City Plan In Flux

The D.C. Office of Planning today posted for public review the draft amended Comprehensive Plan, a more than 1,000-page document that guides development across the city.

“There are major changes in all the chapters,” Erkin Ozberk, senior neighborhood planner in the Office of Planning, told the ANC 3D Commission on October 2.

Commission Chair Elkins said a novel would make better reading but encouraged residents to go through the document.

“We’re counting on people in neighborhoods to identify issues and let us know,” Elkins said. ANC resolutions will be considered January 8, 2020. The D.C. Council is the ultimate arbiter of the contents.

Ozberk said planners have been trying to remove contradictory elements of the plan. He said the text of the plan would be highlighted to preserve deletions and additions to make changes easier to recognize.

The 20-year plan, adopted in 2006 and previously amended in 2011, covers matters such as land use, economic development, housing, environmental protection, historic preservation and transportation. Related documents have been posted at plandc.dc.gov.

ANC 3D is part of Rock Creek West, which nearly matches Ward 3, where planners project the population to swell from 92,399 to 113,151 by 2045. The proportion of children and seniors is rising.

Ozberk said there’s a goal of adding 36,000 housing units, with 12,000 dedicated as “affordable” and distributed equitably across the city. ANCs will have 90 days to submit resolutions on the plan, Ozberk said.

Commissioner Troy Kravitz called the timetable “suboptimal” for digestion and action.

Loose Scooters And Bikes: Lasso Or Noose?

New tranches of “dockless” scooters and bikes are set to be released across D.C. ANC 3D weighs in on regulation in advance of a City Council committee hearing set for November 4.

Canopy Update

ANC 3D is nearly as leafy as it can be. More than 300 trees were planted streetside in 3D and few spots remain to add more, according to Earl Eutsler, associate director of DDOT’s Urban Forestry Division. The division’s pace has been about three new trees planted for every one removed because of disease or other defect. “Eventually we’ll run out space,” he said in an ANC 3D presentation October 2. “We’re moving aggressively to get to that point.”

Fifty-three percent of Ward 3 is under tree canopy.  ANC 3D has 64 percent coverage, or about 1,539 acres of 3D’s 2,405 acres. Eutsler said data from 2006 to 2015 shows increasing canopy in 3D, but some years have shown a dip due to losses from “large scale development”.

He said trees that grow big enough to interfere with utility lines no longer get planted under cables. He said he aims to plant trees native to the area. But a warming climate means reaching outside the region for species that do better with the changing conditions, for example, swamp white oaks. It’s a species that tolerates drought and compacted soils, according to the Arbor Day Foundation.

“You have a young forest right now because we have been planting so many trees,” Eutsler said. Less than 3 percent of DDOT’s street trees are in poor condition or dead. Both Eutsler and Rob Shaut, planting director at Casey Trees, which receives DDOT grants, encouraged people to tap their programs offering free trees to city residents.

Reservoir Angioplasty

At the request of Commissioner J.P. Szymkowicz, the ANC 3D Commission unanimously supported by letter a request made in connection with construction at Georgetown University MedStar Hospital to restrict parking on the south side of Reservoir Road. The requested restrictions, covering from Gate 2 to 44^th Street and from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., would last for the duration of construction of the medical/surgical pavilion, expected to go until 2023. The stretch of road is clogging.

Diaper Write-Off

One item that shoppers can expect to flow more freely is diapers, according to Mayor’s Ward 3 Liaison Jessica Wertheim. She said consumers should watch the cash register because sales tax has been eliminated in D.C. as part of a “family support” initiative. The deal started October 1. The repeal “was made possible by a $4.5 million investment” in the 2020 city budget, according to statement from Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Sibley Parking Overflow

Some residents want Sibley Memorial Hospital to keep its parking from spilling onto neighborhood streets. “Vendor parking is a big problem,” a resident told ANC 3D Commissioners. “There are people who come and park all day.” Apparently, sorting out whether vehicles belong to vendors can be difficult. Commissioners said the hospital point person for the issue is Andrew Huff.

Trash Oversight

ANC 3D Commissioner Michael Sriqui said stepped up enforcement of rules for solid waste containment in alleys has brought complaints from residents surprised that their habits no longer pass muster and that a first offense results in a $75 ticket. He said regulations are difficult to find on the Department of Public Works website, noting that a link takes you to inaccessible language in the D.C. code. Other departments present rules in plain language, he said. Sriqui gained unanimous support to write a letter of concern to DPW.

Dalecarlia Committee Formed

A special committee of residents and ANC 3D Commissioners has been appointed to consider transportation plans for Dalecarlia Parkway, including bike lanes. Elkins said the city transportation department agreed to cooperate with the committee. “There is no use in us doing all this work and then talking to a brick wall,” Elkins said.

Blending In

S-SEE?: A green curve slithers along the Capital Crescent Trail in early October, near the Dalecarlia Water Treatment Plant. Photo Credit: John A. Bray