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What's DC's Chinatown without Chinese People? www.SaveChinatownDC.org

What’s Chinatown without Chinese people? www.SaveChinatownDC.org

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Save Chinatown Solidarity Network DC has put up a website and it’s startling.

There’s only about 300 Chinese folks left in DC’s Chinatown which begs the question: What’s Chinatown without Chinese people?

There’s a petition about Saving Museum Square where some of the remaining Chinese and other lower-income Downtown residents and families live. Apparently, the slumlord is slowly pushing residents out of the building by neglect and harassment in order to sell and demolish their home for … guess what … more luxury housing. Petition here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/save-museum-square
 
There’s also the threat of wiping out some of the remaining Chinese businesses (now and into the future) by the proposed 10-story luxury hotel along the 500 block of H Street. More here: https://www.savechinatowndc.org/hstreethotel
 
 
 
Let’s take a look at a sample of the DC Comprehensive Plan and what it says about Chinatown
 

 

From the Central Washington Area Element of the Comp Plan, Chapter 16

https://planning.dc.gov/node/574842

Today, Chinatown is facing challenges retaining its identity as the area around it booms with new retail, office, entertainment, and housing development. The Chinese population in the area has been declining for decades, and many of the Chinese businesses are having a difficult time keeping pace with rising rents and land costs. OP’s 2009 Chinatown Cultural Development Small Area Action Plan found that in 1970, there were 3,000 Chinese Americans living in and around Chinatown. That number had declined to fewer than 300 by 2009. 10A DCMR 1613.2.

Policy CW-2.3.1: Sustaining Chinatown
Retain and enhance Chinatown as a thriving downtown community, including housing, community, and cultural facilities; ethnically oriented, street-level retail; related wholesale operations; office and professional uses; and hotels. 10A DCMR 1613.4

Policy CW-2.3.2: Preserving Chinatown as a Viable Community
Preserve and conserve Chinatown, not only by installing Chinese-inspired building facades and street signs, but also by supporting the cultural traditions of the local Chinese community, assisting Chinese-owned businesses within Chinatown, sustaining the social services that serve the Chinese population, and attracting new activities that expand the area’s role as a regional center for Chinese culture and education. 10A DCMR 1613.5

Action CW-2.3.A: Chinatown Design Review
Continue to implement design review procedures that support the authentic expression of Chinese culture in new and rehabilitated development, including, as appropriate, building design, signage, streetscape, and open space criteria. Periodically review the procedures and update them as necessary. 10A DCMR 1613.9

From Chapter 7 of the Comp Plan — Economic Development
https://planning.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/op/publication/attachments/07_ED.pdf

Small and Minority Businesses
Minority business enterprises represent an important subset of small businesses in Washington, DC. Their growth and expansion remain a particularly high economic development priority, and efforts should continue to streamline processes and provide innovative assistance. 10A DCMR 714.13(a)

Action ED-1.1.B: Data Tracking
Maintain and regularly update statistical data on employment in core sectors, wages and salaries, forecasts by sector, and opportunities for future employment growth. Where possible, the District should consistently track, collect, and disaggregate data by race. 10A DCMR 703.22

Action ED-3.2.D: Small Business Needs Assessment
Conduct an assessment of small and minority business needs and existing small business programs in the District. The study should include recommendations to improve existing small business programs and to develop new programs as needed. 10A DCMR 714.20

Policy ED-3.2.1: Small Business Retention and Growth
Encourage the retention, development, and growth of small and minority businesses through a range of District-sponsored promotion programs, such as Made in DC and 202 Creates, as well as through technical and financial assistance programs. 10A DCMR 714.6

Policy ED-3.2.6: Commercial Displacement
Avoid displacement of small, minority, and local businesses due to rising real estate costs. Develop programs to offset the impacts of rising operating expenses on small businesses in areas of rapidly rising rents and prices. Also consider enhanced technical support that helps long-standing businesses grow their revenues and thrive in the strengthening retail economy. 10A DCMR 714.11

Policy ED-3.2.7: Assistance to Displaced Businesses
While avoiding displacement where possible, assist small, minority, and local businesses that are displaced as a result of rising land costs and rents, government action, or new development. Efforts should be made to find locations for such businesses within redeveloping areas, or on other suitable sites within the District. 10A DCMR 714.12

Action ED-3.2.A: Anti-Displacement Strategies
Complete an analysis of alternative regulatory and financial measures to mitigate the impacts of demographic and economic market changes on small, minority, and local businesses. Measures to be assessed should include, but not be limited to, technical assistance, building purchase assistance, income and property tax incentives, historic tax credits, direct financial assistance, commercial land trusts, relocation assistance programs, and zoning strategies, such as maximum floor area allowances for particular
commercial activities. 10A DCMR 714.17

Policy ED-3.2.11: Small Business Capacity Building
Promote capacity building for small businesses, including equity impact enterprises, that expand awareness of financial management, strategic planning, inventory management, legal requirements and risk management, and proven marketing techniques. Expanding awareness of these techniques will help small, minority, and local businesses grow along with the District’s economy. 10A DCMR 714.16

 

DC’s Unaffordable “Affordable” Housing Problem

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In this post, we will explore why DC’s “affordable” housing is not affordable for most working families and residents in DC.

In DC, “affordability” presents us a math problem that most people just don’t have the time or care to figure out. We hear the word “affordable” and everything must be all good. It’s not.

What is DC’s affordability problem?

DC’s “affordability” is calculated using the Area Median Income (“AMI”) or the functional equivalent Median Family Income (“MFI”).

The AMI is based on the incomes of working residents in the DMV region including the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia, and parts of Maryland.

In fact, the AMI includes incomes of some of the wealthiest people in the United States like residents in Fairfax County, VA and Montgomery County, MD. And more and more wealthy people are moving into the region and they are making more and more take home money every year.

Thus in 2023-2024, the AMI for our region is $152k/yr for a family of four. For a household of one (a single person), the AMI is $106k/yr.

Source: Webpage, “2023-2024 Inclusionary Zoning Maximum Income, Rent and Purchase Price Schedule” at the DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) Wesbite, https://dhcd.dc.gov/publication/2023-2024-inclusionary-zoning-maximum-income-rent-and-purchase-price-schedule

There are three critical issues (among others) using DMV’s AMI to calculate DC’s “affordable” housing:

The AMI increases annually, thus DC’s overall affordability decreases each year.

  • In 2017, a single person household making $62k/yr could qualify for one of DC’s “affordable” studio/one bedrooms. Now in 2023-24, an individual making $85k/yr can qualify for an “affordable” studio/one-bedroom housing unit in DC. Thus, the limited pool of “affordable” units becomes less and less accessible by lower-income residents.

Source: Testimony in Zoning Case 23-02, Exhibit No. 558, at page 4, by Save DC Public Land, citing to the DHCD affordability matrices from 2017 and 2022 contrasting annually decreasing affordability, https://app.dcoz.dc.gov/CaseReport/ViewExhibit.aspx?exhibitId=331135

The city is producing housing that is unaffordable for most people and non-existent for families, yet calling it all affordable housing.

  • More than half of DC’s “affordable” units are for individuals making 80% of the AMI and by the math problem this mean “affordable” housing for individuals making $85k/yr.
  • The vast majority of “affordable” units in DC are for single residents (studios/one-bedrooms), with almost no units for families of three or more.

Source: Report, “Inclusionary Zoning Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2022” published by the DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and submitted to the DC Ctiy Council by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser on April 12, 2023, https://dhcd.dc.gov/node/1655696

The AMI doesn’t consider DC’s minimum wage or immense racial wealth gap.

  • DC residents making the minimum wage are making about $33k/yr.
  • The median household income for DC’s white residents, at $149k/yr, is over three times higher than the median income of DC’s Black residents, which is $50k/yr (pre-pandemic).

Source: Report, “D.C. Racial Equity Profile for Economic Outcomes” published by the DC Council Office on Racial Equity and the DC Policy Center dated January 2021, https://www.dcracialequity.org/dc-racial-equity-profile

Conclusion: DC’S “AFFORDABILITY” POLICY IS BROKEN!

#BuildMore :: Without Any Race or Class Analysis

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We find it kinda funny, We find it kinda sad . . . that the people piping up in support of giving away public land for more (vacant) luxury housing are those affiliated with bankers, the banking industry, and cohorts in real estate or of similar interests.
In the past ten years of #buildmore championing, Ward One has lost another 25% of our Black friends, neighbors, and families (~~19k people). This level of gentrification is brought on by the luxury over development that drives up land values, taxes, and thus housing costs.

Source: US Census, DC, Ward Level analysis
Why do we continue to accept DC officials defining “affordable” housing as an Inclusionary housing unit available for those making $50/yr, when the living wage in DC is about $35k/yr?  And, why is it acceptable that someone making $80k/yr can qualify for an IZ unit?
Why is it any surprise to anyone given the huge wealth inequalities and structural income disparities in this city, that most working class people of color cannot afford the so-called “affordable” housing in DC.

How is any of this acceptable to you Greg or for anyone holding any of the levers of power to change things immediately, why isn’t it getting done?  Meanwhile the harm persists and you want to rail against those pointing it out and trying to find solutions.  Make it make sense. Please.

ggw_edit_1617ustreet1.png
Build-Baby-Build

Compare and Contrast: Growth & Displacement

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Recently, the Mayor’s Office of Planning proudly announced that the city has started growing in population again.

There are apparently 3,000 new people in DC than there was in July 2021, pointing to U.S. Census numbers.

The local media quickly got-in-with-the-spin by parroting the executive to help spread the amazing word of D.C.’s “comeback.”

  • “U.S. Census Bureau Numbers Show DC’s Population Stabilizing”
    Prince Of Petworth, December 23, 2022
  • D.C. Sees Slight Population Increase After Two Years Of Decline
    WAMU, Jenny Garthright, Dec 26, 2022
  • D.C.’s population grew last year, reversing pandemic-related decline
    Washington Post, Fredrick Kunkle, December 23, 2022

Interestingly, it is the Federal City Council propped “think tank”, the DC Policy Center that checks the Mayor’s announcement pointing out there is still a net migration of single wealthy professionals (“urbanists”) to lands beyond the District and that the “new people” that are “stabilizing” DC’s population loss are likely babies.

Compare and contrast the recent heralding of new DC babies to two other data points:

D.C. isn’t constructing family sized units (3+ bedrooms) — Nearly 98% of all new housing units built in DC over the past 20 years are studio/1bdrm/2bdrm units (not family sized).

Many of the new young people who moved into the city over the past decade have hooked up, gotten hitched, and are starting families. With DC’s severe limits to DC’s unoccupied single family housing stock coupled with the almost zero new construction of family sized units, many newly productive DC families are leaving the city to raise their children.

What of the voluminous displacement of Black residents apparent with each major Census update ?

Contrast the recent DC baby news with the fact that the Mayor never puts out any press releases telling the tale of displacement of Black DC and working-families (maybe because its the policies of the city directly responsible for the harm). Instead, when the Census pops showing the horrible numbers of those being shown the door (60,000 Black folks made gone from the city over the past two Census cycles), the Mayor’s Office of Planning tried to spin this displacement as “choice.”

That is, the Mayor’s “planning” officials are suggesting DC’s vulnerable communities are leaving their Chocolate City, their homes, their families simply because they seek greener pastures. And, the local media went right along with this terrible trope, going further and suggesting that the Census shows better integration of the city (more mixing of races in DC’s neighborhoods).

Who do you believe it serves to champion population growth in DC while simultaneously downplaying the harms or worse rewriting the reality of displacement for tens of thousands of working families and Black residents who cannot afford the real estate speculation gold rush over the past two decades?!?

ARTICLES ABOUT GROWTH AND DISPLACEMENT OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS IN REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER:

D.C.’s population grew last year, reversing pandemic-related decline
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/23/dc-census-2022-growth/
By Fredrick Kunkle
December 23, 2022 at 8:00 a.m. EST

D.C. Sees Slight Population Increase After Two Years Of Decline
Jenny Garthright, Dec 26, 2022, 1:08 pm
https://dcist.com/story/22/12/26/dc-new-census-numbers-population-increase/

1 in 4 public housing units sit vacant during D.C. affordability crisis
Washington Post, Steve Thompson, October 19, 2022

DC’s Population Growth Has Affected the Racial and Ethnic Composition of Wards 6, 7, and 8
By: Elizabeth Burton, October 7, 2022
https://greaterdc.urban.org/blog/dcs-population-growth-has-affected-racial-and-ethnic-composition-wards-6-7-and-8

Meaningful Racial Equity in DC Zoning
Kymone Freeman September 16, 2022
https://www.weactradio.com/2022/09/16/dc-zoning-roundtable/

Leavin’ the region — Greater Washington faces threat of increasing departures to other markets
Washington Business Journal, Tristan Navera, Sep 9, 2022

D.C. Becoming ‘Chocolate City’ Again After Pandemic ‘White Flight’ Reverses Gentrification Trend — The Census Bureau released new data this week.
Bruce C.T. Wright Written By Bruce C.T. Wright, July 1, 2022
https://newsone.com/4364960/dc-white-flight/

D.C.’s White population has declined for the first time in two decades
By Tara Bahrampour, Washington Post
July 1, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
https://archive.ph/cFQWZ

Charts of the week: A pandemic-induced exodus has broken the District’s population boom
Sunaina Bakshi Kathpalia, March 25, 2022
https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/census-shows-pandemic-exodus-has-broken-dc-population-growth/

Chart of the week: Are D.C.’s 25-34 year olds leaving the District because of pandemic telework? 
March 11, 2022, Bailey McConnell
https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/young-professionals-leaving-dc-telework/

D.C.’s population is shrinking
Jan 10, 2022, Paige Hopkins
https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2022/01/10/dc-population-shrinking

DC had largest percentage drop in population in nation
Valerie Bonk | vbonk@wtop.com
December 23, 2021, 6:54 AM
https://wtop.com/dc/2021/12/dc-had-largest-percentage-drop-in-population-in-nation/

Why Is D.C. Losing So Many Residents?
By Christopher Jones • December 27, 2021
https://georgetowner.com/articles/2021/12/27/d-c-s-population-loss/

New census data finds D.C. had nation’s largest percentage drop in population
December 23, 2021
Héctor Alejandro Arzate
https://www.npr.org/local/305/2021/12/23/1067215177/new-census-data-finds-d-c-had-nation-s-largest-percentage-drop-in-population

Many fled D.C. during pandemic, halting city’s population boom
Washington Post, Tara Bahrampour and Marissa J. Lang, Dec 24 2021

1 in 7 residents of the D.C. area moved during the pandemic, poll finds — A larger share of area residents say they have seriously considered moving to a new community since the pandemic began
Washington Post, Luz Lazo and Emily Guskin, August 17, 2021 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

Census Reveals Growing Diversity In Washington Region, Increasing White Population In D.C.
Martin Austermuhle, Aug 17, 2021, 4:15 pm
https://dcist.com/story/21/08/17/census-reveals-growing-diversity-in-washington-region-increasing-white-population-in-d-c/

2020 census numbers show where our region is growing and where it isn’t
By DW Rowlands (Contributor) August 18, 2021
https://ggwash.org/view/82241/2020-census-numbers-show-where-our-region-is-growing-and-where-it-isnt

VERIFY: Yes, data shows 17,000 more people left D.C. in 2020 than year before, amid pandemic
WUSA9 News, Evan Koslof, July 16, 2021

2020 Census shows U.S. population grew at slowest pace since the 1930s
By Tara Bahrampour,  Harry Stevens,  Adrian Blanco and  Ted Mellnik
April 26, 2021
https://archive.ph/yDQi1

Opinion: There can be no racial equity in D.C. when Black and Brown families are being displaced
The Washington Post/Opinion by Minnie Elliott
March 5, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. EST
http://www.dcfeedback.com/fit2print/dc/506

COVID Is Carrying Young People Away from DC — Whether They Want to Leave or Not
Hayden Higgins, Oct 15, 2020
https://medium.com/seventhirty-dc/covid-is-carrying-young-people-away-from-dc-whether-they-want-to-leave-or-not-e38ec01d6259

More than 92 Percent of D.C. Residents Have Responded to 2020 Census
by Stacy M. Brown September 23, 2020
https://www.washingtoninformer.com/more-than-92-percent-of-d-c-residents-have-responded-to-2020-census/

This GIF Shows How The D.C. Area’s Demographics Have Changed Since 1970
Jan 14, 2020, 4:32 pm
https://dcist.com/story/20/01/14/this-gif-shows-how-the-d-c-areas-demographics-have-changed-since-1970/

The Reason D.C.’s Once-Dramatic Population Growth Is Slowing Down (And Why That’s Not So Bad)
Jan 30, 2019, Martin Austermuhle
https://wamu.org/story/19/01/30/the-reason-d-c-s-once-dramatic-population-growth-is-slowing-down-and-why-thats-not-so-bad/

Census: In D.C., Black Median Income Is Now Less Than a Third of White Median Income And other surprising highlights from the latest U.S. Census data
by Andrew Giambrone September 15th, 2017
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/325548/census-in-dc-black-median-income-is-now-less-than-a-third-of-white-median-income/

Why do people move out of D.C.
Washington Post, Perry Stein, June 10, 2015

I have no proof that apartments in these towers are being warehoused and acknowledge that such a thing may seem counterintuitive in today’s allegedly red-hot market — or any market. But if demand for expensive units is softer than we’ve been led to believe, I wonder if landlords could be hiding supply to keep their rents up.

Lane Brown, writer for Curbed, in his Jan. 27, 2023 report, “New Yorkers Never Came ‘Flooding Back.’ Why Did Rents Go Up So Much? Getting to the bottom of a COVID-era real estate mystery.”
Affordable Housing

The D.C. Housing Production (Preservation) Trust Fund

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The Law — D.C. Code § 42–2802. Housing Production Trust Fund established https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/42-2802

Some important links to DC’s key touted “affordable” housing fund ::

DHCD — Website Housing Production Trust Fund
https://dhcd.dc.gov/page/housing-production-trust-fund

Housing Production Trust Fund Reports
https://dhcd.dc.gov/page/housing-production-trust-fund-reports

DC Chief Financial Officer report: 2022 UZ0 Housing Production Trust Fund
https://cfo.dc.gov/publication/2022-uz0-housing-production-trust-fund

2022

D.C. Housing Trust Fund to back McMillan redevelopment, other housing By Tristan Navera, Washington Business Journal Aug 12, 2022
https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2022/08/12/dc-housing-production-trust-fund-mcmillan.html

2021

D.C. misused nearly $82 million meant to provide housing to the city’s poorest residents, IG says, By Marissa J. Lang, Washington Post, October 1, 2021
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/10/01/dc-inspector-general- affordable-housing/

2016

New interactive map details where affordable housing has been created, preserved in D.C. (thru 2016) https://dc.curbed.com/2018/3/20/17144034/map-affordable-housing-interactive

What Happened with the Chevy Chase Small Area Plan?

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UPDATE ON THE CHEVY CHASE SMALL AREA PLAN AT THE DC COUNCIL

See below the expedient announcement from the Mayor’s Office of Planning that the Chevy Chase Small Area Plan (CCSAP) was adopted unanimously by the Council today (click here).

This small area planning process has shown that in the hands of the Mayor and Council Chair, growth of the city is fundamentally a factor of real estate speculation and online social media showboating and not actually about traditional planning.

The passage of the CCSAP demonstrates that desired profit driven private development takes far greater precedent over long term care of our public land, services, and communities, and that studying the interconnected planning issues and principles (as basic expectation in the American Certified Planning Code of Ethics) comes second to the parroted #buildmore dogma.

However, there is hope in a remaining layer of defense that you may not know about and I encourage you to examine and send me any questions: The DC Comp Plan lawsuit (click here).

WHAT WAS ACCOMPLISHED BY THIS RECENT WEEKEND CAMPAIGN ON THE CCSAP?

I want to share some results and news of this quick campaign to bring about some last minute measure of the Chevy Chase Small Area Plan:

  1. More than 70 DC residents, almost all from Ward 3 and Ward 4 sent letters for the public record to the City Council asking them to pause the vote, or simply vote down the CCSAP as not based on planning data and not including modern residential development alternatives such as “social housing.”

    Your letters represent an amazing wellspring of activity in just a few days time and it indicates others really care to a bigger degree than you may have imagined.  We put out a press release to this effect (click here).
  2. In response to your collective flurry of activity, at this morning’s legislative breakfast (the Councilmembers typically gather over breakfast to talk about the legislative session to follow), Council Chair Phil Mendelson was compelled to explain what the rush was with the CCSAP and he was moved to discuss the role and scope of what a Small Area Plan is.

    Mendelson’s meandering response and subsequent omission of what happens and doesn’t happen next (particularly at the Zoning Commission) is something to attune yourself to. Listen to Mendelson’s legislative breakfast comments (click here) and also listen to today’s City Council hearing debate (click here).
  3. Councilmember Janeese Lewis-George was moved by your letters of concern enough to try and pin down what role and effect the CCSAP Plan has on your community’s future and that of nearby Ward 4. Perhaps CM JLG is really someone to ally with so to eagle-eye how the Mayor’s planning officials and Zoning Commission act next.
  4. There was some interesting dialog that your letter writing caused among some heavy names in Ward 3, namely ANC Commissioner Lisa Gore (click here) and Ward 3 Council Democratic nominee, Matthew Frumin (click here). Mr. Frumin is on vacation, but he called me to say he can’t go from “0 – 60 mph” on issues like this and would not ask Phil Mendelson to pause today’s vote. His statements to me likely indicate he probably hasn’t been paying too much attention to the CCSAP process given the elections, however, he seemed open to a Zoom meeting with his constituents when he returns.

How did we get here — Some background

When I found out about ten days ago that the Chevy Chase Small Area Plan had been sent to the DC Council by the Mayor, I perked up. For, this was the first small area planning process since the Fall of 2021, when the Mayor signed into law sweeping changes to DC’s central planning document, the DC Comprehensive Plan and its planning maps.

Chevy Chase, along with the entire Ward 3 Conn. Ave. corridor, is located in a new Comp Plan policy map designation called a “Future Planning Analysis” area. Looking at the second map on this page, you can view all the “Future Planning Analysis” areas around the city as indicated on the new DC Comp Plan Generalized Policy Map.

The DC Office of Planning created these areas on DC’s planning maps back in 2020 to respond to DC’s good-planning advocates who said the Mayor wasn’t doing the evaluations and impact study needed to substantiate all of the Comp Plan changes, including 200 million square feet of land set to be upzoned (aka upFLUMed) around the city.  

The Future Planning Analysis areas legally require additional study and small area planning before any property owner in that area (including the city) can go to the Zoning Commission to ask that their properties be upzoned for more density.  

The CCSAP is the first such “future planning analysis” completed post-Comp Plan approval, thus fulfilling the new requirement. It’s safe to say that an avalanche of upzoning applications submitted by property owners along the corridor will soon be hitting the desks of the DC Office of Zoning and folks should be reviewing the Zoning calendar every week to keep watch.

The Zoning Commission is notorious for quickly approving upzoning applications (aka Map Amendments) and they do so in a way that also forgoes any premise of planning or study, just a rubberstamp for any density projects that comes their way.

CHANGING THE CURRENT HARMFUL UNPLANNED DEVELOPMENT POSTURE TO PLANNED SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

So, the above passages show how we got here now with the major theme of concern being the non-planning happening in this city.

All areas of the city that are upzoned for the Mayor’s desired density increases, like in Chevy Chase, means a substantial inducement of population growth. More people means more use and abuse of already at-capacity public systems and services. More humans means additional adverse effects on the environment. It means a dynamic change of the longstanding built environment that is a permanent decision.

All of these impacts, according to basic tenants of good planning, including many policies in the Comp Plan itself (click here), require evaluation and study to mitigate and plot the best course forward so that there are no surprises. 

City planning officials and some politicians have flipped upside down basic planning tenants — replacing planning with PR spin, substituting data analysis with popular tweets and social messaging madness, and walking back from real life scenarios to simply promulgating empty and redundant consultant-speak.

The planning data needed and expected to substantiate major planning initiatives and development changes are simply not on the record in this case or at all in DC. Planning seems something this city does as part of its growth culture, yet, but meanwhile permanent decisions are being made that will affect our lives very concretely.
We can change that if we continue to press the city to do better, collectively. 

THE ONGOING COMP PLAN LAWSUIT

I suggest taking a deeper dive into the complaint & arguments found in the ongoing Comp Plan lawsuit (click here).

Please consider joining as a plaintiff. We also need help with fundraising and donations, and are on the lookout for additional legal help, planning experts, and land use professionals, etc.  Please support us in any way you see best, but either way I strongly suggest getting involved in some way. Contact me using my info below.

The Comp Plan lawsuit may be the case that holds up all of this unplanned risky density-for-density sake construction, as our complaint has already survived the Mayor’s motion to dismiss.

IN CONCLUSION

I applaud all of your strong efforts, especially over these last few days.  I hope my assistance was of service and I continue to be available for any feedback, continued energy and ideas, tactical assistance, and seek your support on the Comp Plan lawsuit.

Chris Otten, DC4RD
Steering member, DC Grassroots Planning Coalition
202-810-2768
dc4reality@gmail.com

APPENDIX

Some Land Uses Don’t Mix: West End Library

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Quoting the architect of the MLK renovation Francine Houben of Mecanoo who in the February 2022 issue of World Architects said:

I never thought it was a good idea to add a residential volume on this particular public building. A library — a public building — has very different ownership, maintenance, and sustainability issues than a residential building. In the end DC Libraries canceled that idea, and changed direction. I think that was a good decision on the part of the city.

Francine Houben, Architect for MLK Library renovation

Ms. Houben’s statement rang true in spring 2022 at the West End Library (closed for nearly 2 months due to trouble with private housing units built above the library)

. . . cited from the source emails . . .

  ———- Forwarded message ———
From: Robert Oliver <lrlfriends2017@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, May 7, 2022, 8:55 AM
Subject: Temporary Closure of West End Library
To: DCPLFRiends <dcplfriends@googlegroups.com>  

Dear Members,   I am sharing DCPL’s official statement on the temporary closure of the West End Library.  

Due to a maintenance emergency, the West End Neighborhood Library will be closed for the next several weeks starting May 4. We will send an update when we have a specific reopening date.

Due dates for library materials checked out from the West End Library have been extended until reopening. Customers with active holds will be notified where to pick up their items next week, once they are moved.    

Martha Saccocio
DC Public Library Director, Community Engagement
(202) 604-8241 (M)   

DCPL ATTACHMENT BELOW:

———- Forwarded message ———
From: Pinto, Brooke (Council) <bpinto@dccouncil.us>
Date: Sat, May 14, 2022, 10:16 PM
Subject: RE: Temporary Closure of West End Library
To: robin diener <robinsdiener@gmail.com>, Hanson, Ella (Council) <ehanson@dccouncil.us>, Romanowski, Brian (Council) <bromanowski@dccouncil.us>

Robin – the information I received was that the damage was from an apartment above that led to water damages in the library. The repairs should take about 4-6 weeks (hopefully sooner!).  

My best, Brooke  
Brooke Pinto
Councilmember, Ward 2
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 106 Washington DC 20004
Office: 202-724-8058 Email: bpinto@dccouncil.us

From: robin diener
Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2022 5:57 PM
To: Pinto, Brooke (Council) <bpinto@DCCOUNCIL.US>; Hanson, Ella (Council) <ehanson@DCCOUNCIL.US>; Romanowski, Brian (Council) <bromanowski@DCCOUNCIL.US>
Subject: Fwd: Temporary Closure of West End Library  

Hello CM Pinto,  
No one seems to know what’s up with the West End Library. Several weeks of “emergency maintenance” sounds bad. The library was built under a public private partnership. Perhaps that explains the terse notice. It is a public library, however, and information should be available to its owners – the public.
Hope you can find out for us.  
Thank you,  
Robin Diener 202 431-9254    

——- Forwarded message ———
From: robin diener <robinsdiener@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, May 25, 2022 at 6:14 PM
Subject: Housing over libraries
To: Romero, Gary A. (DCPL) <gary.romero@dc.gov>, Board of Library Trustees (DCPL) <BoardOfLibraryTrustees@dc.gov>, Richard Reyes-Gavilan (DCPL) <Richard.Reyes-Gavilan@dc.gov>, Saccocio, Martha (DCPL) <martha.saccocio@dc.gov>, Robert Oliver <lrlfriends2017@gmail.com>

In my capacity as Executive Director of the DC Library Renaissance Project

Housing Over Libraries

The latest difficulty (there have been several but this time it is flooding from a private living unit overhead) at the West End Library would seem to call for a hearing or roundtable on the pros and cons of housing being built over libraries, and of Public-Private Partnerships (ppp’s) generally. With three libraries — Deanwood, Rosedale and Northwest One — all proposed to be rebuilt with housing over them, we need a full understanding of what happened at West End and how we ensure it not happen again is needed. Options for our public library buildings such as combining with other civic uses should also be considered, as well as a complete understanding of land ownership and financing possibilities.

Under the Chevy Chase Small Area Plan recently published by OP, we have a large enough public property to combine the two civic uses — library and community center — together in one new building, while constructing affordable housing on the rest of the property around it, and thus avoid the potential for problems such as have occurred at West End. This exact concept was developed by Ward 3 Vision and is included in the Small Area Plan as one of three options. DCPL should endorse the concept proposed by Ward 3 Vision, and make clear that it is the best option for the Chevy Chase Library.

I would like to quote architect of the MLK renovation Francine Houben of Mecanoo who in the February 2022 issue of World Architects said: I never thought it was a good idea to add a residential volume on this particular public building. A library — a public building — has very different ownership, maintenance, and sustainability issues than a residential building. In the end DC Libraries canceled that idea, and changed direction. I think that was a good decision on the part of the city.

https://www.world-architects.com/en/architecture-news/insight/the-world-is-changing-we-have-to-update

For now, we can avoid the issues experienced at the West End Library simply by not putting public and private together in one structure, an option open to us at Chevy Chase because of the size of the property. In view of the likely limited size of the other libraries being contemplated for housing over them, further examination is needed, and can and should be had.

Thank you
Robin Diener
Library Renaissance Project
202 431-9254

Housing is a Human Right

YIMBY’s: D.C. “Desperately & Urgently” Needs More Housing

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We hear so-called YIMBYs constantly cheer on listserves and real estate blogs, #BuildMore housing quickly and voluminously. They say the city is desperate for new housing and we need lots of new units urgently. Any skeptics or detractors to this build-baby-build posture are quickly written off simply as NIMBYs.

Yet, the YIMBYs can never seem to answer these basic questions:

  1. New housing for whom? Is it the trickle down market rate housing being built everywhere or truly affordable for those making the living wage or less?
  2. What statistics substantiate the “urgency” for new housing? DC has some of the highest vacancy rates in the nation, will building more of the same help?
  3. And, why is the city tearing down the 0-30%AMI housing such as public housing to privatize and build more luxury housing?

Last we checked, the well heeled developer-class have collaborated with cohorts in city bureaucratic planning positions to usher in wave after wave of new construction, with areas of DC exploding with denser taller buildings consisting of expensive studio/one bedrooms.

Tens of thousands of new luxury units have been built in DC over the past twenty years and 9 out of 10 of these units are strictly targeted to wealthier single professionals.

But recently, it is this slice of the local demography (single wealthy professionals) who are parting with the urban core as they are forming families and being quite privileged and mobile they can move when things like pandemics unfold and impact our living collective conditions. Yes, it is these new residents who stormed into the city over the past decade who are now choosing to leave the big box luxury buildings that were designed for them and are moving into single family homes in outer city limits and back to suburbia. 

Thus, any urgency for more housing serving the professional-class  is quickly dispelled by the facts on the ground, with DC conservatively having 15% of units built (not just marketed) sitting vacant, and the new built-out areas such as Navy Yard having 1 in 3 units empty (all pre-pandemic numbers). 

[Pre-pandemic], the average vacancy rate in the District is 14.7%, with submarkets such as SW/Navy Yard, Capitol Hill, and Georgetown/Wisconsin Ave, are seeing vacancy rates at 31%, 27%, and 18% respectively .

DHCD Report, Saving DC’s Rental Housing Market Strike Force, citing from “The State of the DC Multifamily Rental Market” analysis by the Apartment & Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington (AOBA), published by Randi Marshall, Vice President of Government Affairs, D.C., February 19, 2021, at page 13.

Housing as commodity, not for community

In spite of mounting units being built but left to sit empty, its become apparent that the mega real estate companies don’t mind and are pushing to build even more housing that’s as expensive as ever before.

This is because housing is no longer necessarily for creating human community. Rather, new housing units are in large part serving as international investment commodities, that are essentially blocks of money in the form of new housing construction.

Moreover, any claimed desperation or “urgency for more housing” is a statement of perverse absurdity without doing the homework in understanding the type of housing the city truly needs constructed (see 40k person waiting list for affordable family sized housing).

YIMBY’s see no urgency to build housing that we actually need, instead they continue to chant and demand the city construct housing that only serves an elite professional-class.

DC desperately needs 0-30%AMI units and lots of them, so say the PHIMBY’s (Public Housing in My BackYard).

See links below for stats and research substantiating the points above.

Stats and Facts Supporting the Above Conclusions

Racial Inequity: 1990 60% of DC Black vs 2010 50% 2020 41% [2020 census | interactive DC diversity app] 60k Black people displaced from DC over the past twenty years of #BuildMore, these stats cannot be ignored!

  1. DC racial segregation through affordability gap as wide as 1968: White wealth surge; black wealth stagnation 
  2. Mythbust: we are not in housing crisis, other than an “affordable” housing crisis (we lack units for those in the 0-50%AMI range)
    1. Vacancies citiwide is 14.7% (Navy Yard; Gtown/Wis Ave up to 31%)
    2. Slow down of incoming DC residents
    3. Offices hit record vacancy high in 2021

Foreign investors snap up Washington real estate at an accelerating clip

“This is the normal world. You go to work in a city. All around you are enormous new buildings. They look alike. But you will never be able to afford to live in them. Because they are not really homes. They are blocks of money,  bought by global investors whose money has nowhere else to go.” https://twitter.com/rotten4eva/status/1492740361374121986

THE DC COMP PLAN IS RACIST

Maurice Cook, Director of Serve Your City, and community advocate out of Ward 6 discusses the DC Comprehensive Plan, the definition of racial equity and affordable housing, and what the Council Office on Racial Equity (CORE) report about the #DCCompPlan means to Black people living and working in the District of Columbia. Please Watch :: https://youtu.be/zDH96HFqfP8

WTF! DCHA? DC Housing Authority Over the Past Few Years

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APR 2021

DCHA Internal Auditor Resigned After Reporting Intimidation and Retaliation — “At this point, I don’t have confidence that the Board of Commissioners or other senior executives will exercise integrity in the performance of their public duties.”

DCHA Internal Auditor Resigned After Reporting Intimidation and Retaliation

MAR 2021

DCHA Audit Finds $1.3 Million In Wasted Funds — The D.C. Housing Authority did not disclose the audit in its responses to the Council’s annual oversight questions.

DCHA Audit Finds $1.3 Million In Wasted Funds

DCHA Executive Director Accuses Former Deputy of Planning a Coup — In a deposition, DCHA Director Tyrone Garrett says he fired his deputy because she plotted to overthrow him. Chelsea Andrews, the former deputy who is now suing DCHA, says that’s ridiculous.

DCHA Executive Director Accuses Former Deputy of Planning a Coup

FEB 2021

Against Advice of Attorneys and Internal Auditors, DCHA Kept Families in Units With Lead Past Legal Deadline — DCHA Executive Director Tyrone Garrett says he was out of options.

Against Advice of Attorneys and Internal Auditors, DCHA Kept Families in Units With Lead Past Legal Deadline

OCT 2020

Greenleaf Gardens Redevelopment Stalls Early With Failed Resolution — It’s another delay for Director Tyrone Garrett’s revitalization plan.

Greenleaf Gardens Redevelopment Stalls Early With Failed Resolution

SEP 2020

CM Silverman Questions Housing Authority Commissioner’s Abrupt Dismissal — The at-large councilmember suggests Franselene St. Jean was removed to silence dissenting voices.

CM Silverman Questions Housing Authority Commissioner’s Abrupt Dismissal

August 2020

A DCHA commissioner was removed shortly after asking questions about a whistleblower lawsuit and other issues surrounding the housing authority.

Housing Authority Board Vice Chair Removed Hours After Asking Questions About Whistleblower Lawsuit

Former Housing Authority Lawyer Files Whistleblower Lawsuit Over Allegedly Counterfeit Masks — Chelsea Andrews claims DCHA Executive Director Tyrone Garrett had her fired after she questioned the procurement and authenticity of KN95 masks.

Former Housing Authority Lawyer Files Whistleblower Lawsuit Over Allegedly Counterfeit Masks

JAN 2020

DCHA’s “Repositioning” Plan is Privatization of Public Housing

DEC 2019

The Final Proposal to Renovate the DC Housing Authority’s HQ Is Totally Different From the Original Plan — A trio of developers will pay DCHA $67 million for a 99-year lease on the land where its headquarters sits, according to the resolution.

The Final Proposal to Renovate the DC Housing Authority’s HQ Is Totally Different From the Original Plan

100 MOR McMillan Projects

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The DC Comprehensive Plan (“Comp Plan” or “Plan”) is a key legislative document that covers a range of topics, from economic development, housing, the environment, parks and community services, transportation, and more.

There are maps within the Comp Plan, the most important being the Future Land Use Map (FLUM).

The Future Land Use Map (FLUM) determines how DC will develop and grow as we move into the future and allows all residents and city planners to anticipate and prepare for development, no surprises!

The DC Office of Planning under the direction of the DC Mayor is now suggesting changes to the Comprehensive Plan, 1500-redlined pages of proposed amendments to the existing Plan policies and maps. They have delivered these proposed changes to the DC City Council to consider passing into law.

The Mayor put up a website to show the public (to a degree) the massive tome of amendments to the Plan. By the way, if you don’t speak or read English, you have been left completely out of the conversation.

On the Mayor’s Comp Plan website, there is a nifty maps page that was recently uploaded that uses a slider to let you see the proposed areas of the city where the Office of Planning wants to change future development, going up with bigger and denser buildings.

Sliding over the whole city and you see an array of properties that the Mayor seeks to upzone, aka upFLUM. What you don’t see are the numbers in square feet of how much density the mayor wants to allow to be developable as a “matter of right” (MOR).

In fact, no where on the Mayor’s Comprehensive Plan website will you find any facts relaying to the public that the proposed FLUM map changes equate to upzoning close to 200 million square feet of land and air rights.

As a friend suggests, the map changes show city officials essentially printing money for the landowners of these lucky properties being upFLUMed.

How did we get the numbers? A Socratic conversation with the director of the Office of Planning, Director Andrew Trueblood, and his staff by email.

The result of this conversation was a matrix showing the reality of the proposed changes to the Comprehensive Plan FLUM map, or almost 200 million square feet of proposed upzoning around the city.

DC Comp Plan: 200 million square feet of upFLUMing
DC Comp Plan: 200 million square feet of upFLUMing

This 200 million square feet of new habitable space and construction represents about what would be 100 “matter of right” McMillan Park projects.

Do you think this substantial change to the city’s built environment came with any impact assessments as required by the law? If you answered No, you’d be correct.

Why should we expect the Mayor’s Office of Planning actually do any “planning”? In fact the DC Council Chairman thinks planning is a popularity contest!

Read how the Office of Planning’s proposed changes to the Comp Plan is going to exacerbate displacement of Black folks in DC, click here.