Town Topics

Robert Devaney • February 15, 2013

The National Park Service has reviewed its temporary halt to an eviction of Jack’s Boathouse and wrote to Jack’s on Jan. 18 that it has decided “to issue a new temporary concession contract for non-motorized boat rental and storage devices and to allow you to continue your operations until such time as the contract is awarded, provided that your occupancy comports with National Park Service standards . . .”

The Jan. 18 letter from NPS regional director Stephen Whitesell to Jack’s Boathouse owner Paul Simkin rescinds the Park Service’s Dec. 18 letter sent to the popular canoe and kayak renting facility on the Potomac River in the shadow of Key Bridge that first brought up the eviction — and howls of protest in late December from fans of Jack’s.

The Park Service wrote in its Jan. 18 letter to Simkin that it “will release a Request for Qualification (RFQ) for non-motorized boat rental and storage devices at or near the location of the present operation. We will evaluate all responsive proposals, including yours should you wish to submit one . . . “ The deadline to respond is in two-and-a-half weeks, Feb. 6.

Meanwhile, Charles Camp, attorney for Jack’s Boathouse LLC, will file a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by the end of the week, he said.

Camp said, “I am more convinced than ever that the National Park Service does not the power to do this [evict Jack’s]. Camp said he has looked over the letter of exchange and cited the assigned duties and rent but said there is “not a lease,” and he added, “The delegation of D.C. duties is to the National Park Foundation.”

There was no development allowed in the Park Service’s agreement with the District, Camp contended. “The NPS wants a concession there,” Camp said. “That’s development.”

Adding to his argument, Camp said, “Under the 1980s’ agreement [between D.C. and the NPS] rent money is to benefit the Georgetown waterfront.”

Understandably, Jack’s owner is clearly upset about this latest obstacle in his fight to remain on the shores of the Potomac and operate his business, a Georgetown tradition since the 1940s. Simkin has owned and run Jack’s since 2005. He has operated under a lease controlled by the Park Service that has not updated since 1982; the monthly rent remained a little more than $350 for years. Simkin said he has made significant improvements to the property that cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Several weeks ago, Simkin has retained attorney Charles Camp, who first wrote to Park Service, citing a detail of September 1985 reso- lution by the District Council, concerning the transfer of D.C. public land in the area around Jack’s: “The National Park Service shall assume responsibility to repair, maintain, and protect all wharves, piers, bulkheads, and similar structures that are located on the transferred land or in the adjacent waters.”

Upon learning of the Jan. 18 letter, Simkin issued this statement: “We thought we were doing the right thing. We thought by following the rules, making our customers happy, increasing our customer base . . . approximately 18 -fold and creating a special environment that people from all-around the world, not just D.C., wanted to be a part of, that we were doing things the right way. Without being too cliche, it’s the American way. We somehow failed. I think we’ve just been too naive. We are being steamrolled into oblivion by the National Park Service, and we still don’t know why.”

“If this were a simple rent matter, we would have been happy to pay what was asked. We were never asked. In addition, we have now learned that they [the National Park Service] should have been paying, all of these years, for dock maintenance — something that has cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket.

“If something doesn’t change soon in the next few days, we are finished. Jack’s will be gone forever. The legal expenses here are killing us, as is the Park Service’s failure to respond to us in any meaningful way and leaving us absolutely in the dark. Its willingness to see a D.C. resource turned into a typical corporate entity will prevail. In fairness to my employees, I’ve had to tell them that the future at Jack’s appears bleak. That’s 27 persons.”

Robert Devaney •

Just north of Georgetown, the new traffic patterns formed by Glover Park’s $5-mil- lion Wisconsin Avenue Streetscape Project have many neighbors fuming over the reduced lanes on the avenue. The project put rush-hour lanes at two, down from three; the intent was to make the area more walker-friendly. Others like the wider sidewalks, such as the one next to Holy Rood Cemetery. The debate may seem like it is driver versus pedestrian, but it is more than that as residents worry about traffic overflow.

Comments abound on community forums. Indeed, there is a Facebook page for venting: www.facebook.com/GloverParkTrafficJam.

Rick Gersten wrote in the Georgetown Forum: “This plan apparently was generated by the need to promote smart growth planning. I, as many of you do, support smart growth planning. However, we can’t stand by and allow the city and those who favor this project to be protected, without changes, simply because ‘smart growth planning’ has been the reason for it. … We have either experienced firsthand or have heard from others the reasons we have no Metro in Georgetown. Here it is: The decision to not have metro was made by a few people who derided those who were in favor of that project. We are experiencing that same type of attack in reverse by a few influential people who stand by the original plan of the relined Wisconsin Avenue project.”

Cynthia Anthony added this in the forum: “To avoid the traffic mess on Wisconsin Avenue, I now drive farther into the residential area. … When I have driven straight up Wisconsin in non-peak hours (which used to be a pretty short trip) there are very few cars actually using the left-hand turn lanes. We’re now all crammed into the one lane, and if someone gets out of a cab, or a bus can’t fit all the way into the curb, there’s goes the traffic flow. “

Another Glover Park resident wrote directly to the Georgetowner: “Sure the neighborhood harps about it. But it is perhaps the best thing that ever happened for everyone down the hill in Georgetown — and everyone in the neighborhood. Stand up here for a while and wait to see how that open median allows fire trucks, ambulances and motorcades to double their speed from Calvert Street to Holy Rood. … I was out in front of Pearson’s the other day, and there was a Secret Service guy on a big Harley parked watching the avenue: a hook-and-ladder headed south at full speed, cleared Calvert and with the median open must have kept going 40 miles per hour south; then, there was a motorcade north. Think of the mess those two would have made with the old system.”

Robert Devaney •

One more time, kids: please lock your doors. Seems each semester, this warning is repeated. Last week, a rash of burglaries hit Georgetown University main campus dormitories and a classroom building from Jan. 28 to Feb. 8 at Copley, Harbin, McCarthy and Regents Halls., according to the university’s public safety department. Most items taken include a laptop, phone and watch. In all cases, doors to the rooms were unlocked. One of the suspect was described as “a black man with a thin build. He’s about 5’10 and was seen wearing a green jacket. Anyone with information should call police,” according to WJLA.

Robert Devaney •

The D.C. Court of Appeals overturned the 2010 conviction of “an Arlington man accused of breaking into homes and sexually assaulting male Georgetown University students as they slept,” according to the Washington Examiner. The court ruled Jan. 31 that Todd Matthew Thomas “can get a new trial because prosecutors were allowed to tell jurors that he was previously convicted of sexually assaulting another man in Virginia.” Thomas had been sentenced to 26 years in prison for burglary and assaults on five male Georgetown students between 2007 and 2008. The assaults occurred on 33rd and 35th Streets near the university’s main campus. During the trial, Thomas has claimed another “Georgetown Cuddler” had committed the crimes, because there were similar attack on female students — and he had been wearing an electronically monitored ankle bracelet at that time.

Robert Devaney • February 1, 2013

In a bold, interactive plan, which links people, gardens, river, president and the performing arts, the Kennedy Center announced its first major expansion since it opened in 1971. Rehearsals will be seen with monuments in the background; plantings will honor the center’s namesake, the 35th president, John F. Kennedy; as stage will float on the river. It is not a done deal, as the designs must pass muster from regulators, and the project will cost $100 million, not the $450 million required for a 2005 design that called for steps coming from the main esplanade to the edge of the Potomac River. Also, this new project will be privately funded.

At press time, here is the information from the Kennedy Center:

“Each year, millions of people nationwide take part in innovative, inclusive, and effective education programs initiated by the center, including school- and community-based residencies and consultancies, age-appropriate performances and events for young people, career development for young actors, dancers, singers and instrumentalists, and professional learning opportunities for teachers, teaching artists and school administrators. The expansion project will provide much-needed classroom space and multipurpose rooms for lectures and symposia”.

“After careful consideration, the selection committee unanimously recommended the firm of Steven Holl Architects to the full board.”

“Holl’s initial concept for the project includes three connected pavilions that will house classrooms, rehearsal rooms, education for arts managers, lecture space, multipurpose rooms, and limited office space. In the initial concept, one pavilion will float on the Potomac River and offer an outdoor stage. Public gardens will fill out the space, fusing the Kennedy Center with the landscape and river. The exteriors will utilize translucent Okalux, glass, and Carrara marble, the same Italian marble which clads the original facility. The silhouette of the current building will be preserved by connecting the new structure underground and via the main plaza. A formal design will be created and announced in the coming months.”

Georgetowner • December 14, 2012

To the editors:

This is written to express my concern that a business on Wisconsin Avenue, the first block south of M Street, chooses to use as their doormat at their front entryway, The Union Jack, the national flag of Great Britain. I am writing to say I think this is disrespectful and distasteful — and should be replaced.

Perhaps my point could be better made if the reader considers this: suppose a business in the heart of Georgetown were to use a Stars & Stripes as its front doormat. How long do you think that would last?

Maybe the merchant could shrug in response and reply, “We were trying to complement the historic feel of [Francis Scott Key] Park just up the street.”

Whereupon, I rest my case. Now come on, guys. Really! Doormats are for trodding upon. National flags for honor.

Trevor S. Goodchild
Washington, D.C.

Georgetowner •

Hey, we love to see people reading a newspaper . . . but safety first, right? Traveling west of Dupont Circle into Georgetown on Q Street Dec. 3, a commuter at Metrobus’s D2 route photographed the driver of the bus reading the newspaper (looked like the Washington Post or Post Express) with it on the steering wheel as he operated the vehicle. The rider contacted the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority, responsible for the bus in question, and then posted this entry on blog, Unsuck D.C. Metro:
“During my commute last Monday morning on the D2, the bus driver was reading a newspaper for a long stretch of the route, both while the bus was stopped and while it was in motion. I emailed WMATA about this and asked for a specific response, which I thought was reasonable given the seriousness of the safety issue (I mentioned that I’d like to provide them with the attached photos and video). This was a westbound D2, leaving Dupont at 7:30 a.m., bus #3077. [It took a while, but WMATA finally got back to the rider.] I got a call from someone in WMATA customer service this morning, telling me they’d started a proceeding against the driver in question. The guy gave me the name and number of the person in charge of investigating the driver, and an email to send photos and video to. So, at this point I’m satisfied with the response. It sounds like they’re actually taking this seriously, and I’d like to give them credit for that.

Robert Devaney •

Soon, after attending Sunday mass at Holy Trinity in the new year, you will likely be able to stop at nearby Dixie Liquor and buy that special cognac. The District Council has approved Sunday sales at D.C. liquor stores among other changes to the alcohol beverage control bill.

The move to open on Sunday is resisted by some stores because they are small business run by families. Sunday is the only day they can take off, as Steve Feldman of Potomac Wine & Spirits told the Washington Examiner: “Basically, none of us want to work on Sunday. By Sunday, people have already done most of their partying for the weekend. . . . How much scotch and vodka are you going to buy on Sunday when you already have a hangover from Saturday night?”

“If they are going to let us open, we will open,” said Sean Clark of Dixie Liquor at 35th and M Streets.

“If I don’t open on Sunday, I might lose a customer who comes in during weekdays.”

While advisory neighborhood commissions have priority in governmental or legal comment, D.C. residents may organize into a group of at least five to protest any liquor license application. An increase in the number of ABC inspectors is proposed as well as new training programs for bartenders and waiters. The council also approved the use of growlers – half-gallon refillable containers used to carry beer home from a brewery or bar.

Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham led on the alcohol bill changes especially the compromise on Sunday sales instead of extending bar hours to 4 a.m, all in a bid to increase sales tax revenue for the District. Nearby Arlington and Montgomery counties already have sold liquor on Sundays for a few years now.