Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

ANC 2E: A Town-Gown Battleground

KYLE YOUNG FOR THE HOYA
KYLE YOUNG FOR THE HOYA

Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E has long been an arena for perennial neighborhood relations debates.

With the D.C Zoning Commission preparing to make its ruling on the 2010 Campus Plan next week, the commission’s monthly meetings are frequently the sites of heated battles about issues ranging from student noise to safety regulations in rental apartments.

But despite long-standing tensions between the ANC and the university, commissioners believe that there is potential for cooperation between the two groups.

“We’re one community,” ANC 2E Chair Ron Lewis said. “We have a lot of the same interests in the same things, although we don’t always come out on the same side of a particular question.”

 

“Grassroots” Government

ANC 2E, which is comprised of seven commissioners, each representing a geographical district, focuses on matters of municipal government in Georgetown, Burleith and Hillandale.

Ron Lewis, who is in his second two-year term as chair of the commission, described it as a bridge between residents and the often-complex D.C. government.

“It’s really grassroots democracy. It’s a connection between people and the city government,” Lewis said.

According to the commission’s website, D.C. government agencies are required to give ANC testimony “great weight” in making rulings. City agencies must issue their decisions in writing, explicitly address ANC arguments and send a copy of their responses to the ANC.

While some government agencies that affect ANC 2E residents, such as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, the National Park Service and water and sewer departments, are not considered D.C. agencies and are thus not required to give the ANC “great weight,” the ANC still holds lobbying clout.

“ANCs are not able to pass laws, per se. … [But they] can offer their opinions, in the form of resolutions, to any governmental agency in D.C.,” Sticka said.

 

Conflict and Cooperation in Committee

The ANC’s ability to offer its opinion to D.C. agencies allows it to wield tremendous clout in local decision making.

Historically, this has proved to Georgetown’s disadvantage. During the approval process for the 2000 Campus Plan, the ANC’s proposal to the D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustment heavily influenced the board’s final vote.

The ANC’s submission to the BZA raised concerns that will sound strikingly familiar to students and neighbors involved in the current Campus Plan debate. The Hoya reported in 2001 that the ANC called for increased on-campus student housing, stricter punishments for student littering and noise and restricted use of some campus facilities, including Harbin Field and McDonough Gymnasium.

As a result, the BZA denied a request by the university to extend its enrollment cap by 389 students, forcing Georgetown to file a complaint with the D.C. Court of Appeals.

The plan was not officially approved until 2005, delaying the start of several key construction projects.

The ANC’s influence extends beyond the Campus Plan debate.

In 2009, the ANC facilitated the removal of the popular Philly Pizza from its Potomac Street address when it was found to be in violation of zoning laws. Heavy student foot traffic late at night was creating disturbances for neighbors.

Lewis added that since the entirety of Georgetown is designated a national historic district, the ANC plays an active role in reviewing design modifications to homes and businesses before they reach a historical review board. The need to maintain the neighborhood’s historic nature is what delayed the opening of the Georgetown Apple Store in 2010 and has been part of the argument against student group homes.

Lewis stressed that he considers all constituents of ANC 2E — both permanent residents and Georgetown students — one community, though the commission and university often stand opposed.

Lewis cited public safety as an example of cooperation between the university and the ANC.

“Safety is an example of where the student community and the permanent residential community look at things in pretty much exactly the same way. We want safe streets, we want to be able to be outside at night and know that there’s enough police presence here. … We all feel that way,” Lewis said.

Commissioner Bill Starrels has long used his post to foster better landlord accountability for student homes to ensure the health and safety of Georgetown students. Years before the university developed its landlord pledge, which places landlords on an online list of approved landlords in exchange for their compliance with D.C. licensing requirements, Starrels was working with the DCRA to ensure landlords obtained mandatory basic business licenses.

“Some of these landlords are not user-friendly. They never have been, never will be. … People end up spending too much money and accept houses that are in a condition that nobody but a student would live in them, and that’s unfortunate,” Starrels said.

 

Bridging the Divide

Sticka said that while he joined the ANC to remedy what he considered the unfair way in which student interests are addressed in local politics, he remains disillusioned by the commission’s antagonism toward the university, most recently in its opposition to the 2010 Campus Plan and a redistricting proposal that would give Georgetown students a chance at three seats on ANC 2E.

“I became a member of the ANC because … throughout my freshman year I was frustrated by the way that students were discussed in the community and about how our interests never seemed to be taken into account,” Sticka said.

Lewis argued that the ANC’s insistence that the university provide more on-campus facilities and services takes into account the interests of students.

“The on-campus environment ought to be more inviting and more welcoming and offer more activities. There are so many steps the university administration could take to make the campus an inviting, fun environment,” Lewis said.

“Now that the Campus Plan is almost behind us, I want to work closely with the Georgetown student community because there are a lot of things I think we can do together.”

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