Tonight, Georgetown's ANC and stakeholders enter the crucible of examining Georgetown University's 2010-2020 proposed Campus Plan. It's already 2011 -- high time to reach a concensus on what positive or just acceptable growth looks like in a fragile community that produces much of the District's income.
Town-gown tensions are typical, but this particular brew is bitter -- fueled by a University accustomed to having its way, and a community increasingly frustrated with its inability to feel secure in its future quality of life. Even a longtime University supporter, Councilmember Jack Evans, has expressed unhappiness with GU's position.
Tonight, the ANC will consider the following issues:
2. Georgetown University Hospital - what is the future of construction and growth?
3. The Keogh Field "roof" - what is the future and how will it affect neighbors?
4. Transportation plan - A solid portion of the community supported the construction of the Canal Road entrance. Is it being adequately used or is traffic guided through Georgetown residential areas?
5. Student count - how has it expanded versus what was predicted. How the absence of enrollment caps coincides with growth in student population 2000-2010.
These issues are vitally important to the future of Georgetown.
But there are other, broader concerns at stake. Can the District afford the growth of Georgetown University as proposed? How does the growth of any of our universities provide significant financial benefit to the District?
D.C. taxpayers will suffer or benefit from the following:
- How much of the University is tax-exempt, and how does the 2010-2020 plan affect D.C. revenue?
- How many new jobs would be created under the GU expansion plan? Do the benefits of the GU Plan flow largely flow to the Washington Metro area and beyond, while the costs are imposed on the District’s taxpayer at large and specifically on the university’s adjacent neighborhoods?
- How will the composition of residential neighborhoods change? How will tax revenues change as a result?
- Does the Plan allow for a healthy mix of institutional v. residential housing in a city largely dominated by the former?
- When does Georgetown reach the tipping point of destabilization. Has Washington learned the lessons of Foggy Bottom, a one-time historical neighborhood now known as the George Washington University campus?
Georgetowners and District residents should look long and hard at the total costs of university expansion, what actually is optimum size for any of our universities, given all the costs and benefits. The decisions we face must be made from the point of view of the residents of the neighborhood and the District – the host and major investor.
The meeting is Thursday, Jan. 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, 3500 R Street, N.W.
3 Comments For This Article
Whether it's due to poor research or other reasons, this article is very misleading. First of all, while a number of local residents supported the Canal Road entrance, many local activist groups fought to stop it, so it makes no sense to say that the community supported its construction. Secondly, it's ridiculous to call Jack Evans a "longtime University supporter" - he takes the side of anti-student activists more often than not (congregate housing, zoning overlay, parking reciprocity, etc.), and he once stated, to justify his anti-University stances, "The facts don't matter - it's all politics." Third, to say that it's a "University accustomed to having its way" is absurd, given that GU has already made concessions to local activists on the current plan, and its past victories have often been on small matters, such as not being forced to shut down the Hoya Kids daycare center (as some neighborhood activists demanded).
Sorry but I'm not an anti-student activist. I'm a property owner protecting his rights against a big bully. I couldn't care less where students live or what they do or how many students or employees GU has. I don't do anything to prevent GU and GU students from enjoying their rights and their properties.
It's GU and GU students that prevent me from enjoying my rights! It's very simple, really.
"Support" does not mean community-wide anywhere or at anytime. Please read "Getajob". This is the thing to stay focused on in my estimate. Coming out of an Ivy League background, I observed that while town/gown issues are always there, the university will bend almost to the breaking point to have a happy family relationship with the community. Clearly, this is not the perception of the neighbors of GU.