The plan has benefitted from very extensive community involvement and input, particularly regarding the need to preserve and add affordable housing. We commend the community, and our affordable housing partners in particular, for helping to shape this plan and increase the number of committed affordable units. The plan has also benefited from the developer’s early inclusion of the nation’s top new urbanist architecture, town planning and transportation experts.
Category: Transit-Oriented Development
Principles Linking Smart Growth & Stormwater
eams that feed it. Stormwater runoff from farms and development gouges out streams and pours pollutants such as farm and lawn fertilizers, livestock waste, and oil and gasoline from cars and trucks into the very water we drink and depend on for food and recreation. As our communities have spread out and our daily activities have become increasingly separated and car-dependent, we have consumed thousands of acres of forest and farm land for parking lots, roads and highways to accommodate our vehicles. This explosive increase in land consumption for paved or impervious surface has exacerbated and continues to exacerbate the stormwater runoff problem throughout the Chesapeake region.
Where and How Should Prince George’s Grow?
On January 26, 2012, leaders gathered with the Coalition for Smarter Growth and Envision Prince George’s Community Action Team for Transit-Oriented Development to discuss where and how Prince George’s County should grow.
Testimony: Support for D.C.’s West End Library and Fire Station project
We wish to express our support for this project. The proposed project will leverage the value of public land to build a new West End Library, a new fire station on Square 50, along with complementary retail and residential units. The combined project of the new library on Square 37 and the new fire station offer a tremendous public benefit for the residents of the District of Columbia that is not otherwise possible. We are only able to create these new state-of-the-art public facilities due to a joint public-private partnership where the full subsidy for the public benefits is derived from the air rights above the public facilities. This project renews important outdated public facilities, and does it at no cost to the District.
DC: Support for Howard University Central Campus Master Plan
We wish to express our support for the Howard University Campus Plan. We especially want to commend the university for committing to the reconnection of several important streets – Bryant Street between Georgia Avenue and Sherman Avenue; W Street between Georgia and 9th St, NW; and, College Street between Georgia Ave. and 6th Street, NW. This commitment to reconnect these streets will have a major positive effect on the surrounding community and help mitigate traffic impact from campus growth. This was a key request by surrounding residents and civic groups. We applaud the university for its commitment to make these street connections.
Testimony: Support for D.C.’s Tenley Campus Law School Relocation and Construction Plan
We are here to express our support for the proposed actions under Case No. 11-07B by American University. Moving the AU law school to the Tenley location will take advantage of excellent transit access by Metrorail and Metrobus, and contribute to greater vitality for Wisconsin Avenue as a major commercial corridor. The Tenley campus plan sensitively increases capacity for the law school while respecting its historic buildings and neighbors.
Testimony: Charles County Comprehensive Plan Update – draft scenarios
Having been contacted by local community members, the Coalition for Smarter Growth has reviewed the proposed scenarios, the Land Use Market Analysis, and the Comprehensive Plan Scenario Evaluations. To summarize, we share the concern about the comparative evaluation of the two scenarios and believe that the scoring of a number of the factors fails to account for countervailing research and potential benefits that would support Scenario 1.
Fairfax: Testimony to the Planning Commission Tysons Corner Committee on Financing Transportation Improvements
First let me note that transit-oriented development can generate significant tax benefits for Fairfax as demonstrated by the Arlington experience. Arlington’s two Metro corridors occupy just 11 percent of their land and generate something like 50% of their property tax base, generating revenues that have supported improvements in neighborhoods across Arlington — recreation centers, traffic calming, parks and schools.
Get the Scoop! Polls, Demographics, and Demand for Smart Growth
Our region has seen strong revialization and increased demand to live in walkable, transit-accessible communities. This forum on August 17, 2011, featured two national experts speaking on a wealth of valuable and intriguing data on the potential demand for smart growth communities: Joe Molinaro of the National Association of Realtors and Shyam Kannan of the RCLCO.
Testimony: before the D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board in support of the Hine Junior High School project
We wish to express our support for the proposed project for the Hine Junior High School site and urge the HPRB to complete its review so that the project can move on to a Planned Unit Development review with the Zoning Commission. The proposed scale and overall design conform to the Capitol Hill Historic District and enhance key historic assets such as L’Enfant square on Pennsylvania Avenue and the market house.