1. The Northwest CurrentWednesday, March 2, 2016 Serving Communities in Northwest Washington Since 1967 Vol. XLIX, No. 9
Calendar/20
Classifieds/29
District Digest/4
Exhibits/21
In Your Neighborhood/26
Opinion/10
Police Report/6
Real Estate/17
School Dispatches/12
Service Directory/27
Sports/13
Week Ahead/3
INDEXSHERWOOD
‘Allowextratime’
Riders won’t wait forever for
Metro to sort out its host of
operational issues / Page10
NEWS
18yearsoffilm
Organizers expand festival to
feature broader selection of
local, global movies / Page2 Tips? Contact us at newsdesk@currentnewspapers.com
SPORTS
Earningtheirstripes
Wilson’s girls basketball team
knocked off Anacostia to win its
first title since 1993 / Page13
By BRADY HOLT
Current Staff Writer
D.C. Public Library officials are preparing to
unveil a concept for the modernized Palisades
Library, which will retain the existing structure and
footprint but thoroughly upgrade the interior and pos-
sibly relocate various functions.
The 1964 building at 49th and V streets NW has
generous space and a boxy shape that lends itself to
many potential configurations, library officials said
at a public meeting last Thursday. The $8.2 million
modernization is scheduled to begin in late 2016, and
the library would reopen about nine months later.
Early plans a couple of years ago called for a far
more expensive project that would have involved
fully replacing the building. Officials now expect to
make minor facade upgrades and replace the win-
dows, but to generally leave the structure intact. The
project will also include gutting and replacing the
interior of the building, its furniture and most of its
mechanical equipment.
“We feel as though the city has given us a very
appropriate amount of money to do what we need to
do with this library,” David Saulter, the library sys-
tem’s director of capital planning, told residents at
See Library/Page 16
Cityseekinginputfor
PalisadesLibraryredo
Brian Kapur/The Current
The $8.2 million renovation will focus on the interior
of the aging building at 49th and V streets NW.
By MARK LIEBERMAN
Current Staff Writer
Efforts to update the city’s
inclusionary zoning regulations
for affordable housing are inching
forward, with a public zoning
hearing set for tomorrow night.
The Zoning Commission’s
March 3 hearing will focus on
measures to make more affordable
units available to lower income
levels in the District, as proposed
by the local Coalition for Smarter
Growth and analyzed by the D.C.
Office of Planning. The hearing
— which continues a discussion
that began Jan. 28 — comes after
the Planning Office requested sev-
eral postponements.
Current inclusionary zoning, or
“IZ,” regulations specify that 8
percent to 10 percent of a large
multifamily development’s square
footage must be set aside for
affordable units. Existing regula-
tions also allow developers to
exceed density caps to provide
more IZ units. Depending on the
project and its location, most units
are set aside for prospective resi-
See Housing/Page 18
Zoningpaneltoairpushfor
affordablehousingreforms
By BRADY HOLT
Current Staff Writer
Exelon Corp. may abandon its
long-fought, controversial effort
to acquire regional utility compa-
ny Pepco, with the D.C. Public
Service Commission and Mayor
Muriel Bowser finding themselves
at odds over the merger’s terms.
The merger has been hotly
debated in the District since it was
first announced. Civic activists
derided Exelon’s environmental
record and questioned whether the
District could effectively regulate
a Chicago-based energy giant.
Meanwhile the utility companies,
the business community and even-
tually Bowser and most D.C.
Council members said the merger
would bring improved reliability
and financial benefits to the city
and local ratepayers.
But as of The Current’s dead-
line yesterday, the $6.8 billion
deal was on the ropes, essentially
due to a $25.6 million disagree-
ment between city officials and
one member of the District’s inde-
pendent utility regulatory panel.
Last fall, Bowser had negotiat-
ed a series of conditions with the
utility companies, including the
See Pepco/Page 5
Pepcomergermaynotgoforward
By CUNEYT DIL
Current Correspondent
The communities of five Northwest elementary
schools are scrambling to undo a nearly $600,000
budget cut to Fillmore Arts Center that would spell an
end to the long-standing program.
D.C. Public Schools says the city spends double
the amount per pupil compared to other schools to
continue the program, which serves 1,700 students
from Key, Ross, Marie Reed, Hyde-Addison and
Stoddert elementary schools. The students are bused
every week to the arts center in Georgetown to take
classes in arts, drama and music.
Two dozen parents and school members huddled
last Tuesday at a Friends of Fillmore meeting to strat-
egize opposition. As of yesterday evening, over 1,000
people have signed a change.org petition calling for
the program’s funds to be restored. And supporters
See Fillmore/Page 9
FillmoreArtsagainfacingbudgetcuts
■ Utilities:Mayor,regulators
atoddsoversettlementterms
Brian Kapur/The Current
D.C. Public Schools officials said they would rather
fund arts programs in individual schools than bus
students to the center at Hardy Middle.
■ Development:Proponents
seektoincrease‘IZ’setasides
Brian Kapur/The Current
Students from CityDance’s Dream program performed at
halftime of Monday’s Washington Wizards game against the
Philadelphia 76ers at the Verizon Center. Oyster-Adams
Bilingual students were among more than 130 D.C. public
school students in grades 3 through 12 to participate.
dance dance revolution

2. O
nly moments away from
hiking trails in Glover
Archbold Park, this sev-
en-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bath
home at 1699 Foxhall Road NW
sits back from the street, peeking
out from behind a curtain of trees
and landscaping. Offering urban
convenience along with its
nature-rich setting, this home in
the Berkley/Foxhall neighbor-
hood is listed for $2,340,000.
The home’s striking contem-
porary entrance
hall immediately
sets the tone of a
colorful, multi-tex-
tured house, with a
broad palette of
complementary
materials — brick,
wood, granite,
marble, glass, metal and plaster.
Black marble floors with white
accents and warm wooden wall
panels greet the eye. A door to the
left opens onto the two-car
garage; a handful of steps straight
ahead lead up to the kitchen; a
hidden door leads down into the
basement; and a hall to the right
opens into a front sitting room,
with a painted brick fireplace and
bay window overlooking the front
yard. The powder room further
nods to modernist forms, with a
geometric sink and marble floor
and walls — a white stone rib-
boned with beige seams resem-
bling abstract tree branches.
Ascending to the kitchen, the
genius of the house’s layout
becomes apparent: Half-flights of
stairs move traffic between stag-
gered stories that maximize usable
space while shrinking the foot-
print. The result is a house that
looks well-proportioned from the
outside, despite having five levels.
The bright, airy kitchen fea-
tures Blue Pearl marble floors,
cherry cabinetry, granite counter-
tops and bubbly and contempo-
rary glass chande-
liers, along with
upgraded applianc-
es: a Fisher &
Paykel gas range
with Zephyr hood,
top-of-the-line
Whirlpool dish-
washer and Sub-
Zero refrigerator disguised by a
cherry panel. French doors open
onto the slate back patio and side
yard with pool, fenced in for chil-
dren and pets to roam.
The formal dining room also
opens onto the back patio via
French doors, which combine
with the eastern- and southern-
facing windows and blond wood
floors to create a sunny space. A
contemporary chandelier offers a
daring complement to classical
plaster leaf-and-shell friezes over
the doors and windows.
To the right, the living room
succeeds in being both cozy and
spacious, thanks to the marble
fireplace, south-facing bay win-
dow with cushioned seat, built-in
bookcases and wide floor space.
Upstairs in the master suite,
light exposure on two sides, plus
wall-mounted lighting, keeps the
room bright. Two of the windows
are dormers, providing space for
built-in cabinets, cubbies and
closets, plus a wall-mounted tele-
vision between them. The master
bathroom underwent a recent
update that added a marble floor,
a granite vanity with two sinks
and a frameless glass shower.
Down the hall, a second bed-
room offers plentiful space and
more cubbyholes for storage. An
updated hall bathroom sits across
from the surprise treasure of the
house: a two-person sauna room.
The third level features two
more bedrooms with large closets
and clever built-in shelves and
cubbies. A hall bathroom serves
both bedrooms.
The next level includes the
fifth and sixth bedrooms, a skylit
bathroom and a landing with
tucked-away shelving leading
into a sort of top-of-the-house
sunroom — a spacious area with
floor-to-ceiling windows and
another skylight. A possible sev-
enth bedroom, this spot could
also serve as a playroom for the
growing family this home would
suit perfectly.
The basement also offers a
spacious area for family members
to gather, with a wood-paneled
entertainment wall with mounted
television. Milky white squares
set into the wood paneling in a
pattern hide lightbulbs, for mood
lighting. A tug on one panel
reveals a disguised laundry room,
which frees up the second room
in the basement for storage and
poolhouse use.
If the indoor treasure is the
sauna, the outdoor treasure is
clearly the pool and patio area in
the side yard, accessible from the
basement as well as from the
slate patio in the backyard. The
5-foot-deep, free-form pool wraps
around a Jacuzzi on one side and
a firepit with a brick seating
ledge on the other. Summer will
be an endless pool party for the
next residents of this home.
The seven-bedroom, five-and-
a-half-bath house at 1699 Fox-
hall Road NW is listed for
$2,340,000 by Coldwell Banker
Residential Brokerage. For
details, contact Realtor Camille
Gemayel at 202-210-2314 or
camillegem@yahoo.com.
Homeboastscontemporaryfeel,proximitytonature
Photos courtesy of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
This seven-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bath house at
1699 Foxhall Road NW is listed for $2,340,000.
ON THE MARKET
lee Cannon
Northwest Real estate
A Look at the Market in Northwest Washington The Current March 2, 2016 ■ Page 17
Selling The Area’s Finest Properties
Show Stopper
Town of Chevy Chase. Pristine, restored & renov.
3 BRs, 3 BAs. Rare main level bedrooms. Stunning
new kit, new MBR suite & blt out LL. Walk to
dwntwn Bethesda & Metro. $1,049,000
Eric Murtagh 301-652-8971
Grand Traditions
Town of Chevy Chase. Impressive 1920s manor
w/ dramatic spaces has been renovated from top to
bottom. Formal LR & DR, 5 BR, 6.5 BA, dazzling
Kit, 3-car garage, and inviting deck. $2,499,000
Eric Murtagh 301-652-8971
Karen Kuchins 301-275-2255
High Style
Arlington, VA. To the height of luxury in the
Turnberry Tower. 1 BR + den, 1.5 BA upgraded
unit with waterside balcony view. Top of the line
kit & baths. Deluxe amenities just 1 blk from
Metro. Pkg included. $835,000
John Coplen 410-591-0911
Surprise Package
Glover Park. Light filled corner TH w/2 BRs,
2 BAs up & full BR & BA in-law suite in the
walk out LL. Renovated kitchen & baths. Great
location near to shops & transport. $799,900
June Gardner 301-758-3301
Elegance & Flair
The Foxhall. Rare duplex apt in this sought
after bldg. Bright formal rooms on main level
open to large terrace. Curved staircase to 3 BRs
each w/bath & balcony. Amenities include pool
& tennis courts. $1,115,000
Penny Mallory 301-654-7902
Masterpiece
Martin’s Addition. New masterpiece on a scenic,
peaceful lane. Dramatic open flr plan w/gourmet
kit. MBR suite w/parkline views. Amazing estate
like 13,000+ sf grounds. $2,439,000
Eric Murtagh 301-652-8971