Sunday, April 25, 2010. 605 P Street NW. DCRA has been alerted and come out to inspect, Mayor Fenty's Ward 2 MOCRS have interceded, neighbors have complained and been told things that are not true (like "the permits are in the car"), no permits can be found on the outside of the property, yet construction continued as of Saturday and the nail guns could be heard at night several houses down the street.

Floor boards seem to indicate that the owner plans to change the widows to the property in some ridiculous fashion so that the original first floor windows will be partially sealed about a foot from the bottom. This looks like it is apparently to raise the first floor to accommodate a full basement with high ceilings. From the looks of it, the basement will have higher ceilings than the first floor. That's dumb.

First floor window with raised floor.

The new window frames seem to be much smaller than any of the those on the row houses facing P Street. This is already looking like a hot mess and they have not even begun to paint. It's that one time one wishes for historic district regulations to nip the problem in the bud.

The rumor is that the end product will be a "rooming house" something neighbors are already complaining about. The owner of 605 P St NW has already proven that s/he has no intention of being a good neighbor after brazenly continuing construction despite the absence of posted permits, despite repeated complaints to DCRA and Mayor Fenty's Office, and calls to MPD about the construction noise extending into the late evening. Can't wait to meet the new tenants. ...

Are you kidding me with the thin particle board joists? If those are up to code, I'd hate to be the person with the grand piano living in that house. The owner should be fined retroactively at least back to the date of the last valid construction permits.

-----Original Message-----
From: Kidwell, Christine (EOM)
Sent: Thu, Apr 15, 2010 3:44 pm

... According to the District of Columbia’s Property Information Verification System, 605 P Street, NW is owned by:

MOHAMMED YOUSEFI of
9200 Colesville Road
Silver Spring, MD 20910

All information regarding this property, including permits issued and current restrictions and holds, can be found using this site: http://PIVS.dcra.dc.gov

From what I can tell after just a quick look at this, Mr. Yousefi does not have any current permits to be performing any sort of construction on the land. The last permit he had was for plumbing purposes and the date of completion for that project was January 14, 2010. ...

Christine Noel Kidwell
Ward 2 Outreach & Service Specialist
Mayor’s Office of Community Relations and Services
Executive Office of the Mayor