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Greetings from the DC Office of Planning! I hope your summer has been restful and enjoyable. While taking some time with our loved ones and traveling, our team has also remained hard at work promoting the comment period for the draft RFK Master Plan and preparing for more public engagement in the months to come. If you haven't already shared your feedback on the Master Plan, please consider doing so by August 14th!
Thank you as always for your participation and support.
Sincerely,
Anita Cozart
Director, DC Office of Planning
There are two weeks left to share your feedback on the draft RFK Campus Master Plan. By August 14th, comment by:
- Completing the online feedback form
- Emailing written comments to our project team at OP.RFKMasterPlan@dc.gov
- Sharing in-person testimony at a public hearing:
- 8/1 from 10am-2pm at St. Coletta of Greater Washington (1901 Independence Avenue SE)
We also invite you to join us our final pop-up:
- 8/8 – Dorothy I. Height/Benning Library (3935 Benning Road NE) – 10:30am-1pmÂ
Rendering of a redeveloped RFK Campus with new stadium, homes, amenities, and parks
Thank you to the 380 people who took the time to share their comments with us on the H Street Study Feedback Survey. This virtual survey option followed up our June 24th in-person open house, where 87 attendees spoke with us about our initial findings and recommendations.
Next, we'll be working on refining the preliminary recommendations into an actionable final report, incorporating all the feedback we've received. We expect to share a draft of the final report with the community in September at our third and final open house. So, please subscribe on our project website to stay informed!
Director Cozart's latest blog post on DC 2050 discusses our team's efforts to collaborate with community-serving partners to reach groups of people we haven't heard from, like aspiring homebuyers, adult learners, older adults, and public housing residents.
Starting in September 2025, we worked with city, educational, and nonprofit partners who already work with these groups to understand how to reach and learn from DC residents in ways that are culturally relevant and accessible. These partners have been vital in co-hosting 17 focus groups this year.Â
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Read the blog post to learn who we met with and what we heard
What we learned from focus group conversations plays a central role in our process over the coming months. These conversations help us understand the real‑life challenges residents face, show us where policies for development might fall short, and highlight ways we need to adjust our draft plan to increase opportunities for all DC residents.Â
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Beginning this spring, our team has been tabling at neighborhood libraries each month in all eight wards. We've added to our schedule to give residents and ANCs more opportunities to speak with our staff about DC 2050 as we prepare to release the full draft of the comprehensive plan in September.Â
Join us at any of the following events, now posted on our website. In addition to DC 2050 information, we'll have subject matter experts and information about project and historic preservation work specific to the library's surrounding neighborhoods.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the final session of our Designing Queer Futures project!
Following a series of community engagement activities, the Designing Queer Futures workshop, and subsequent working group discussions, the project is entering its next phase. The Urban Design Team is developing a guide that will translate the LGBTQIA+ Design Principles into an accessible resource for community members, District agencies, developers, and other stakeholders.
Beyond documenting the project, the guide is intended to help planners, designers, partner agencies, and community members better understand how public spaces can support LGBTQIA+ communities through inclusive planning and design. It will also connect readers with relevant District agencies and resources while highlighting opportunities to strengthen LGBTQIA+ visibility and representation across DC. As the project moves forward, the guide will serve as both a planning resource and a foundation for continued conversations about creating equitable, welcoming, and inclusive public spaces across the District.
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We were so privileged to have three incredible interns join us this summer. In our June newsletter, we introduced Avajane Lei, working with our Archaeology team.
Pictured at right are Tioluwani Fabunmi (left), who has been supporting our DC 2050 engagement work, and Nilah Johnson (right), working with our Urban Design team. We hosted Tioluwani and Nilah in partnership with the Department of Small and Local Business Development, so they split their time between our office and DSLBD's youth entrepreneurship training program.
We thank them and look forward to their future success!
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Learn more and get involved in our community planning projects:
Join us at the following events where OP staff will be available to answer questions and share information about our work. NEW: View our full event calendar online.
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August 3 | Virtual DC 2050 Office Hours for ANCs |Â 12-1 pm | Zoom (email us at DC2050@dc.gov for the link to join)
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August 8 | OP Library Office Hours | 10:30 am - 1 pm | Dorothy I. Height/Benning Library | 3935 Benning Road NE
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August 13 | OP Library Office Hours | 3:30-5 pm | Takoma Park Library | 416 Cedar St. NW
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August 24 | OP Library Office Hours | 3:30-5 pm | Anacostia Library 1800 Marion Barry Ave. SE
Scenes from an RFK Master Plan youth event held in partnership with Words Beats & Life Inc.
Left: Tabling at Rosedale Neighborhood Library for our monthly library office hours series; Right: OP and NCPC staff pictured alongside interns from both organizations during an educational session organized for the interns
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