Several aspects of our supremely screwed up national politics are likely to result in some gummed up construction projects around Georgetown in the near future. Some delays have already taken hold, and more are possible depending on how things move in the near future.
Here’s why:
Every construction project in Georgetown is required to be sent to the Old Georgetown Board for review and approval prior to the permit being issued. The Old Georgetown Board is a federal body and is currently out of action due to the ongoing federal shutdown. Under normal times, the OGB would meet tomorrow for its monthly session to consider the dozens of applications that came in since the October session.
But they didn’t have an October session due to the shutdown. And they won’t have one tomorrow either, barring some unforeseen breakthrough. That means we will have at least two months worth of projects delayed waiting for review by the time it does come back.
One month delay is not unusual. It happens twice a year because the OGB doesn’t meet in January or August. But two months is not normal. And any more months would be even less so.
But that’s not the end of the possible complications.
Last week, Trump fired the entire Commission of Fine Arts (CFA). This is the parent body of the OGB and appoints all its members. As far as I can tell, the OGB members are still in place. But they too could be replaced by the new CFA. But the new CFA has to be actually appointed, which they have not been yet. (They do not, however, need to be confirmed by the Senate, which would likely add yet another delay.)
And here’s another possible wrinkle: I said above that all projects in Georgetown need to be approved by the OGB, but that’s not quite right. They need to be approved by the CFA. For the vast majority of cases in Georgetown, projects approved by the OGB are rubber stamped by the CFA two weeks later via a summary calendar. But they don’t always work that way. For instance, the West Heating Plant project was rejected by the OGB but approved by the CFA.
So we will need a CFA actually appointed to get the approvals Georgetown projects needs. And any major changes the new board introduce could trickle down to Georgetown projects as well.
In summary: at the very least, we will be looking at projects getting delayed. And I would not rule out a brand new Trumpified CFA dramatically changing how things are reviewed and approved in the neighborhood going forward.
Hello, and welcome to your November Northwest Georgetown ANC update!
Book Hill Construction Proposal
This month, the city finally presented some conceptual proposals for the improvements budgeted for Book Hill Park. Here are the broad details:
As you can see, the budget for the total project is just $300,000, which is really not a great deal of money, as far as these things go. But the proposal laid out seems to squeeze a decent amount of juice out of this amount. The elements would include:
Repairs to the stairs
Construction of a stair handrail
Installation of lights on the stairs
New seating and bike parking up by the library
New landscaping
The possible installation of a water spigot at the bottom of the park
The possible construction of a new plaza space
The repairs and proposed additions to the stairs are fairly straightforward. At the public meeting for the proposal, the residents attending (who largely represented immediate neighbors and the Friends of Book Hill Park) were receptive to the repairs and lighting proposals. There was some pushback to the railing idea, due to visual concerns, but openness to some sort of a safety improvement on that front.
The introduction of a water spigot is a long requested item from the Friends of Book Hill. This would make it significantly easier to water the plants and shrubbery towards the bottom of the hill. The project planners assured the attendees that they were looking into the feasibility of installing a new spigot. It sounds fairly straight forward, but it may be quite complicated. To the extent that the water spigot attaches into the library’s water supply, it would have to take into account the dramatic grade difference between the library and the bottom of the park.
The cost of such a feature could possibly swallow up a substantial portion of the budget fairly quickly. In light of that, the Department of Parks and Recs representative mentioned that if the cost for this feature does come back too high, the better route may be for the Friends of Book Hill to fundraise for it themselves. But we’ll have a better sense of the challenge as the planning proceeds.
Which brings me to the plaza element of the proposal. The general idea with this is to create a space somewhere on the hill that enables people to experience the hill without stepping out on to a steep grassy grade. The concept proposes three possible locations for the plaza: at the top, at the middle, and (you guessed it) at the bottom. Only one of them would be chosen if the plan goes forward.
Here are some images of the concepts:
This is the “top” concept. The plaza would be just below the brick wall. It would provide new seating and some new planting.
This is the “middle” concept. It would create a two-tiered elongated terrace. This was the least popular of the three at the meeting as it would interrupt the hill’s appearance dramatically.
The “bottom” proposal would put the terrace just above the circular plaza at the intersection of Reservoir and Wisconsin. This would create a space just off the more busy plaza below without interrupting the hill’s overall appearance dramatically. This added terrace space would give more room for programming from orgs like Georgetown Main Streets, which has hosted a Christmas tree at this location for several years.
Of the three, the “bottom” proposal seemed to be the best received by the crowd at the meeting. But the general sense of the attendees was to prioritize the other improvements first. If the other items can be done and there still money left for the plaza, then great, but only if the other items get funded first.
As for timeline, here is what the city laid out:
According to this, the city will return this winter with a design update, incorporating the feedback it’s getting. Then in the spring, a final design will be presented with construction beginning. The aim is to complete construction by next fall.
Based on my experience with the city in terms of getting projects like this actually moving forward, I would take this timeline with a grain of salt. But I’m always happy to be proven wrong on this account!
Leaf Collection
Speaking of pessimism born of experience, the Fall leaf collection is starting now!
The basic outline of this program is supposed to work this way:
You wait until the city notifies you that leaf collection crews are about to come to your neighborhood
You then rake your leaves into street tree boxes or bag them and leave them on the sidewalk
The crews them come by with a massive leaf vacuum cleaner and take all the leaves, in piles or in bags
The whole cycle repeats later in the fall season
This is how it has actually played out in recent years:
The city issues a notification about leaf collection crews coming, but many residents don’t get the notification
The crews don’t come when they say they will
Sometime later, they do come but they don’t pick up the bagged leafs
They also just completely skip many blocks
The leafs that weren’t collected get blown around, wet and eventually frozen. The bags tear open and same thing happens to those leafs.
The whole cycle repeats later in the season
As to the question of whether to bag leafs, the city gave mixed messages last year. Some sources said it was permitted, others that it was not. This year the message directly from the Mayor herself is that you are permitted to bag the leafs and leave them on the sidewalk and they will take them without the resident needing to place a specific 311 request. We’ll see, I guess.
As to skipped blocks, I have been in touch with the Mayor’s Ward Two rep, identifying which blocks in my district that were skipped last year. Hopefully that won’t repeat this year. But if you do notice that your block has been skipped, please let me know. It’s hard to know right away if your block has been skipped, but if a week goes by during the period that they said they’re coming (and perhaps you notice the crews around on other blocks) that’s a good time to reach out.
Many have noticed that the construction around the Volta Park fields has ground to a halt over the past month or so. I have reached out to DPR repeatedly inquiring abbout the stoppage and have been assured the delay is due to the crews waiting for a pipe to be delivered. Some residents have expressed a skepticism about this response, and I have to say I share it but I can only pass along what I’ve been told.
There have been some rumors about whether the crews found human remains, and that’s why there have been delays. This would not be at all surprising since the park was a cemetery in the 19th century and many of the remains were not removed when it stopped being one in the early 20th century. Added to the confusion, I think, is that apparently a human skull was recently found in the park. But it was in connection with a new drain pipe for the recreation center, not the ball field.
This, of course, highlights a truism that most residents around the park know: it’s probably better not to dig around there. But, again, as far as I’m being told, this is not the reason for the delay with the field restoration. In either event, I have been strongly encouraging the city to get on with the work asap, as the arrival of winter will significantly complicate the job.
But on a happier Volta Park note: tomorrow several events will take place. This includes a park clean up and several kiddie events. Coffee and bagels will be provided! Come on out!
The ANC will meet for its November session next Monday night at Visitation. The draft agenda is above.
One thing you may notice about the agenda is that there are no Old Georgetown Board matters listed. While there are two months a year when the OGB doesn’t routinely meet, November is not one of them. But with the ongoing federal government shutdown, the OGB has not met since September. And it will continue to remain inactive until the government is funded and opened.
This will likely result in some serious backlogs of cases for the board to work though. These include your normal cases, but they also include all the streatery applications that are being processed by the city right now. Given that even normal OGB meetings can stretch over the entire day, I imagine they will need one or more special sessions to catch up once the shutdown ends.
From the ANC’s perspective though, this hopefully means a shorter meeting this month. Last month we went nearly to 1 AM. So a shorter meeting would be a welcome change.
This week for Georgetown Time Machine, I’m sharing another photo from the DC Historical Society. It’s of the canal at a time when it was still a functional canal.
According to the record, the photo was taken sometime between 1910 and 1920. You can see the old Aqueduct Bridge in the distance, which places the location up the river a bit from Georgetown. In fact, I think there are parts of the Three Sisters Islands on the right, which would put the location on Canal Road immediately west of its split from Foxhall.
The photo description states that the boats are waiting to be unloaded, although to be honest, they don’t look exactly overladen with materials. By this time, the canal was primary being used to transport coal from West Virginia. But even this usage represented the twilight time for the canal as a functioning supply route. The last boats to actually use the canal to transport goods ran in 1924. A storm later that year damaged much of the canal and spelled the end of the canal as a viable trade route.
The section of canal shown in the photo above has been a grassy field for the last several years. This is due to the the water being “turned off” in order to facilitate canal wall repairs in Georgetown. Hopefully once those are completely, this section can be watered again and the new canal boat tours can come up and at least partially recreate this photo once again.
A new coffee shop appears to be coming to 1363 Wisconsin Ave. It is called YellowSun Coffee, not to be confused with Yellow (although given the later’s wild popularity, I’m sure it’s a confusion the former wouldn’t mind stoking.)
YellowSun Coffee is based in New York City, and apparently specializes in coffee bean home delivery. It only has one store according to its website (located in Bushwick, Brooklyn). So this with join Blank Street Coffee as another New York hipster brand coffee coming to the neighborhood.
It will also join two other coffee shops on the same side of the same block. But as I have frequently joked, you could open a coffee shop within another coffee shop in Georgetown, and they’d both be packed. There seems to be a seemingly bottomless demand for coffee shops here, so the more the merrier, I guess.
This has been a dry and hot fall so far, which is not great for fall foliage. But what ever sort of fall display we’ll get is about to arrive. So here is my annual guide on how best to enjoy the fall foliage around Georgetown:
Fall foliage is a little late this year in Georgetown due to the warmer days. But it’s right around the corner. And when it arrives, there are plenty places to take it in right here without hopping off for the country.
In 2013, Casey Trees pulled together some recommended walking routes around the city to take in the brightly changing leaves. In Georgetown it recommended a meandering trail through the heart of the village to enjoy its sugar maples:
Sugar maples are definitely the kings of New England foliage, but around here they can be hit or miss. What species that does knock it out of the park around here are ginkgoes. I am not generally a fan of ginkgoes-their fruit smells awful and the don’t really create much in the way of shade-but I admit their bright yellow fall foliage is pretty spectacular.
It’s actually still a little early for Ginkgoes, but in a couple weeks you could do a nice ginkgo tour through Georgetown. You would start at the south end of Rose Park and walk up 27th st. Then jog over to Cambridge Pl. and walk up Avon to R St. Then make your way down to Potomac St. for the grand finale.
It will be beautiful, although your shoes will smell like dog poop.
But if you have other trees you’re looking for, then look no further than this updated map by Casey Trees that identifies trees by species, highlighting those with good fall color. Here is what it looks like:
You can even filter the map to show just one type of tree. For instance, here is all the maples:
And here are all ginkgoes (they’re the pale yellow dots):
If you’re like me, your strolls probably take you to the same blocks. But this time of year is the best time to get out there and explore different blocks. A stunning tree might be waiting for you!
After an initial burst of activity for the Volta Park ballpark renovations, many residents have noticed that the construction has been on pause for weeks. This has led to a bunch of speculation and rumor. The most frequent thing I have heard from residents is suspicions that they uncovered some human remains. Since the park was once a cemetery, and many remains are estimated to remain, I have not heard anything to substantiate that.
What I have heard from DPR, and confirmed once again last night, is that the construction is on pause while they wait for a pipe. At least one resident has expressed a great deal of skepticism of this explanation to me. And honestly, I can’t blame them for their doubt. But as far as I have been told, the delay is related to the pipe. Not skeletons. Not anything else.
As a result of the delay, no estimate is available for when the construction will end. I fear that if the delay lasts too much longer, the arrival of winter will delay the project even more. So lets hope it is the pipe, and lets hope it gets here soon.
A lot of times when I search for news or photos of Georgetown, I often end up with stories or pictures of other Georgetowns, like Georgetown, Delaware or Georgetown, Guyana. So when I saw that Ikea is planning on opening a store in Georgetown, I assumed it was another case of mistaken Georgetown.
Hold your meatballs, though. The plan is not to open a normal ginormous Ikea store. Rather, the plan is more like a design studio featuring Ikea cabinetry and furniture. You won’t be able to walk out of the store with the items, like you do at their normal stores. You will instead be able to order them and have them delivered to your house. Ikea is actually moving the store to Georgetown, from Pentagon City. So if you’re familiar with that location (which will close on Nov. 30th) then you know what to expect here.
The announcement states that it will be moving to 3307 M St., which is just next to the similarly out-of-place Tesla store.
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
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