Park Service Sets March 3 Meeting on Boathouse Study
• June 12, 2013

Another Georgetown issue is on the line to generate two sharply divided camps: Should we build another boathouse on the Potomac River? And how should we do it?

The National Park Service has scheduled a March 3 meeting to discuss its ongoing “Feasibility Study for a Non-Motorized Boathouse Zone along the Georgetown Waterfront.” The four-hour workshop seeks to gather public input and will likely begin Saturday morning, but a specific time and place has not yet been determined.

The announcement was sent by Tammy Stidham of the Park Service’s National Capital Region Tammy_Stidham@nps.gov or call 202 619 7474.

Here is where the Park Service stands on any new boathouse on the Potomac in Georgetown: 

The boathouse zone was designated in the 1987 master plan for the Georgetown Waterfront Park, and now that the park has been completed below 34th Street the NPS is taking a step back to look holistically at potential uses and facilities for the zone. The study will be used to inform future decision-making processes.

The study is being conducted to identify feasible ways to enhance visitor access to the Potomac River with non-motorized boats, while finding a balance among different uses of the space. To do so, this study will:

?- Identify the range and quantity of uses and users that should be accommodated in the zone, consistent with physical site limitations and deemed necessary and appropriate uses for the site.
– Lay the groundwork for future decision-making for development and improvements and guide future planning and compliance requirements.
– Establish a programmatic approach to allowing access to the river for a variety of uses, not just non-motorized boat uses.

The project will consider:

– The waterfront land immediately upstream of the Georgetown Waterfront Park at 34th Street, to about 1,200 feet upstream of the Key Bridge, including federal properties north of Water Street/K Street.
– Existing facilities (Potomac Boat Club, Washington Canoe Club and Jack’s Boathouse), stakeholders and the immediate environs around the zone.
– Inclusion of new facilities within the zone.
– Cyclists, joggers, walkers and other users in and near the zone.
– Relationship with the Capital Crescent Trail.

Woman Found Dead in Rock Creek, Feb. 18
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A body of a female was found Saturday morning, Feb. 18, in the waters where the C&O Canal, Rock Creek and the Potomac River meet alongside the House of Sweden—where walkers, runners and rowers were out and about—near Thompson Boathouse.

The D.C. Fire & EMS Dept. had first responded to a call the night before of a person in the canal but found no one. The Metropolitan Police Dept. is investigating. As of now, no identity or cause of death has been released, nor how the woman ended up in the canal.??

Store Owner Arrested for Selling Alcohol to Minors
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The owner of Town Square Market on 4418 MacArthur Boulevard, Richard Dan Ki Kim, was arrested Feb. 18, briefly held by Metropolitan Police and charged with selling alcohol to a minor.??

According to 9 News Now, “A 17 year-old high school student was also arrested, cuffed and detained for buying the alcohol. Minutes before, police had observed a carload of three young men park outside the store and watch one of them go to the counter, buy the alcohol and leave. When he came outside, police asked him for identification, which he had, although it belonged to someone else. All three young men are students at a high school in Arlington.”

??Reporter Andrea McCarren, who had been investigating underage drinking for 9 News Now, including alleged sale of alcohol to minors in the store at the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and Foxhall Road, briefly left on-air reporting after her children were harassed by classmates and McCarren herself derided on Facebook.??

Montgomery County Police have also been watching Town Square Market, according to 9 News Now. “In recent weeks, officers have issued 38 citations to minors who bought alcohol at Town Square and crossed into Montgomery County.” The store may face the loss of its liquor license.?

Matthew Donahue: 1936 – 2012 (Prospect Street)
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Georgetown commercial real estate owner and executive Matthew Donahue died Jan. 19. The outgoing Donahue was known for his generous and sometimes quarrelsome nature. As easily as he might open his home on the 3600 block of Prospect Street to friends and family, he would hang a banner over his backyard fence that overlooks the Exxon gas station on Canal Road that read “Remember the Valdez.” From his retail space on Wisconsin Avenue, he once held production work of a Disney movie with a poster that read “Disney Family Values?” to protest its film about priests. Donahue was born and grew up in Georgetown close to his last residence and had been a student at Holy Trinity Elementary School and Georgetown University. He was the brother of Claire Farquhar, Mollie Dodd, both of the District, William Donahue of Bethesda and the late Michael Donahue. He is survived by 10 nieces and nephews, as well as 15 great-nieces and nephews. (Memorial contributions may be made to Holy Trinity Living Wages care of Holy Trinity Catholic Church.) To read an interview about Donahue’s life, visit www.CAGtown.org/OralHistory

ANC Approves Revised Tudor Place Plans
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At Feb. 27 meeting of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E, commissioners approved the revised designs submitted by Tudor Place for new buildings on the historic home’s grounds: a garage addition, re-positioned archives and collections building and a new gatehouse on 31st Street. Concerns about the scale of the property additions by 32nd Street neighbors were heard and taken to consideration, with commissioners asking if a smaller rear garage would be “practicable.” Tudor Place director Leslie Buhler defended the plans as part of the non-profit’s mission and future survival and “duty to care” for its property and collections. Other neighbors applauded “the imaginative designs” in the re-do, which will now go before the Old Georgetown Board. Commissioners express their aim was “trying to seek a balance” between nearby residents and the need for maintenance of Georgetown’s history.

In other ANC decisions, the parking of food trucks on residential streets was met with disapproval. Commissioners approved a zoning variance for Noodles & Company, which will open at 1815 Wisconsin Ave., N.W. They opposed designs for a condo at Grace Street and Cecil Place but did give a thumbs-up to renovations at 3401 Water Street for the upcoming Malmaison restaurant.

The ANC will meet next on April 2, 6:30 p.m., at Georgetown Visitation Prep.

Zoning Board Says Yes to Variance for Evermay
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The Board of Zoning Adjustment approved S&R Foundation’s request to use Evermay, the historic, 3.75-acre estate at 28th and R Streets, for its headquarters. Evermay will maintain the non-profit’s offices for nine employees as well as serve as a residence for Sachiko Kuno and Ryuji Ueno, founders of S&R as well as leaders of Bethesda’s Sucampo biopharmaceutical company, one of several sponsors of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. S&R Foundation, which has promised neighbors of Evermay minimal events, strictly controlled within its grounds, is also set to complete its purchase of historic Halcyon House on Prospect Street soon.

Boathouse Study Continues at March 3 Workshop
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The National Park Service held a March 3 workshop on the future of the non-motorized boathouse zone along the Potomac River with almost 90 concerned users of the river and shoreline, including rowers and bicyclists, at the School Without Walls near the George Washington University. The four-hour meeting had attendees break into group for brainstorming. After checking each team’s points of view, NPS’s Peter May and Tammy Stidham along with Margaret Stewart of the Louis Berger Group, consultant on the project, listed some basic agreements: increase access to the shore, plan at least two new boathouses, install a parking area and restore the Washington Canoe Club.

Crew teams from Georgetown University and GW – with some local high schools – are expected to get some kind of rowing facility. The space, west of the Georgetown Waterfront Park to Key Bridge, was touted as a good spot for a boathouse; others worried about bike traffic from the Capital Crescent Trail coming into the soon-to-be busier area and the scale of any new buildings. Of particular concern to some were the protection of the Potomac Boat Club and the possible encroachment on Jack’s Boathouse which might threaten its livelihood. Comments on the NPS website will be accepted on the feasibility study until noon March 30. The NPS will complete its study and set a meeting, possibly in late September.

Evans’s Meet-and-Greet at Lisa and Mike Baly’s House
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Despite the downpour on Feb. 29, neighbors stopped by the 35th Street house of Lisa and Mike Baly and their children to meet Ward 2 councilmember Jack Evans, who reminded the group that he liked to get out and talk to his constituents, even if his re-election seemed assured. Evans answered questions, touted his fiscal responsibility on the budget and taxes and contrasted D.C.’s tax environment with Maryland and Virginia.

Sexual Assault on 36th, Armed Robbery on N Street
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Early Sunday morning, Feb. 26, a female Georgetown University student reported being sexually assaulted on 36th Street, near Holy Trinity Church and School as well as one block from the university’s main gates. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, she said she believed she was pushed to the sidewalk by a white college-aged male. She was slightly injured and went to the hospital.

MPD also reported an armed robbery in the evening of Feb. 26: two male students were robbed at gunpoint of more than $2,000. One of two black suspects pulled out a gun, and the two students were mugged. The suspects were last seen fleeing east toward Wisconsin Avenue.

According to the Hoya, one of the university’s two student newspapers, “the Department of Public Safety reported 57 crimes on and around campus in February, a 67 percent increase from the same period last year and a 15 percent increase since January, when 48 cases were reported. Fifteen of February’s cases are severe enough that they are being handled by MPD, more than double the seven cases referred to MPD in January. A slight increase in theft contributed to the jump in overall crime incidents. DPS reported 25 cases of theft this month, compared to 20 in February 2011 and 22 in January 2012.”

U.S. Mint Releases 2012 Star-Spangled Banner Commemorative Coins
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Francis Scott Key, a Georgetown resident in the early 1800s, would be so proud, as are we. The United States Mint is now accepting orders for the 2012 Star-Spangled Banner Commemorative Coins. The bureau is authorized by Public Law 111-232, the “Star-Spangled Banner Commemorative Coin Act,” to strike and issue up to 100,000 gold $5 coins and 500,000 silver $1 coins to commemorate the bicentennial of the writing of our national anthem.

Collectors can obtain both the gold and silver coins in “proof” and “uncirculated” condition. A “proof” silver dollar is $54.95, with an introductory price of $49.95 available through April 5. The “uncirculated” silver dollar is $49.95, or $44.95 through April 5. Costs of the “proof” and “uncirculated” gold coins, and the two-coin (gold and silver) set, are based on the mint’s pricing structure for numismatic commemorative products containing gold and will be priced weekly. Opening day prices for the gold coins will be $529.30 for “proof,” $519.30 for “uncirculated” and $579.30 for the two-coin proof set.

Visit www.USMint.gov for more information and to order.