The Georgetown Metropolitan

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Monthly ANC meeting tonight at 6:30 pm via Zoom.
• The sad tragedy that led to Georgetown Day.

As I described on Tuesday, the city is about to embark on a new phase of its commercial marijuana venture. In short, the city is going to license a whole bunch of new “medical” marijuana shops and then close all the “gifting” shops that have proliferated since the adoption of Initiative 71. The idea is to bring these shops into a more open and licensed regulatory environment (while simultaneously making it easier to get medical marijuana).

Part of these new regulations are rules concerning where these medical marijuana shops can ultimately open. The two main provisions are that no shop can open within 400 feet of another licensed marijuana shop. Nor can any shop open within 300 feet of any nursery, primary, or secondary school or recreation center (provided the school or rec center are not located on a commercial lot).

And the distance rule will be enforced with a fairly straightforward interpretation of distance. Namely, you draw the shortest line connecting the lots in question and determine if it’s more or less than 300 or 400 feet, depending on the provision.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GU dorm flooded.
• Streets Market opened in the former 7-Eleven on P St.

This week for Georgetown Time Machine, I’m dipping back into the pile of 1993 photos I received. This particular shot shows a pre-Cady’s Alley view of the 3300 block of M St.

Specifically, this shot sows the south side of the block from 3322 M St. to 3326 M St. On the left stood Wall St. Art Gallery. It appears to have been a framing shop. In the spirit of quick 1 hour film developing of the era, this shop advertised 1 hour custom framing. You could walk down M St. with a roll of undeveloped film and two hours later have a custom framed picture!

Where to get the film developed? Well the shop next door appears to offer that service (although not clearly within 1 hour). The shop also lacks a sign saying what it’s named. But I supposed when you’re selling tourists some souvenirs, the name of the shop doesn’t matter much.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Another article expanding on the pot shop issue I wrote about earlier this week.
• GU celebrates the life of a student that tragically passed away.

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Like raaaaaaaaaainnn, on you house tour dayyyy.
• As the owner of another distinctively blue house, I’m not sure how I feel about this house getting called the (capital B) Blue House.

You may have noticed a sharp increase in the number of marijuana-oriented shops opening in Georgetown in the recent months. I can count at least five new shops I’ve noticed. They are all the product of a new gold rush that sprung up in response to a new law passed by the DC Council last year.

But first, some background. As you may know, DC legalized medical marijuana back in 2009. It actually voted to legalize medical marijuana by way of a voter initiative in 1998, but Congressional interference meant the DC was barred from actually counting the votes on that initiative until 2009. (Congressional interference will be a theme here). Following the legalization of medical marijuana, DC authorized a small number of dispensaries to sell pot to people with approved medical conditions.

Then in 2014 voters were asked to decide on a new initiative: I-71. This would fully legalized the possession and use of marijuana for purely recreational purposes. It was approved, and despite efforts from various Republican Congressmen, the initiative became law. However, those same Congressmen, led by Maryland rep Andy Harris, inserted a rider into DC’s budget bill to prohibit the city from passing a law to legalize the sale of recreational pot.

So possession and use of pot for recreational uses was legal, but the sale of it was prohibited. Into this uncertainty entered “gifting shops”, otherwise known as I-71 shops. These shops operate on the flimsy pretense that they are not selling marijuana. Rather, they claim, they are selling you art, t-shirt, weird candy (or whatever) and as a bonus they throw in some free marijuana. This is the business model for all of the pot shops you see in Georgetown (and the rest of DC).

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The recollections of a long time Georgetown realtor.
• The “Welcome to Washington DC” sign on the other side of Key Bridge seems to be getting a face-lift.

The French Market returns next weekend to Book Hill to celebrate 20 years. I’d joke that it was nearly old enough to drink, and then I remembered that it’s French, so it’s been drinking for years now. C’est la vie…

The festivities start Friday and they run all the way till Sunday. Friday it is from 10 am to 5 pm, and on Saturday and Sunday it’s noon to 5:00.

This is always a great time and hopefully this incredible weather will still be around by then.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• More details on the French restaurant that is planning to take over the Booeymonger space.
• The fight to save the Foundry Branch trolley trestle and what it could become.