Request for 9/22 Legislative Meeting (Union Station SOTC)

COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20004

MEMORANDUM

TO: Nyasha Smith, Secretary to the Council

FROM: Phil Mendelson, Chairman

Councilmember Charles Allen

DATE: September 17, 2020

RE: Request to Place Measure on the Agenda for the September 22, 2020 Legislative Meting

Please place the following measure on the agenda for the September 22, 2020 Legislative Meeting:

§ Sense of the Council Regarding the Union Station Expansion Project Resolution of 2020

The purpose of this resolution is to provide comments from the Council on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Union Station Expansion Project released by the Federal Railroad Administration. The deadline for comments is September 28, 2020.

The preferred alternative identified in the DEIS proposes a 1,600-space parking garage to replace the current garage. However, extensive analysis by the Office of Planning concludes that less than 300 spaces are actually needed. This view is shared by Federal planners at the National Capital Planning Commission as well as by District residents, Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, adjacent landowners, and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. Overparking the Union Station site will induce demand for vehicular uses, exacerbate congestion on the site and inhibit multi-modal uses. In addition, the planned parking would negatively impact the adjacent Burnham Place private development and would encroach on air rights currently owned by the developer.

A copy of the measure is attached. Should you have any questions, please contact me or Evan Cash (724-7002) on my staff.

cc: Members, Council of the District of Columbia

Council Officers

Evan Cash

Committee and Legislative Director

Committee of the Whole

Chairman Phil Mendelson

John A. Wilson Building

1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Suite 410

Washington, DC 20004

Tel: (202) 724-7002