United States Department of the Interior
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
National Capital Area – Region 1
Rock Creek Park
3545 Williamsburg Lane, N.W.
Washington, DC 20008-1207
Record of Determination for a Partial and TemporaryClosure of a Portion of Meridian Hill Park (US Reservation 327)
Pursuant to 36 CFR 1.5(a), Rock Creek Park, a unit of the National Park Service, is temporarily and partially closing portions of areas administered by Rock Creek Park for construction activities. Specifically, from 8:00 am Monday, November 16, 2020 through 5:00 pm Tuesday, November 15, 2022, a portion of Meridian Hill Park, U.S. Reservation 327, will be closed in order to restore the park's lower level historic edifices and landscape and improve accessibility in the park. The closed area will be the lower level of the park north of W Street, NW between 15th and 16th Streets, NW.
The park closure is necessary for the protection of scenic values and natural and cultural resources. Less restrictive measures will not suffice because of the necessity to maintain safety and protect project materials and personnel. This temporary and partial closure is not of a nature, magnitude and duration that will result in a "significant alteration in the public use pattern." Indeed, other nearby park areas will remain open to the public.
The closure will not adversely affect the park's natural, aesthetic or cultural values; nor require significant modification to the resource management objectives; nor is it of a highly controversial nature. Accordingly, the National Park Service determines that publication as rulemaking in the Federal Register is unwarranted under 36 CFR 1.5(c). This is consistent with hundreds of earlier partial and temporary park closures, the legal opinion of the Office of the Solicitor, and judicial adjudications. (Picciotto v. United States, No. 99-2113 (D.D.C.); Picciotto v. United States, No. 94-1935 (D.D.C.); Picciotto v. Lujan, No. 90-1261 (D.D.C.); Picciotto v. Hodel, No. 87-3290 (D.D.C.); Spiegel v. Babbitt, 855 F.Supp. 402 (D.D.C. 1994), affld in part w/o op. 56 F.3d 1531 (D.C. Cir. 1995))
Pursuant to 36 CFR 1.7, notice of this temporary and partial closure will be made by fencing off affected areas of Meridian Hill Park and the posting ofsigns at conspicuous locations. Finally, pursuant to 36CFR l.5(c), this determination is available to the public upon request.
