[October, 2010] At the public meeting convened by CM Bowser, DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) reported to concerned theater neighbors and community members that following an inspection of the Takoma Theatre the agency served the owner with a Notice of Violation relating to the condition of the shuttered building. Under the Notice the owner, Mr. Milton McGinty, has 30 days (until Nov 22) to abate the conditions. The inspection conducted by DCRA officials with Mr. McGinty, found that two corrective items would be required: to fix the holes in the leaking roof, and to paint the currently peeling façade areas.
Following questions from the audience, DCRA officials outlined the processes to follow the Notice. If the owner complies, no further actions would be taken. If the conditions are not abated, DCRA will file a Notice of Infraction. The owner will then have 15 days to appeal to the Office of Administrative Hearings. If an Appeal is filed, the process then moves to the Court system. If no appeal is filed, the owner would be subject to a series of progressively increasing fines for not performing the corrective actions.
Community members had expressed concerns about the deterioration of the building, a contributing structure in the Takoma Historic District, and a circulating letter from Mr. McGinty stating he would no longer maintain the facility. Participants suggested that the owner might be exercising “demolition by neglect.”
CM Bowser advocated continuing to seek a working solution with Mr. McGinty that would not be round-after-round of fines and taxes, while acknowledging that the DC government with its economic shortfalls could not be the prime funding agent of that solution.
A request by the owner to demolish the building and build an apartment house had been denied by the Historic Preservation Review Board on a vote of 8-0, and further denied on appeal in an administrative hearing by the Mayor’s Agent. At the community meeting, officials from DC’s Historic Preservation Office (HPO) indicated that they had tried to suggest alternatives other than demolition to Mr. McGinty. Loretta Neumann, President of the Takoma Theatre Conservancy, expressed the organization’s and neighbors’ desire to restore the theater as a community cultural arts & education center.
In interviews with the NW Current newspaper, Mr. McGinty voiced continued opposition to spending any money on maintenance and fines, and would pursue his issues in court.
See The Fate of Takoma Theatre Still Unclear, NW Current, Nov 3, 2010.