We must cease surrendering our green spaces to rapacious developers

Re Incremental Crumbling of our Beautiful Capital, I thank Ms. Patricia Commissiong for her pedantic letter (SN, “We should start a ‘Make Georgetown Beautiful Again’ Campaign,’” April 8, 2021). While we appreciate her historical excursion driven by my comparative passing reference to other cases in which proposed land use conversion was halted, that was not the focus of my argument. I referred to those situations only as a starting point to explore whether there could be any challenge to the development of a part of Merriman Mall into a private commercial parking lot.

It’s simply this: granted that no two situations are the same (different ownership and therefore legal hurdles), this conversion of public land to a private parking facility should not go unchallenged. It should not be a done deal. The public is entitled to know the following: Was every regulation followed? Was an Environmental Impact Assessment required, and if so, was it done? Were there consultations with the affected communities? If not, why not? Does the City Council have the power to exercise its authority in such an arbitrary and capricious manner? Is there anything—anything-that can be done to rescind whatever agreement was made?

The transformation of Georgetown is likened to the incremental transformation of our faces. We don’t see the changes each day—age creeps and slowly overtakes us. If this project is allowed, it is the beginning of the incremental crumbling of our beautiful capital. We don’t see it today and we won’t see it tomorrow, but it is happening. Simply put, we must cease surrendering our green spaces to rapacious “developers.”

Sincerely,

Fuad Rahaman, J.D.