A federal planning commission gave a mixed review earlier this month to a Georgetown University boathouse proposed for the Potomac waterfront. Opponents of the boathouse are celebrating a small victory, but according to University officials, the decision will not change the current boathouse design before its fate is decided at a zoning board meeting next month.
On Nov. 6, the National Capital Planning Commission, which is charged with reviewing D.C.-area development from the perspective of the federal government, endorsed the proposed boathouse, provided the structures adheres to conditions set out in a 1995 memorandum, said NCPC spokeswoman Denise Liebowitz.
The memorandum, drafted when the University and National Park Service agreed to swap land for the boathouse, stipulates that any proposed boathouse will be no more than 40 feet high and 15,000 sq.-foot footprint. The University’s current design is 54 feet high and has a footprint of 24,000 sq. feet. Since 1995, the boathouse plans have expanded under mutual understanding between the NPS and the University.
The decision is not binding upon the University; it remains for the D.C. Zoning Commission to give its final approval. According to John Parsons, associate director of the National Capital Region of the NPS and a zoning commissioner, the Zoning Commission is not required to adopt the NCPC’s recommendations.
In an e-mail, University Architect Alan Brangman said the NCPC’s decision will have no effect on the boathouse’s design. Rather, said Tony Johnson, head coach of men’s crew, the University and the NPS will modify the land swap agreement.
A Zoning Commission staff member confirmed the boathouse would be on the agenda for the Dec. 8 public meeting. There the Commission will likely rule whether the boathouse can be built as the University has proposed or whether further modifications are necessary. According to Johnson, the decision has been postponed over the course of the fall due to a failures in the Zoning Office to publish proper notices and delays with the D.C. Office of Planning.
Larry Schuette, president of the Washington Canoe Club and an opponent of the University’s plans, was heartened by the NCPC’s finding. “Obviously it’s always nice when somebody agrees with your perspective,” Schuette said. “The NCPC seems to believe the proposal is too big.”
“Everyone is in agreement that Georgetown University needs a boathouse,” Schuette said. “I think it gets harder to justify the scale.”
