West End Friends

New Battles Ahead for Francis Field:
Fire House, No Pets, Portable Lights

Updated 10/04/12

Three issues have arisen within the last two months that are affecting Francis Field, and will require the attention and help of our West End friends and neighbors to resolve with the District government:

On August 15, it was announced that Francis Field was being considered as the site for a temporary fire station while the West End fire house is being redeveloped,
On September 7, the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) posted new "Field Regulations" signs at the two entrances to Francis Field stating in part, "Please Do Not Bring Pets onto the Field" (see photo above),
On September 26, a sports league was permitted to bring portable night-time lighting onto the field.

Our parent organization, Friends of Francis Field (FFF) is concerned about each of these developments. Each have in fact been dealt with in one way or another before, but under previous District administrations. Mayor Vincent Gray did not take office until January 2011. Most of the previous battles over Francis Field took place in 2008 and 2009, during the administration of Mayor Adrian Fenty, who had four different DPR directors during his four-year term.

FFF has taken several actions which are intended to open dialogues with several different District agencies. DPR is involved in each of these, and FFF made a request, by letter, on October 2, 2012, to DPR Director Jesús Aguirre, to hold either a "stakeholder" meeting or a wider public meeting to discuss these three issues. (See letter in PDF format.)

The Fire Station Relocation

The fire station relocation is under the partial jurisdiction of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED), which is overseeing the redevelopment of the West End fire house, which is officially known as Engine 1 of what until recently was the District of Columbia Fire Department. That department was "rebranded" the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services (FEMS) last December. The West End fire house at 23rd and M Streets is shown at left.

It is slated to be redeveloped at the same time as the West End Public Library, and the Metropolitan Police Department's Special Operations Division at 2301 L Street. All three properties have been declared "surplus" by the District Council, acting on DMPED's desire to turn over the properties to a private developer.

The developer, EastBanc, said in August 2012 that it hoped to get control of the properties on March 1, 2013, and that construction would take 27 months, indicating completion around June 2015. (See related articles on the October 2012 home page of this website).

DMPED informed ANC-2A on August 15, 2012, that it had selected five potential sites for the temporary fire station:

Stevens School, now vacant, at 1050 21st Street NW
Tennis Courts, near 23rd Street, between N and P Streets
Francis Field
Vacant lot at 2109 M Street NW, currently a commercial parking lot
Vacant lot at 2201 M Street NW, where the Hilton Garden Inn was planned (and is now under construction).

FFF has already sent letters to DMPED, and to District Councilmember Jack Evans, who represents Ward 2, in which the West End is located.

In 2008 and 2009, FFF and ANC-2A secured $350,000 in private funds through the zoning process for the improvement of Francis Field. Those improvements were delivered between February and June 2010. (See photo at right, taken in March 2010). This process also involved the creation a master landscape plan for Francis Field, which was approved by DPR, NPS, and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), which has jurisdiction not only over District parks, but over any construction within site of Rock Creek Park, which Francis Field abuts. (See approved master landscape plan.)

FFF believes that any construction on the field would have to again be submitted for review to CFA and would probably not be approved.

In addition, FFF believes that constructing a temporary fire station on the field would "undo" the improvements that were just made in 2010, and would be poor fiscal policy. A portion of the field would have to be paved for trucks, and then this paving would need to be removed when the fire station returned to its permanent site. In addition, the siting of the fire house on the field would take needed recreation space out of use.

FFF also believes the construction of buildings on the field, whether temporary or permanent, would require a "special use permit" from NPS, which owns a large part of the field. Since Francis Field was acquired at public expense for the sole purpose of creating a non-urbanized barrier between Rock Creek Park and the urban elements of Washington, DC, we believe that NPS would be breaking its own rules if it issued such a permit, and setting an unacceptable precedent for other national parks.

On September 25, 2012, three FFF representatives met with Rock Creek Park officials to request that NPS not issue a special use permit. NPS was a valuable ally in 2009 and agreed with FFF that the stadium lights that existed on Francis Field at that time were inconsistent with the nature Rock Creek Park, which closes at dusk, and attempts to preserve a natural landscape environment as far as possible.

FFF is not the only group attempting to convince DMPED to find a better solution for the temporary fire station.

The Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2B, passed a resolution at its September 12, 2012, objecting to the location of a temporary fire station on Francis Field, stating in part, "We urge the District to work with community groups to find a more suitable location that would result in better response times and enhanced public safety." The Dupont ANC-2B has no legal jurisdiction over Francis Field, which lies entirely within the boundaries of ANC-2A, but FFF was pleased to learn of the Dupont resolution.

The Westgate Condominium at 2501 M Street NW, located directly south of the field, also passed a resolution citing numerous reasons why it "strongly opposes the siting of a fire station on Francis Field, and urges District officials to choose another site."

Pets on Francis Field

Our letter of October 3, 2012, to DPR Director Aguirre reminded him that ANC-2A passed a resolution for time-sharing of the field on December 14, 2009. Such a time-sharing agreement is permitted under District law (19 DCMR §733.4).

Since that resolution was passed, dog owners have had little trouble using Francis Field for pet exercise. As shown in the photo at right, dogs were frequently on the field after the time-sharing resolution was passed, and DPR expressed no objection to the plan.

The new signs which went up on the field on September 7, 2012, stating "Please do not bring pets on the field," are thus puzzling.

In addition, Aguirre himself personally approved an official dog park on the northernmost part of Francis Field on October 25, 2010. (See copy of his letter of that date.) No official dog park has yet been built, however, as that portion of the field is now occupied by the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority for a repair project that has closed that part of the field to public use for over six months.

FFF believes that a meeting with DPR to clarify the situation would be helpful to all parties. According to the ANC-2A resolution, dog owners can use the field when it is not permitted for other activities.

Portable Lights on the Field

Neighbors report being "shocked" on the evening of September 26, 2012, when a commercial sports league, United Social Sports, showed up on Francis Field with portable lights that the group had brought with them. This group of more than 80 people stated they had a permit to use the field from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, and that DPR had also allowed them to use lights.

The group set up two soccer layouts on the field, each with six lights. Twelve teams of seven members (plus alternates and spectators) played during the three-hour period.

After hearing complaints from several neighbors, FFF spoke the following morning with Derek Schultz, the DPR official responsible for issuing the permit. FFF also wrote to him the same day, sending him a brief version of the long history of neighborhood opposition to a lighted field, including the comprehensive resolution on Francis Field lighting passed by ANC-2A on January 28, 2009.

Four neighborhood organizations, including FFF and the Foggy Bottom Association, have also expressed their objection to lights on Francis Field, which is documented in that resolution. The struggle to get stadium-style lights removed from the field was greatly aided by the National Park Service, which owns a large portion of the field.

On July 20, 2009, NPS stated that it would not issue DPR a special use permit for its part of Francis Field if the stadium-lights on the field remained. Adrienne Coleman, then the superintendent of Rock Creek Park, stated in a letter: "The park setting of the parkway is an important feature of the design that the NPS strives to protect from non-compatible developments at its boundaries. This includes inappropriate lighting flooding onto the landscape."

In April 27, 2010, Jack Evans, the Ward 2 member of the District Council announced to the Foggy Bottom Association that the existing lights on Francis Field would come down before the end of June 2010, and that the District "would not put any new lights up." (See report in the West End Flyer of May 2010.)

Finally, on June 19, 2010, as Councilmember Evans promised, the stadium lights that had been on Francis Field for more than two decades were removed by contractors hired by DPR.

FFF believes that the current DPR administration should understand not only the history of the neighborhood's opposition to a lighted Francis Field, but also the reasons for its opposition.

FFF emphasizes that our objection to a lighted field is not based solely on the intensity of the lights. Any type of lighting that fosters after-dark activities tends to bring noise, parking pressure, and additional wear-and-tear to the field surface, which DPR has seldom maintained adequately. Most photos of Francis Field taken during the last 20 years show large expanses of bare dirt caused by overuse of the field and poor maintenance.

The photo at right, taken at dusk, shows the use of thes portable lights by United Social Sports, and the proximity of the players to the residences at 2501 M Street., the building at left. The daylight photo higher above shows the proximity of the other soccer layout this group is using to the residential building at 1255 25th Street. With more than 50 people on thee field at once, using two soccer layouts and 12 lights, there is considerable disruption to the residential nature of the area that 25th Street has now become.

When lights were first added to Francis Field in the early 1970s, there were only 18 residential units abutting the field, many of them vacant, and the area had long been zoned as a light industrial area. Today, due in part to an urban renewal program begun in 1972, there are now 360 residential units abutting the field.

The nature of the groups that want to use the field after dark are also part of the reason for FFF's opposition to a lighted field. There groups are usually out-of-neighborhood adults leagues that in the past have often been boisterous, rowdy, and a nuisance in themselves. While some groups were well-behaved and orderly, others stayed on the field past after their permits expired, and left the field littered.

No littering or alcohol use was observed during the initial use by United Social Sports. However, it is not an athletic association, but a commercial venture, incorporated for profit in Delaware. Its members pay the corporation's fees, which run to $55 a sport, and the corporation partners with beer brands.

FFF has always supported a multi-use field, that balances the needs of public- and charter-school teams, legitimate sports leagues, pet owners, and residential neighbors who prefer passive recreation and relaxation. We believe a meeting with DPR will help all of Francis Field's stakeholders to achieve this balance.