Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3C met publicly on February 19, 2020 to consider and vote on a concept proposal by the Washington International School to construct a new Science+ building on campus. The Tregaron Conservancy gave the following statement:
Good evening. I am Susan Lynner, and I am the Chair of the Board of the Tregaron Conservancy. The Conservancy and the Washington International School are, by formal agreement, co-stewards of the Tregaron estate and the School is a valued partner in our mission to realize the vision of the creator of Tregaron, pioneering landscape designer Ellen Biddle Shipman. Today, the Tregaron landscape is gorgeous and thriving, thanks to a dedicated board and Executive Director, experienced professionals, extraordinary volunteers, and invaluable guidance from HPO.
However, stewardship and rehabilitation of the landscape are long-term commitments. We hope that succeeding generations will continue to cherish and nurture the Conservancy as we do. We view it as our obligation to do all we can now to create a robust foundation for our successors, in our stewardship work, financially, and in our relationship with WIS.
The Conservancy’s 2006 governing documents allotted three seats of an initial 12-member board of directors to WIS. WIS is therefore embedded on our board. This arrangement recognized the reality of the adjacencies of WIS and the Conservancy as well as the financial support WIS provided to the Conservancy from the beginning. The new agreement between the Conservancy and School would replace and extend the current funding mechanism.
For the relationship established by our governing documents to work, the Conservancy and WIS must work to find mutually beneficial solutions that enable us to fulfill our mission. In evaluating WIS’s building plans, we focused on existing and potential drainage issues, the requested easement, the impact on view sheds, and the proposed landscape improvements. Our constant goal has been to secure terms that create compelling preservation benefits for the Conservancy as well as to offset any preservation harms from the proposed building. We believe that we have achieved that goal.
We have also been motivated by our responsibility to ensure a vibrant and secure future for the Conservancy. The Conservancy owns and stewards this historic landscape in perpetuity. We believe that our fiduciary obligations require us to embrace opportunities to provide for the Conservancy’s financial health as far into the future as possible.
The new agreement will include the following:
–The parties will negotiate an agreement for construction mitigation and remediation to address any harms to the Conservancy during the building project.
–WIS will provide an allowance for the Conservancy to retain professionals to peer review the hydrological impact of the project on the Conservancy.
–WIS will coordinate with the Conservancy on review and approval of relevant landscaping plans.
— The concept plans include various landscape improvements, including the much-needed restoration of the Macomb Driveway cobbled gutters and entryway landscaping. WIS has agreed to complete this work by 2022 even if the new building is not constructed. WIS also plans to add a temporary driveway curb to mitigate run-off this Spring.
— The new agreement reaffirms the School’s ongoing financial commitment to the Conservancy, supporting our maintenance needs and helping to fund landscape capital improvements over the next 20 years. In addition, there will be three payments to the Conservancy totaling $500,000 spread out over the construction project for use of the open-space easement area.
Some background about the easement space may be helpful. In 2006, the Mayor’s Agent for Historic Preservation ordered that a portion of the land that lies between the School and Conservancy properties be designated as open Conservancy land. Shortly thereafter, an agreement was approved by HPRB to allow the school to locate its basketball court on a portion of that land, as that issue had been deferred by all involved and no other site could be identified. In 2014, the Conservancy granted the School an easement to install geothermal wells on adjacent open space land. The new construction requires an amendment to that easement and is confined to the already-disturbed basketball court area.
—WIS has also agreed not to commence new above-grade building within a 10-year period following final HPRB concept approval of the current project, with certain exceptions including routine maintenance, repairs, or replacement construction or construction required to address health, safety and environmental concerns. WIS may initiate new project planning during this 10-year period, because project lead times are so long. However, WIS must compensate the Conservancy $10,000 any time it goes to HPRB with a new concept plan, in recognition of the burdens of this process on the Conservancy’s limited resources.
–This new funding will be used by the Conservancy to continue the increasingly costly work of maintaining the landscape. It will also help to fund critical landscape restoration and rehabilitation projects. These projects include completing much needed drainage work, restoring damaged stone bridges and stairways, improving stream flow, removing a crumbling concrete wall, improving signage, and adding new Wild Gardens to enhance Tregaron’s historic character and habitat. All of this work will protect the landscape against degradation and enable the community to continue to enjoy Tregaron well into the future.
The Conservancy firmly believes that the financial and landscape enhancement and mitigation provisions of this agreement provide compelling preservation benefits to the Conservancy that would outweigh any preservation harms to the estate.
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ANC3C unanimously approved the draft (and now final) resolution here.