DCFPI Appleseed CSG joint Public Land fact sheet March 2014
Author: Cheryl Cort
CSG testimony opposing 19-acre warehouse at Westphalia Town Center
View PDF here: 2019.07.16 CSG testimony opposing Westphaila Ctr DSP changes_FNL
July 16, 2019
The Hon. Elizabeth M. Hewlett, Chairman
Prince George’s County Planning Board,
14741 Governor Oden Bowie Drive
Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
Re: Deny the proposed Item #9. DSP-19008 WESTPHALIA CENTER (SNAPPER), and Item #10. DDS-657 WESTPHALIA CENTER (SNAPPER)
Dear Chair Hewlett and members of the Board:
Please accept these comments on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading organization in the Washington, D.C. region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. Our mission is to promote walkable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities, and the land use and transportation policies and investments needed to make those communities flourish.
We are writing to request the Board to deny the proposed Detailed Site Plan (DSP) for Westphalia Center (Snapper). This proposed DSP is clearly not complaint with the Westphalia Sector Plan or the Plan Prince George’s 2035 Approved General Plan. The proposed industrial land use for the site will not fulfill the intent of these plans, which specify that uses should create a mixed-use, walkable town center.
The staff report states that the DSP supports the purposes of the M-X-T zone:
[(2)] To implement recommendations in the approved General Plan, Master Plans, and Sector Plans, by creating compact, mixed-use, walkable communities enhanced by a mix of residential, commercial, recreational, open space, employment, and institutional uses;
Phase I included residential uses only, and this DSP is for a merchandise logistics center, which will add a major employment use that is walkable to the remainder of the town center. As one of the phases of a larger mixed-use development, this DSP will help to create a compact, mixed-use, and walkable neighborhood, including a mix of residential, commercial, recreational, open space, employment, and institutional uses as anticipated in the approved CSP-07004-02.
It strains credulity to assert that a 19-acre monolithic warehouse building, measuring 1,198 feet by 558 feet, surrounded by 1,800 surface parking spaces is contributing to a compact, walkable, mixed-use town center. The staff suggests that the current forested site, adjacent to a residential use could be accessed on foot. However, no pedestrian pathway from the residential development to the proposed building is indicated in the plans. There is no illustration of how a pedestrian would walk across the woodland buffer and the expansive surface parking lot to a door of the large building. In addition, the main truck route to and from the loading docks – with 18-wheel trucks day and night — would cut between the warehouse and existing residential community at Westphalia. This is a mammoth warehouse and distribution center – it is not a component of a mixed-use, walkable, urban community in any way.
The staff report notes that:
On June 18, 2019, the District Council adopted and enacted Prince George’s County Council Bills CB-018-2019 and CB-019-2019; CB-018-2019 for the purpose of adding a definition of a merchandise logistics center and amending the definition of regional urban community in the Zoning Ordinance; and CB-019-2019 for the purpose of amending the regulations of the M-X-T Zone.
This substantial change to the M-X-T zone is contrary to the intent of the M-X-T zone to create mixed-use, walkable, urban communities which would match the success of similar communities in other jurisdictions across the region, and as noted above, is contrary to the intent of both the Westphalia Sector Plan and the county’s 2035 General Plan.
The key to the county’s economic development, particularly in higher paying jobs, is to support and promote walkable, mixed-use, urban centers. Once the county committed to Westphalia as a mixed-use center, a vision promised to the current residents of the first phase, the county must stick with that commitment. Changing the M-X-T zone to allow warehouses and distribution centers will undermine the value of both existing and future mixed-use centers, because no developer, small business, or residential buyer could count on their investment retaining its value. While the County Council may have amended definitions for the M-X-T zone, the DSP must still conform to town center characteristics described and defined in the Westphalia Plan and the General Plan.
We recognize the need for industrial and distribution jobs, but there are other locations available for the proposed distribution center that would have less impact an existing residential and mixed-use community. One such location is the identically-sized, 80-acre old Landover Mall site at the Capital Beltway interchange with MD 202, which we understand is for sale.
We urge the Board to reject the current proposal. We ask the Board to encourage such uses in more appropriate locations to utilize existing transportation infrastructure and to promote uses more in line with the County’s long-term development goals. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Cheryl Cort
Policy Director
CSG in the News: Metrobus Gets Low Marks For Speed And Schedule Reliability
by Jordan Pascale, For a month, Metrobus has been under the microscope. MetroHero, an app created by local transit enthusiasts to help track trains and buses, partnered with the Coalition for Smarter Growth to examine routes for speed and reliability. Now the Metrobus Report Card is out and the results are not good. The group gave Metrobus a “D” grade.
Stewart Schwartz and Cheryl Cort of the Coalition for Smarter Growth said they want to use the results to advocate for more traffic signal prioritization, among other measures, to speed buses up and keep them running on time.
“The bus performance scores aren’t great, but it’s our hope that our findings spark more action on dedicated bus lanes and other bus improvements,” Schwartz said.
The report says more riders will take the bus if service is reliable, trip times are predictable and buses come frequently.
See the full WAMU story here.
CSG in the News: Report: Traffic jams push DC riders off buses, but fixes possible
CSG in WTOP:
Report: Traffic jams push DC riders off buses, but fixes possible
by Max Smith | @amaxsmith, July 10, 2019, WTOP
Taking the bus is too frustrating in D.C., and major changes are needed if the city is going to deal with significant problems facing commuters, a new Metrobus report card finds.
Buses are stuck in so much traffic and can be so inconsistent that the number of ride-hailing trips in D.C. through companies such as Uber and Lyft could surpass the number of trips taken on buses this year for the first time.
The report released Wednesday by the Coalition for Smarter Growth and MetroHero reviewed 34 routes on D.C.’s busiest bus corridors.
“The results of this analysis paint a striking picture of the problems Metrobus encounters on a daily basis: on these high-priority routes, service was found to be largely unreliable and unpredictable, with buses regularly arriving much later than scheduled and headways rarely being maintained,” the report said.
Of the 34 routes measured, 18 got F grades, 5 got Ds, 10 got Cs, 1 got a B and none got an A based on speeds and schedule adherence.
The average speed for the routes in May was just 9.5 mph, well short of an 11 mph goal.
The slowest corridor was 14th Street, while the worst schedule adherence was on the 39, X3 and 34.
The report, which also supports the regional Bus Transformation Project that’s meant to make similar recommendations across the region, urges the D.C. and Metro to:
— Add dedicated bus lanes to make trips more consistent and reduce delays (along with associated enforcement of bus lane rules with traffic officers or cameras).
— Allow all-door boarding to reduce time spent waiting at stops, which could include setting up mobile or off-board fare payment procedures.
— Expand transit signal priority and queue jumps that let buses enter an intersection from a stop before other traffic to let buses spend less time waiting at lights.
— More limited-stop routes and consolidate local stops that are very close together.
— Upgrade bus stops for accessibility and amenities.
— Give free transfers between bus and rail, and discount fares for low-income riders….
D.C. has only two miles of bus-only lanes — 1.4 miles of which is only temporary for the summer.
The city has promised 16th Street NW bus lanes in the next year or so, and bus lanes along K Street NW by 2024. But official city plans called for 25 miles of bus lanes to be in place in the 2020s.
The report card calls for 14th Street bus lanes in the near future, followed by bus lanes on U Street NW and Florida Avenue NE by 2024, North Capitol Street bus lanes by 2025, and improvements along M Street SE/SW and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE.
To do that, the report suggests phasing out parking on streets with the highest ridership bus routes to create lanes that serve more people.
Read full WTOP story here.
CSG in the News: New report card gives Metrobus service in the District a failing grade
CSG in the Washington Post: New report card gives Metrobus service in the District a failing grade
But an analysis says there’s hope for a better bus system if recommendations are carried out.
by Luz Lazo, Washington Post, July 10, 2019
Despite efforts to improve bus service in the District to make it a more attractive option for travel, it continues to be slow and unreliable, with some saying the situation has reached a crisis point.
A report card to be released Wednesday gives Metrobus a grade of D — barely passing.
“Transit is really in crisis,” said Cheryl Cort, policy director at the Coalition for Smarter Growth, which co-sponsored the report along with the MetroHero commute app. “We have been losing riders for quite a few years, and the speed and reliability of the bus just continues to decline.”
Metrobus’s grade was pulled down by some of its biggest — and well-known — problems: buses are commonly stuck in traffic gridlock, they aren’t properly spaced, and they are chronically late.
The good news is the system, which for a long time was an afterthought in a region that prioritizes Metro, is getting some attention….
The report card unveiled Wednesday concurs with the recommendations by the [Metro-led Bus Transformation] transportation project. Among them are making boarding easier through mobile or offboard payment systems; enhancing affordable options with free transfers between bus and rail and reduced-fare passes for low-income riders; and improving the rider experience with efficient next-bus technology, modern fleets, clear system maps, and safe and accessible bus stops….
The District this summer launched the H and I street NW bus lanes, aimed at speeding travel of about 70 buses an hour in the downtown corridors. Hill said that though the bus lanes are only a pilot, she hopes they will be made permanent. The District is also moving toward construction of a long-planned bus lane on 16th Street NW and a transitway in the congested K Street corridor, which carries a bulk of the routes servicing downtown.
“This is the right direction. These are the things D.C. should be doing,” she [co-author Jennifer Hill] said.
[Poll: Majority of Washington-area residents support bus-only lanes.]
Jeff Marootian, director of the District Department of Transportation, said the recent investments in the downtown bus lanes, along with the other bus priority plans, will make buses more attractive to riders and are part of the city’s strategy to decrease congestion and make the District’s transportation more sustainable.
Read the full Washington Post story here.
RELEASE: DC Bus Service gets a “D” on its Report Card
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 10, 2019
CONTACT
Cheryl Cort, Coalition for Smarter Growth
202-675-0016
cheryl@smartergrowth.net
DC Bus Service gets a “D” on its Report Card
Groups highlight how DC buses can be faster and more reliable
D.C. – Today, Coalition for Smarter Growth and MetroHero released a first-ever performance-based DC Bus Report Card. Developed from real-time data collected in May 2019 by MetroHero, the report shows DC’s major bus routes suffer from poor reliability and sluggish speeds, factors that are likely major contributors to the system’s declining ridership. The analysis of the report card can be found here.
“Our analysis shows the challenges Metrobus riders encounter on a daily basis. On the city’s priority corridors with high-ridership routes, we found service to be generally unreliable and unpredictable, with speeds slower than 10 mph,” said Jennifer Hill, Ph.D., Lead Researcher at MetroHero.
“The slow speeds and lack of on-time reliability are contributing factors in declining ridership. But we know how to turn this around: give buses priority on the streets, speed up boarding, balance bus stop spacing, and provide customer-focused service,” said Cheryl Cort, Policy Director for the Coalition for Smarter Growth.
MetroHero analyzed bus performance for 34 routes in DC’s highest ridership corridors in May 2019, focusing on three key factors: adherence to designated headways, adherence to scheduled arrival times, and average travel speed. Bus speeds on these routes averaged just 9.5 mph over the entire month, confirming other data showing that Metrobus speeds across the entire system have been getting slower every year.
“We hope that this report will be a useful tool to inform decision-makers about where DC’s buses need the most help and what solutions will have the greatest impact for riders,” said Hill.
DC and Metro are stepping up to implement improvements to bus service. DC recently implemented pilot bus lanes on H and I Streets downtown, and is planning to run bus lanes on 16th Street and K Street in the near future. The city has also implemented traffic signal priority and queue jumps on several corridors.
On an average weekday, Metrobuses transport over 200,000 riders around the District of Columbia to and from work, school, doctor appointments, grocery stores, entertainment, and more. Buses offer transit service far beyond the reach of Metrorail.
“This is an important moment for DC’s bus service. Buses are the most efficient use of limited public street space for moving people, and critical if the city is to grow without choking on traffic. We are encouraged by recent city actions, but urge the Bowser administration to make moving buses truly a top priority on our city’s streets,” said Cort.
About the Coalition for Smarter Growth
The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading organization in the Washington DC region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. Our mission is to promote walkable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities, and the land use and transportation policies and investments needed to make those communities flourish. Learn more at smartergrowth.net.
About MetroHero
MetroHero (www.dcmetrohero.com), which began as a simple app designed to visualize real-time train positions in the D.C. Metrorail system, has been monitoring and providing performance metrics on WMATA’s trains for over three years. The app has gained popularity with many area commuters, averaging roughly 15,000 unique users every month, largely due to its unique real-time visualizations of the current state of the Metrorail system, from train delays and service outages to user-driven reports of inconveniences such as station crowding and broken intercoms. In September 2018, the MetroHero team extended a number of their train performance tracking algorithms to the Metrobus system, which they used to gather performance data for the report card.
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CSG support for Prince George’s Countywide Sectional Map Amendment
CSG Support of Prince George’s County Council advancing SMA
July 2, 2019
The Honorable Todd Turner, Chairman
Committee of the Whole
Prince George’s County Council
RE: Support for:
CB-011-2019, An Ordinance Concerning the Countywide Sectional Map Amendment;
CR-026-2019, A Resolution Concerning the Countywide Sectional Map Amendment;
CR-027-2019, A Resolution Concerning Preparation of a Countywide Sectional Map Amendment and Approval of Goals, Concepts, and Guidelines; and Public Participation Program
Dear Chair Turner and members of the committee:
Please accept these comments on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading organization working locally in the Washington, DC metropolitan region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. Our mission is to promote walkable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities, and the land use and transportation policies and investments needed to make those communities flourish.
We wish to express our support for initiating the countywide sectional map amendment to advance the implementation of the zoning rewrite enacted by this Council in the fall of 2018. This zoning rewrite is a significant advance for the county. We appreciate that this is an important change for the county, and we commend the level of public engagement required to implement the countywide sectional map amendment.
This change is worth the effort because it replaces the county’s current obsolete and cumbersome zoning regulations which are holding back the county. Here are some of the ways the zoning and subdivision process will improve:
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Design and building form standards: the document establishes transit-oriented zones at the local and regional scales to support the goals of walkable urbanism, creating walkable, and bikable areas that are well-connected to transit;
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Parking standards for urban and transit-oriented areas: the zoning rewrite reduces excessive minimum parking requirements in transit-oriented centers in order to support more multimodal designs and uses.
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Street designs: the revisions require interconnected streets, shorter blocks, and pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. It implements newly adopted urban street design standards that support walk and bike friendly streets.
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Transportation demand management: the regulations also establish progressive traffic reduction measures that emphasize encouraging more people to ride transit if available, bicycle, share rides and walk.
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Ease of use: The zoning and subdivision regulations are presented in a more readable format providing tables and graphic illustrations to better understand and visualize the standards.
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Ending perpetual approvals: The proposed rules establish limits on approvals after a number of years. Today, approvals are allowed to live on forever, despite significant changes that may occur after initially projected conditions. While some of the provisions seem overly generous, setting the proposed limits would be a big step forward for the county.
Adopt this critical reform
We believe implementation of the zoning and subdivision rewrite is a tremendous improvement for the county and the community. It is a once in a generation opportunity. We urge the Council to vote to initiate the countywide sectional map amendment process in order to keep the zoning rewrite timeline on track. The countywide sectional map amendment is the next essential step to ensuring the timely implementation of the county’s modernized zoning and subdivision regulations.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Cheryl Cort
Policy Director
CSG Support of PGC advancing SMA
Tell Councilmember Todd you support flexible commute options!
We’ve got to convince Councilmember Todd to vote for flexible commuter benefits
For several years, we’ve been working on a bill at the D.C. Council for flexible commuter benefits. The bill would let anyone who gets a parking benefit from their employer to put the equivalent value towards their biking, bus, Metro, or walking commute. It’s a change that would give D.C. workers more flexibility and take cars off the road – at no additional cost to employers.
We are now at a political crossroads. To advance the bill out of the Council committee, we need one more vote – either Councilmember McDuffie or Todd (we’ve already got Councilmembers Cheh and Allen). Please help us encourage these Councilmembers to support the bill. Show your Councilmember that his constituents are paying attention and want flexible commuter benefits!
Click here to let Councilmember Todd know that you support this important bill.
What’s in the bill?
The Transportation Benefits Equity Amendment Act 2019 Bill 23-148 builds on the existing pre-tax transit benefit employers offer to employees at no cost. This bill requires that if an employee turns down a parking space offered by their employer, they would be provided the equivalent value for an alternative commute benefit – like riding transit, walking or bicycling.
B23-148 is largely the same as last year’s bill, applying to employers with 20 or more employees that choose to subsidize employee car parking. One change in the reintroduced bill exempts employers that own their parking spaces. While the Coalition for Smarter Growth is disappointed in this provision, overall, B23-148 is an important bill to reduce traffic and pollution, encourage more sustainable commuting, and give employees better transportation choices.
Email your councilmember today.
To win this groundbreaking commuter benefits bill, we need you! As a constituent of Ward 4 Councilmember Todd, let him know that you to support this bill.
Want to do more? Call Councilmember Todd‘s office 202-724-8052 and politely tell their staff (or leave a voicemail) that you support the commuter benefits bill (Bill 23-148).
Have questions on the policy, the details, or what else we have to say on flexible commuter benefits? Check out our factsheet here, and our issue page here, or reply to this email with your question!
Photo/credit Womanonbike_
