Don't know how new this is, but a page on the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission's site about the steps being taken to make the new Nationals ballpark "green" includes a graphic describing the various environmentally conscious aspects of the stadium--and the graphic also has a stadium rendering I haven't come across before (looking at the stadium from its northwest corner) with the best view I've seen so far of the garages planned for the north end of the site, as well as good detail of the South Capitol Street facade of the stadium. I've added the graphic to my Stadium Renderings page.

A few articles to note in the latest neighborhood newspapers--nothing really new in them (especially if you stop by here with regularity), but they might be good roundups for people who haven't been following along closely. The April Hill Rag has a profile of Capitol Quarter, the mixed-income townhome component of the Capper/Carrollsburg redevelopment. And the latest Voice of the Hill has "Stadium Parking Plan is 'Managed Chaos'", covering last month's stadium Transportation Operations and Parking Plan meeting and the reaction of local residents and leaders. My notes from that meeting are here, and my Stadium Parking page has the meeting's presentation slides from Gorove/Slade, DDOT, and WMATA.

Wasting no time, the Zoning Commission has scheduled for May 21 the public hearing on Case 07-08, the request to allow temporary surface lots at various locations within walking distance of the stadium. Note that some of the stadium parking and transportation items in the news and on the web these days are pretty chock full of misassumptions, misinformation, and misunderstandings, so do yourselves (and my blood pressure) a favor and read for yourself the various source documents and meeting notes I've posted, look at the map, do a little critical thinking, and try not to yell "The sky is falling!" just yet. (If we're staring at the same information in September or October, then we can all chant it together.)

Last night's Zoning Commission meeting had four Near Southeast items on the agenda; we can start with the easy one and say that Case 06-25, the latest batch of text amendments to the Capitol Gateway Zoning Overlay, was given final approval. Next, the expected final vote on Case 06-41, the new residential project at 1325 South Capitol Street, was delayed because of some procedural issues that went way above my head and that now require a special public meeting to sort out (which will probably be in the next six weeks). But the item of greatest interest is Case 07-08, the request for zoning changes that would allow temporary surface parking lots on certain blocks within range of the Nationals ballpark. It had been brought as an emergency request because of the time sensitivity of needing to get the lots built before the weather gets cold again (if it ever gets warm first!!!), meaning that the rule could have gone into effect immediately (with hearings to make it permanent within the next 120 days), but the commissioners balked at the idea, saying that too many emergency requests are coming down the pike these days that don't really deserve the special treatment. They did agree to an expedited hearing date (one that only needs to be advertised for 30 days), but there is clearly some concern amongst the commissioners about the whole idea, with one of them rightly asking to make sure that the rule prohibits any non-commercial use of the lots (like for trash truck parking or other industrial-type uses). So, be prepared to read plenty more about this in coming months, and read my previous post on the zoning request for more details, which includes links to the Office of Planning report on the request.

It should be noted that work has now begun on the parking garage on the northwestern edge of the Nationals ballpark site (between Half and South Capitol, south of N). Pile driving is underway (clang....clang....clang) and the site is being excavated. You can get a feel for it from the Stadium Construction Webcam #2 (lower right-center), or get a wonderful view of basically nothing (the piledriver is at center) in this shot I took today of the southwest corner of Half and N. (I also took there's-no-more-there-there shots of what used to be the Good and Plenty Carryout site on the northern side of this intersection as well--see today's vista compared to shots from the past few years, looking to the west, northwest, and north.)