1
NEWS
SPORTS
SHERWOOD
INDEX
Restaurant crowds
Still a Quaker
‘Mouth-off ’ politics
Calendar/22 Classifieds/30 District Digest/4 Getting Around/20 In Your Neighborhood/16 Opinion/8
New Tenleytown Chick-fil-A curtails dine-in to deal with after-school crowding / Page 3
Judge, mayor spar over police chief’s comments on state of D.C. criminal justice system / Page 8
Sidwell Friends basketball star chooses to play for University of Pennsylvania / Page 11
Police Report/6 Real Estate/15 School Dispatches/13 Service Directory/28 Sports/11 Week Ahead/3
Tips? Contact us at newsdesk@currentnewspapers.com
The Georgetown Current
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
GU hospital project wins concept nod
Serving Burleith, Foxhall, Georgetown, Georgetown Reservoir & Glover Park
PASS THE SALSA
don’t entail broader changes
By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer
A proposed addition and other changes at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital recently won conceptual approval from the Old Georgetown Board, and broad community support points to a smooth path forward for the plans. The hospital aims to construct a new five-story, 477,000-squarefoot “medical and surgical pavilion” building that will attach to the eastern side of the existing 1940s hospital at 3800 Reservoir Road NW. Amenities will include 156 private patient rooms, a new emergency department with direct access from a rooftop helipad, and larger operating rooms. The new construction will replace the surface parking lot now between the hospital and St. Mary’s Hall, the Georgetown University building that houses its School of Nursing and Health Studies. An underground garage will replace that capacity, as well See Hospital/Page 18
By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer
Brian Kapur/The Current
The British International School in Georgetown hosted an International Festival on Friday afternoon. In addition to a variety of music, dancing and food, the event featured a dance company that held performances and dance lessons.
Vol. XXVI, No. 16
Agency lays out proposal for resident-only parking ■ Transportation: Reforms
For several years, some D.C. residents have seen extra protection of the parking spots near their homes through a special iteration of the city’s Residential Parking Permit policy. The system sets aside one side of each residential street exclusively for cars registered within a designated parking zone — without the two-hour grace periods that apply to non-residents. This policy, known in some areas as “Enhanced RPP” and in others as “resident-only parking,” is in effect in locations that include most of Ward 1, much of Logan Circle, and a few blocks of Glover Park and Friendship Heights. But the D.C. Department of Transportation hasn’t added any new blocks to the program for the last two years, instead electing to spend that time developing clear
standards to determine whether the “resident-only” restriction is actually warranted. The agency released its proposal last month, suggesting that the restrictions should apply across an entire advisory neighborhood commission subject to certain criteria. Alice Kelly of the Transportation Department said in an interview that the agency would prefer not to implement parking changes on a block-byblock basis, as it has done previously. “If one block gets it, people are going to be pushing parking onto their neighbor’s block,” she said. Instead, under the proposal, an advisory neighborhood commission can provide the Transportation Department with a list of at least five blocks within its boundaries that it would like to be surveyed. To be eligible for residentonly restrictions, the department must find that at least 85 percent of the blocks’ spaces are occupied and that at least 50 percent of the cars parked there lack an RPP See Parking/Page 20
‘Stunningly awful’ home undergoing city cleanup By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
The house and property at 4316 Fessenden St. NW have been a frequent source of outrage for neighbors over the last few decades. The property owner, who recently moved away, has appeared to disregard D.C. laws in the past, according to several neighbors, constructing a new addition on the back of the house without a proper permit and failing to adhere to sanitary standards, among other concerns. Mosquitoes and rats are an ongoing presence, neighbors say, and the Friendship Heights site has locally earned the nickname “the Northwest Dump.” But in the last few weeks, the D.C. government has made several concrete moves to address the issues at the property, which is assessed at about $800,000. The Department of Public Works has hauled out
■
e a b
Mark Lieberman/The Current
Neighbors say the city has made progress in its efforts to clean up 4316 Fessenden St. NW.
around six large dumpsters of trash. The Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs has urged the property owner’s representative to accelerate the remediation process, according to spokesperson Matt Orlins. And Ward 3 D.C. Council member Mary Cheh says she won’t tolerate what she calls “stunningly awful conditions” at the property any longer. “I practically had to throw my shoes away because they had the stench on them just from walking See Fessenden/Page 10
X
■
X
X X