A standing-room-only crowd of 60 packed a classroom at the Washington International School
to hear Lenore Rubino, president of the Burleith Citizens Association, offer a report on the likely effects of Georgetown University's plan to admit over 3,000 more graduate students without new on-campus housing. ANC Commissioner Ed Solomon (right) also made remarks.
Under the draft plan, which must be approved by city officials, group house rentals are expected to increase. "The GU plan is a threat to the diversity of Burleith as a place for families, seniors, couples, single homeowners as well as students," said resident Sheila Hegy (below at left), citing the north side of the 1900 block of 38th Street, now almost all group rentals.
Rubino, a realtor, noted the threat to property values. “Burleith has become known as a student party town,” she said, making it a less desirable neighborhood. Edgar F. Russell, III, the third generation of his family to live in Burleith, said housing and behavior problems emanating from the University started in the 1980s.
New occupants would exacerbate existing parking problems, increase police-related calls to control public drunkenness and urination, vandalism, fights and sleep- and peace-disturbing noise and profanity, according to an analysis by Janice Sims.
Others pointed to the University's unkept promises. Pat Scolaro, a 36-year resident, showed a quote from a 1990 New York Times article that promised “we will have a bed for each undergraduate.”
Neighbor Dick Juppenlatz vividly described actions he and others took to control similar behavior in nearby Glover Park where he lived before he and his wife moved to Burleith. This included checking on business permits and tax status, enforcing the housing code and calling landlords at 1 am and suggesting legal action.
The meeting ended with a rallying cry from Rubino. “To increase the burden on the Burleith community and the Burleith Citizens Associations [by the University] is unconscionable, irresponsible and neither fair nor acceptable," she said.
Georgetown University will present its plan to the community April 26 at 6:30 to 9:00 at Georgetown Visitation, Heritage Room, 2nd floor, 1524 35th Street NW.
Read more about the University's Plan and the views of the Citizens Association of Georgetown.
Lenore Rubino, Association president, Ed Solomon and Luca Pivato, Vice President Citizens Association of Georgetown, take questions from the audience.
Dick Juppenlatz describes actions he took to control disruptive behavior by young people in Glover Park before he moved to Burleith, including checking on business permits and tax status, enforcing the housing code and calling landlords at 1 am and suggesting legal action.
4 Comments For This Article
The party-land Georgetown students right outside of Main Gate party on. The unit over from my household was fined $8,000 for damage done from two years of parties. The students, School of Foreign Service, McDonough Business School, the College.. moved out after graduation, and unclear if they paid anything for their big bill (damaged property). Guess it will be this way for partyland Georgetown. But they all know that in their Beacon Hill Boston neighborhoods, their New Greenwich neighborhoods.. that none of this would be permitted.
Of course, what Scolaro and the others don't mention is that they consistently put roadblocks in front of GU efforts to build more on-campus housing. Don't forget that she was one of the ringleaders of the 1996 voter intimidation effort (luckily, the courts ordered her to pay a hefty fine for her attempts to steal an ANC election).
I heard of a case where a property owner sued a tenant in FEDERAL court--where you don't walk away from fines.
Sheila Hegy thinks the University is a threat to their diversity? I know that neighborhood (heck, just look at the photos). The students are the only ones supplying any diversity at all, and the neighbors don't like it.