Category: News

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.

RELEASE: CSG joins with United Planning Organization to Announce Launch of ADU DC, an Accessory Dwelling Unit Initiative in Washington, DC

Posted on August 6, 2019October 25, 2021 by Cheryl Cort

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Aug 6, 2019

**United Planning Organization Announces Launch of ADU DC, an Accessory Dwelling Unit Initiative in Washington, DC**

Initiative will catalyze affordable rental housing and increase financial stability for lower-income homeowners in Washington, DC

WASHINGTON, DC: Today, the United Planning Organization announced the launch of ADU DC, a pilot initiative to make accessory dwelling units (ADUs) more accessible to lower-income homeowners in Washington, DC. The initiative is presented by United Planning Organization in collaboration with Coalition for Smarter Growth and founding corporate supporter Citi Community Development.

An ADU is a secondary dwelling unit on a single family home lot, such as a basement or garage apartment or a free-standing structure. A 2016 change to DC’s zoning regulations allows for ADUs to be built as a matter of right in certain low-density residential neighborhoods. ADUs benefit homeowners by creating an income stream, while adding lower cost and affordable housing in existing neighborhoods.

ADU DC aims to help qualified homeowners build ADUs on their properties; give greater access to affordable and lower-priced housing in the District; and add housing stock by educating homeowners about ADU development, zoning, permitting, design, and financing.

“ADU DC has the potential to empower residents to create affordable housing in their own communities,” said Dana Jones, President and CEO, United Planning Organization. “Through this innovative approach, homeowners will be able to increase property values, age in place, build intergenerational wealth and grow new skill sets in development and property management.”

“In Washington, DC, approximately one in three Black residents is a homeowner. Yet, research shows that on average, Black households have lower home values and lower incomes than their White counterparts. As a result, Black households in DC have a net worth 81 times lesser than White households,” said Robert Burns, Senior Vice President, Citi Community Development. “Accessory dwelling units present a unique opportunity for homeowners to increase their incomes and begin to close the wealth gap. By supporting ADU DC we aim to help enable more homeowners to boost their financial resilience, while adding much-needed affordable housing for renters in the region.”

“In 2016, DC reformed its restrictions on accessory apartments, now we must ensure that homeowners, especially moderate and low income homeowners, can take full advantage of this new opportunity,” said Cheryl Cort, Coalition for Smarter Growth.

As part of the initiative, the Coalition for Smarter growth and UPO will produce “how to” guides, a report of barriers, a Homeowner’s ADU manual, a policy brief on financing for lower-income homeowners, and procedural recommendations for government.

ADU DC was announced at a multisector launch event featuring a panel of experts that highlighted current regulatory barriers, financing, and case studies from ADU initiatives nationwide.

“Mayor Bowser has set an ambitious goal for DC to create 36,000 more homes, 12,000 of which must be affordable,” said Polly Donaldson, Director, DC Department of Housing and Community Development. “In order to achieve this goal we must think differently, be bolder, and create new affordable housing tools; ADUs fit that bill and this initiative brings us one step closer to our goal.”

DC’s rapidly rising housing prices pose dire challenges to low income families. In the last decade, the city has lost half of its low-priced and affordable housing. DC’s lower-income households increasingly pay more than half of their incomes for housing, or are pushed out of the District’s housing market altogether. For older homeowners, rising values have been both a threat and an opportunity. Rising property taxes that follow increased values can be a threat to long-time homeowners on low and fixed incomes. But higher property values also mean greater wealth that can be used for retirement and shared with the next generation. This opportunity is especially important for African American homeowners who experience wide gaps in wealth with their White counterparts.

About United Planning Organization
United Planning Organization is a human and community development organization. As the Community Action Agency for Washington DC, UPO’s federally-mandated purpose is to help people lift themselves out of poverty. UPO surveys DC residents to learn the gaps in community needs and invents ways to bridge those gaps by uniting people with opportunities. A staff of 400 helps over 50,000 DC residents each year, with impacts in education, employment, health, housing counseling, and in strengthening families and communities.

About Citi
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

About Coalition for Smarter Growth
The Coalition for Smarter Growth promotes walkable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities in the Washington DC region, and the land use and transportation policies and investments needed to make those communities flourish. CSG combines grassroots advocacy with policy expertise, media communications, and relationships with elected officials to advance smart growth. After many years of effort, CSG helped reform ADU zoning restrictions for DC in 2016, and since then has worked to bring down the barriers to building ADUs.

CONTACT:
Lauren Kannry
lkannry@thorpesearl.com
202.491.1001

ADU DC Initiative Presentations

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.

RELEASE: Coalition calls on DC area leaders to transform the bus

Posted on July 25, 2019October 21, 2021 by Kara Young

Press Release

For immediate release: July 25, 2019

Contact: Stewart Schwartz, 703-599-6437

Coalition calls on DC area leaders to transform the bus

Washington DC: Bus services in the DC region carry 621,000 riders per day, almost as many as Metrorail. Yet, bus service is in trouble as buses are slowed by road congestion, competition from services like Uber and Lyft (which are adding to that congestion), and are seeing declining ridership. These are key concerns highlighted in the WMATA Bus Transformation Study being briefed to the WMATA board today. The Coalition for Smarter Growth (CSG) served on the study Executive Committee with leading business executives, a union representative and two other non-profit leaders. The study also included strategic and technical advisory committees comprised of government staff and advocates.

“CSG recently teamed with MetroHero on our own study of DC bus performance and confirmed the concerns in the Bus Transformation Study – buses were moving slower and becoming less reliable, scoring a ‘D’ on in our analysis,” said Cheryl Cort, Policy Director for the Coalition for Smarter Growth.

“The public is strongly supportive of better bus service,” said Stewart Schwartz, CSG’s Executive Director. “The most recent survey by the Bus Transformation Study of 2905 area residents and riders found that people overwhelming want to see dedicated bus lanes, more frequent service, free transfers from bus to rail, and more affordable fares.”

“We’ve always known what makes bus service effective – fast, frequent, reliable service, with affordable fares, good user information and safe, comfortable conditions at bus stops and on buses,” said Cheryl Cort. “The recommendations in our DC Bus Report Card, in the Bus Transformation Study, and the Greater Washington Partnership’s bus study, and WMATA’s 2018 study, all point to these same priorities.”

Recent press has highlighted some of the negative reactions by local and state jurisdictions to ideas in the Bus Transformation Study regarding potentially shifting some more local routes and service to the jurisdictions from WMATA. The jurisdictions, many of which have established their own bus systems over the years, expressed concerns about taking on the routes and the potential costs. However, they also generally supported the service improvement recommendations in the report.

“We urge the jurisdictions and WMATA not to get tied up in a fight over who runs which routes. Riders and potential riders want them to focus on service – how to make the buses faster, frequent, more reliable, easier to use, and more affordable for lower income residents,” said Schwartz. “Rather than arguing over who should run what, we need leadership that makes bus transformation a top regional priority.”

“We cannot address our region’s traffic challenges, improve access to jobs, or fight climate change, unless we make bus the mode of choice across wide swaths of our region. Rail and bus transit must be tied to compact, walkable, mixed-use, mixed-income development as much as possible if we are to address these challenges,” said Cort.

The study has six main elements with 27 recommendations. Three main customer facing elements are:

Bus system should be customer-focused and an easy-to-use option that people want to ride
1. Recommendations include marketing, better bus information including maps and bus route naming, mobile apps, free transfers, lower fares, and more employers offering transit benefits.
Prioritizing buses on major roads is the fiscally responsible way to move the most people quickly and reliably.
1. Recommendations include commitments by jurisdictions to giving buses priority, enforcement of priority lanes, and parking limits to provide for bus lanes.
Frequent and convenient bus service is fundamental to accessing opportunity, building and equitable region, and ensuring high quality of life
1. Recommendations include bus network redesign

The Coalition for Smarter Growth will be partnering with other advocacy organizations and business leaders in urging local leaders to follow-up release of the Bus Transformation report with concrete actions to dramatically improve bus service.

___________

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.

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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.

CSG in the News: New report card gives Metrobus service in the District a failing grade

Posted on July 10, 2019June 2, 2022 by Cheryl Cort

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

Posted on July 10, 2019June 2, 2022 by Cheryl Cort

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 16^th 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

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 in the News: Why local affordable housing orgs want to expand accessory apartments in Montgomery County

Posted on June 21, 2019July 1, 2019 by Jane Lyons

Why local affordable housing orgs want to expand accessory apartments in Montgomery County

By John Paukstis, Jane Lyons, Greater Greater Washington

Like much of the United States, Montgomery County is facing a critical housing shortage. Finding healthy, affordable housing near jobs and transit is extremely difficult for many people at varying income levels.

Earlier this year, Councilmember Hans Riemer introduced Zoning Text Amendment 19-01, which is aimed at making it easier for county homeowners to build accessory apartments (also known as Accessory Dwelling Units or ADUs) on their properties. Accessory apartments are separate apartments either within, attached to, or detached from a main unit—think English basements, garage apartments, and small backyard cottages.

Accessory apartments allow homeowners to flexibly use their largest asset, their home, as their family’s needs change. Accessory apartments also provide important economic, social, and environmental benefits including:

Providing critical rental revenue to a senior living on fixed income and looking to age in place
Utilizing existing infrastructure to provide additional housing without increasing sprawl
Increasing housing opportunities around transit, near jobs, and in desirable communities
Providing opportunities for multigenerational living while maintaining independence for all parties
Habitat for Humanity could build accessory apartments for low- to moderate-income residents or for adults with disabilities

Importantly, accessory apartments provide opportunities for families who cannot afford to buy a home, to access housing in areas of the county which are generally inaccessible to them otherwise. Much of Montgomery County is zoned for single family, detached homes. With an average home value of $450,000, many potential homebuyers are priced out of the market and unable to save a down payment due to the high cost of rent and living.

Accessory apartments offer an opportunity to expand housing options in highly desired neighborhoods, helping make our communities more diverse, no matter socioeconomic status, race, or ethnic identity. While we cannot guarantee that accessory apartments will be rented at or below market, studies from areas with large numbers of accessory apartments show that many units are rented below market rate and are affordable to families with modest incomes.

Moreover, accessory apartment size restrictions will limit the amount of rent that can be charged. Either way, renting an accessory apartment is more accessible to families than buying a home in the same neighborhood.

We believe that ZTA 19-01, with amendments unanimously approved by the Planning, Housing, and Economic Development committee, balances the desire of homeowners to build accessory apartments with concerns from the community around short-term rentals, parking, and storm water management.

Short-term rentals, including Airbnb, are explicitly prohibited and homeowners are required to live in either the main unit or the accessory apartment. Both units cannot be rented at once.
The amendments recommend waiving the additional parking requirement within one mile of a metro station. That said, additional off street parking is still required outside of the one mile metro radius at the same level as is currently required.
Under the ZTA, detached accessory apartments continue to be treated as accessory structures and must comply with the same lot coverage ratios deemed acceptable, in terms of storm water management, for a garage or shed.

The expansion of accessory apartments will not solve the affordable housing crisis, but we believe it is a critical tool in providing increased housing opportunities in desirable neighborhoods. That’s why the Montgomery Housing Alliance Action in Montgomery, Coalition for Smarter Growth, Habitat for Humanity Metro Maryland, Housing Opportunities Commission, Interfaith Works, Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless, Montgomery Housing Partnership, Rebuilding Together, and Victory Housing all strongly encourage residents and councilmembers to support ZTA 19-01.

Join Habitat for Humanity and the Coalition for Smarter Growth to voice your support for accessory apartments in Montgomery County!

—

You can read the full Greater Greater Washington post here.

CSG in the News: ADUs gaining in popularity across the country

Posted on June 6, 2019October 21, 2021 by Cheryl Cort

Cities’ interest in granny flats at ‘fever pitch’ amid U.S. housing crisis

by Carey L. Biron, MAY 20, 2019, Reuters

WASHINGTON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The U.S. capital is one of the most expensive cities in the country, but Derek Wright hopes to cover his housing costs with a novel strategy that local officials are keen to foster: He is becoming a small-scale landlord.

Very small-scale, that is. Wright is applying for a permit to turn his townhouse’s basement into a separate home, the rent from which he expects will cover more than half of his mortgage.

These types of projects are technically known as accessory dwelling units (ADUs), but are also called “granny flats”, “mother-in-law suites” or “English basements”….

And they are gaining popularity around the country, said Cheryl Cort, policy director for the non-profit Coalition for Smarter Growth, as policymakers in expensive cities look to them as a way to boost affordable housing.

Granny flats offer a low-cost housing solution because the land is already paid for, she said, and they are often built in more central parts of the city.

They have long been allowed in Washington, but in 2016 city officials tweaked the application rules with the aim of making the process easier, said Cort.

The city struck down various prohibitions and made it so “a homeowner can build one as a matter of right, for the most part,” she added.

Ileana Schinder, the architect who worked with Fazio and Wright on the designs and city approvals for their projects, said she has overseen the construction of about 20 granny flats in Washington over the past few years — and interest is climbing.

Many of Schinder’s prospective clients have been young families looking for additional income so they can stay in the city, as well as older people who need the financial boost to continue living in their homes….

View full story here.