To the editor:

    
No one disagrees that some of the ancient commercial properties along Old Towns waterfront should be developed to conform to the historic jewel that the rest of our downtown has become.  
At the same time, any reasonable person with no financial stake in the outcome can see that trying to squeeze this old world charm into a National Harbor paradigm would, by definition, destroy what makes this city the tourist attraction it is today.  
    
But current efforts to distort that civil discussion by accusing those who oppose the National Harbor model as NIMBYs is a cheap shot, reminiscent, unfortunately, of my neighborhoods recent effort to keep tour buses from running down pedestrians crossing Pendleton Street from Oronoco Bay Park, tourists walking from North End hotels to King Street, and the elderly residents and small children who live in multi-family housing that borders North Pendleton and Fairfax streets. 
    
We jumped through hoop after higher hoop attending meetings, writing letters, taking photos and organizing meetings. The elderly president of our homeowners association dutifully walked icy streets in the dark of winter to attend each meeting. When all was said and done, months later, the No Bus Parking signs were put up, to be sure, but only on the residential streets where council members lived. Our community was disdainfully told that we would not get signage on Pendleton Street because the city administration does not respond to NIMBY requests. Sound familiar?