Waterfront Boathouse Zone Plan Pending Jack's Boathouse Resolution

Plans to release the National Park Service Feasibility Study to Implement a Non-motorized Boathouse Zone on the Georgetown waterfront are on hold as the agency resolves a lease conflict with Jack's Boathouse. NPS intended to release the study in mid-January and to hold a public meeting in February.

NPS has explored various plans in the past 25 years for the stretch of waterfront land from 34th Street to about 1,200 feet upstream of the Key Bridge, having most recently re-initiated conversations in late 2011.

"Recent events in study area related to Jack’s Boathouse have necessitated a delay in the release of the study. The NPS is working to resolve the situation at Jack’s Boathouse and release the NMBZ study as soon as possible," NPS said in a press release Friday.

On Friday, NPS sent a letter to Jack's Boathouse's owner, Paul Simkin, advising him that he would have to bid for a concession contract along with other businesses to operate a boat rental facility where his business currently operates.

NPS issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for a contract to operate a boat rental operation at 3500 K Street. The agency plans to cut off applications for the concession contract Feb. 6 and award a contract by the end of that month.

Jack's Boathouse is fighting the ouster by NPS and may go to court over the matter. One part of the company's argument is that NPS does not even own the land it is seeking the RFQ for.

Depending on the outcome of that dispute, the entire non-motorized boathouse zone effort may be moot.

Read more about the dispute between Jack's Boathouse and NPS here.

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