The Georgetown Metropolitan

3300 Block of Q St.

The ANC meets tonight for its June session. There are a couple of interesting items on the agenda:

• Several items relating to the saga of the Duke Ellington School renovations. The Burleith community has been raising alarms recently about the impact of the rush to finish the construction in time. Some have even called for the construction to halt, which is not likely to happen. DCPS has staked too much on finishing this and will likely barrel through whatever complaints to get there.
• An item in community comment will address the widespread issue of unpermitted work.
• Zannchi is adding a tea bar upstairs called Kung Fu Tea.

Here’s the rest of the agenda: Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Bibibop Grill coming to Georgetown.
• A nice description of all the challenges the remain for the West Heating Plant development.

1500 block of 28th St.

The somewhat famous house that was briefly occupied by Jackie Kennedy after her husband’s assassination was recently sold. (For way less than it was listed for). The new owner, though, has already essentially killed multiple mature trees on the property, and doing so has broken the law.

GM has been over this before. Even if the tree is on your property, you cannot cut it down or even aggressively prune it willy-nilly. Here are the rules:

In the District of Columbia, there are two designations for very large trees:  Special and Heritage.  It is illegal to remove trees in either of these designations without a permit.

Special Trees are between 44″ and 99.9″ in circumference.  A permit to remove a Special Tree can be obtained without cost if the tree is declared by a certified arborist to be dead, dying, or dangerous to person or property.  Otherwise, the cost of a permit is no less than $55 per inch of circumference.  If a Special Tree is removed without a permit, the fine is no less than $300 per inch of circumference.

Heritage Trees are 100″ and above in circumference.  Permit to remove a Heritage Tree can be obtained only if the tree is declared by the Urban Forestry Administration (UFA)  to be dead, dying or dangerous to person or property.  The penalty for removal without a permit is no less than $300 per inch of circumference (a minimum fine of $30,000!)   However, a Heritage Tree can be transplanted within the District of Columbia but must live at least 3 years after transplanting, with a fine of no less than $300 per inch of circumference.if the tree dies.   One can build around a Heritage Tree with a Tree Save Plan, approved by UFA, but if the tree dies within 3 years, the fine is no less than $300 per inch of circumstances.

If a Special or Heritage Tree is topped (unacceptable act of tree pruning resulting in the indiscriminate reduction of the tree’s crown leading to disfigurement or death of a tree), the fine is    no less than $300 per inch of circumference.

Continue reading →

Photo by Ehpien.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Georgetown’s new charitable falafel shop gets featured on Kojo.
• Interview with the owner of Blues Alley.

3000 block of R St.

Photo by Jeff Cirillo.

Good morning, Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Mary Cheh loves to make fun of the gondola.
• If you were wondering what was in Desperado’s before it was Desperado’s.

3400 block of Volta Place

For months now, construction at the Volta Park recreation center has left in doubt the question of whether the facilities would be ready for the pool season, which starts this weekend.

Well, as of Sunday the fences are down and the pool is already full of water. GM didn’t receive verification, but it sure looks ready to go. Continue reading →