Will the DC Council vote for inclusion or exclusion?

On Tuesday, October 8 (postponed from Sept. 17, 2019), the DC Council will vote for a more exclusive city, or a more inclusive one. Let them know where you stand. 

Two amendments to the Comprehensive Plan bill are needed to ensure a more inclusive city: 

  1. Councilmember Brianne Nadeau's amendment which helps address racial and social equity by prioritizing affordable housing and prevention of displacement.
  2. An amendment to remove exclusionary language that makes preserving “physical and visual character” a dominating requirement in development review. This is too similar to the type of planning language that has historically perpetuated housing segregation.

It's down to the wire, but with your help we can win these two amendments!

The Comprehensive Plan bill should ensure we meet our housing needs – affordable housing and preventing displacement.

Photo credit: Ted Eytan, https://www.flickr.com/photos/taedc/47651052842/in/album-72157680084862758/

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BACKGROUND

Updating the language in the existing Comprehensive Plan to favor new housing and prevent displacement is critical if we are to create a city that provides for enough housing for an inclusive District of Columbia. The 2006 Comprehensive Plan focused too much on preserving the status quo rather than planning for a growing population and the need for more housing that is affordable to middle and lower-income residents. Opponents of new housing have used the 2006 Comprehensive Plan to delay thousands of new homes, and hundreds of new affordable homes -- increasing rather than reducing displacement of long-time residents.

That's why we developed dozens of amendments, and also partnered with other organizations to craft and submit numerous amendments to the Comprehensive Plan, and why you sent in hundreds of emails to the Council last year.

On July 10, 2019, the DC Council took a preliminary vote on the Comprehensive Plan bill  proposed by Chairman Phil Mendelson. The final vote is now planned for October 8 (rescheduled fromr September 17).

While the Chairman adopted a significant number of our amendments, and the Office of Planning's amendments, the Chairman's revised bill still needs to better address our city's greatest needs.

  1. The bill should be more specific about how affordable housing and preventing displacement will be prioritized in the Planned Unit Development (PUD) approval process.
  2. One major amendment in July went in the wrong direction by making “physical and visual character” more important than any of our other values like preventing displacement and building more affordable housing. This language would have an exclusionary impact, and must be amended.

Take Action

We are joining with our allies in the Housing Priorities Coalition and asking the DC Council to adopt two amendments to the Comprehensive Plan Bill, B23-1:

Amendment 1: Proposed by Councilmember Nadeau, add to the end of 224.9 that the following should be considered as high-priority public benefits in the evaluation of residential Planned Unit Developments:

  • The production of new affordable housing units above and beyond existing legal requirements, and/or a net increase in the number of affordable units that exist on-site, 
  • The preservation of housing units made affordable through subsidy, covenant, or rent control, or replacement of such units at the same affordability level and a similar household size, 
  • The minimizing of unnecessary off-site relocation through the construction of new units before the demolition of existing occupied units, and
  • The right of existing residents of a redevelopment site to return to new on-site units at affordability levels similar to or greater than existing units.

Amendment 2: To section 227.2, remove this section entirely or replace it with the following amendment proposed by DC Office of Planning:

227.2.  Each land use category identifies representative zoning districts and states that other zoning districts may apply. A zoning district may be appropriate to be mapped, either through the Planned Unit Development or zoning map amendment process, if it is not inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan, including the Future Land Use and Generalized Policy maps, the text of the Plan and the intent of the land use category. Under Zoning Regulations, a proposed Planned Unit Development should not “result in unacceptable project impacts on the surrounding area.”

This removes or replaces current language:

227.2.  Each land use category identifies representative zoning districts and states that other zoning districts may apply.  The Zoning Commission, in selecting a  zone district, such as through a Planned Unit Development or Zoning Map Amendment, shall determine if it:

  *   Is not inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan;

  *   Meets the intent of the Future Land Use Map land use category;

  *   Is generally compatible with the character and scale of the Future Land Use Map land use category when considering the site in total; and

  *   Is generally compatible with the physical and visual character of the  surrounding neighborhood.