The Morning Metropolitan
Photo by Jim Malone.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- Dean and Deluca gets shut down for health violations.
- Some more speculation about long term Metro construction.
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
Like Poker? Like a Good Cause?
Photo by Virig.
GM doesn’t normally pass on many requests he gets to promote charities. So many of them end up in his in box, and GM doesn’t have time to sort through and keep an events calender. But sometimes one just catches his eye and he has to pass it on.
On February 16th at the City Tavern Club (next to the Banana Republic on M St.) the 8th Annual Chance for Life poker tournament will be held. The event raises money to help fight pediatric spinal cord cancer.
Pediatric spinal cord cancer is a awfully clinical way of describing an awful thing: little kids with cancer attacking their spinal cords. The inspiration of this annual event is Kennedy Snyder, a brave 12 year old girl who has spent most of her life fighting this cancer. (In writing this, GM realized that she’s from his hometown, which makes it hit even a little harder for him). Continue reading
Filed under Events
The Morning Metropolitan
Photo by Tedeyatan.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- America’s first Miss America was from 301
45 Cambridge Place. - Hmm this is interesting: DDOT considering some new Georgetown-to-Union Station transit mode.
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
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
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