Georgetowner Readers Weigh In on Streateries 

Last month, The Georgetowner raised a question important to the Georgetown community: Are streateries beneficial or a terrible long-term idea? Our editorial, followed by a submission from Citizens Association of Georgetown President Amy Titus, prompted responses from readers. Here are their comments.  

Limit the number of streateries. I approve ONLY if there are strict design standards AND permits are for three years only. I worry that there will be no enforcement. We are losing historic Georgetown. We need to insist on exceptions to citywide policies that will ruin the architectural fabric of our little town — the only preserved town of this size in the nation.  

— Ruth Abrahams  

Georgetown’s streets and sidewalks are too narrow for streateries, scooters and bikes, bike lanes, bus stops (not to mention pedestrians and parking). The parking pressure on residential side streets is at an all-time high. It’s time to put an end to the Georgetown BID’s and DDOT’s magical thinking that all can fit safely AND not sacrifice historic and visual integrity. Public space belongs to everyone — not just restaurants. The architecture, views and public spaces that make Georgetown unique must be protected. Let’s protect Georgetown’s safety, accessibility and historic charm with common-sense planning, not cluttered streetscapes. It’s time to pull them up and go back to the drawing board before any “forever” permits are issued.  

— Stefanie Elizabeth Scott  

  It’s been five years since the Covid-19 pandemic emergency when temporary/emergency streateries were erected. The time has come for these streateries to follow common-sense rules and regulations, similar to what other commercial owners and homeowners must follow: 1) OGB review should be mandatory; 2) The District should enforce its own proposed rules and not allow endless “exceptions”; 3) There should be NO “forever permits”; 4) Reasonable fees should apply in the public space; 5) Enforcement is crucial.  

— Elizabeth Miller  

Get rid of the streateries NOW! Reclaim public space for the people. Covid-era emergency programs should expire and Georgetown should be restored.  

— J.A.   

I am a designer that lives in Georgetown and there are many of us. Please get us all together who live in Georgetown and let us be on a committee that has input on design. We are here and we would do it for free. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. I have never seen anything more unattractive than the peeling paint cement blocks that you use for design, maybe in a third-world country. They are rat infested, ugly and you have created a land grab. Stop the insanity. 

— Michele Evans  

 Georgetown is full of boomers who hate nothing more than young(er) people having fun. Streateries are a case in point: easily the best innovation in D.C. urbanism in decades, and all we hear are complaints about losing parking space for some a-hole’s Chevy Suburban.  

— M.T.  

  Get rid of the streateries NOW! Some are barely used and all block too much parking. Delivery trucks hold up too much traffic because of the streateries and there is a lot of rodent activity under the platforms. Please get rid of them!!!!  

— Frustrated Georgetown Resident   

Worse traffic/unsafe traffic
Not enough parking 
Dangerous driving and motorized biking due to less roadspace
Historic “feel” given over to tourist “feel” 
More rats
More importance given to attracting tourists than to residents 
Get rid of “temporary” streateries!!!!  

— HOB  

For those of us who live in Georgetown, thumbs down on streateries. Not enough room, crowded, junky, non-supervised and a rat attractor. No! No!  

— AW  

Georgetown needs aesthetic control over streateries to guarantee the character of this historic neighborhood, rather than a one-size-fits-all, citywide approach by a (semi-competent) D.C. agency like the DDOT. That said, that control is better placed in the hands of the CAG or perhaps even BID (although the latter might have a conflict of interest problem). But definitely NOT the Old Georgetown Board, which is glacial in its pace, inconsistent in its rulings, overly bureaucratic and costly to applicants, including any small businesses (i.e., restaurants), especially if an every-three-year review process is proposed. I do believe in regulating streateries, but the OGB is not the instrument to do it.  

— Marc  

 Streateries would be wonderful if our streets were wide enough to accommodate them. The fact is that they are not. The widest street in Georgetown, M Street, has three lanes in each direction. When one lane is taken up by a streatery, the second lane by a truck making delivery to the restaurant that can’t use the curb lane because of the streatery and the third lane by cars waiting to make a left turn, the result is gridlock and we can’t get to and from our homes. Please end this madness!  

— David  

 They really need to expand the streateries and make them permanent. Do we really want narrower sidewalks and more cars in Georgetown? I can’t understand the opposition.  

— John Farr  

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