Save the C&O Canal from intrusive development!
DEFENDERS OF POTOMAC RIVER PARKLAND
A SITE AT RISK
The massive proposed structure would rise in the area to the left in the photo above, between the river and the Capital Crescent Trail. The canal towpath embankment is at right. (View more images.)
The massive proposed structure would rise in the area to the left in the photo above, between the river and the Capital Crescent Trail. The canal towpath embankment is at right. (View more images.)
CURRENT STATUS -- The National Park Service is accepting public comment on a feasibility study to implement a non-motorized boathouse zone along the Georgetown waterfront. Comments must be submitted online before 11:59 p.m. MT on May 24; NPS will also hold an open house to provide information about the study on May 22 (see article). It is important to show strong support for a positive Low Density approach that does not involve intrusive development harmful to the C&O Canal National Historical Park.
WHAT YOU CAN DO -- Be sure to comment on the boathouse zone feasibility study: see Take Action.
PROTECT THE C&O CANAL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK -- Two of your favorite trails remain threatened by private development. The Environmental Impact Study (EIS) process, dormant since 2008 in the face of strong public reaction, will likely be resumed in some form after the boathouse zone feasibility study has been made final. Adoption of the Low Density Scenario by NPS would preclude Georgetown University's plan to build a massive private boathouse at the gateway to the natural areas of the C&O Canal National Historical Park's towpath and to the Capital Crescent Trail. If approved, such a building would block views of the river, disrupt the trails, destroy trees and natural habitat, and set a precedent for private development in other areas of the park. The Defenders of Potomac River Parkland coalition is determined to prevent this outcome.
An intrusive private Georgetown University boathouse at a location inside the C&O Canal National Historical Park is not in the public interest. Public land at the gateway to the park and trails would be stripped of vegetation and sacrificed to construction - removing shade, wooded views, wildlife habitat, wetlands, and natural flood barriers.
The entrance to the Capital Crescent Trail, at K St., within three historic areas, would be impacted by a construction and maintenance access road; bikers, hikers, and baby strollers would tangle with heavy equipment and motorized vehicles.
The huge boathouse facility would tower above the river and the Capital Crescent Trail and modify the views of the river shoreline from the C&O Canal Towpath, the Key Bridge, and from Virginia.
THE NATURAL, SCENIC, HISTORIC CHARACTER OF THIS SECTION OF THE NATIONAL PARK WOULD BE LOST FOREVER!
WHAT YOU CAN DO -- Be sure to comment on the boathouse zone feasibility study: see Take Action.
PROTECT THE C&O CANAL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK -- Two of your favorite trails remain threatened by private development. The Environmental Impact Study (EIS) process, dormant since 2008 in the face of strong public reaction, will likely be resumed in some form after the boathouse zone feasibility study has been made final. Adoption of the Low Density Scenario by NPS would preclude Georgetown University's plan to build a massive private boathouse at the gateway to the natural areas of the C&O Canal National Historical Park's towpath and to the Capital Crescent Trail. If approved, such a building would block views of the river, disrupt the trails, destroy trees and natural habitat, and set a precedent for private development in other areas of the park. The Defenders of Potomac River Parkland coalition is determined to prevent this outcome.
An intrusive private Georgetown University boathouse at a location inside the C&O Canal National Historical Park is not in the public interest. Public land at the gateway to the park and trails would be stripped of vegetation and sacrificed to construction - removing shade, wooded views, wildlife habitat, wetlands, and natural flood barriers.
The entrance to the Capital Crescent Trail, at K St., within three historic areas, would be impacted by a construction and maintenance access road; bikers, hikers, and baby strollers would tangle with heavy equipment and motorized vehicles.
The huge boathouse facility would tower above the river and the Capital Crescent Trail and modify the views of the river shoreline from the C&O Canal Towpath, the Key Bridge, and from Virginia.
THE NATURAL, SCENIC, HISTORIC CHARACTER OF THIS SECTION OF THE NATIONAL PARK WOULD BE LOST FOREVER!
UPDATE: NPS to hold May 22 open house on Georgetown boathouse zone feasibility study -- PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD EXTENDED UNTIL MAY 24 -- Defenders endorse Low Density Scenario.
