Weigh In On Waterfront Boathouse Plans

The National Park Service (NPS) has scheduled a four-hour, public workshop for Mar. 3 on the . NPS has worked with key stakeholders since the initial announcement in December 2011 and will share findings from those meetings while considering public input at the March workshop.

The study area runs from 34th Street to about 1,200 feet upstream of the Key Bridge.

NPS first proposed a non-motorized boat zone for the area in 1986. Since that time several iterations and stages of the plan have advanced only to later stall.

Georgetown University (GU) has previously designed a boathouse for the area and even went through the Environmental Assessment process for a proposed land exchange between NPS and GU. That EA was never completed and the proposal was never executed.

At an , Peter May, the NPS's associate regional director for lands, resources, and planning for the Capital region, told the crowd of nearly 100 people, "When we engaged in prior processes, we got a lot of feedback at that time that there were a lot of things were not taking into consideration." The latest process is meant to be more holistic.

According to the work shop announcement, the project will consider:

  ·  The waterfront land immediately upstream of the Georgetown
  ·  Waterfront Park at 34th Street, to about 1,200 feet upstream of the Key Bridge, including federal properties north of Water/K Street.
  ·  Existing facilities (, Washington Canoe Club,     and ), stakeholders, and the immediate environs around the zone.
  ·  Inclusion of new facilities within the zone.
  ·  Cyclists, joggers, walkers, and other users in and near the zone.
  ·  Relationship with the Capital Crescent Trail.

The NPS study is open for comment now. Check back with Patch for details on the place and time of the March 3 meeting.