In Chevy Chase this fall, mailing a ballot, voting early, sitting in on a neighborhood meeting and borrowing a book all happen at one address: the library and community center at 5601 Connecticut Avenue NW. The same two buildings are now the subject of a bill before the DC Council, with a public hearing set for Thursday, November 12. Between now and the Chevy Chase Winter Market on December 5, the neighborhood's calendar runs along a few hundred feet of upper Connecticut Avenue. The block at the center of that stretch spends the season as the busiest public room in Chevy Chase and also as its biggest open question.

Four Weeks Around 5601 Connecticut

The civic block's role this fall starts with the election. The DC Board of Elections lists the Chevy Chase Community Center as a Ward 3 early vote center, open daily from Monday, October 26 through Sunday, November 1, 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The listed address is 5601 Connecticut Avenue NW. Next door, the Chevy Chase Library has a mail-ballot drop box that stays open until 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3.

The neighborhood commission is meeting just as often. At its September 28 meeting, ANC 3/4G voted 6–0 to hold two special sessions on the block's future. The first was held October 15 on surplus, which Chevy Chase News & Notes describes as declaring that the land and current buildings are no longer required for public purposes in their current state. The second is on disposition, which the same newsletter describes as authorizing the Mayor to lease, transfer or sell rights to the property to a private development team. Here is what remains on the calendar:

1. Monday, October 26, 7 p.m. The ANC's regular monthly meeting.
2. October 26 through November 1. Early voting at the Community Center.
3. Tuesday, October 27, 7 p.m. The ANC special meeting on disposition.
4. Tuesday, November 3. Election Day. The library drop box closes at 8 p.m.
5. Thursday, November 12, 10 a.m. The DC Council public hearing on the block.

So within about three weeks, people will vote in the community center, then hear the case for replacing it.

What the Council Will Hear on November 12

The bill is B26-0801, the Chevy Chase Civic Site Surplus Declaration and Disposition Approval Act of 2026. It covers District property at 5601 and 5625 Connecticut Avenue NW. Chairman Phil Mendelson introduced it at the Mayor's request on September 16, and it was referred to the Committees on Facilities and Human Services. The hearing notice sets the hearing for 10 a.m. on November 12, in Room 412 of the Wilson Building and on Zoom.

That date is later than many neighbors first heard. In mid-September, Councilmember Matt Frumin expected a hearing "likely in mid-October." His October 1 newsletter said he had scheduled it for November 12 after residents asked for more time to review the proposal. That leaves nearly two months between introduction and hearing.

DC Public Library says the plan would replace the existing public buildings. According to the October issue of Chevy Chase News & Notes, the proposal sent to the Council includes the following:

The Mayor's transmittal names the developer as Rift Valley Chevy Chase, LLC. The community center size has already drawn a formal response. In a resolution adopted June 8, ANC 3/4G asked the District to restore the community center to 32,500 square feet and to publish a space plan for the new library. Those were requests from the commission. The proposal now before the Council still lists a 21,600-square-foot community center.

For people who use the library every week, one point matters most. The legislation requires the developer to provide a temporary library before construction begins. No location or move date for that temporary library has been announced. In a June FAQ, the Deputy Mayor's office estimated construction at about 24 months and gave no start date.

Lunch at 5507, Then a Film

The civic block sits among the avenue's restaurants and its theater, and the newest addition is just down the street. Washingtonian reported that MiShi, a Japanese concept from chef Michael Kang, opened inside BirdSong at 5507 Connecticut Avenue NW on September 17. Both menus became available at lunch and dinner starting September 19. That made it the first lunch service for BirdSong, which had served only dinner before.

Chevy Chase News & Notes says you can order from either kitchen, or from both, at the same table. Kitima Boonmala's Thai cooking shares the room with Kang's izakaya small plates. The same report highlights a tuna flight that serves several cuts of one fish side by side, and local seafood such as Maryland blue crab, fluke and striped bass alongside fish flown in from Japan. It also says nearly every MiShi dish is gluten-free except the unagi and anything served on a bun, and that the kitchen uses a separate fryer. Lunch hours have changed since opening. The newsletter lists lunch at noon to 3 p.m. every day except Monday, so call ahead before planning a weekday visit.

The Avalon Theatre has new equipment this fall. It recently announced two new digital laser projectors, paid for with support from its 2026 gala guests and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. After this week, the theater's late-October schedule includes A Talent for Murder, opening October 23, and Once Upon a Time in Harlem, opening October 28. One-night screenings continue through late November. If you vote early at the community center on the afternoon of the 28th, you could see a film the same evening.

Saturdays Move Off the Avenue

On weekends the calendar spreads a few blocks west. The Chevy Chase Farmers Market runs Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. all year at 5701 Broad Branch Road NW, so it keeps going after many seasonal markets close.

On the afternoon of Saturday, October 24, the Lafayette Fall Festival runs from 2 to 5 p.m. New this year are a tie-dye station, WowWheelz electric cars and a bigger nonalcoholic "Bear Garden." Kids' all-inclusive bracelets cost $25 in advance and $30 at the door, and adults and children 3 and under get in free. That festival comes one week after a full weekend that included Murch's Fall Fair on October 17 and Ch/Art's seventh annual Art Walk on October 17 and 18. The Art Walk opened 35 homes and studios showing 86 artists, up from 10 studios and 20 artists at the first one in 2019.

There is one more open public process on the neighborhood's edge, outdoors this time. The National Park Service and DC's Department of Energy & Environment are taking comments on the proposed Pinehurst Branch Stream and Wetland Restoration Project until October 30. The project area starts near Western Avenue and Beech Street NW, where the stream comes out of a storm pipe. Comments go through the NPS project portal.

The Calendar Art All Night Started

The avenue's late-fall evenings follow from one night in September. On September 12, Chevy Chase Main Street took part in Art All Night for the first time, a festival other DC neighborhoods have hosted for 15 years. From 4 to 9 p.m., an estimated 2,000 people came out, and Ch/Art artists showed work in the former Happy Go space. Thirteen businesses hosted activities, including the Avalon, Bread & Chocolate, Child's Play, Little Beast, Parthenon, Skip's and Wheelhouse. According to Chevy Chase News & Notes, Main Street manager Anna Claire Walker said many of them reported more foot traffic.

The newsletter also lists a regular schedule of evenings on Connecticut Avenue: weekly Thursday jazz at Little Beast with the John Howard Jazz Trio, Thursday board game nights at Child's Play, and Monday trivia at Skip's. The neighborhood calendar kept by District Bridges has the dates furthest out:

• Thursday, November 19, 7–9 p.m. Wolfe Trivia at Parthenon and Chevy Chase Lounge, 5510 Connecticut Avenue NW, held on the third Thursday of each month.
• Saturday, December 5, noon–5 p.m. The Chevy Chase Winter Market at 5500 Connecticut Avenue NW.
• Thursday, December 17, 7–9 p.m. The December trivia night at 5510 Connecticut.

The Winter Market at 5500, trivia at 5510, lunch at 5507, and voting, ballots and the library at 5601 all sit on the same short stretch of Connecticut Avenue. The Council's November 12 hearing concerns 5601, the address at the center of that stretch.

Moments when a neighborhood's civic block is being reconsidered are often when longtime owners start thinking about their own long-term plans. If the Civic Core decision, or what comes after it, raises questions about your Chevy Chase property, the senior team at Jonathan Taylor Group brings decades of upper Connecticut Avenue experience and will give you a frank, discreet view. Request a Private Consultation.