Residents and Georgetown University Still at Odds Over Campus Plan

Since the beginning of 2011, Georgetown University and the residents of the surrounding Georgetown and Burleith neighborhoods have been battling through Advisory Neighborhood Commission meetings and Zoning Commission hearings over the university's proposed 10-year campus plan. 

The 2010-2020 Campus Plan maps out university development over the next decade. Residents of West Georgetown and Burleith disapproved of the plan, which was filed on Dec. 30, 2010.

The plan, which includes mostly approved changes within campus boundaries, also calls for transportation and parking improvements, enrollment proposals, on-campus housing policy changes and off-campus student life initiatives. 

"The biggest issue that I have with off-campus Georgetown students is their lack of respect for the neighborhood," said Margot Rymond, a resident of West Georgetown. "The university is located in a residential area and the students act as if they're in the middle of the city!"

After an ANC meeting in February, the ANC submitted its findings and recommendations to the Zoning Commission, stating that the plan "as proposed would have serious adverse affects on the community."

Along with the ANC, the Citizen's Association of Georgetown and the Burleith Citizen's Association are leading the charge against Georgetown's plan.

The major objections to the plan are regarding GU's enrollment rates, which have increased every year, along with the number of students living off-campus in Georgetown and Burleith. With more students in the neighborhoods, residents have complained of loud noise, excessive trash and the conditions of the homes lived in by students.

However, according to university data, the number of students living in West Georgetown and Burleith has actually declined over the years.

West Georgetown (Including Cloisters)

Burleith

The above tables show GU student residences in West Georgetown and Burleith from Fall 1999 to Fall 2010.

According to a report filed for the Spring 2011 semester by Off-Campus Student Life (OCSL), 1,255 undergraduates and 339 graduates were living in privately owned off-campus housing in West Georgetown and Burlieth.

As a response to earlier complaints by residents, OCSL mandated that all students attend an orientation session during Fall 2010, which provided students with information regarding living safely and responsibly off campus. Another session was offered in April 2011 for students who were planning on staying in their homes during the summer break, which explained their responsibilities as members of the neighborhood.

Since the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year, GU has worked to address the quality-of-life issues regarding noise and trash that the community has raised.