Event-Heavy Use of Halcyon House 'Concerns' Neighbors

The Georgetown Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) and neighbors expressed concerns and reservations about a non-profit's plan to bring 10 or more events per month of the historic Halcyon House at the corner of Prospect and 34th streets NW in Georgetown. 

While events would encompasses small meetings of 10 or so people, they can also mean presentations attended by as many as 150, according to Alice Haase an attorney for the S&R Foundation and International Institute of Global Reliance.

The owners of Halcyon House, Drs. Sachiko Kuno and Ryuji Ueno, are seeking a zoning exception to use the historic property at 3410 Prospect St. NW for a non-profit. They previously sought and received approval for an exception for a non-profit use at the Evermay Estate in East Georgetown. 

Attorney Alice Haase told the ANC that the success of several concert series held at Evermay has put "a lot of pressure put on Evermay."

"The owners ... wanted to use Halcyon House for the expansion of the programs and to help meet some of the demands that had been placed on Evermay," explained Haase. 

Increased events and the redistribution of Evermay's pressure are what have the ANC and a few neighbors who attended Monday's meeting concerned. 

Haase said right now the proposal would include about 10 events per month, not including several galas the Evermay foundation or other groups might offer during the year. 

That's another issue, the owners propose to allow corporations or non-profits with a "similar mission or goal" to use the historic home to raise funds by holding events. 

Additionally, the non-profit runs a fellows program and they hope to use the residential space in the home to provide housing for entrepreneurs to come to Washington to live for three to six months. With subsidized rent and office space, the fellows can focus on building capitol, making connections and launching their endeavor. 

But the idea of fellows moving in and out nearly as if not more frequently than students do, raised another flag for the ANC. 

"This is a big, complex place. Much more so than I had appreciated because as you say we haven't really seen anything in detail. We would not be having this discussion to night if the hearing were any dat other than September 10," said Commissioner Ron Lewis during the meeting Monday.

He asked Haase if there was any way to move the Board of Zoning Adjustment hearing back to allow the ANC the time to review the plans and work with neighbors to form an opinion about the proposal. She said she would look into it.

"I think when you first hear about it, it seems very complex. But the reality of it is that it's really not so complex and hopefully we can just talk about it a little bit," said Haase. 

Lewis after hearing more about the plans, however, pushed back. 

"This is very intensive and diverse use; and it’s much more intensive and diverse than Evermay," he said. 

And Evermay, he added, has the buffering effect of an estate, large trees and other separations to reduce the impact of events on surrounding neighbors.

The owner of a home across the street from the property, Hollin Dwiggins, stood to raise concern about the number and type of events planned for the house.

Haase has said Halcyon would only hold large galas on weekends when students were out of town, but Dwiggins called that her "bliss time." Dwiggins added that the thought of never getting a break from the noise of the neighborhood from students and events is "really, really distressing."

The ANC passed a resolution saying they have concerns about the proposal, but they hope "these concerns can be satisfactorily addressed by agreement."

But, "in the absence of such agreement, we believe that the proposal should not be approved in its current form."

The ANC said it plans to work with the owners over the summer prior to the Sept. 10 BZA hearing date to develop just such an agreement.