COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE COMMITTEE REPORT 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004 DRAFT TO: All Councilmembers FROM: Chairman Phil Mendelson Committee of the Whole DATE: July 9, 2019 SUBJECT: Report on Bill 23-1, the “Comprehensive Plan Framework Amendment Act of 2019” The Committee of the Whole, to which Bill 23-1, the “Comprehensive Plan Framework Amendment Act of 2019” was referred, reports favorably thereon with amendments, and recommends approval by the Council. CONTENTS I. Background And Need ...............................................................1 II. Legislative Chronology ............................................................10 III. Position Of The Executive .......................................................10 IV. Comments Of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions ............10 V. Summary Of Testimony ...........................................................11 VI. Impact On Existing Law ..........................................................27 VII. Fiscal Impact ............................................................................28 VIII. Section-By-Section Analysis ...................................................28 IX. Committee Action ....................................................................28 X. Attachments .............................................................................28 I. BACKGROUND AND NEED On January 3, 2019, Bill 23-1, the “Comprehensive Plan Framework Amendment Act of 2019”1 was introduced by Chairman Phil Mendelson as submitted by the Mayor. Bill 23-1 would make a number of text amendments to the Framework Element of the Comprehensive Plan to respond to public proposals and provide updates. The 2006 Comprehensive Plan is the District’s 20-year blueprint for the city, laying the framework for the growth and development of the District. It contains over 600 action items and provides guidance on monitoring, evaluating and amending the document. It recommends a review and amendment process every four to five years. The first amendment, the Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2010, was approved in 2011. The Office of Planning (OP) prepares the Comprehensive Plan and initiated the second process to amend the comprehensive plan in March 2016. The amendment process included a public outreach process and an Open Call for the public 1 Formerly the “Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2017” Committee of the Whole July 9, 2019 Report on Bill 23-1 Page 2 of 28 to propose amendments, initially from March 24 to May 26, 2016, and then extended to June 23 in response to requests from Advisory Neighborhood Commissions and other community groups. Over 3,000 amendments were submitted, significantly more than what was submitted in the first amendment cycle. Comprehensive Plan: The Framework Element The Framework Element was submitted first as a stand-alone piece of legislation in a two- phased approach to amend the Comprehensive Plan. The attached Committee Print reflects the proposed amendments to the Framework Element with the purpose of correcting technical errors, reflecting current District planning priorities and best practices, and reflecting land use decisions to more clearly reflect longstanding District policy. The remaining elements and two maps will be brought forward by the Executive subsequent to Council adoption of the Framework Element. Importantly, pursuant to district and federal law, no District Elements of the Comprehensive Plan may go into effect until reviewed by the National Capital Planning Commission.2 When the Comprehensive Plan was fully updated in 2006, the District was experiencing growth after decades of population decline. At that time, the plan’s strategies sought to maintain and stabilize neighborhoods, while directing future growth to large sites around the city. Today, we are responding to over a decade of significant growth, along with other transformative changes in technology and interests in sustainability, resilience, and equity. This is reflected in the enormous public interest and debate around the second amendment cycle to the Comprehensive Plan. Several areas were of particular interest: an increase in appeals of Planned Unit Developments (PUDs), the primary method for discretionary development; housing and housing affordability in the District, including displacement concerns; debates over accommodating growth citywide while maintaining neighborhood stability; and addressing long-standing patterns of land use and programs that have restricted access to housing and opportunities by race and class. The Comprehensive Plan is grounded in a vision for an inclusive city and our challenge is to achieve this vision given today’s context. The Office of Planning began the second amendment cycle with a robust public outreach process in 2015. They received over 3,000 proposed amendments, significantly more than what was received in the prior amendment cycle. In addition, there was growing concern that appeals of the Zoning Commission’s orders of PUDs were potentially stopping major development projects. A perceived lack of clarity in the Comprehensive Plan – including two maps, the Generalized Policy Map (GPM) and the Future Land Use Map (FLUM) – was considered an important issue in the appeals. Without providing any opportunities for public comment, the Mayor submitted proposed amendments to the first section of the Comprehensive Plan, the Framework Element, for Council review in March 2019 (Bill 22-663) which is substantively identical to the re-introduced version of the bill contained in Bill 23-1. The Framework Element provides overarching direction for the Comprehensive Plan but not policies, and specifies categories used in the GPM and FLUM. 2 D.C. Official Code § 2-1002(a) Committee of the Whole July 9, 2019 Report on Bill 23-1 Page 3 of 28 The Council conducted a public hearing on March 20, 2018 that lasted for 13 hours, with 275 people offering testimony. Following the hearing, OP submitted a letter on August 24, 2018 to Chairman Mendelson, offering additional information and suggested language on housing costs. OP has stated that following Council action on the Framework Element, it will release the proposed amendments to the remaining Comprehensive Plan elements for public review, and then submit these for Council action. The Committee Print reflects revisions to the Framework Element as submitted by the Executive, incorporating many, but not all, of OP’s proposals and several other proposals, summarized below. FRAMEWORK OVERVIEW SECTIONS The Forces Driving Change: The Committee appreciates OP’s interest in elevating resilience as a theme in the plan amendments, and a new section on resilience has been provided. The COW version continues to use the 2006 goal for an inclusive city. The appropriate place to discuss and evaluate new overarching goals is with a full update to the Plan. OP circulated a set of “values” derived from public interaction on the Comprehensive Plan amendments. The Council supports defining these values in the context of the District of Columbia, and broadly referencing these concepts in this amendment submittal, particularly where additional topical plans, such as Resilient DC and Sustainable DC, have been prepared. The District and the Region: Edits to improve clarity and organization, but no change to content of OP’s amendments. Demographic Changes: Edits to improve clarity and organization, but no change to content of OP’s amendments. Revised information on why black residents left the city in earlier decades. Economic Changes: Edits to improve clarity and organization, but no change to content of OP’s amendments. Land Use Changes: Edits to improve clarity and organization, but no change to content of OP’s amendments. Redrafted section 205.4 to maintain sensitivity to historic districts. Housing Cost Changes: This is a new section that incorporates information provided by OP in the August 24, 2018 letter, with some organizational changes and additional information, including references to workforce housing. Mobility and Access Changes: More substantial edits to improve clarity and organization but no change to content. Some detailed information is more appropriately included in the Transportation Element. Environmental Changes: Edits to improve clarity and organization, but no change to content of OP’s amendments. Committee of the Whole July 9, 2019 Report on Bill 23-1 Page 4 of 28 Technology Changes: Edits to improve clarity and organization, but no change to content of OP’s amendments. Security Changes: Edits to improve clarity and organization, but no change to content of OP’s amendments. Fiscal Changes: Edits to improve clarity and organization, but no change to content of OP’s amendments. Global City, Local City: Edits to improve clarity and organization, but no change to content of OP’s amendments. Planning for Resilience and Equity: This new section discusses resilience and equity, including racial equity, as cross-cutting themes informing the plan. Language provided by OP was replaced with language from the Resilient DC plan, released in 2019, for consistency. A discussion of affordable housing is included along with new language describing equity and racial equity concerns. Looking Forward: Growth Forecasts: New language was added to reflect that the District has experienced rapid growth in the last ten years, and how that influences the planning context of the Comprehensive Plan. More substantial edits to improve clarity and organization, but