Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
This is a public hearing of the Committee of the Whole of the Council of the District of Columbia, chaired by Phil Mendelson, on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at 12:22 PM in Room 412 of the Johnny Wilson Building. The subject of the hearing is Bill 26-770, entitled "Restoration of Covenanted Roads and Alleys by the District Government Clarification Amendment Act of 2026," introduced by Chairman Mendelson on July 13, 2026. The bill seeks to amend the Restoration of Covenanted Roads and Alleys by the District Government Act of 2024 to further clarify the District's authority to repair or restore certain private rights of way used for motor vehicles by the District government. The need for the 2024 law arose from a community request in the Hillcrest neighborhood in 2021, and the current amendments address a similar situation involving an unpaved alley off Morris Road, SE, which is in disrepair and is the only access for residents for parking and trash service.
I'm calling to order this hearing. This is a public hearing of the Committee of the Whole of the Council of the District of Columbia. I'm Phil Mendelson, Chair of the Council and Chair of the Committee of the Whole. Today is Tuesday, October 13th, 2026. The time is 1222 in the afternoon. We're in room 412 of the Johnny Wilson Building. The subject of this hearing is one bill, Bill 26-770, which is entitled Restoration of Covenanted Roads and Allees by the District Government Clarification Amendment Act of 2026. This legislation was introduced by me on July 13th of this year, and it would amend the restoration of covenant roads and alleys by the District Government Act of 2024. The stated purpose of this bill is to further clarify the district's district government's authority to repair or restore certain private rights of way to a condition appropriate for the passage of motor vehicles owned or operated by the district government. The council adopted emergency and temporary versions of this legislation in July 2026 to supplement a law in 2024. The need for the 2024 law arose from the outreach of several residents of the Hillcrest community in Southeast Washington in 2021. A group of residents requested that a private alleyway off of W Street be converted into a public alley to ensure that they maintain the ability to use the driveway to access the rear of their homes. Similar situations exist regarding alleys in other places around the city, in particular, or as another example, an unpaved alley off of Morris Road southeast that is in badly in need of repair. Just as was the case in the Hillcrest situation, the alley off of Morris Road is L-shaped and is the only way residents along this portion of Morris Road can park or put out their trash. Due to the slight differences in the circumstances surrounding the Hillcrest Alley and the Morris Road Alley, these amendments in Bill 26-770, which would be to the 2024 law, are necessary to provide the executive with sufficient authority on a permanent basis to address the Morris Road Alley situation and others like it. I was reading from the hearing notice, but I will say a little bit more. But in fact, when one looks for title or goes to the surveyor's office, it turns out that they're not dedicated as public alleys, but they have covenants on them. And the covenants permit that these alleyways can be used by residents whose homes are served by these alleyways. And these are situations where the residents cannot be served from the public street. So I referenced the Hillcrest situation, which was actually off of, I believe it's Hillcrest Drive. The homes along this area have very very, very steep front yards and there's no parking on Hillcrest Drive. So the only way to really access these homes is off of the alley. In the case of Hillcrest, it was an alley that had been dedicated by the developer of these homes 60 years ago. And because the developer covenanted the alley, the taxes are still owed on it, which the developer is not paid in 30 years, and the property went to tax sale, none of which made any sense because there's a covenant on the uh that particular um alleyway that uh the alley has to be available for the homeowners. More important, the alley is used by public trash trucks, by city trash trucks. It's used by city emergency vehicles. And the same can be said for the alley off of Morris Road, uh, where there's no parking on Morris Road, and the only way to access these houses for purposes of trash or emergency is by the alley, which, as I noted in the hearing notice, is badly in need of repair. I believe it was torn up by a trash truck back caught in the snow a year ago, over a year ago. So that's what this bill is about. The record in this matter will be open for two weeks. That is, it will close at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. Uh, I will say that I have been in communication with the executive about this legislation. I'm aware of no objections. Uh in fact, we tried to work with uh the executive office of the mayor with regard to this bill and the drafting of it. And although the notice of this hearing was published in the September eighteenth, TC register, I'm not sure the residents along Morris Road were aware of this hearing. So we have no witnesses today.