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While summer may be a slower time in DC, OP has been busy moving its projects forward. Most notable, the Comp Plan update hit major milestones in its journey to enactment. The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) completed its federal interest review and now the document is under congressional review, with an estimated date of enactment of September 25. One would be hard-pressed to find any other local planning document in the country that has received as many approvals from as many different levels of elected and appointed officials as DC’s Comp Plan update.
Recently, the US Census Bureau released an initial set of 2020 Census redistricting data that includes population and housing totals and geographic support products necessary for legislative redistricting for each state following the decennial census. OP’s State Data Center has been reviewing the data and is providing 2020 Census summary tables as well as other resources at https://planning.dc.gov/publication/2020-census-information-and-data as the data becomes available. You can read more below.
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. You can read more below.
Sincerely,
Andrew Trueblood
Director, DC Office of Planning
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Pennsylvania Avenue East
On July 21, the Pennsylvania Avenue East Small Area Plan kicked off the recommendation development phase of the plan by hosting the second Townhall meeting. During the Townhall, OP shared community feedback to date and opened the floor to comments on the plan's draft vision statements. Community members can still provide feedback on the draft vision statements by heading to: www.publicinput.com/PennAveRecommendations. Starting in September, OP will begin hosting recommendation development workshops. Head to www.publicinput.com/PennAveSEPlan to sign up for planning updates and meeting announcements. Have questions about the plan? Reach out at: pennaveseplan@dc.gov.
Congress Heights
The Congress Heights Small Area Plan kicked off the Recommendation Development phase on July 10th with the first of three workshops. During these workshops, OP and agency partners discussed plan recommendations that directly respond to the community feedback summarized at the May 6th Town Hall. The first workshop, which focused on Housing Opportunities & Affordability, and Schools, Libraries, & Public Facilities, was recorded can be viewed online. The next workshops will focus on: Real Estate and Business Opportunity; Historic & Cultural Preservation (August 10); and Parks, Streets & Public Space, and Transportation & Access (August 31). Community members can visit the Events tab on the project website to view recorded meetings, provide comments, and register for upcoming meetings.
Visit the project website to view and sign up for project updates: www.publicinput.com/congressheightsplan. For questions about the plan, email congressheightsplan@dc.gov or call 855.925.2801 (pin: 9965).
Chevy Chase
The Visioning Phase of the Chevy Chase Small Area Plan wrapped up in July following four virtual workshops and online survey. The workshops brought together about 80 community participants to discuss future changes while the online survey garnered responses from over 500 community participants. Input from the workshop discussions and survey responses coalesced around six main themes that will be the basis for the SAP’s Vision and Goals. An overview of the Visioning Phase and summary presentation shared with ANC 3/4G on July 26 are accessible on the project page at www.publicinput.com/ChevyChase. With the plan’s Community Advisory Committee, OP is planning engagement activities in the fall centered around urban design leading into the Plan Development Phase and recommendations. The team looks forward to connecting with the community about the plan at Chevy Chase Day on September 18. Have questions about the plan? Reach out at: ChevyChasePlan@dc.gov.
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We need your help. We are revising the DC Historic Preservation Plan for 2025. The goals of the new plan are to celebrate the District’s diversity and manage its historic resources. DC reflects its unique story through its people and the places they choose to build, use, and preserve. We want to know what DC stories and places you value and how we can use those resources to make a more inclusive future.
You can share your public comments on the Draft 2025 DC Historic Preservation Plan at: https://publicinput.com/2025DCHPsurvey
Also, OP's Historic Preservation Office is pleased to report on the progress of the District’s preservation program during Fiscal Year 2020. This report that highlights the year’s accomplishments can be viewed at: https://planning.dc.gov/publication/2020-hpo-annual-report
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( WASHINGTON, DC) – Yesterday, the US Census Bureau’s Redistricting Data Program released an initial set of 2020 Census redistricting data that includes population and housing totals and geographic support products necessary for legislative redistricting for each state following the decennial census. The DC Office of Planning (OP) State Data Center has been reviewing the data and is providing 2020 Census summary tables as well as other resources at https://planning.dc.gov/publication/2020-census-information-and-data as the data becomes available.
“With the release of the 2020 Census data, the Office of Planning looks forward to continuing our commitment to support District residents interested in comprehensively understanding the Census data as well as the DC Council’s Subcommittee on Redistricting,” said OP Director Andrew Trueblood. “Given ongoing concerns about undercounting our residents of color, the impact of COVID-19, and observed discrepancies with Census’s American Community Survey data, we look forward to analyzing this data to ensure it is completely accurate.”
The US Census Bureau will transmit the official 2020 Census data to Mayor Bowser by September 30, 2021, which will officially kick off the redistricting effort of the DC Council’s Subcommittee on Redistricting. OP will provide technical support to the DC Council’s Redistricting Subcommittee to make the redistricting process as smooth and efficient as possible.
The Council is required to divide the District into eight Wards that are approximately equal in population. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the population for the District of Columbia was 689,545 persons in 2020. This results in an average Ward population of 86,193 persons. The redistricting statute allows for a relative deviation of plus or minus five percent (+/- 4,310 persons) from the average Ward population, and an overall deviation range of up to ten percent from the smallest to the largest Ward population. Based on these provisions, the Ward boundaries are to be adjusted so that each Ward contains a minimum of 81,883 persons, or a maximum of 90,503 persons.
Due to ongoing concerns about undercounting, as well as the effects of the COVID-19 public health emergency on the validity of the data, the DC State Data Center will review the data and validate the Census’s quality checks to identify and improve the accuracy of the 2020 Census data. If errors are identified in the District of Columbia data, District officials will avail themselves of the Census Bureau’s data appeals options.
The federal government uses Census data to distribute more than $6 billion annually to the District for vital programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Section Eight Housing Choice Vouchers, Children’s Health Insurance, and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance. Accurate and complete census data is critical to the District’s recovery and reopening efforts as well. Knowing who lives in DC and where is important when making budgeting and planning decisions across all District agencies.
The Bowser Administration has been committed to ensuring a complete count of all District residents.
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Recently, the DC office of Planning and the DC Food Policy Council hosted a Virtual Launch of the Full Assessment of a Central Food Processing Facility for Washington, DC on August 11 from 2-3pm.
This first of it’s kind report discusses and goes in depth on how a Central Food Processing Facility can transform the landscape of the District’s food system to create greater equity, resiliency, and access for residents and businesses alike. Andrew Trueblood, Director of the DC Office of Planning and Ona Balkus, Food Policy Director at the DC Office of Planning moderated the two panels of District food systems experts:
- Study Co-Author: Kim Bryden, Founder and CEO of Cureate
- Study Co-Author: Wendy Stuart, Co-Founder and Principal of The Food Works Goup
- Niraj Ray, Founder and CEO of Cultivate the City
- Dalila Boclin, DC Food Policy Council Member
- Mark Scott, Critical Infrastructure Specialist, DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency
If you are looking to learn more about the report and hear about important topics such as the DC Comp Plan, food infrastructure development, aggregation and processing, cold and dry storage, institutional food procurement, local food businesses, and the local food economy; please read the report and watch the video recording at: Centralized Kitchen Study – Building a more equitable, healthy, and sustainable District food system (dcfoodpolicy.org)
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OP's Development Review Division reviews all discretionary development applications, propose updates to the zoning regulations, and provide zoning and land use input on broader planning initiatives of the OP and other agencies. We assess Board of Zoning Adjustment applications against the review criteria contained within the zoning regulations, and all Zoning Commission applications against District priorities as set out in the Comprehensive Plan and other District Planning documents.
The District's zoning regulations are a critical tool in implementing the District's land use and development goals and objectives. The regulations tell people how a property may be used and how much can be built - how high, how big, and how much land can be covered. Development Review staff monitor and, when appropriate, propose amendments to the zoning regulations to further policy objectives or to clarify the regulations and make them easier to use and understand.
Important recent zoning text amendments include ones to expand the Inclusionary Zoning (IZ), or affordable housing program, to ensure that developers provide additional and more equitably distributed affordable housing units as part of new residential buildings. These amendments, approved or in process, establish higher IZ requirements for new zoning map amendments, apply IZ to zones and parts of the city that were previously exempted from IZ, and apply IZ to conversions of non-residential buildings to residential use.
Other recently approved or in process zoning text amendment proposals by Development Review staff include ones to:
- Amend accessory building and accessory dwelling unit regulations, which will help homeowners to provide these units on their properties;
- Amend alley lot and dwelling provisions to clarify and simplify these regulations; and,
- Create new mixed-use zones that would prioritize the provision of new housing units.
Changes to the zone designation for a property are called a zoning map amendment. Most are filed by landowners, and Development Review provides analysis to the Zoning Commission for each case, mainly against land use policy established in the Comprehensive Plan. Sometimes, however, Development Review initiates a map amendment, as we did in ZC Case 21-01 for a District owned property on Rhode Island Avenue NE, and in case ZC 20-24 for the Barry Farm redevelopment. We may initiate additional zoning map changes in response to pending Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map amendments, which change the anticipated land use and density on some parcels, mainly along major corridors, to help address the current housing shortage.
Other times, we work with an ANC on a zoning map amendment. A recent example was ZC Case 19-30, where we supported ANC 5D’s efforts to change the zoning along and just north of Benning Road. These changes, which are now in effect, will help to further enhance the current neighborhood while expanding the potential for new housing and new affordable housing, all in a way that is consistent with Comprehensive Plan direction.
Development Review also provides analysis and recommendations for each University Campus Plan, Design Review, and Planned Unit Development (PUD) application made to the Zoning Commission. PUDs can be particularly large and comprehensive development proposals. A PUD can be for a single building on a property, such as a current proposal for a residential building with affordable units and ground floor retail and “maker” space at New York Avenue and 4th Street NE in Ward 5, and a PUD for an affordable residential building for seniors on Bruce Place NE in Ward 8. Other PUDs are for much larger sites with multiple buildings to be constructed over an extended period of time, such as the Wharf mixed use development with new housing (including affordable), office, hotel, entertainment, and recreation space in Ward 6, and the Capitol Crossing project spanning I-395 south of Massachusetts Avenue NW with new office, residential, hotel, and retail buildings in Ward 6. All PUDs include a benefits and amenities package in return for the zoning flexibility they are requesting. Priorities for Development Review are to ensure that these projects further policy objectives of the Comprehensive Plan and other planning documents, through the provision of new affordable housing and employment opportunities, and by addressing critical land use, economic development, sustainability, transportation, and neighborhood character goals.
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Learn more and get involved in our community planning projects:
Are you looking to join a team that is dedicated to planning the long-term growth of the District of Columbia and ensuring it reflects District values of an inclusive and vibrant city. As the District begins recovery, below are roles will play a vital role in reimagining and restoring our public space.
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