Comprehensive Plan 2020 Amendment

Below are links to the key documents that C100 submitted concerning the amendment of the Comprehensive Plan. The Comp Plan was originally written in 2006 and first amended in 2011.  The Plan has a 20-year life, intended to be amended after approximately four years and revised approximately every twelve years. Amendments are intended to be “technical changes, new plans, new or modified narrative, and map changes” (though in our view the proposed amendments go well beyond these stated intentions). Here is the link to the Office of Planning’s information on the amendment process, including links to all draft amended elements of the Plan: https://plandc.dc.gov/

Here is the sequence of events in the Comp Plan amendment process, in reverse chronological order:

• August, 2021: the bill becomes law when published in the D.C. Register following the 30-day congressional review period.  The Congressional Record of July 13, 2021, indicated that the House had received the Comp Plan, Act 24-110, and referred to the House Oversight and Reform Committee that same dates. If that is the date used, the 30-day review period would end on or about August 12th.
• July 7, 2021: The Mayor signed and forwarded the signed Comp Plan to Congress for 30-day mandatory congressional review.
• July 1, 2021: NCPC approved and returned the Comp Plan to the Mayor for signature.
• June 28, 2021: Council Chair Mendelson signs the final bill and forwards it to the National Capitol Planning Commission for review.
• July 1, 2021: National Capitol Planning Commission receives the Comp Plan for review.
• May 18, 2021: second and final Council vote on Comp Plan – unanimous.
• May 4, 2021: first Council vote on the Comp Plan – unanimous.
• April 20, 2021: Council marks up the Comprehensive Plan, two Councilmembers vote “present” —  against marking up the bill.
• November 12, 13 2020: Council holds hearings on the Office of Planning’s proposed amendments to the Plan.  C100 testified orally and presented lengthy written comments before the record closed on December 3, 2020. C100 testified and submitted extensive written comments for before the December, 3, 2020, deadline when the record closed for this hearing on bill 23-0736.
• September 24, 2020: Framework Element, 23-0217, becomes law following mandated Congressional review period.  Council approved the Framework on February 11, 2020.
• April 23, 2020: Mayor submits proposed amended Comp Plan to the Council where it is designated B23-0736, and the bill is referred to the Council Committee of the Whole.  The COW issued a notice of public hearings on the bill scheduled for November 12 & 13.
• February 14, 2020: The Office of Planning concluded the public review period for the public (ending January 10, 2020) and ANCs (February 14, 2020).  Many presentations were made around the city following OP’s initiation of this process in 2016. 
• January 10, 2020: Office of Planning concludes public review period for the draft amended Plan.
• October 15, 2019: Office of Planning released the draft amended Plan, based on Office of Planning internal work and proposed amendments received from the public during the “open-call” period in 2017.
• 2019: Office of Planning engages the public in the “DC Values Campaign,” also called DC2ME. DC2ME received 3,097 total responses (2, 494 from an online survey, 603 from the various public meetings associated with DC2ME). The Office of Planning later stated that it had relied heavily on information received from DC2ME in proposed amendments to the Comp Plan.
• March 18, 2018: Council holds all-day hearing on the draft Framework Element, B22-663.
• January, 2018: Draft Framework Element presented to the Council as B23-217, approved by Council in October, 2019. 
• June 23, 2017: Office of Planning concludes three-month “open call” for the public to submit amendments to the maps and text of the Plan and to the Framework Element of the Plan in specific. Over 3,000 proposed amendments were received from the public.
• 2016: Office of Planning began public meetings concerning amending the Plan

Documents

 C100 Letter DC Council Comp Plan Vote

April 28, 2021, Kirby Vining
C100 urges the Council to heed the Council Office on Racial Equity report on the draft Comprehensive Plan and vote NO on bill 24-0001 because the Plan “perpetuates the status quo.”

 C100 Letter DC Council Draft Comprehensive Plan B 24-0001

March 19, 2021, Kirby Vining Laura Richards & Nancy MacWood
Letter to Chairman Mendelson and all DC Council Members urging them to address significant flaws in the Mayor’s Comprehensive Plan amendments that have made this 1,500 page document anathema to residents across the District.

 C100 Comprehensive Plan Take Action

February 19, 2021, C100 Trustees
This document, lists some of the major failures of the Comp Plan amendments and changes Council should make when it votes on the Plan in mid-March.   Please share this document with your personal contacts and the wider community via ANCs, civic associations, and other local groups to spread the word about what concerned citizens can do to weigh in with Councilmembers before March 16th via blogs, email — however you best reach your local community.

 C100 Maps Of The Comprehensive Plan

January 27, 2021, Kirby Vining
The Comprehensive Plan contains two maps, the Future Land Use Map and the Generalized Policy Map, both of which have crucial roles in planning and Zoning.  Hundreds of changes to both have been proposed and the attached is a guide to both what these maps are about. 

 C100 Press Release Unmasking The Comprehensive Plan

January 11, 2021, Nancy MacWood & Meg Maguire
The Committee of 100 on the Federal City (C100) has just released Unmasking the Rewrite: How to Make the Comprehensive Plan Work for DC, a 74 page report that describes how the Mayor’s Office of Planning (OP) has turned the legally required amendment to the District’s Comprehensive Plan (Comp Plan) into an attack on neighborhoods and an invitation to developers to pursue unconstrained development.

 2020-12 Unmasking The Rewrite - Assessment Of Selected Elements-in-CP

December 2020, 
Introduction and Major Conclusions: This document includes the full text of C100’s comments on the amended Comp Plan as presented to the Council on December 3, 2020, but also includes a brief introduction pointing out the basis for our detailed analysis and recommended changes that should be of help to others in discussions with Council members and civic associations before the Council votes on the amended Comp Plan, probably in February, 2021. 

 C100 Supplemental Testimony DC Council B23-0736 Comprehensive Plan Amendment

December 3, 2020, Kirby Vining & Nancy MacWood
Extensive written comments on many elements of the proposed amendments to the Comprehensive Plan, presented in follow-up to our November 12, 2020 testimony before the Council.

 C100 Testimony DC Council B23-0736 Comprehensive Plan Amendment

November 12, 2020, Kirby Vining
Text of C100 oral remarks presented to the Council Committee of the Whole for its hearing on B23-0736 on November 12, 2020. See supplemental comments submitted later, immediately above.

 C100 Supplemental Testimony Comprehensive Plan

November 20, 2020, Meg Maguire, Nancy MacWood, & Andrea Rosen
To achieve racial and economic equity in this city, and to gain the confidence and community buy-in necessary to do that, we recommend that Council: 1) Retain the current plan as a starting point, as flawed as it may be; 2) Immediately focus our city government capacities on implementing best practices in community visioning and planning to develop community-driven Small Area Plans; and 3) Identify specific sites and potentially convertible spaces and buildings in each ward that can produce affordable housing to strengthen our neighborhoods and enable low income families to achieve a better and more equitable future.

 C100 Letter Zoning Commission Chair Anthony Hood

October 13, 2020, Kirby Vining
C100 October 12, 2020 letter to the Zoning Commission, objecting to the Zoning Commission’s August 5, 2020 letter to the Council encouraging the Council to pass the amended Comprehensive Plan because delay in passing the Plan “is having a negative effect on ((Zoning Commission)) progress.”

 C100 Letter Mayor Council Comprehensive Plan

August 24, 2020, Kirby Vining
The draft Comprehensive Plan fails to address the problems COVID has caused and continues to cause for our city.  We recommend that the Council return the draft plan to the Office of Planning to properly include language addressing these dire problems. 

 C100 Letter Council Chair Mendelson Return The Draft Comprehensive Plan To The Office Of Planning

May 15, 2020, Kirby Vining
The current version of the Comprehensive PIan is in force and will serve us well as residents, businesses and the government absorb and analyze the assumptions embedded in the amendments against the realities exposed by and resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

 2020-01-10 C100 Comments Comprehensive Plan

January 10, 2020, Kirby Vining
These “amendments” to the Comprehensive Plan constitute a rewrite (a major revision and not an amendment as described in Implementation Element Section 2513.2) making major changes and rewrites to policies without the public engagement required. (see Implementation Element Section 2507.4, Policy IM-1.5.2 Promoting Community Involvement). This has been a top-down process and all amendments that exceed the scope of an amendment cycle should be removed, and a rewrite with extensive community involvement should be started soon with the new plan to be completed by 2026 as envisioned in the 2006 plan.

 2019-11-21 C100 Press Release C100 Requests Mayor Bowser Extend DC Comprehensive Plan Deadline

November 21, 2019, Stephen A. Hansen
The Committee of 100 on the Federal City (C100) is urging Mayor Bowser to extend the 60-day public comment period, from December 20, 2019 to April 1, 2020, for the 1500 pages of amendments to the city’s Comprehensive Plan posted for public review by her Office of Planning (OP).  Further, the deadline for Advisory Neighborhood Commissions should be extended to May 1, 2020. 

 C100 Letter Extension Of Comp Plan Review Period Is Critical For Meaningful Public Review

November 18, 2019, Stephen A. Hansen, Chair
The C100 urges Mayor Bowser to extend the public comment period on the amendments to the  Comprehensive Plan Elements, released on October 15, from December 20, 2019 to April 1, 2020.

 C100 Comp Plan Framework Element Report

October 2019, Larry Hargrove & Laura Richards
On October 8, the City Council, urged on by Mayor Bowser, acted to smack down citizen activism with its vote aimed at making zoning decisions appeal-proof. But at what cost? Eager to keep the developers’ cranes in the air, the Council transferred a sizeable portion of its own authority under the Home Rule Act to the Zoning Commission. A proverbial giant sucking sound might have been audible as the vote on the Plan’s Framework Element proceeded and part of our self-government drained away.

 C100 Letter Mendelson Framework Element

June 29, 2019, Stephen A. Hansen
C100 urges Chair Mendelson to consider postponing the vote on the Comprehensive Plan Framework if is not responsive, too dense to be analyzed in a few days, or should be furthered amended after talking to Council members.

 C100 Comprehensive Plan Fact Sheet

February 5, 2018, Meg Maguire
Mayor Muriel Bowser has submitted legislation to the DC City Council to amend the Framework Element of the DC Comprehensive Plan, the city’s most important land use law. The bill strips citizens and their elected Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) from effectively challenging development projects. The DC City Council will hold a hearing on B22-0663 Comprehensive Plan Framework Amendment Act of 2018, a.k.a. The Developer’s Wish List Act, on March 20, 2018 at 2:00 PM at City Hall.

TAKE ACTION: Contact your ANC and your Council Members immediately. Sign up to testify on Tuesday, March 20 @ 2:00 PM at the Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Room 500 by contacting cow@dccouncil.us or calling Sydney Hawthorne at 202-724-7130 and provide your name, address, telephone number, organizational affiliation if any and title by COB Friday, March 16, 2018.

 C100 Letter To Shaw Comprehensive Plan Framework Element

September 25, 2017, Stephen A. Hansen
For a year, the Committee of 100 has asked for the redrafted Framework Element, or at least a reliable time when it would be released.  The Office of Planning has had the public’s submitted amendments now for two months and is reportedly planning to issue a report on which amendments OP will present to Council and which your agency will not support.  This unique and unsupportable process has permitted OP to judge citizen’s policy preferences before sharing the information that is influencing your decisions.  This is absurdly backwards.  It makes no sense and is neither fair nor transparent.  The Committee of 100 calls on the Office of Planning to release the draft Framework Element immediately.

 C100 Press Release Exempting The Zoning Commission From Conforming To Comprensive Plan Is Bad Idea

May 15, 2017, Stephen A. Hansen
The Committee of 100 on the Federal City (C100) has issued a statement in opposition to a specific provision in the “Priorities Statement” issued by a coalition of DC-area developers and non-profit organizations under the auspices of Greater Greater Washington, that would empower the Zoning Commission (ZC) to ignore the Council-adopted Comprehensive Plan.

The coalition’s proposed amendment to the Comprehensive Plan would: “Clarify zoning authority.  Through the Comprehensive Plan, the District should affirm that the Zoning Commission has the purview to allow increased density for Planned Unit Developments that supersedes the levels in the Comprehensive Plan’s maps in exchange for community benefits.”

 C100 White Paper Exempting The Zoning Commission From Conforming To The Comprehensive Plan Is A Bad Idea

May 8, 2017, Stephen A. Hansen, Nancy MacWood, & Laura Richards
The C100 rejects the “clarification” proposal as a spurious attempt to use affordable housing as a vehicle to avoid future challenges to Zoning Commission decisions and to destroy the ability of citizens to challenge developments that are inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan and Land Use Maps.

 2017-02-24 C100 Cover Ltr To Eric Shaw (OP) On Resiliency

February 24, 2017, Stephen A. Hansen
The inclusion of the new multi-faceted Resilience Element in the Comprehensive Plan is an important step forward for our city. The Committee of 100’s Parks and Environment Subcommittee has recently completed a detailed study on how the District can adapt to climate change. This study is the first in a series of issues we will be addressing as noted in our letter to you of Feb. 20. It includes some policies and action items proposed for inclusion in the Resiliency Element that are briefly summarized below.

 2017-02-24 C100 Comp Plan Resiliency Study

February 24, 2017, Parks & Environment Subcommittee
DC Office of Planning (OP) and DC Department of Energy and Environment  (DOEE) recommend that climate resilience be incorporated in the DC Comprehensive Plan.  We commend them for this important forward-looking step.  Climate change will cause rising water levels and increased flooding.  To add to these challenges, there will be more people living in the city.  DC's 2015 population was 672,228, and OP projects population will increase to 987,245 in 2045.[1]

[1]OP, Citywide Community Workshop #6, 3 Nov. 2016.  DOEE, "Climate Ready DC: The District of Columbia's Plan to Adapt to a Changing Climate, draft for public comment" 10, 16 (2013).  Rising temperatures caused by climate change and effects on other infrastructure such as Metro, communications, Metrorail, and utilities are beyond the scope of this report.

 C100 Letter Eric Shaw Comprehensive Plan

February 20, 2017, Stephen A. Hansen
We envision an amended Plan that includes and inspires all residents and stakeholders. The amended Plan should accommodate growth while respecting the District's built assets and national environment. Most of all, the Plan must respect both current, as well as future residents of the District of Columbia. Under these broad goals, we expect to focus on the following areas during this amendment cycle: (1) creating inclusive, successful neighborhoods; (2) strengthening historic districts and other resources; (3) building a working transportation system; and (4) fostering a resilient environment.

 C100 Press Release - Developers Take Aim At Comp Plan

February 13, 2017, Caroline Petti
Some developers are taking aim at DC’s Comprehensive Plan— a key planning document that provides a framework for future city growth and development— in hopes of expediting projects by avoiding legal challenges by residents. Specifically, they are hoping to modify the Plan to preempt the ability of residents to challenge Planned Unit Developments (PUD).

 C100 Comments On Parks Element Comprehensive Plan

June 21, 2016, Beth Purcell
The Committee of 100 is concerned with the overall Parks and Open Space Element. However, certain issues are particularly important, and particularly the Anacostia Park/RFK issue.