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It's really not fair that Georgetown has to send so much of its wealth across the city. It would be better employed in Georgetown itself. Indeed, if the tax dollars stayed within the "Town of Georgetown" then perhaps you'd be able to construct a public high school that would actually retain its students.
My partner works in development circles, and saw a memo showing that a nonprofit is getting ready to build a 10-story "mixed-income" condo development a block away from us (and our single-family home!!!). We moved where we did because we wanted to be near transit yet also in an excellent school district for our children.
Obviously we're highly concerned, as we never envisioned something like this happening where we are. We're certainly in favor of affordable housing, but we would prefer a smaller-scale project that fits the neighborhood, with ALL the units in the building made affordable. That way we'd end up with maybe 4 units of senior housing in a 2-story building coupled with a beautiful new park, rather than 40 or so all-ages units in a 10-story building. I would also imagine that there are other areas where the land costs are more reasonable, if in fact this developer actually cares about affordable housing. Furthermore, with 40 units it would be hard to make them all for the senior population. Thus, we worry about how good the screening will be to find the right kind of people whose kids will fit in and know how to behave in school, given that the developer is trying to fill 40+ units for these people.
Does anyone have any thoughts as to what to do to make sure the county does the right thing? I understand about talking to your neighbors, organizing, speaking at hearings, etc. But does that really work? My partner says in development that time is money, and that the best strategy is to be ready to go to the courts to slow down the process. He says even if you're not serious about winning the lawsuit, if you slow down the process enough that construction costs rise and tax credits expire so maybe this thing won't be built.
Does anyone have ideas as to how we could battle this out at the local level? A friend suggested some concerned citizens in Arlington have been battling the County over such a railroaded project, and have nearly made it collapse a couple of times through delays and whatnot. I just think of my partner and our two children, and how our lives would change so much for the worse if the wrong type of construction goes in near us.
Thank you so much.
Orlando
Obviously we're highly concerned, as we never envisioned something like this happening where we are. We're certainly in favor of affordable housing, but we would prefer a smaller-scale project that fits the neighborhood, with ALL the units in the building made affordable. That way we'd end up with maybe 4 units of senior housing in a 2-story building coupled with a beautiful new park, rather than 40 or so all-ages units in a 10-story building. I would also imagine that there are other areas where the land costs are more reasonable, if in fact this developer actually cares about affordable housing. Furthermore, with 40 units it would be hard to make them all for the senior population. Thus, we worry about how good the screening will be to find the right kind of people whose kids will fit in and know how to behave in school, given that the developer is trying to fill 40+ units for these people.
Does anyone have any thoughts as to what to do to make sure the county does the right thing? I understand about talking to your neighbors, organizing, speaking at hearings, etc. But does that really work? My partner says in development that time is money, and that the best strategy is to be ready to go to the courts to slow down the process. He says even if you're not serious about winning the lawsuit, if you slow down the process enough that construction costs rise and tax credits expire so maybe this thing won't be built.
Does anyone have ideas as to how we could battle this out at the local level? A friend suggested some concerned citizens in Arlington have been battling the County over such a railroaded project, and have nearly made it collapse a couple of times through delays and whatnot. I just think of my partner and our two children, and how our lives would change so much for the worse if the wrong type of construction goes in near us.
Thank you so much.
Orlando