Northwest Georgetown December ANC Update
Welcome to the December Northwest Georgetown ANC update! Happy Holidays!
Leaf Collection
As noted previously, DC has changed its approach to leaf collection for the fall. Rather than instruct people to collect their leaves at the beginning of the collection season, DPW broke up each ward into four zones and notified each zone just before their collection began. Here in northwest Georgetown, we’re in Zone D. The city just announced that our collection will begin December 11th. So please rake up the leaves in front of your house into the tree boxes by December 10th. If possible try to rake up the leaves from the street as well. These leaves were leftover through much of the winter last year and created quite a mess. If you’re unable to rake up the leaves, please let me know! I’ve got a rake and can take care of it for you. Email me at 2e02@dc.anc.gov.
I do not believe that the crews will be collecting leaves put in garden bags. For that you will still need to put in a 311 request. Let me know if you need assistance with that. Also, if there’s a bag on your block that has been there a while, the resident probably did not put in a 311 request. You can submit one for them, or again, let me know and I’ll take care of it.
Volta Park Update
The Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) provided an update to the community this month on the planned renovations of Volta Park. The update addressed timing and scope. Here are the highlights:
The construction was delayed (it was supposed to start this fall) due to extensive archeological work that needed to be performed to ensure the work wouldn’t disturb any graves left over from the old cemetery.
Thankfully this archeological study determined that the work could move forward.
The bulk of the project is aimed at reducing the erosion and water run-off. And to that end a large French drain will be constructed across the field, ultimately linking with a proper storm drain near Volta Place.
The grass near the baseball infield will receive brand new sod. The grass further out will be aggressively aerated and re-seeded.
The backstop will be fixed up but stay as is.
The dirt areas along the first and third baselines will be replaced with a wood chip surface that will be bound with an adhesive to remain in place.
The benches will be also fixed up but stay basically as is.
There will be a new ADA ramp that will go from the upper 34th St. entrance down to the northwest corner. It will be gradual enough that it will appear more like a path and not need hand-railings.
DPR also address the proposed fence, which has drawn complaints from many in the neighborhood. The agency justifies this fence several ways. The first is that it states that while the community largely feels that this is a grass park that happens to have a baseball field in it, the city considers it a baseball field that happens to have some extra grassy areas. As such, DPR believes that a fence delineating the field from the other grassy area is necessary.
This is especially true, DPR argues, because so many people treat the northwest corner of the park as a de facto dog park. Erecting a fence, in DPR’s reasoning, provides a measure of division between the “dog area” and the field. Under DC law, whether leashed or not, dogs are completely prohibited from sports fields. By erecting a fence, DPR argues that it is making it legal to have a dog in the park at all.
The proposed fence would have two 10 foot wide gates that could be open for events such as Volta Park Day. I was disappointed to learn at the meeting that they will otherwise be locked shut. I will push back on this and try to leave (at least one) unlocked to allow for easier passage around the park. At the very least I expect DPR to adopt an idea that came from the crowd to put in one or two small (unlocked) gates.
Opinions remain divided on the fence. Personally I see both sides of the argument and have been encouraging those upset to lodge their complaints directly with DPR. But fence or no fence, we all can agree that the park needs a dramatic rehabilitation and this is the plan the city is going with.
Lastly, DPR offered two options for the grass field in the northwest corner in terms of seeding. It offered a more intense seeding with a longer period of undisturbed growth. But this would mean this area would be off-limits several more months. It wanted input from the community what it would prefer. What do you want? More time for the grass to grow and establish roots or a grass area open as soon as possible? Let me know at 2e02@anc.dc.gov!
Quick Updates
Here are some quick updates from around Georgetown from the past month:
A new fence at the old Aqueduct abutment has been installed.
New GU hospital wing now open.
Speaking of GU, Corey Peterson has returned as VP of Community Engagement and Local Government Affairs. This is a huge win for the neighborhood and school alike as Corey is highly regarded by both communities.
Tatte Bakery is taking over the old Capital One Bank at Q and Wisconsin.
Pot Shops
The future of legal retail cannabis in DC is coming. As I’ve discussed previously, the city is moving towards allowing more licensed retail shops to sell cannabis. (The city has promised to then move to shut down all the unlicensed shops. All the shops currently open in Georgetown are unlicensed.) One element of the new law I have been focused on is the proximity rules. Specifically, no retail shop can open within 300 feet of a school or recreation center. Additionally, no retail shop can open within 400 feet of another retail cannabis shop.
This seems like a pretty clear cut rule, but I’ve already found that the ANC needs to stay on top of things to ensure it’s correctly followed. Two circumstances I experienced recently demonstrate that. The first involved a commercial property owner that reached out to me about a retail cannabis shop he wanted to open in the former dry cleaners at 1612 Wisconsin Ave. I pointed out to him that that lot is too close to Volta Rec Center1, and he told me that ABCA (the former ABRA agency, which will be regulating these shops) had given this location a thumb’s up. I got on the horn with the General Counsel’s office at ABCA and pointed out that Volta Recreation Center is in fact (drumroll please…) a recreation center. They agreed and pulled the preliminary location approval. The property is now going to become a salon instead.
The second occasion occurred more recently. The same commercial property owner was seeking approval for a license at 1432 Wisconsin Ave. Again he received a preliminary approval for the location from ABCA. This surprised me since this lot literally abuts Hyde-Addison School. Unfortunately the zoning map for the school’s lot was screwed up. The school’s lot was mistakenly identified as being partially commercial and schools on lots zoned commercial are not “counted” for these purposes. The reason for the map error was due to a glitch when the maps were digitized. As you can see below, the orange commercial zone had bled into Hyde-Addison’s lot:
It’s clear that there was no intention to have Hyde-Addison’s lot be commercial. Unfortunately the attorneys at ABCA shrugged their shoulders and said there was nothing they could do. So I got on the horn with the Office of Zoning and was soon speaking to the Director herself, Sara Bardin. She was immensely helpful and immediately recognized the issue. She had her team look into it and within an hour the map was fixed:
As a result the school does “count” and any retail shop looking to open on that stretch of Wisconsin Ave. will be blocked. In fact, the unlicensed shop that had been operating at 1432 Wisconsin Ave. has already closed and moved. (Needless to say, I am not this commercial land owner’s favorite person, to say the least….)
Ultimately there will be some licensed cannabis shops in Georgetown, and that’s fine. The shop that was previously at 1432 is planning to open at 1253 Wisconsin Ave. instead. But it’s important to enforce the proximity laws to the ‘t’. To paraphrase Bill Clinton, let’s have the shops be legal, safe and rare.
And with that, I wish you all a safe and warm holiday season! If you need anything, please do not hesitate to reach me at 2e02@anc.dc.gov!
It’s also really close to Little Folks School, but unfortunately schools located in buildings zoned commercially, like Little Folks is, don’t “count” for these purposes.