We’ve been speculating about whether or not the 2010 Campus Plan would be hampered by the kind of neighborhood opposition that beset the 2000 Campus Plan. We can stop wondering now. Georgetown alum and CAG President Jennifer Altemus (COL ‘88) has announced that the Citizens’ Association of Georgetown is launching a campaign against the Campus Plan—and it’s not just an advocacy campaign.

“[I]t is clear that we will need support from experts to enhance our efforts in advocating the needs and concerns of the residential community,” Altemus wrote in an e-mail that went out over the Georgetownforum listserv. “To that end, we are asking you to help us fund this important effort.”

She goes on to ask residents to visit the CAG website and donate to the “Save Our Neighborhood” fund, where suggested donations start at $300 and go up to $5,000. Or neighbors can make a (tax-deductible) donation of any amount. In either case, they’ll receive an invitation to the “Save Our Neighborhood” cocktail party at Georgetown restaurant il Canale.

She also announced an April meeting among neighbors to discuss the 2010 Campus Plan specifically from the neighbors’ point of view.

Members of the CAG and the Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners have made no secret of how much they dislike Georgetown’s 2010 Campus Plan. Even at a community meeting where Georgetown administrators more or less promised that they were rerouting the GUTS buses according to the ANC’s wishes, ANC Commissioner Ron Lewis openly threatened to impede the plan’s passage if Georgetown did not acquiesce to more neighborhood demands.

“There is a problem,” he said. “And the problem is that people who come to your classes are jamming up our streets by parking. It’s not our role, it’s not our job to figure out the solution—it’s the University’s. But there is the problem. And unless the problem goes away, it’s going to be a problem for the plan.”

I guess those problems start now. Read Altemus’ full letter after the jump.

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This month’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting lacked the kind of heated debate that can often break out on the second floor of the Georgetown Visitation School, but it did feature an appearance from Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans that spiced things up a little.

Evans’ appearance gave the crowd on hand an opportunity to ask some greater-D.C.-related questions, which touched on the District of Columbia’s current budget issues, the city’s response to the massive snowstorm in February, and the possibility of statehood—all in all, more civic-minded questions than the ones residents asked of Evans last year, such as a question about getting those infernal trolley tracks taken out of P Street.

Evans seemed uninterested in pursuing statehood at the moment. Why?

“It’s not in the cards right now. I hate to say this about one of my colleagues, but every time Marion Barry does crazy things it feeds right into Congress’ view that he could be elected mayor again and God forbid if they had control over their affairs what could happen then? I was talking with Northrop Grumman about relocating and his name came up, and that’s a problem,” Evans said.

The meeting also included a brief presentation from Georgetown Energy, a Georgetown student-run not-for-profit organization that is advocating the implementation of rooftop solar technology across the District.

Anthony Conyers (COL ’12), Peter Nulsen (COL ’12) and Jessica Robbins (SFS ’12) accompanied Mike Meaney (SFS ’12), who directly addressed the ANC about Georgetown Energy’s campaign.

He emphasized the financial sense of installing solar panels on roofs, noting that the typical Georgetown home would receive a net profit of $30,000 over a 30-year period by installing solar panels.

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If you don’t recall how neighborhood residents of Georgetown reacted when administrators presented the 2010 Campus Plan back in November, let me remind you of the words of Advisory Neighborhood Commission Chair Ron Lewis when he heard that adding 1,000 parking spaces in the University was part of the plan:

“There is a problem,” he said. “And the problem is that people who come to your classes are jamming up our streets by parking. It’s not our role, it’s not our job to figure out the solution—it’s the University’s. But there is the problem. And unless the problem goes away, it’s going to be a problem for the plan.”

And that was at the meeting where Georgetown said it was definitely rerouting GUTS buses through Canal Street, which the ANC has been demanding for years.

Now, as the end of January nears—at which point Georgetown administrators have said they hope to submit the Plan to the ANC for its first stage of review—neighbors are no less content than they were in November about the proposed 2010 Campus Plan.

Jennifer Altemus (COL ‘88), the president of the Citizens Association of Georgetown, sent a dense letter to President John DeGioia last Thursday which she provided to the Voice. The letter enumerates the neighbors’ grievances with the current draft of the Campus Plan.

“We are extremely disappointed with the process thus far. It appears that community input at the GU sponsored meetings has been ignored,” she wrote. “This list is by no means comprehensive but these issues represent the priority concerns of the community that will be raised during the plan review and approval process.”

Read the full letter and a summary, after the jump.

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It smells?

Lately, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E meeting have all had their share of fireworks, and last night’s meeting was no exception. They didn’t get to verbally stone any representatives from WASA, but they did unleash fury like Hell hath none on the owner of Philly Pizza. The Commissioners also applauded the arrival of The North Face store, while poo-pooing their big red signs, and prepared Georgetown for the 11-month loss of its Safeway.

Philly P’s: The highlight of tonight’s ANC meeting was the Commissioners’ unanimous chastisement of Philadelphia Pizza’s new 1211 Potomac location. The night started out poorly with Commissioners interrogating the engineer of the new ventilation system for Philly P’s and only got worse as they attacked Philly P’s ratio of sit down patrons to unruly students. (According the the Commissioners, Philly P’s needed a permit if over 50% of their customers used take out after ordering their food.)

Matt, the owner of Philly P’s, told the Commissioners that only 5% or less of his customers left the store before finishing their food (OK, Matt). An intense question-and-answer session followed in which the commissioners essentially accused Matt of dishonesty. It was unclear, however, if the owner of Philly P’s completely understood what the Commissioners were asking

ANC Chairman Ron Lewis ultimately issued a veiled threat against Philly P’s, bothered by their late hours, the high number of take out customers, and the odor that bothers the neighbors.

“If you are truly interested in being a good neighbor, you will fix these things,” Lewis said. “If not, we will have a long and complicated relationship.”

Shiver. The ANC passed a resolution condemning Philly P’s.

The North Face: As we noted last week, Georgetown is getting its own North Face store.

The commissioners seemed pleased the store was coming to Georgetown. However, ANC Commissioners were not enthusiastic about the bright red sign that usually comes with these stores. Commissioners Starrels and Skelesy were especially critical of the “excessively” red nature of the sign.

But don’t let a headline fool you. The sign was the only contested aspect of the new store. According to the North Face rep, the store is set to open in three months—provided the Old Georgetown Board gives it the go-ahead this Thursday. Godspeed, TNF.

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In the first of what will be regular ANC 2E wrapups, we’re proud to bring you the events of last night’s ANC meeting. (But between Issue Rundowns, GUSA Roundups, and ANC Wrapups, it grieves me to report that we’re running out of summary nouns.)

Last night’s local government rumble had a considerable many high points:  the ANC’s communal chastisement of WASA Director Louis Jarvis, the Dixie Liquor owner’s truly pathetic request for an exception to the singles ban, a resolution of gun stores in Georgetown, Apple’s store redesign, and a visit from the wardmaster himself, Jack Evans.

Details to follow, but the Safeway on Wisconsin will be closing for construction for over a month this Spring.

WASA: Jarvis felt the fury of the ANC when he admitted that 30% of Ward 2 hydrants, still need maintenance nearly two years after bum hydrants stymied firefighter’s efforts to rescue the burning Georgetown Library.

Ed Solomon, who recently watched from his tuxedo shop as a dumpster fire at Addison School required a second pumper truck (the nearby hydrant, tagged as “needing maintenance” but still supposedly in working condition, was in fact a dud), noted that this amounted to 59 hydrants and called the situation “unacceptable.” Later in the meeting, Jack Evans agreed.

Dixie Liquors: Next, Dixie Liquor’s Jody Kurash stopped by to request an exception to Ward 2’s singles ban, saying the store projected a $38,000 loss in sales for this year based on 2008 figures.

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This is the first of seven installations of  “Better Know an ANC Commissioner,” Vox’s interviews with the representatives that comprise Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E. The ANC is Georgetown residents’ primary voice in local government. When the average student marries a homogenous conception of “the neighbors” with “the Man” that puts him or her down for making noise, he or she is thinking of the ANC.

Ron Lewis’ kingdom (above) sits Northwest of the University in the middle of the Georgetown neighborhood. The former CAG member was reelected to his second two-year term on the ANC in November. Students may know the new ANC chair’s name: last year, he co-sponsored the unpopular off-campus keg ban.

Below, Lewis, an attorney who has moved between government jobs and business ventures discusses changes ‘the neighbors’ would like to see in GUTS bus routes, noise violations, community safety, and said keg ban.

You co-sponsored a controversial off-campus keg ban with [former student ANC commissioner] Jenna Lowenstein [COL '09]. What was the rationale behind that?

Our position was very clear—was that there should be the same rules about kegs on campus or off campus, and that it wasn’t fair for either the students or the community to push parties off campus, which having stricter party rules on campus does. Since the University had decided on a keg policy on campus-what we were saying was that you need to make it fair.

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If you live in a townhouse, have a car, and don’t have as many parking spots as you’d like, you can get help from an unlikely source—Advisory Neighborhood Commission member Ron Lewis. If you e-mail him and suggest that parking spots with restricted parking have those restrictions lifted, he’ll do what he can as part of his “Parking Lot Treasure Hunt” initiative. With luck, the restrictions will be lifted and you will have opened up another spot in Georgetown.

Even if you can park in front of your townhouse, opening another spot on your street will make your life easier because other cars won’t take your space. With that in mind, you might as well suggest a bunch of spaces, especially considering that Lewis’s other campaign is extending the new party regulations off-campus. Isn’t this a more constructive use of his time?

-Will Sommer, blog editor. Flickr photo from leftymgp.