Neighbors Withdraw Petition as 7-Eleven Goes Back to Drawing Board

The team planning an is going "back to the drawing board" after a meeting between the company and neighbors last week.

A group of neighbors who live near the 7-Eleven at 2617 P St. met with several Citizens Association of Georgetown leaders and the design team from 7-Eleven to discuss the . Prior to the meeting Nov. 21, the P Street neighbors were circulating a petition in opposition to many of the proposed changes. (See PDF)

But, according to Jeff Richardson who helped organize the petition, he and other neighbors left the meeting, "feeling cautiously optimistic."

Diane Colasanto helped with the CAG's involvement in the meeting. She said CAG just wanted the two sides to come together to talk to each other and allow the neighbors to directly express their concerns.

"(The meeting) ended with them showing some flexibility," said Colasanto about 7-Eleven's team.

Richardson agreed, saying the 7-Eleven group showed a "very positive willingness" to reconsider moving the entrance away from P Street; neighbors would prefer it to stay on P Street rather than move to 27th Street. The design team also agreed to rethink a proposed awning in favor of a sign that is more in the Georgetown character, explained Richardson.

"In that context, it really doesn’t make any sense to gather petitions. We now feel we have this dialogue going with them and we feel positive about where we’re heading," he said.

But, "we’re not ready to celebrate" yet added Richardson.