The Georgetown Metropolitan

Here’s your May 2023 Northwest Georgetown ANC update:

Volta Park:

The new field restoration is still proceeding. Remember to send any comments you have to DPR at christopher.dyer@dc.gov. As a further reminder, the work is scheduled to start this fall and will take the field out of commission for most of 2024. This will be challenging, but is a necessary step to ensure the long term health of the field.

Also, a spring storm took out one of the pear trees next to the swimming pool. While the city removed the tree, the fence is still (as of today) half knocked over. I have been working with the Friends of Volta Park to get this repaired by the city as soon as possible to ensure timely opening of the pool for the summer.

Speaking of the Friends of Volta Park, they are hosting their annual cocktail party and fundraiser on June 3rd. I hope to see you there!

Parking Challenges:

As I mentioned in my last update, the ANC is exploring the possibility of asking the city to introduce resident-only parking to some or all of west Georgetown. This would be a big change that would not proceed without rigorous public discussion and debate.

But in the meantime, I wanted to report that the Georgetown Community Partnership, on which I sit, is attempting to tackle this problem as well. People coming to work or study at Georgetown University or the hospital are likely a significant contributor to the parking crunch in west Georgetown. The school is obligated under its campus plan to reduce this impact and the GCP is working collaboratively with the University to come up with ways to reduce illegal parking in the neighborhood. I hope to have more to report on this soon.

Garden Tour:

The annual Georgetown Garden Tour returns May 13th. This year Evermay is on the list of homes. It’s always a real pleasure to explore that estate!

Future Metrobus Changes Possible:

As part of a long term vision plan, WMATA floated a radical new bus network. This would impact bus service through Georgetown. Most notably it would eliminate the G2 route and merge the D2 and D6 routes. No changes are imminent, but be assured that I am keeping close tabs on these proposals and will encourage the ANC to comment on any plan that would degrade bus service for Georgetown. Please let me know your thoughts at 2e02@anc.dc.gov.

Georgetown Visitation:

In response to many complaints from neighbors, my ANC colleagues and I have been working with Georgetown Visitation to limit the impact the school has on parking and congestion in the neighborhood. I would love to hear any relevant experienes you have had. For instance, have you frequently observed students parking on neighborhood streets or parents dropping off/picking up their daughters outside the gates (both of which they are prohibited from doing). Additionally, the school has re-hired an officer to manage the intersection of 35th St. and Volta (as they are required to under a zoning order). Please let me know how your experience in and around that intersection has changed (or not) since the return of the officer.

Longer term, the ANC is working to restore the school-only parking that once ran along the west side of 35th St. between P and Volta. This was removed a few years ago and has contributed to issues with sports bus loading and unloading. Of course, this would likely increase pressure on the parking issues in west Georgetown, which heightens the importance of addressing that issue more globally.

Trash Pick Up Shift and Food Waste Pilot:

Only one trash/recycling shift this month, namely the last week due to Memorial Day.

Speaking of trash pick up, if you’re interested in participating in the city’s new food waste collection pilot, sign up here! Divert some of those pizza crusts from the landfill to the compost bin!

In Person Meetings Coming Soon:

The ANC is planning on hosting its June ANC meeting in person! The date is May 30th and will take place at 6:30 pm, as usual. We have not settled on a location quite yet, but will spread the word once we do. The ANC is hoping to host about two meetings a year in person. Personally I have seen a lot of advantages in holding the meetings virtually in terms of widening the pool of people who can listen in and participate. But there is also something lost in not having it in person. We’re going to try both, for now, and see how it goes.

The May meeting, held Monday night at 6:30 pm, will be by Zoom. Here is a link to the agenda. Some items of interest for this month include an update from the Mayor’s office on the 2024 budget proposal and updates concerning possible changes to bus service through Georgetown (discussed above) and the ongoing transportation and access study.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.