Watching the videos of the Zoning Commission’s July
hearings, a few things became clear:
1. The ZC is being
asked to make the kind of decisions it was never intended or structured to
make.
2. In the absence of
both electoral accountability and the data necessary to make intelligent and
well-informed choices, a majority of the Commissioners seems comfortable making
these decisions based solely on their own personal preferences or beliefs. Chairman Hood has repeatedly resisted such an approach -- see, e.g., his recent admonition: “Why don’t we take self out of it . . . and try to think of the city as
opposed to what we personally would do.” -- but the other two Mayoral
appointees seem to pay him no heed.
3. Unless there’s a
major shift in the political landscape, the likely result will be that three
individuals, none of whom has been elected, will be determining whether DC upzones
citywide, incentivizes the subdivision of larger homes, makes it more difficult
and expensive to own a car while living in the city, replaces public input with
a developer-controlled market in density credits in neighborhoods like NoMA,
West End, and Capitol Riverfront, and decides that single-family residential neighborhoods
do not belong in an urban environment like ours.
These are not policy choices that were
mandated by the democratically-adopted Comprehensive Plan. And I’m
fairly certain that none would survive the Comp Plan process. There’s an easy way to find out. A new Comp Plan amendment cycle is
imminent. Rather than make these
decisions themselves, the Zoning Commission should tell the Office of Planning to get Council approval of these
policies through that process before asking the ZC to implement them through
the ZRR.
4. Finally, it appears that the ZRR hearings scheduled for early September may be crucial. There are clear divisions of opinion among the Commissioners and the compromise appears to be "let's hear from the public." Experience tells me that that's literal -- i.e. the Commissioners pay more attention if you show up and speak than if you submit written testimony.
If you don't like what's happening, it's important to push back -- not only at Zoning Commission hearings, but as you talk with and evaluate Mayoral and Council candidates. As residents, citizens, voters, and property-owners we need to demand that city planning represents our interests and not just developers', that it is based on civic priorities that have emerged from robust public discussion, and that it is informed by careful study and understanding of the District's (including various neighborhooods') resources and challenges. Right now we have none of the above. We deserve better.
4. Finally, it appears that the ZRR hearings scheduled for early September may be crucial. There are clear divisions of opinion among the Commissioners and the compromise appears to be "let's hear from the public." Experience tells me that that's literal -- i.e. the Commissioners pay more attention if you show up and speak than if you submit written testimony.
If you don't like what's happening, it's important to push back -- not only at Zoning Commission hearings, but as you talk with and evaluate Mayoral and Council candidates. As residents, citizens, voters, and property-owners we need to demand that city planning represents our interests and not just developers', that it is based on civic priorities that have emerged from robust public discussion, and that it is informed by careful study and understanding of the District's (including various neighborhooods') resources and challenges. Right now we have none of the above. We deserve better.