|
|
November flew by at the Office of Planning (OP) as we continued engaging with residents, stakeholders and ANCs around the draft Comprehensive Plan proposal. We appreciate all of the constituents who joined us in conversation since the draft was released on October 15. We want to make sure as many residents have an opportunity to learn about the proposal and engage with us, so if you haven't yet, you can catch us in Wards 2 and 3 in December (all the details are available here). And, as we head toward the end of the year, we encourage all residents to reach out to their ANCs, which have until the end of January to provide official feedback.
See what else we've been up to below. Here's to December!
Stay tuned as future newsletters promise to be full of updates and planning news. Please feel free to share with others, who can sign up here. In addition, you can follow our work on Twitter at @OPinDC.
Sincerely,
Andrew Trueblood
Director, DC Office of Planning
|
|
|
On November 2, OP kicked off a series of Comprehensive Plan-focused public meetings in each Ward of the District, where residents are able to learn about the proposal, ask questions and provide feedback. OP has held meetings in six Wards and the final 2, in Wards 2 and 3, will be in early December (all the details are available here). While they do focus on changes proposed in that area, OP has information for every part of the District, so all residents are welcome.
The Comprehensive Plan (Comp Plan) is a high-level guiding document that sets a positive, long-term vision for the District, through the lens of its physical growth and change. The Comp Plan was approved in 2006 and amended in 2011. Given how Washington, DC has changed in that time, it is important that the plan is updated with all due speed to reflect today’s conditions, opportunities, and challenges.
|
|
On November 12, the Bowser Administration released the proposed Sustainability Guide for Older and Historic Buildings, a result of collaboration between the Office of Planning (OP) and the Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) to ensure ambitious sustainability goals can be met in the District through promoting and facilitating rehabilitation of older buildings to improve their performance and energy efficiency while also respecting the importance of historic preservation.
OP and its Historic Preservation Office are fully committed to working with the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) to reach the goals of the CleanEnergy DC Omnibus Amendment Act, including the requirement that 10% of the city’s energy use be generated by solar energy systems located in the District or by feeders serving the District.
The revised guidelines build on existing momentum. Since 2009, more than 1,400 permits for solar installations on historic properties have been approved administratively by the Historic Preservation Office if they are not prominently visible from public street view. These guidelines, which must be reviewed and approved by HPRB, would among other updates, allow for solar on front facing sloped roofs if they are compatibly designed with low-profile panels set flush with and in a complementary color with the roof.
The Sustainability Guide for Older and Historic Buildings is an improved introduction to the evaluation, planning and decision-making required to carry out an effective green retrofit for owners, tenants, managers and residents of older historic buildings. The Historic Preservation Review Board is scheduled to consider these guidelines at its December 19th meeting. Comments may be submitted to historic.preservation@dc.gov.
|
On November 6, Mayor Muriel Bowser attended the re-dedication ceremony for LIZ, an imaginative project on the 14th Street corridor, with a mission-focused block-long development by Fivesquares Development in partnership with Whitman-Walker Health which includes a cultural center, residential, office, retail, and outdoor spaces.
The project, named LIZ (in honor of the iconic Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center) has been re-imagined as a full city block at 14th & R Streets with all kinds of mixed uses—including the first public park on 14th Street. Liz will also be a cultural destination in what was the city’s “arts district” incorporating a new LBGTQ-focused Cultural Center and the new home of Goethe-Institut (German Cultural Institut).
Furthermore, on November 14, Bowser announced that Whitman-Walker Health signed a lease to build a state-of-the-art health center on St. Elizabeths East Campus to provide critical health care services in Congress Heights in Ward 8. The announcement was made at the Washington, DC Economic Development Partnership Annual Meeting and ECON Showcase at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
|
|
The Bowser Administration, led by the District of Columbia Historic Preservation Office in OP, launched a 100-site web-based heritage trail, rich with photographs and historical details dedicated to 20th century African American Civil Rights in the District of Columbia.
Throughout history, Washington, DC has served as the backdrop for many historic events in the fight for equal rights. This trail preserves and highlights the sites and stories associated with the Civil Rights Movement and the African American experience.
The history project, available on the web at https://civilrightstour.dc.gov or by mobile app DC Historic Sites (Tours: African American Civil Rights), profiles the important stories and histories of individuals, groups, institutions, and other entities engaged in the fight for equal rights, locally and nationally.
Congress appropriated funding for the new NPS African American Civil Rights Grant Program in 2016 through the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF). The Office of Planning’s “history project” was awarded grant funding in 2017.
Since its inception, the program has funded projects totaling $32.2 million for surveys, documentation, interpretation, education, oral histories, planning, and bricks and mortar preservation. Information on the National Park Service grant program is available online at: https://www.nps.gov/preservation-grants/civil-rights/.
|
For the first time, the US Census will be available to complete online! Beginning the week of March 16, 2020, every household in DC will receive a mailed invitation inviting to go online to complete their census form. Census data is kept safe and confidential and is never shared with any law enforcement agency.
The census provides critical data that District agencies, schools, health care providers, business owners, nonprofits and many others use to provide daily services, products, and support for you and your community. Every year, billions of dollars in federal funding goes to hospitals, fire departments, schools, roads, and other resources based on census data. In one year alone, the District received over $6 billion in funding through 55 large Federal spending programs such as Medicaid, SNAP, Housing Vouchers, Title 1 Education and Headstart grants just to name a few. Over 55 large Federal spending programs are funded based on census data. The District uses census data to redraw Ward and ANC boundaries every 10 years to ensure equitable representation for residents across all eight Wards.
To view Census video, click here.
|
|
DC Building Projections
Washington, DC, is known for its low-slung skyline, majestic avenues, and leafy residential neighborhoods. Its commercial and residential streets are largely defined by a pedestrian scale enlivened by bay, oriel and show windows, tower-like features, porches, and other architectural embellishments that the city has encouraged by allowing building projections into the public right-of-way since 1872. Bay windows are probably the best-known type of building projection, and the city has traditionally used these projections to encourage architectural variety along its streets. Additional requirements and new types of building projections have been allowed over time in response to the changing urban environment and architectural trends. Today, our city allows 25 different types of building projections to occupy public space. What's your favorite?
The Comp Plan guides DC’s growth. Here’s what proposed updates say about housing.
Updates to DC’s Comprehensive Plan fit together housing and preservation
What’s the future of autonomous vehicles in DC? These experts have ideas.
DC will now allow solar panels in historic districts! (Mostly.)
Under New Proposal, Some Of D.C.’s Historic Districts Could Allow Visible Solar Panels
There’s A New Digital Tour Of D.C.’s Civil Rights Movement
New digital trail highlights D.C.’s African-American civil rights history
 Ward 2: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ward-2-dc-comp-plan-community-meeting-tickets-79392175133
Ward 3: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ward-3-dc-comp-plan-community-meeting-tickets-79392841125
Saturday, December 7: "How Land Use Policies Impact Housing Opportunity Across the District" Panel at Woodrow Wilson High School 12:30 PM
|
|
|
|
|
