Capitol Hill residents say developer ‘manufactured’ local support for project

<br/><small><a href=”http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&amp;source=embed&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=Hine+Junior+High+School,+8th+Street+Southeast,+Washington,+DC&amp;aq=0&amp;sll=38.892102,-77.003174&amp;sspn=0.598568,0.947571&amp;vpsrc=6&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hq=Hine+Junior+High+School,&amp;hnear=8th+St+SE,+Washington,+District+of+Columbia&amp;t=m&amp;ll=38.88502,-76.995685&amp;spn=0.003341,0.00427&amp;z=16&amp;iwloc=A” style=”color:#0000FF;text-align:left”>View Larger Map</a></small></div> <p>Opponents of a planned mixed-use development near the historic Eastern Market say the project’s developer manufactured the support of local residents to win approval from the city.</p> <p>Stanton EastBanc is in the final stages of getting its project plans approved by the city nearly one year after key tenants dropped out of the project and the developer was forced to redesign the development. The project is slated to go where Hine Junior High School stands now on Pennsylvania Avenue between Seventh and Eighth streets, Southeast.</p> <p>The Eastern Market Metro Community Association, which has written about the development, <a href=”http://emmcablog.org/2011/11/27/deputy-mayors-office-cited-misleading-data-justifying-award-to-hine-developer-foia-permits-closer-look-at-manufactured-consensus-for-stantons-hine-development/”>cites a Freedom of Information Act request </a> regarding the emails Stanton EastBanc team garnered during the public comment period during the summer of 2009. According to the EMMCA blog, the developer got “119 emails of support … while its closest competitor, the Menkiti/Streetsense/DSF team, had only 34.”</p> <p>Of the 119 letters, 74 were form letters, a fact which the EMMCA calls “troubling.” In addition the association says “most emails, whether form letters or not, were written by someone who had a conflict of interest – realtors who work alongside one of the principals of Stanton Development, business associates, tenants, family members, or friends of the family.”</p> <p>Of course opponents to the project certainly have a vested interest, too. Most of those who are against the development live adjacent or within a couple blocks of Hine School and are concerned about how the mixed-use project would affect their property values.</p> <p>In addition, the most vocal group of people about proposed development projects tends to be those who oppose it. So often, those trying to get it passed have to exert effort to get those who support it to speak up.</p> <p>Still, the difference in the number of emails between Stanton EastBanc and the Mentiki proposal is significant. How much of it is an asserted lobbying effort versus drummed up support is probably in the eye of the beholder.</p>