3200 block of M St.
Come Out to Hearing About Zoning Changes Tonight!
Photo by scsmith4.
Tonight at St. John’s Church at 6:00, the Citizens Association of Georgetown will be hosting an open meeting to discuss proposed changes to zoning rules in Georgetown. It sounds incredibly dry, but it is actually a very interesting topic and should help influence land use policy in Georgetown for decades to come.
Background
The District of Columbia last rewrote its zoning code in 1958. Since that time the local government (which over that time transitioned from a board of commissioners, to an appointed council, and finally to an elected council) has touched up the document in innumerable ways. As a result, it is now a hulking incomprehensible mess.
In 2006, the DC Office of Planning updated another old guiding document: the Comprehensive Plan. This document sets forth the Districts general policies for a wide range of issues. Amending it meant establishing the city’s course for the next century.
Since the comp plan had much to say about land use, it followed that the zoning code should be modernized to incorporate the new policies set forth in the plan. The Office of Planning has been slowly working towards producing that updated code for years now. Last year it finally issued draft new regulations.
Early on, the Citizens Association of Georgetown reached out to the Office of Planning and requested an opportunity to work with the Office of Planning on drafting the rules that would specifically apply to Georgetown. The office was receptive to the request and began working with CAG.
Members of CAG representing ostensibly divergent views worked on the draft. Some were conservative and were nervous about the possibility of increased density, while others (like GM) are card carrying urbanists who welcome increased density. Over many meetings within CAG and with the Office of Planning, a draft “specialized zone” was created for Georgetown.
It is not final, and is subject to input from a wider group than who initially contributed to it. But GM will spend the rest of this post highlighting some of the more important elements. Continue reading
The Morning Metropolitan
Photo by Markrd5538.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- DSW coming to the mall.
- GM hasn’t noticed increased secret service around the new Secretary of State’s house. Is this normal or are the guards hidden?
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
ANC Round Up: Race Fatigue Edition
Photo by Thetejon.
Last night the ANC met for its February session. And like many sessions, a good deal of it was spent complaining about race-generated street closures. And despite the fact that the closures in question were down to a single block, the resistance was strong as ever. Of course, that’s not all they talked about:
Race Fatigue
Starting back a couple years ago, the ANC decided to start pushing back more against all the requests to close roads for races. The argument was that too many organizations were trying to use Georgetown for their races and it was creating too much of a burden on the neighborhood.
In order to start making distinctions between “good” races and “bad”, the ANC starte insisting that all races be predominantly charitable in purpose. This led to an epic showdown with the controversial Charles Brodsky (a Fenty crony) over several of his DC Triathlon events.
Since then-and perhaps in response to the ANC’s efforts–most organizers of events calling for street closures in Georgetown have presented their case about how charitable their cause is. Moreover, organizers (with help from the city, no doubt) have learned to minimize the amount of street closures necessary in Georgetown.
But last night there were three such requests on the agenda. And that sort of concentration is bound to raise their hackles. The first request came from the Nike half marathon scheduled for April. The thing is, though, that the race won’t even take place in Georgetown. But the organizers will be staging most of their activities either at the Washington Harbour or the Nike store. Thus they’d like to close Thomas Jefferson for the day of the race.
It didn’t take long for the ANC to cut to the chase: while the overall race meets the charitable element, this particular closure had nothing to do with the race. It seems solely designed to draw runners and spectators into the store. The organizers tried to spin the closure as charitable since the street would be (supposedly) turned into a street fair. The commissioners weren’t buying it.
In the end, though, the commissioners told the organizers to come back next month after some more rounds of discussion. Essentially, the ANC challenged them to make this particular closure more explicitly charitable.
A second road closure request then came up. It was from WABA and called for Rock Creek Parkway to be closed early one Sunday for BikeDC. This request met no objection.
Filed under ANC
The Morning Metropolitan
Photo by Shoesmiths.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- Albrecht Muth hospitalized again.
- Great snow photo.
Filed under The Georgetown Metropolis
Wagners Applies to Open on Sundays
Last year, the DC Council amended the liquor laws to allow liquor stores to open on Sundays. Finally this last vestige of an archaic Blue law would be removed and people could get some booze on the seventh day.
In January the city began accepting applications from stores wishing to open on Sundays. As of last week, fifty-nine such stores have applied, including Georgetown’s Wagner’s (and Glover Park’s Pearson’s too, if you prefer them). Continue reading
Filed under Retail
The Morning Metropolitan
Photo by Dan McQuade.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- Georgetown Cupcake gets a lien for failing to pay their taxes. But it got lifted after just one day.
- Wow, remember the Georgetown “Cuddler”? He (or at least one of them) just had his guilty verdict thrown out in favor of a new trial.
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
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