As mentioned here last week, tonight the Citizens Association of Georgetown is hosting a meeting to discuss the ongoing zoning rewrite. The meeting will be structured like a debate, with the Office of Planning’s Travis Parker presenting the case for the changes, and Nancy MacWood will present the case against the changes, or at least some of the more controversial topics.
The tenor of the debate could be affected somewhat by the recent hubbub over whether or not Mayor-elect Vincent Gray should keep on the Director of the Office of Planning, Harriet Tregoning. What initiated this recent scuffle is that the Committee of 100 wrote a letter to Gray asking that he not keep Tregoning or DDOT director Gabe Klein.
The Committee of 100 is an old and established preservation group that can proudly look back on many great accomplishments such as stopping the construction of highways through the heart of the District. But in recent years, the organization has found itself at odds with a new generation of urban activists who are less wary of development and the intensification of land use in the city so long as it is guided by the doctrine of smart growth. To this new generation, Tregoning and Klein are nearly patron saints for advancing many smart growth policies. So it came as no surprise when over 800 people co-signed a letter to Gray encouraging him to keep both directors on board. (GM was one of those signers).
Whoever is in charge of the Office of Planning as the zoning rewrite moves forward will have tremendous influence in how it ends up looking. While that drama continues, though, why don’t you stop by tonight to get up to speed on what the fuss is all about? The reception starts at 7:00 and the meeting at 7:30. It’s at the Letelier Theater on Prospect St. It’s open to members and non-members alike, so come on by.
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
DIR 18 should be re-zoned back into the Georgetown boundaries from which it was carved by Marion Barry so that Polly Shackelton (sp?) could win her council seat several years ago. It was jerrymandering of the most obvious sort. Not unsurprising, given the Barry administration’s usual tactics to keep its base supporters. It’s now time to bring back into the Georgetown-fold those households which have always been within the historic district.
That’s redistricting, not rezoning. (By the way, if anything, there will be pressure to move a Georgetown census tract from Ward 2 to Ward 3, given the population growth of eastern Ward 2). This is about the zoning code, not the ward boundaries.
Thank you for the correction, GM.
So let’s get that portion redistricted and make Georgetown whole once again.
I’m not sure what section you’re talking about. Do you mean Foxhall? Under the Old Georgetown Act, Georgetown’s western border ends at Whitehaven Parkway. That’s true of the Georgetown historic district too.
True, Foxhall was in Ward 2 as recently as 2000, but that doesn’t mean it was part of the Georgetown historic district. In fact, they have their own historic district, which was created in 2007.
If I’m not mistaken, it is centered by 32nd St. between Q and R Streets where Polly Shackelton lived at the time and as a result, she could not run for office due to her address. Barry conveniently had that area, which I referred to as “Shackelton’s Sliver” because of its size and shape, carved out of Georgetown to accommodate her politically. A little research should turn up this oddity which I believe still stands.
Oh, that’s right. I forgot about that. Yes, in 1980 most of Georgetown was moved from Ward 3 to Ward 2. Most of Georgetown, that is, except those blocks around Ward 3 Councilmember Polly Shackleton. I’m not sure what the sliver of land was, but in 1990, it was eventually joined with the rest of Georgetown. Ward 2 now has all of Georgetown, Burleith, and Hillandale; no more Shackleton Sliver.
Thank you GM. Sure is good to know that wrong was righted.
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