President's Message
/By Eric Langenbacher, president@burleith.org
The Visitor Center and Nursery Shop at Monticello, just outside of Charlottesville.
What a glorious spring we have had! Sunny and warm weather with moderate rainfall sustained the cherry blossoms and other spring flowers for much longer than usual. The peonies and early roses are about to burst forth. On that note, the annual plant sale at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria is coming up on Saturday, May 18, from 9 am–3 pm. Legendary Burleith gardener Carol Cavanaugh told me about this sale years ago and now I never miss it. I would also add that if you are ever in Charlottesville, Monticello has a great nursery with all sorts of Jeffersonian heirloom plants. (And you don’t have to pay the steep admission charge to shop).
The bulb fields around Keukenhof Park in the Netherlands in early April.
The BCA has a series of events coming up over the next six weeks. On Saturday, May 11, there will be a community shredding and electronics recycling event from 10 am–noon at the parking lot of the Washington International School on 36th Street. Thanks to Lenore Rubino and Washington Fine Properties for hosting. Then, on Saturday, June 8, we will have our semi-annual community clean-up from 9–11 am. We always meet at the gates of Ellington Field on 38th Street at R, get some coffee and supplies, and then fan out across the neighborhood. As always, we are deeply grateful to Janice Sims for organizing and to Georgetown University for logistical support.
Finally, our biggest event of the year, the Burleith Summer Picnic will take place on Saturday, June 15, from 3:30–7:30 PM at the Green Lot (Whitehaven and 37th Streets). As always, there will be activities for children, a band, BBQ, raffle, and lots of delicious food and beverages. I’m thankful to Melanie Gisler and Lenore Rubino—and to a variety of sub-committee chairs—for taking on the organization of such a big event. More details—including information on a possible rain site—will follow soon. Of course, we are always looking for volunteers, so feel free to email us if you would like to help.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone about the Georgetown Community Partnership (GCP). This group was set up in 2012 to support and manage discussions about the 2010 and 2017 campus plans, but has evolved into an organization that manages all sorts of issues that affect the university and surrounding neighborhoods (e.g., impacts from construction at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital). A steering committee meets at least quarterly and provides guidance for six working groups. The BCA has representation on all of these bodies, which are: 1) master planning (Nan Bell), 2) safety and student life (Dave Bachner and Linda Brooks), 3) environment and landlord initiatives (Janice Sims), 4) transportation and parking (Ed Ohl), 5) communications and engagement (Pat Scolaro), and 6) data and metrics (Linda Brooks). Members of the GCP have devoted countless hours to efforts to maintain and improve the quality of life in our neighborhood—as well as contributing to the best relations Burleith has ever had with the university (in my opinion).
As for other on-going issues, the BCA has asked for DDOT to weigh in on the possibility of making T and perhaps S into one-ways. I think it is an intriguing idea that could potentially deal with the issues many have had with the bus on T and provide safer bike lanes. But, this is only an idea to consider hypothetically at this point in time.
As many of you may recall, we did a survey a while back in which a big majority of neighbors expressed support for a Capital Bikeshare station. The ANC recently endorsed DDOT’s suggested location on Reservoir Road, right by the intersection with 38th Street. Some neighbors have expressed concerns about the planned parking location of the re-balancing truck (on 38th right at the intersection with Reservoir), but the DDOT representative thought it would not affect traffic or parking.
We have also alerted city agencies on numerous occasions about damaged roads and sidewalks. I’ve noticed some actions taken, but we will need to press for prompter action. I am also pressing the point about damages that private developers have made to roads and the necessity of having them restore things to their original state.
Georgetown University’s graduation is coming up May 16–19, so there may be more activity in the neighborhood. The university has a plan in place, but if there are any noise, trash, or parking issues, please do not hesitate to contact their Office of Neighborhood Life at (202) 687-5138 or neighborhoodlife@georgetown.edu or the BCA. Gwen Coleman, ONL’s new Community Director for Burleith and Foxhall, may be reached at (571) 723-2855 or gc789@georgetown.edu.
Finally, I wanted to let you know that I was asked to represent Burleith on the stage behind Mayor Muriel Bowser on March 18, when she delivered her State of the District speech.