We wish to express our support for Robert Miller to be confirmed as a Zoning Commission member. I have personally worked with Rob through several Council chairs and have always found him to be respectful of input from D.C. residents, thoughtful and diligent in his analysis, and deeply committed to making D.C. a better place for all of its residents to live and work.

The following comments on the Draft Programmatic Agreement (PA) for the Tri-County Parkway (TCP) are submitted on behalf of the Southern Environmental Law Center, the Piedmont Environmental Council, the Coalition for Smarter Growth, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the National Parks Conservation Association. Our organizations recognize the irreplaceable value of Manassas National Battlefield Park (Battlefield).

We are pleased to express our support for the 1900 Chapman Ave project which will replace the old Syms building and surface parking lot with two street-oriented moderate-density apartment buildings. These new homes will be within a few hundred feet of the Twinbrook Metro station. We commend this proposal as the kind of transit-oriented development this city and region needs to remain sustainable and competitive.

As the opening of the Interstate 495 Express Lanes on northern Virginia’s Capital Beltway draws closer, backers of the $2 billion project say they cannot guarantee the four new HOT lanes will achieve the goal of reducing traffic congestion while simultaneously returning a profit for their private sector operator.

The key to a sustainable and equitable future for our region is a network of transit-oriented communities which mix a range of housing with jobs and services. We need the next generation of transit including streetcar, light rail, and bus rapid transit to expand high capacity transit service to more of our region, expanding access to jobs, reducingvehicle trips and fighting climate change. TOD not only maximizes transit trips but it also maximizes walking and bicycling trips as demonstrated by recent Council of Governments' travel surveys.