This additional testimony provides support for passing the Comp Plan swiftly. If changes are being considered, we recommend improving language to support permanent housing affordability and support for Community Land Trusts. This testimony also endorses the testimony of the Douglass Community Land Trust, DC’s District-wide community land trust.
Author: Cheryl Cort
ADU D.C. Homeowner’s Manual
How to Build an Accessory Apartment or Second Dwelling in the District of Columbia
The ADU D.C. Homeowner’s Manual is a product of the year-long ADU DC initiative launched in the spring of 2019. This effort was made possible with the support of founding funder Citi, and led by the United Planning Organization (UPO), along with its partner, the Coalition for Smarter Growth.
For more information on how to build an ADU, view the full resource folder here. Also, join our online forum on DC ADUs here.
Support DC Expanded Inclusionary Zoning
The DC Zoning Commission will hear the proposal for Expanded Inclusionary Zoning on Nov. 16, 2020 at 6:30pm.
Read our testimony in support of Expanded IZ:
You can read our preliminary support in July 2020 for this proposal: CSG’s testimony here, and our joint support with Housing Priorities Coalition testimony. View Expanded IZ Case No. 20-02 Zoning Commission hearing notice and case documents here.
Sign up to testify at the 11/16/20 hearing, 6:30pm, Case Number 20-02 here.
DC Comp Plan Testimony Workshop Materials
DC Housing Priorities Coalition provided a testimony workshop for the DC Comp Plan on October 27 in preparation of the DC Council hearing on the Comp Plan scheduled for Nov. 12 and 13, 2020.
YouTube Recording of 10/27/20 Testimony Workshop
What is the Comp Plan? Housing Priorities Coalition Presentation
CSG Model Letter to DC Council in Support of the Comp Plan
Greater Greater Washington Petition
Housing Priorities Coalition letter to DC Council in support of the Comp Plan, Sept. 30, 2020
Blog post by Greater Greater Washington: Here’s how you can weigh in to make sure the Comp Plan will help, not hurt, housing production in DC
HAND’s webpage on the Comp Plan
DC Comprehensive Plan webpage: https://plandc.dc.gov/
Expanded Inclusionary Zoning – learn about it and sign up to testify for the Nov. 16, 2020 hearing. Housing Priorities Coalition Testimony on Expanded IZ proposal by OP. View Expanded IZ case no. 20-02 Zoning Commission notice and case documents here. Sign up for 11/16/20 hearing, 6:30pm, case number 20-02 here.
Housing Priorities Coalition
The Housing Priorities Coalition is: Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development (CNHED) 🞄 Coalition for Smarter Growth 🞄 DC Fiscal Policy Institute 🞄 Enterprise Community Partners 🞄 Greater Greater Washington 🞄 Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers (HAND) 🞄 Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) 🞄 Somerset Development 🞄 United Planning Organization (UPO)
About the DC Housing Priorities Coalition
The Housing Priorities Coalition formed in 2016 to help update the DC Comprehensive Plan, the land use policy that guides development decisions in the District. (Learn more from DC Office of Planning on the DC Comprehensive Plan amendment process at: plandc.dc.gov). See the full Housing Priorities Coalition amendment package here. The Housing Priorities Coalition’s guiding principles for amending the DC Comprehensive Plan are:
- Meet the housing demand
- Equitably distribute housing
- Best utilize areas near transit
- Include families: ensure homes for people of all income levels and of all household sizes, including families.
- Prioritize affordable housing as a community benefit
- Preserve existing affordable housing
- Protect tenants
- Support neighborhood commercial corridors
- Clarify zoning authority
- Improve data collection and transparency
Testimony & factsheets
Housing Priorities Coalition Testimony Workshop Materials
Housing Priorities Coalition urges Chairman Mendelson & DC Council to pass Comp Plan this year (Sept. 30, 2020)
Housing Priorities Coalition Support for Expanded Inclusionary Zoning
View more here
Event: We can make Ward 3 a more welcoming place
Help Take Down Ward 3’s
Invisible Walls
September 29, 2020 at 7:30pm via Zoom
View the recording of the event here.
Ward3Vision, CSG, and Cleveland Park Smart Growth present a forum to learn how we can address our history of segregation and open up Ward 3 to a greater diversity of housing options
A long and ugly history of housing and land use practices and regulations have segregated neighborhoods by race and class in the District, particularly in Ward 3. These ‘invisible walls’ impact us to this day.
The legacy of institutionalized practices of discrimination is our present lack of choices in housing types, limited range of home prices, lack of affordable housing, and limited diversity among the people who live in Ward 3 neighborhoods.
Ward3Vision invites you to join us for a forum to discuss how we got here and what can be done to take down those invisible walls. We will be looking back at that history and ahead to Comprehensive Plan updates, now pending before the DC Council. We’ll examine how updating the Comprehensive Plan is an important step in turning the tide against racism in the District.
Join us to learn about actions you can take to achieve a more livable, equitable and just city.
Participants in this discussion include
Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh
DC Office of Planning Director Andrew Trueblood and Anita Cozart, Deputy Director, Community Planning and Design
Neil Flanagan, architectural designer and researcher, contributor to Greater Greater Washington, and the Washingotn City Paper; author of “The Battle of Fort Reno”
Dan Reed, urban planner, writer, and contributor to Greater Greater Washington, and the Washingtonian.
Moderated by Matthew Bell, FAIA, Professor of Architecture, University of Maryland and Principal, Perkins Eastman.
A Ward3Vision event co-sponsored by Coalition for Smarter Growth, Cleveland Park Smart Growth.
Ward3Vision is a group of residents who can imagine our neighborhoods as even better urban places – more walkable, sustainable, and vibrant.
Photo credit: Susan Kimmel