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Happy Black History Month from the Office of Planning (OP)! Be sure to check out some of OP’s resources chronicling DC’s Black history. Our African American Civil Rights Virtual Tour highlights 100 sites associated with the people and events that defined the local and national battle for civil rights. OP’s Historic Preservation Office recently released new ArcGIS StoryMaps that tell the African American and Civil Rights histories of two mid-20th century segregated communities – Barry Farm Dwellings and Kingman Park.
In the meantime, OP is working hard on our 2021 priorities, including supporting DC Council approval of the Comprehensive Plan Update, continuing to support COVID-19 response and recovery, moving forward with planning efforts in every Ward, and continuing to find new ways to meet the Mayor’s challenge of more housing and affordable housing across the District.
Also, District Government is in its performance and budget oversight period. OP’s 2020-2021 Performance Oversight hearing is scheduled for March 18, 2021 and OP’s FY 2022 Budget Hearing is scheduled on April 26, 2021. Both hearings fall within the Committee of the Whole and chaired by Chairman Mendelson. If you are interested in learning more or signing up to testify, you can visit dccouncil.us/2020-2021-performance-oversight-fy-2022-budget-schedules/ or chairmanmendelson.com/testify/.
Stay tuned as future newsletters promise to be full of milestones and planning news. Please feel free to share with others, who can sign up here. In addition, you can follow our work on Twitter under @OPinDC.
Sincerely,
Andrew Trueblood
Director, DC Office of Planning
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In partnership with WMATA and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, OP has engaged ULI Washington to examine the future of Friendship Heights with a Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) during the week of April 19, 2021. The TAP will examine Friendship Heights, once a leading regional destination for luxury retail which has experienced a major disruption in its market position, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The TAP will be a key step in exploring opportunities for advancing transformative and equitable redevelopment in Friendship Heights, as outlined in the Mayor’s proposed Comprehensive Plan update, that would:
- produce additional housing, including affordable housing, that meets our critical housing needs,
- coordinate with changes at neighboring large properties, including the WMATA bus facility, and
- encourage ground level retail and uses that activate the public realm.
Friendship Heights is a critical housing opportunity area for the District with the potential to produce thousands of new homes including substantial affordable housing opportunities. As Council reviews, and hopefully passes, the proposed Comprehensive Plan update and as Zoning Commission moves to approve Expanded Inclusionary Zoning (IZ+), Friendship Heights offers a crucial opportunity to significantly advance the Mayor’s housing equity goals for the Rock Creek West Planning Area.
OP looks forward to engaging with the Office of Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh, property owners, and other stakeholders on this effort.
Learn more about ULI TAPs here.
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Mayor Bowser and the Office of the Deputy Mayor of Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) announced approximately $5,185,000 for the FY 2021 DC Local Equity, Access and Preservation Funds (DC LEAF). In particular, OP’s Food Policy team is excited about the Nourish DC Fund within DC LEAF, an initiative that will support DC small food businesses and entrepreneurs expanding food access in communities where structural racism and disinvestment have led to low food access.
The purpose of the Nourish DC Fund is to support a robust ecosystem of locally-owned small food businesses in communities in the District where decades of disinvestment have left such communities underserved by grocery and other food amenities. To achieve this goal, the District will award this grant to a fund manager that will provide flexible loans, catalytic grants, and technical assistance to emerging and existing locally-owned small food businesses in the District of Columbia with a preference for businesses located in and owned by residents of neighborhoods identified in the DC Food Access and Food Security Report or the DC Health Equity Report as having high rates of food insecurity, unemployment and poverty, and/or lower life expectancy.
DMPED invites the submission of proposals for DC LEAF funds through March 15, 2021. For additional information and eligibility requirements, please review the Request for Applications (RFA).
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The Chevy Chase Small Area Plan is kicking off with a community meeting on Thursday, March 4, 2021 at 6:30pm. The Chevy Chase Small Area Plan, will establish a guiding vision for Chevy Chase, focusing on creating a vibrant, mixed-use gateway corridor. In addition to support for walkable retail and businesses, it will examine opportunities for civic infrastructure and housing. Working with the neighborhood, OP will explore opportunities to help to realize land use changes proposed in the Comprehensive Plan update and to advance the goals in Mayor Bowser’s Housing Equity Report.
Register for the virtual meeting, sign up for email notifications, and learn more about the project at publicinput.com/chevychase.
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In March, the Congress Heights Small Area Plan will be kicking-off the first of two rounds of topic-based focus group discussions. During each focus group discussion, community members and stakeholders will have a chance to share their thoughts, concerns, and desires for Congress Heights, topic-by-topic.
 To join the discussion, visit publicinput.com/congressheightsplan and select the focus areas you are interested in participating in.
Each meeting will be recorded and shared online following the event, and new survey questions will be added to the project page to continue gathering critical input. The project team will also be available for virtual office hours during the day of each meeting to answer questions and hear community feedback. The first phase of focus groups will conclude with a town hall on Thursday, May 6, 2021 at 7:00pm.
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OP launched a short survey last month, designed to assess your experiences with outdoor dining and retail establishments, such as streateries, in Washington, DC during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Established in June 2020 through a joint District Department of Transportation, Office of Planning, and Department of Health effort, the outdoor dining and retail pickup program initially aimed to uplift small businesses following the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and the resulting public health emergency status. Now, OP is evaluating how the effort impacted District residents and businesses to help determine the future of the program. The information you provide in the survey will inform that assessment.
The survey will close on Sunday, February 28, 2021.
Complete the survey here.
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In December, Mayor Bowser announced that Washington, DC, through OP, has joined 17 cities to launch Students Reinventing Cities, a pioneering competition that aims to enable global collaboration between students, universities and cities, as they rethink how urban areas are planned and designed for a more sustainable and inclusive future. The competition is being led by C40 Cities, the global network of cities committed to bold climate action.
The District and C40 are delighted to invite you to participate in a virtual project briefing on Tuesday, March 9, 2021 at 12:30pm to learn more about the Students Reinventing Cities competition.
The briefing will include District officials as well as representatives from C40 Cities. Together, they will present information on the competition and specifics of the competition site in DC - New York Avenue NE Corridor. They will also explain how this initiative aligns with the city strategy to fight climate change and to support green & thriving neighborhoods. This will be followed by a Q&A session that will allow the participants to ask questions and interact with speakers.
Register for the virtual project briefing here.
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Last month, OP announced that we are seeking community feedback on locations for new commemorative works across the District. At a virtual townhall, last week, we introduced the draft location strategy and gathered feedback from residents.
If you missed the meeting, you can watch a recording of the meeting and share your thoughts through a short survey at publicinput.com/commemorativeworks. The survey will close on Thursday, February 25, 2021.
Potential Locations for Commemorative Works
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