Breakfast links: What you can’t have
Chinatown development scaled down… again
HPRB is forcing further reductions of an addition to the historic building at 7th and H Streets NW, demanding any new massing not be visible from the street. Yglesias laments. (DCmud, ThinkProgress)
Parking permit exclusion among new bills
Bills introduced in the DC Council yesterday include one letting new or empty buildings ask DDOT to make future residents ineligible for RPP stickers, to alleviate neighborhood concern over spillover parking. Others would update condo laws, train doctors about HIV, add no-littering signs, and more. (DCist)
MoCo goes for mixed-use
The Montgomery County Council signed off on zoning rewrite proposals that would legalize walkable, mixed-use development, and require building some amenities in exchange for density similar to what’s being done at White Flint. Some resident groups opposed the change. (Post)
Lawn mowing contract creates buzz
The DC government is spending an inordinate amount of energy on a $1.7 million lawn mowing contract. Why? It’s all about the prefrences for small, local, and/or minority-owned businesses. (Post)
Why a fee shifting bill for cyclists?
WABA further explains the thinking behind its proposed bill to let cyclists intentionally assaulted by a driver sue and recover attorney’s fees. They’re responding to some criticism of this measure, which upends the usual “American rule” for fees. (Huffington Post) … WashCycle adds more.
Misspelled signs vanish quickly
Eagle-eyed residents noticed wayfinding signs with such typos as “Pentworth” and “Cemetary.” DDOT very quickly removed the signs; hopefully new ones can come quickly. (Park View, DC)
Bikeshare-style car sharing launches in Paris
Paris launched “one-way car sharing,” which works like bike sharing but for electric cars. Will “dockblocking” be a problem? (Atlantic Cities) … Meanwhile, what’s going on with car2go’s coming to DC?
And…
An appeals court upheld DC’s ban on assault weapons. (Post) … Leslie Johnson got some more time before sentencing. (Examiner) … Jack Evans had 2 bikes stolen. (Georgetown Voice) … Leave signs on Maryland roads, face big fines. (Examiner) … DC got a “drive-by bank” in 1924. (DC Metrocentric)