Category: CSG in the News

CSG in the News: ‘We’re Going To Run Out Of Space To Build Housing’: D.C. Mayor On How To Add Density In Upper NW

Posted on September 25, 2019October 21, 2021 by Cheryl Cort

‘We’re Going To Run Out Of Space To Build Housing’: D.C. Mayor On How To Add Density In Upper NW

by Jon Banister, Bisnow Washington DC, September 23, 2019

To achieve her goal of adding 36,000 housing units to the District by 2025, Mayor Muriel Bowser said the city will need to have difficult conversations.

Bowser discussed strategies for adding density in Upper Northwest D.C. on an Urban Land Institute panel Friday, after ULI presented its recommendations for allowing more housing development in the Rock Creek West area….

The area west of Rock Creek Park has seen significantly less housing development in recent years than other sections of the District. Bowser said earning the support of residents of that area for new housing requires talking about the issue in a different way….

One of the primary roadblocks to building new housing in recent years, city officials and developers agree, has been the deluge of appeals that have delayed dozens of projects in court….

A consequence of the appeals has been developers beginning to abandon the planned-unit development process, which allows greater density in exchange for community benefits, Coalition for Smarter Growth Policy Director Cheryl Cort said. The majority of appeals have challenged the Zoning Commission approval of PUD projects.

“The planned-unit development process is broken, and in fact, we don’t have to worry about lawsuits anymore because hardly anyone is filing planned unit developments,” Cort said. “It’s hardly a perfect process, but it was designed to bring the community into a discussion rather than just a matter-of-right deal. We’re losing that opportunity.”

CSG in the News: Alexandria City Council Puts Seminary Road on a Diet

Posted on September 24, 2019October 21, 2021 by Cheryl Cort

Alexandria City Council Puts Seminary Road on a Diet

City slims four-lane thoroughfare into Complete Street with bike lanes.

By Bridgette Adu-Wadier, Alexandria Gazette Packet, Saturday, September 21, 2019

Seminary Road is about to go on a diet, slimming down from four lanes to two.

Last weekend, the Alexandria City Council narrowly approved a plan to remove two traffic lanes from a stretch of Seminary Road. The “road diet” will create new bike lanes and improve pedestrian safety along a busy stretch in the West End. The four-to-three vote was cast Saturday night after a contentious day-long public hearing….

“When you expand roads, you can attract more drivers, but when you cut roads and invest in better alternatives, traffic will adjust,” said Stewart Schwartz of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, a supporter of the road diet. “We will still be driving, but the more people we have not driving because of alternatives will be safer and better for us.”

View full story in the Alexandria Gazette Packet here.

CSG in the News: There’s another delay for changes to D.C.’s comp plan. This is why.

Posted on September 17, 2019October 21, 2021 by Cheryl Cort

There’s another delay for changes to D.C.’s comp plan. This is why.

By Alex Koma – Staff Reporter, Washington Business Journal

…Over the last few days, everyone from a member of the Zoning Commission to the head of the District’s Office of Planning to prominent housing activists have expressed consternation over the comp plan changes. While their concerns vary slightly, they generally agree on the same few issues — namely, they fear the plan amendments still don’t do enough to prevent lawsuits from slowing the progress of large planned-unit developments, thereby endangering a key source of new housing for the District at a time when rent prices are soaring….

That’s a concern shared by housing advocates.

“It…undermines a lot of other things that are really important, like affordable housing and preventing displacement,” said Cheryl Cort, policy director for the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “It’s wiping out progress we thought we’d made with this legislation.”

Read the full Washington Business Journal story here.

CSG in the News: D.C. Council Chairman Postpones Comprehensive Plan Vote Amid Concerns Over His Changes

Posted on September 17, 2019October 21, 2021 by Cheryl Cort

D.C. Council Chairman Postpones Comprehensive Plan Vote Amid Concerns Over His Changes

by Jon Banister, Bisnow Washington, D.C., September 16, 2019

The D.C. Council has postponed a key vote on the District’s Comprehensive Plan after planners and housing advocates raised concerns over a recent addition to the bill.

Council Chairman Phil Mendelson removed the final vote on amendments to the Comprehensive Plan’s Framework Element from the agenda for Tuesday’s legislative meeting and rescheduled the vote to Oct. 8, his spokesperson, Lindsey Walton, confirmed. “We’ve received a number of comments, most of these before first readings but more discussion since then, to address issues of displacement and promoting affordable housing and so we’ve been working on what I would call tweaks to enhance what the document says with regard to those issues,” Mendelson said during a Monday press conference.

D.C. Planning Director Andrew Trueblood sent Mendelson a letter last week detailing concerns over additions to the amendments that he said could make it easier for development opponents to delay projects by appealing them in court. He called for the additions to be removed or significantly revised. Advocates including Coalition for Smarter Growth shared Trueblood’s concerns and supported his recommendations…

Read full Bisnow story here.

CSG in the News: New D.C. Comp Plan Bill Could ‘Open A Pandora’s Box’ To More Development Appeals

Posted on September 12, 2019October 21, 2021 by Cheryl Cort

New D.C. Comp Plan Bill Could ‘Open A Pandora’s Box’ To More Development Appeals

by Jon Banister, Bisnow Washington, D.C., September 12, 2019

The D.C. Council is nearing a final vote on the first set of amendments to the city’s comprehensive plan, but planning officials and advocates are raising concerns around changes that they say could allow more of the appeals that have delayed dozens of developments….

Director of Planning Andrew Trueblood sent a letter Wednesday to Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, which he shared with Bisnow, detailing issues with specific additions the council made to the plan that he said could lead more housing developments to become stuck in court. “What we think this language does is it adds to the uncertainty,” Trueblood tells Bisnow. “When you have uncertainty, often that can result in more litigation. We are trying to create a Framework Element and a remainder of the Comprehensive Plan that is clearer to avoid uncertainty, ambiguity and unnecessary litigation.”…

Coalition for Smarter Growth Policy Director Cheryl Cort raised concerns around the same section of the bill, which she described as a “crisis.”

“The PUD language in the council version of this bill opens up a Pandora’s box for new litigation,” Cort said. “This whole exercise was supposed to resolve this issue with the court where thousands of new homes were held up in appeals. This bill does the opposite. It throws us into greater uncertainty.”

Cort said she supports the revisions that Trueblood proposed to resolve the issue. She added that the specific language around neighborhood character is reminiscent of past methods of blocking new housing development.

“It really smacks of exclusionary zoning that has been used in the past to perpetuate housing segregation,” Cort said.

A Mendelson spokesperson tells Bisnow the chairman’s office has heard recent concerns from members of the public around language in the bill and is continuing to review the issues ahead of the scheduled vote.

Read full story here.

Read the DC Office of Planning Letter here. Note: DC Council vote is now scheduled for October 8, 2019.

CSG in the News: An Amazon warehouse instead of offices. Zoning tool allows changes with little scrutiny

Posted on September 4, 2019October 21, 2021 by Cheryl Cort

An Amazon warehouse instead of offices. Townhouses in place of an airport. Zoning ‘tool’ allows changes with little scrutiny.

By Rachel Chason, The Washington Post, September 3 at 5:00 PM

Grassy hills where residents were promised bustling office buildings could now hold a massive warehouse. A small airport could be replaced with more than 500 townhouses. A church property could include housing for the elderly.

Each of the projects is dependent on fast-track changes to existing zoning by the Prince George’s County Council, which relies on bills called “text amendments” to circumvent what lawmakers describe as an outdated and cumbersome zoning process…

“It is important to have consistency and certainty,” said Stewart Schwartz, who heads the D.C.-based Coalition for Smarter Growth, noting that in other jurisdictions, a change as substantial as the proposed warehouse would likely have gone through full zoning review processes.

See full story here.

CSG in the News: D.C. wants more accessory dwelling units

Posted on August 9, 2019October 8, 2021 by Cheryl Cort

From the Washington Business Journal:

D.C. wants more accessory dwelling units. But financing and permitting remain key roadblocks, advocates say.

By Alex Koma – Staff Reporter, Washington Business Journal

Aug 6, 2019

The District changed its zoning laws three years ago to allow the construction of more accessory dwelling units in the city than ever before — but can homeowners actually secure the permits and financing they need to take advantage of that change?

In too many cases, housing developers and advocates say the answer is a clear “no.”

Accordingly, they’re turning to the public and private sectors alike for help in breaking down barriers across each one of those twin issue areas: finding financing for homeowners looking to build ADUs and helping them navigate the District’s permit process….

“Anyone trying to do this, they’re becoming an amateur developer going through the permitting process,” said Cheryl Cort, policy director at the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “How can we make it understandable so they know what to expect, and it’s predictable?”

See full Washington Business Journal story here.

CSG in the News: What It Takes To Build Accessory Dwelling Units (And Why Some People Oppose Them)

Posted on July 26, 2019August 9, 2019 by Cheryl Cort

Thursday, Jul 25 2019 • 12 p.m. (ET)

What It Takes To Build Accessory Dwelling Units (And Why Some People Oppose Them)

Listen to the Kojo Nnamdi Show, WAMU

On the Kojo Nnamdi show, CSG’s Jane Lyons joins the discussion on the the Montgomery County Council’s decision to reduce restrictions for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) despite some residents voicing opposition.

Guests

Rebecca Tan Local reporter, The Washington Post; @rebtanhs

Hilary Phillips-Rogers Executive member of the Greater Olney Civic Association

Jane Lyons Maryland Advocacy Manager, Coalition for Smarter Growth; @janeplyons

Ileana Schinder Washington, D.C. Architect; @IleanaSchinder

Listen to WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi show here.

CSG in the News: Metrobus Gets Low Marks For Speed And Schedule Reliability

Posted on July 11, 2019October 21, 2021 by Cheryl Cort

by Jordan Pascale, WAMU | JUL 11.2019

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.

CSG in the News: Report: Traffic jams push DC riders off buses, but fixes possible

Posted on July 10, 2019October 21, 2021 by Cheryl Cort

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.