may attend a conference at The Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, VA over a Saturday/Sunday and during weekdays. I’m concerned about traveling time to get there in the morning and back in the evening. Does anyone have a good ballpark estimate of time it will take on a weekend morning? On a weekday morning…say to arrive before 9am?” asks a member of the Tenleytown email list. Insofar, no one has responded with either an estimated traveling time or the suggestion of Google Maps.
Unleashed: In response to complaints of off-leash dogs in the neighborhood, a member of the Chevy Chase email list offers this suggestion: “It would be helpful to establish some patterns ie, big black loose dog is often seen on western ave loose is a potential serious problem as opposed to small white dog seen out of yard once on Oliver etc. Perhaps those of us walking dogs could have a prepared script,nicely saying there is a leash law to protect all us since we all realize dogs can be unpredictable. ..and if I feel uncomfortable I have DC Animal Control number (202-576-6664) on my speed dial…and each of us always have the number available. If we learn there are serious repeat offenders in a given area,several threats to call animal control might begin to have the desired effect.”