December ANC Meeting: Crime, Leaves, Streateries, Holiday Events
By • December 9, 2024 0 674
A cover-all-the-bases agenda took the Georgetown-Burleith Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting on Dec. 2 past 10 p.m. again, despite Chair Gwen Lohse’s best intentions.
First up was the crime report by the Metropolitan Police Department, who highlighted the Dec. 2 burglaries in Georgetown (and farther up Wisconsin Avenue), where windows were broken and registers ripped out at Greco and Tasty Corner. Over the past month, there were six thefts from cars, 30 thefts and two burglaries. Per MPD, the store alarms need to connect to 911.
On Nov. 28, there was a knife fight between two homeless individuals on Avon Lane; no serious injuries were reported. On Dec. 1, an Amazon contract delivery truck was hijacked on the 2300 block of Tunlaw Road NW, but later found with items in the vehicle. MPD announced extra patrols for the Georgetown commercial area during the holidays and recommended Amazon lockers to combat porch pirates.
A big topic was leaf pickup, a fall task of the District Department of Public Works. In late November and December, every neighborhood in the city gets a full vacuum and rake-out of leaves by teams of up to a dozen city employees.
It used to be (20 years ago) that little brochures with tiny maps indicating the blocks and days of pickup would be placed on every doorstep. Often a reminder doorknob hanger with a handwritten date of pickup would be left a day or so before. Residents could either rake all their leaves into the curbside tree boxes or put them in big brown bags with twigs and the like.
Pickup schedules — including last-minute changes, tracking and QR codes with the latest information — are now accessed digitally on various devices. No commissioner seemed exactly sure if leaves would be picked up only if loose, or only if contained in a brown paper bag with nothing else or maybe even in a number of black bags alongside the garbage, perhaps with a call made to 311. The commissioners covered all the options at various times during the meeting, leaving some thinking we should just go back to the doorknob method.
The other breaking news item, which will continue into the new year, is the finalizing of the guidelines for permanent streateries, the expanded outdoor dining spaces fashioned out of the sidewalk and parking areas in front of many eateries. The guidelines are the approved standards to make the streateries, which became popular during the pandemic, safer and more convenient for customers, while allowing access to the utilities under the sidewalks and former parking spots.
But the guidelines also touch on the aesthetics of the streatery barriers. It seems that the ugly concrete “Jersey” barriers are definitely out. So are the standard planking and steps. The new look will probably have diners on the sidewalk portion nearest the buildings, with pedestrians maneuvering the brick sidewalk area closer to the traffic.
The bottom line for most commissioners was administrative. Streatery transactions must be transparent with regard to exactly how much money is appropriated, from where and to whom. Later in the meeting, a related discussion concerned new curbing — larger, flatter, more visible — for M Street corners. A model might be constructed to give a sense of what corner streateries will look like.
A detailed presentation on the latest in trash control and rat tracking in Georgetown was also on the agenda.
The meeting covered various announcements of Christmas events — old, new and renewed. Back on the calendar is the Grace Street bonfire and Christmas caroling; taking a pause is the Georgetown BID’s “Glow” installations. Art with lights will be replaced this year by music, as in Georgetown Jingle. Small-business organization Georgetown Main Street is making its Christmas tree lighting at Book Hill Plaza an annual event.
This year, Georgetown Main Street introduced its first Georgetown tree ornament, depicting the historic Georgetown Theater marquee on Wisconsin Avenue. Mayor Muriel Bowser also celebrated Georgetown’s small businesses, cementing her remarks by buying several Christmas presents at Shop Made in DC and Arcay Chocolates on the morning of Dec. 2.
Finally, the ANC gave a fond goodbye to its two extraordinarily engaged Georgetown University commissioners — Joe Massaua and John DiPierri — and briefly welcomed the two new student commissioners set to arrive next month.
