COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Committee of the Whole

1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20004

 

 

TO:                       Nyasha Smith, Secretary to the Council

               

FROM:              Phil Mendelson, Chairman

                                                               

DATE:                October 7, 2019

 

 

This is to request that an amendment in the nature of a substitute (ANS) for Bill 23-1, the Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2019, be placed on the agenda for the October 8, 2019 Legislative Meeting.

 

                The purpose of the ANS is to provide amendments proposed by members of Council and other entities, as well as to make numerous minor and technical changes, following first reading of the bill on July 9, 2019.  Among the more important changes, the proposed amendment includes the following:

 

§  Sections 218 to 223, the Guiding Principles, now include four new principles on equity, participation, and resilience. Additional language on equity is provided in Section 213 and other sections.

§  Section 224.9 includes language regarding measures to address displacement, along with affordable housing, as a high priority benefit for consideration in the evaluation of Planned Unit Developments. 

§  Section 227.2, relating to the Zoning Commission’s review of zone districts, has been refined for clarity. The Office of Planning requested changes to this section on September 11, 2019. In response to the Office of Planning’s letter, I note that the Council has the authority to provide direction to the Zoning Commission through the Comprehensive Plan, and indeed, that is the primary way for the Council to do so.   OP’s argument that earlier language violated the Home Rule Act is specious and in fact overlooks and contradicts other provisions long accepted in the comprehensive plan.

§  Sections 227.4 to 227.13, the Future Land Use Map categories, have been amended to use Floor Area Ratios (FAR), a measure of density, rather than building height/stories as part of the category description, and the number of zone districts provided as examples have been reduced.  FAR is the best measure of density but it is expected that the Zoning Regulations will continue to specify dimensional requirements like height and setbacks.  Also, no one should read any meaning into the shorter list of zone districts that illustrates each category.  In my view the shorter list engenders less confusion or disagreement.

§  Sections 225.12 and 229.3 include language regarding leveraging opportunities for public value from public actions.

 

                A copy of the draft amendment is attached.  Please call me or Ms. Julia Koster if you have any questions at (202) 724-7130. 

 

cc:           All Councilmembers

                Council Officers

 

 

Julia Koster

District of Columbia Council

Committee of the Whole

The John A. Wilson Building, Room 410

1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20004

jkoster@dccouncil.us

202.724.7130