A hearing Friday on whether to raze the abandoned streetcar trestle at the south end of Glover Archbold National Park had its moments of crackling dispute, but nearly four hours of talk did little to clear the fog shrouding the span’s fate.

Nearly a dozen witnesses turned out (March 22, 2019) to tell their side of a tangled story to Mayor’s Agent Hearing Officer J. Peter Byrne, charged with determining “what is in the public interest under the DC historic preservation law.” The old trestle and rail line, authorized by Congress in 1892, figure prominently in the application that put the Park on the National Register of Historic Places.

Floating in the woods like a giant, rusting animal trap, the more than 100-year-old Foundry Branch Trestle has captured the imagination of preservationists who see it being restored to carry pedestrians and bikers between Georgetown and points west. WMATA, the regional transportation agency, owns the structure and seeks demolition, saying the span is a dangerous liability, an “economic hardship” and outside the agency’s budget and operational mandate.

Anabela Talaia, WMATA’s real estate asset manager, testified that the agency has been unable to find anyone to take title to the site, including plots on the east and west side of the trestle that are zoned residential. One plot borders Foxhall Village and the other abuts Georgetown University, which has eyed the site for townhouses. She said the city transportation department has declined to take the property, even with an inducement of $100,000.

WMATA’s James Ashe testified that a 2014 evaluation of the trestle estimated the cost of restoration to be between $2.1 million and $2.3 million. He said preserving the historic elements of the trestle could force the cost much higher. Streetcar service on the line ended in the early 1960s.

DC Transportation Department Bicycle Program Specialist – Trails Michael Alvino testified that the agency would take control of the trestle if a study now underway shows restoration is feasible to support a new trail. He said the study is expected to be completed in August 2019.

Nick Bartolemeo, a National Park Service resource manager, testified that “every effort should be made to preserve the bridge.” He said the streetcar line played an important role in the development of the area.

The trestle is anchored partly on WMATA property and partly on NPS property. Even if WMATA’s raze permit request were approved, it would still need an access permit from NPS to demolish the structure. Meanwhile, the Park’s south trail access, which runs under the trestle, has been closed since August 2016, with officials citing concern about falling debris.

Hearing witnesses included Palisades and Foxhall Village residents. ANC 3D Commissioner J.P. Szymkowicz, whose district includes the Village, testified that the Commission had voted 10-0 in 2018 to support maintaining the trestle as part of a renovated transit corridor.

Brett Young of Palisades, a cycling advocate and a key driver for trestle restoration, testified that a trail would serve as a vital alternative to parallel routes along the Capital Crescent Trail and Canal Road. Young said the sidewalk that runs beside Canal Road is narrow and obstructed in places and does not meet standards for people with disabilities.

Young called WMATA’s lack of interest in maintaining the trestle or considering innovative uses as “demolition by neglect.” “I got this whole process started,” he said of the restoration push, adding that he heard no testimony from WMATA about what it “could have done outside the box to get this done.”

Fellow Palisades resident William Spencer testified that a wide range of groups support restoration of the trestle, including Palisades, Foxhall and Georgetown civic associations.

The hearing got off to a testy start, with a clash about a petition being circulated by the DC Preservation League. WMATA showed up with a four-person legal team from the Beveridge & Diamond firm and the agency’s general counsel, Patricia Lee. Two lawyers from Dentons, a Chicago firm, appeared at the hearing on behalf of the League.

Beveridge & Diamond attorney Gus Bauman snapped that the petition’s appeal amounted to “highly prejudicial” communication designed to improperly pressure Byrne and claimed “six major and material misstatements.”

Dentons attorney Nicholas Carson disputed Bauman’s characterization. The misstatements went unitemized.

The petition asks “Friends and Supporters of DCPL” to “tell Mayor Bowser to direct her Agent for Historic Preservation to deny WMATA’s request to raze the Trestle and allow DDOT to complete its trail planning.”

Byrne said he “would not accept direction” from the mayor. “That’s not the system,” Byrne said, adding that invoking that possibility had been “unfortunate.”

As the hearing closed, Bauman said that WMATA’s case was overwhelming and that the standard for a raze permit had been met.

Carson said a permit should be denied, calling the trestle a valuable public asset with potential to support a trail. He asserted that the city has not looked sympathetically on owners who allow property to deteriorate and that Byrne, in connection with another case, had said that demolition rewards poor stewardship.

“This is a very interesting case,” Byrne said. He noted that he was not “aware of an economic hardship argument prevailing for a public agency.” He said it would be impossible for him to rule with the transportation department study still in progress.

A Bauman co-counsel, James M. Auslander, voiced concern about the prospect of a transportation department study that involved contingencies that would further delay action on the trestle. “What we have a hard time stomaching is uncertainty,” he said.

In the end, Byrne, a Georgetown University law professor, decided to delay action until Oct. 1, 2019, allowing for the DDOT feasibility study to be completed. “It’s possible we’ll need another hearing,” Byrne said.