In the model Glover Park, sidewalks are wide, uncluttered and lined with trees, parking is readily available, pedestrians move safely and easily and restaurants thrive.
But today, a new planning document finds, the community just north of Georgetown suffers from “underutilized retail spaces,” while the “character and identity of the area is not well-defined.”
The Glover Park commercial district, which runs about a half-mile along Wisconsin Avenue Northwest from Calvert Street to Whitehaven Parkway, is due for a makeover, residents say. And the D.C. Office of Planning, in conjunction with neighborhood leaders, has composed the long-term guide, proposing a slate of upgrades from new street lights and parking meters to re-engineered and re-striped crosswalks.
“Overall, I think the Office of Planning is on the right track with their proposal,” said Brian Cohen, an eight-year Glover Park resident and incoming advisory neighborhood commissioner. “My greatest concern is that this document will end up in a drawer.”
Glover Park is a neighborhood of about 14,000 residents with a commercial district of roughly 190,000 square feet of retail space. Numerous restaurants and bars, including two strip clubs, also line Wisconsin, drawing a steady stream of outsiders to the corridor, most in their cars, as the neighborhood is not Metro-accessible.
But narrow and unsafe sidewalks and a lack of parking are “hindering this retail area,” the study found.
“Given where we’re located and the type of residents we have, businesses should be clamoring to get into our commercial district, and they’re not,” said Amy Bowman, an ANC commissioner who said she generally supports the plan’s suggestions.
Perhaps most controversial, the report recommends a “serious evaluation” of the Glover Park liquor license moratorium when it comes up for renewal in 2008. The continued inability to obtain a license “will keep nearly every form of sit-down dining establishment” from moving there, choking pent-up demand, according to the study.
Melissa Bird, the planning office’s Ward 3 coordinator, said her department has no official position on the three-year moratorium, only that the pros and cons deserve reexamination.
The report also suggests relocating and consolidating news stands and bike racks, widening sidewalks, planting street trees and maximizing the 780 existing garage and private lot parking spaces through improved access and visibility.
More Glover Park proposals
» Create merchants’ association to improve communication among businesses
» Add “pay and display” parking meters to replace coin-operated machines
» Open discussion with Whole Foods and CVS for use of parking lots after hours
