Sharon Cochran: "Please Clean Up and Renovate the Pepco Property."

Sharon Cochran, 1300 block of Emerald Street NE, sent the following letter this week to Pepco President William J Sim (701 Ninth St. NW, Washington, DC 20068-0001). She sent copies of the letter to City Council member Sharon Ambrose (Ward 6), Mayor Anthony Williams, Police Lt. Renato Caldwell and the Corner Forum.

Dear President Sim,

Please clean up and renovate the PEPCO property at 13th & D St. NE. The PEPCO property and adjacent public property areas such as the sidewalk and tree boxes are filled with trash. I do not think that this property has been cleaned a single time this year. The property should be cleaned at least once a week.

In addition, I would like for PEPCO to renovate the property by taking down the industrial type fence, renovating the building, and landscaping the property. PEPCO decommissioned the substation a number of years ago; there is no reason for the chained linked fence with hazard signs and the gravel on the ground. The property looks abandoned, and therefore it makes the neighborhood more vulnerable to criminal invasion. While this block has had a history of loitering accompanied with drinking and drug sales, the Police are actively monitoring to prevent these activities. The "Broken Window" theory of Community Policing says that a disorderly property like yours is linked to crimes because it says that no one cares.

This is a residential area and the appearance of the PEPCO property should be more in keeping with that use. This site has a historic use of a trolley car station and there is no reason for it to look so shabby. The PEPCO property in Penn Quarter does not.

This property has a history of being an eye sore for a number of years and this in not the first plea from the community asking for you to clean it up. I know that former ANC Commissioner Ronald Nelson had to plead for your company to clean the lot. He led staff from PEPCO on a tour where they found lots of trash, rat holes and a hypodermic needle. This should not be the case for any business that operates in the District of Columbia, much less one that promotes its community ties. I am looking forward to the successful resolution of this problem.

P.S. I've enclosed some pictures of the PEPCO property to give you an indication of its terrible condition. §