The Georgetown Metropolitan

Hello and welcome to the Northwest Georgetown September ANC update! I hope you all had a great summer and are still enjoying its tail end. Although we had no meeting in August, I still had a fairly busy summer for my ANC work. So I’ve got plenty to catch you up on:

Tavern on 33rd St.

The most time consuming and significant issue I worked on this summer is responding to the proposing to open a tavern at 1660 33rd St., right where it meets Wisconsin Ave.

I discussed this in my July report, but here’s a quick refresher. The location has the appearance of a residence from the outside (and indeed there are residences in the second floor and the basement) but the property as a whole is zoned commercial. For that reason, no zoning relief is needed to open a bar here.

The applicant, Rassam Rad, is aiming to open what he describes as a speakeasy in the location. The application is for a tavern license. That is a liquor license that does not require food sales by the establishment (unlike the far more common restaurant license that does require a percentage of revenues to come from food sales). Rad also wants to use the rear patio as a “summer garden”, which is basically ABC-speak for “rear patio”.

And the summer garden is the most challenging aspect of the proposal, at least from the perspective of the surrounding residents. The ANC, the Citizens Association, three abutting neighbors, and a group of non-abutting neighbors protested the issuance of the license. This is typically a somewhat perfunctory move that enables the parties to enter into something called a settlement agreement. This is essentially an agreement that contains terms that the applicant consents to abide by in exchange for the parties dropping their protest.

In this case, however, negotiating terms that both Rad and the protesting parties could agree to was a challenge. We even participated in a mediation hearing run by ABCA to see if we couldn’t bridge the gap. I’m happy to report that we have an agreement in principle and are in the process of finalizing the language.

The provisions will govern how many hours the bar and the summer garden can be open (the summer garden will close earlier than the inside, for example). It will govern noise, as the applicant has agreed to certain standards of noise levels that, if followed, will almost certainly reduce the impact compared with the amount of noise that would be allowed if the license were issued without an agreement. (If an agreement were not entered into, the protest would go all the way to a hearing, which the ANC, CAG, et al could very well lose).

Like with most successful compromises, this end result will likely leave both sides a bit disappointed. But I’m hoping that when the bar opens it will ultimately be a gain for the neighborhood.

Two Notable Old Georgetown Board Projects

I will have two notable Old Georgetown Board projects on the agenda for next Tuesday’s meeting. I have tried to alert those immediately near the projects but in case I missed someone:

3327 Q St.

The first project is 3327 Q St. This is a house that is currently in the middle of a rather lengthly construction that was approved last year. It is a small house on a deep lot that is adding on to the rear. This image below shows: a) the previous condition (on top) b) the extension that was approved last year (middle), and c) the new proposal (bottom):

As you can see, the approved plans call for a two-story addition for a portion of the expansion and a one-story extension a bit further. The new proposal would essentially extend the two-story addition to the full length of the proposed expansion.

It’s an interesting case for a couple reasons. The first is that the first proposal for the currently approved plans called for a similar full two-story extension. But the OGB asked the applicant to reduce it to what got approved. This new application would be a bit of a second go at that first request.

The other reason it is interesting is that it’s a fairly substantial change while the approved plans are still very much in the process of being constructed.

The homeowner has expressed some extenuating circumstances necessitating the changes. And there’s nothing inherently untoward about either of these aspects. But I wanted to make sure people were aware and had their opportunity to chime in.

3246 S St.

The other building on the OGB agenda is 3246 S St. This is a building that certainly divides opinion:

It is an extremely 80s example of post-modernism. Walking through the house definitely reminded me of walking through homes that were new when I was a kid. The S St. facade does not quite relate how stylized the interior is. Is definitely looks like a house that the original Miami Vice could have been filmed at, glass blocks and all:

The owner, a real estate developer, acquired the property recently following the death of the long-term owner. He submitted a proposal in the spring to tuck in a third story by-way of a new mansard roof on the front section of the building:

Due to the peak of the existing roof, this original proposal did not actually call for raising the height of the building. Since ultimately the impact of these changes were overwhelmingly aesthetic, the ANC took no position and deferred to the OGB. The OGB, in turn, did not approve these plans and recommended the new construction not try to mix-and-match styles as the mansard roof would do.

So the applicant is back with these plans that would call for a higher roof for the front two sections:

You can see the changes a bit more clearly in this side elevation:

As I mentioned, the immediate neighbors have been notified, but if you have thoughts on the plans, shoot them to me at 2e02@anc.dc.gov. It will be on the agenda next week for discussion.

It’s somewhat unfortunate that, as far as I understand, a lot of that 80s interior will be removed. To generations that saw this style in the first go-around, there probably won’t be much love lost. But I would not be surprised if in a decade or so, architectural preservationists will lament the loss of this vintage 80s interior the same way we lament the loss of a Victorian Queen Anne. Unfortunately for this building, it’s currently in the uncanny valley where it’s old enough to be disliked for being out of style, but not old enough to be liked for being really out of style. I hope that the applicant saves and restores as much of the interior as he can.

Quick Updates

• As mentioned above, the ANC will meet for its September session next Tuesday at 6:30 at Visitation (Zoom link here). Here is the draft agenda.
• The city is finally moving on unlicensed cannabis shops. It shut down two shops in July.
• I’m running for reelection! I hope its a vote of confidence that nobody else is running for the same seat. Thank you to everyone who has been supportive!

Students Back!

With the arrival of September, Georgetown students have returned for the year. As I wrote last year, that may mean you have new neighbors on your block. This sometimes leads to conflict, but I find reaching out directly to the students first is a good approach. Many of these students are living independently for the first time in their lives, so there’s bound to be some growing pains. That said, remember to reach out to SNAP at (202) 687-5138 if there is a problem.

And, as always, if you have an issue you’d like my assistance with, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at 2e02@anc.dc.gov.

Photo by Jeanette Cook.

Good morning Georgetown, welcome back from August! Here’s the latest:

• City Tavern Club closes, seeks to sell.
• Old Riggs Bank gold dome restored.
• Sequoia seeks full refresh.

Tomorrow is the first day of August, and with it my annual break. Here is my paean to the eight month, see you in September!:

August is here. And it is perhaps the greatest time of year for Georgetown.

Sure, this month is tagged with the “dog days” of summer gibe. And the heat of July is a houseguest with its feet comfortably sprawled on our couch, with its bags not remotely packed upstairs.

And gardens get long in the tooth this month too. Black-eyed Susans wilt. Geraniums burst further out of their pots, knowing the end is near. Petunias get leggy and brown. Even in its overgrown state, an August garden is one succumbing to decay.

And despite the fact that school is still a month away, camps across the city shut down, as if we’re all French and heading off to the Cote D’Azur in our Renaults for four weeks.

But August is still one of the greatest times of year in Georgetown. True, the holiday season fills Georgetown streets with twinkling lights and festive greens. And surely the scent of magnolias and the sight of Yoshinos puts springtime on top. But August is close behind.

Because, in August, Georgetown is empty.

The streets are empty. You can park your car like it’s a suburb in the 60s. The pools are empty because the interns left. The sidewalks are empty because even tourists have better sense than to visit DC in the summer.

Despite the stifling, turgid air, you can breathe. You can walk into a restaurant at 7:00 on a Friday and get a seat. You can even walk on M St. on a weekend.

And like spring, it is great because it is brief. We don’t ultimately love Georgetown because it’s empty, but because it’s decidedly not. That restaurant walking you to a table would be out of business if it were like that year round. Those streets without parking in September mean more people coming and keeping our thriving businesses thriving. Quiet is nice, but too much is boring.

Knowing August is fleeting is the best way to enjoy it. So enjoy it, it’s already later than you think.

Please see the message below from the fantastic Trees for Georgetown group!!!

Dear Georgetown Tree Lovers,

We’re hot – and so are our trees!   Unlike people, however, trees can’t move into air conditioning or take a dip in a pool, river or lake.   With average temperatures on the rise, how do trees manage our extreme heat, and how can we help our trees beat the heat?

Trees handle heat stress in their environment just like humans do.  We call it sweating, trees call it transpiration, Too much heat for extended periods can cause excessive transpiration, leading to a loss of water within the tree.  In heat stress situations, trees are losing water faster than they are absorbing it.  Ultimately, that can lead to the death of trees.  Young trees are especially at risk.

We can help trees combat the heat by watering.  Long, deep waterings of 25 gallons a week (1.5 inches of rainfall) each week – or more, in times of extended extreme heat and/or lack of sufficient rainfall.   To water, place a slow hose at the base of the tree for 30 minutes or more, occasionally moving the hose to water the entire root zone.  If you have a gator bag, simply fill with water once or twice a week depending on the size of your gator bag.  Also, applying 2-3 inches of mulch will help reduce evaporation from the soil. Don’t let the mulch touch the trunk of the tree!

To this end, Trees for Georgetown has hired a contractor to water, once a week, all trees newly planted during the 2023-2024 planting season in Georgetown. Watering began on July 8 and will continue until the last week of August.  Ideally, we would like to continue watering until the end of October but, unfortunately, due to lack of funds, we cannot.

Trees for Georgetown is now under the auspices of Casey Trees and is no longer affiliated with the Citizens Association of Georgetown (CAG).  If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to Trees for Georgetown, please make out a check to:

“Casey Trees” and write “Trees for Georgetown” in the memo line.  The check should be sent to: Casey Trees, 3030 12th Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017.

If you have any questions, or would like to make a tax-deductible donation, please email us at TreesForGeorgetown@gmail.com or visit us at TreesForGeorgetownDC.org

Thank you for helping to keep Georgetown’s canopy green and thriving!

With best regards,

Trees for Georgetown

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Bus priority study for M St. in Georgetown coming this fall.
• Ice cream in Georgetown.

As part of filing to run for ANC, the Board of Elections gives candidates the complete voter rolls. I thought it would be interesting to aggregate the data and see what it says about the make up of the Georgetown (and Burleith) electorate. Here are the results!

Total Numbers

Our ANC is broken up into eight individual single member districts (“SMDs”). The SMDs are as follow:

• 2e01 – Burleith and Hillandale
• 2e02 – The best part of Georgetown full of beautiful and smart people (i.e. northwest Georgetown)
• 2e03 – Western Georgetown above M St.
• 2e04 – Half of the Georgetown University’s campus
• 2e05 – Lower Georgetown
• 2e06 – Eastern Georgetown above M St.
• 2e07 – Northeast Georgetown
• 2e08 – The other half of Georgetown University’s campus plus some blocks just outside the gates

The map is drawn in a way to have approximately 2,000 residents in each SMD. But that doesn’t mean that they have 2,000 registered voters. It’s 2,000 residents, including those who are too young to register, non-citizens, and those that either choose not to register or keep a registration in another state. That’s just how apportionment works in this country.

So it should not come as a surprise that each SMD has fewer than 2,000 registered voters. But some of them have way less than 2,000 registered voters. You’ll not be shocked to hear that 2e04 and 2e08 (the two student SMDs) have very few registered voters. Students rarely change their registration when they attend Georgetown. SMD 2e08, which has several blocks that include non-students, clocks in at 158 registered voters, or just about 8% of the residents. But that’s huge compared with 2e04, which has just nine registered voters. That rounds down to 0% of the 2,000 resident total.

Of the other SMDs, the voter totals vary a decent amount. East Georgetown (2e06) leads the pack with 71% registration rate, with northeast Georgetown (2e07) close behind at 65%. The rest fall back a bit further with Burleith (2e01) at 61%, western Georgetown (2e03) at 57%, northwestern Georgetown at 49%, and lower Georgetown (2e05) at 46%.

The overall registration rate for all of ANC2E is about 45%. But if you take out the student SMDs it’s at about 58%. That’s pretty low compared with the rest of the city, which has a registration rate closer to 75%. I’d like to think that is mostly due to how many international residents we have here. But I fear it also reflects a level of apathy that many residents have towards voting in DC.

Registration Date

The rolls also list when each voter first registered in DC (with a big caveat I’ll get to below). This is not necessarily the date when you first registered to vote anywhere. Just when you first registered to vote in DC. (I’m not sure what date it would list if you registered in DC, Moved away and registered there, and then registered back in DC. I assume it’s the more recent date, but it’s probably not a hugely common situation.)

Aggregating the data together, you can see what the median registration date is for the whole ANC and each of the respective SMDs. While the registration rates varied quite a bit across the SMDs, the median registration date is fairly close, at least among the non-student SMDs. They are as follow:

• 2e01 – 1/8/2016
• 2e02 – 9/15/2016
• 2e03 – 4/13/2016
• 2e04 – 2/25/2022
• 2e05 – 11/8/2016
• 2e06 – 2/12/2016
• 2e07 – 1/3/2017
• 2e08 – 7/19/2022

Not surprisingly, the median date that voters in the student districts registered is fairly recently, both coming just before the last election. But for the rest of the SMDs, the dates all fall within the twelve months starting on January 2016.

I was going to list the approximate date of the voter with the oldest registration in the ANC, but then I ran square into DC’s unfortunate history with democracy. You see, I noticed that the oldest dates I was finding were all in early 1968. That didn’t seem right, but then I remembered that after the end of Home Rule in the late 19th century, there would be no reason to register in DC before the passage of the 23rd Amendment in 1961.

This amendment gave DC residents the right to vote in presidential elections, but other than the presidential election, they still had no other elections to vote in. So the earliest a (still living) District resident would have registered in DC would be sometime ahead of the 1964 election. Perhaps the data from that election is no longer available. But 1968 was a big year for DC voters. This was obviously the second presidential election they could take part in, but it also was the first year of the elected school board. This was the first local election that District residents could vote in since 1874. (As argued in the book Dream City, a great deal of DC dysfunction in the late 20th century can probably be blamed on the fact that the city was denied democracy for 100 years).

So some of the voters with 1968 registrations probably voted in the 1964 elections, but regardless of age, no one, regardless of age, registered in DC prior to 1961.

Party

Each voter’s party identification is also listed. If you suspect that Georgetown is more Republican than the rest of DC, you’re not wrong.

Approximately 5% of District voters is registered as a Republican. But in our ANC it’s 13%.

And the Democratic portion is reflectively lower. For DC-wide it’s about 77%. In our ANC it’s 62%.

Independents are also more common here. For DC the total is 16%, but in our ANC it’s 24%.

There are fewer than 100 voters here registered with the Statehood Greens, the Libertarian party, or “other”.

The party breakout for each SMD (except the student ones) is largely similar to the overall numbers. West Georgetown (2e03) has the highest Republican percentage (15%) but northeast Georgetown (2e07) has the highest number of Republicans, with 184. But it also has the highest percentage of Democrats, at 66%.

Lower Georgetown (2e05) has the highest percentage of independent voters, at 27%.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The Riggs Bank dome is getting repainted!
• Apero won Wine Program of the Year at the RAMMYs.

One of the best pieces of advice I got when I ran for ANC was from a former commissioner who served for many terms. He told me to not put the year of the election on my posters so I can reuse them. With that in mind, I’m dusting off my pile of campaign signs and running for reelection for ANC 2E02!

I have really enjoyed my term so far, and I hope that I have served my constituents well. My main priorities when I ran were as follow: Constituent services, pedestrian and traffic safety, and commercial revitalization. I believe I have made significant progress on each of these priorities and I will continue to hold them close to my heart if I am reelected because there is still much work to be done.

I plan to pick up my ballot petitions this week and will be around the neighborhood seeking signatures. So I many be knocking on your door soon!

Photo by Sidney Lawrence.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The New York Times checks in on the Ein/Katharine Graham house saga.
• How Barnes and Noble will be different when it (eventually) reopens.

Mr. President, when will you #BringThemHome?

That's the question we ask of @POTUS in our refreshed mural in Georgetown.

Come see for yourself how long some of those timelines are. How much of their lives our loved ones have lost. All the milestones they missed. pic.twitter.com/dXF4d0dl7s

— Bring Our Families Home Campaign (@BOFHcampaign) July 17, 2024

The hostage mural painted alongside the former Ri Ra on M St. has been updated. This new version highlights the length of time the hostages have been detained. One hostage featured has been captive since 2007.

A previous version of the mural was erected two years ago.