Zoning Chair Anthony Hood at January 18, 2024 Zoning Hearing
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Zoning Commission Chair Anthony Hood Agrees with Community, Wants More Public Outreach

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Press Alert: Save DC Public Land: The 1617 Project
January 24, 2024

Ward One City Councilmember Brianne Nadeau Says Black Neighbors Have Had “More than Enough” Engagement on 17th & U Street Luxury Rezoning; Zoning Commission Chair Anthony Hood Agrees with Community, Wants More Public Outreach


Wards 1 & 2, Washington, D.C. — On Monday, January 22, Councilmember Brianne Nadeau gathered with Ward One residents at a “Brianne on your Block” event at 11th and U Streets, NW.

Neighbors in attendance asked Nadeau to host a widely advertised, face-to-face community forum to get feedback about her vision for the future of 1617 U Street – a 2-acre public site which is the current home of the 3rd District MPD station and Engine 9 fire station which the Mayor has been touting at her annual March Madness events (link).

“My Councilmember sadly appeared to have no interest in more engagement, seeming to think the community has had more than enough opportunities to provide input,” said Gregory Adams, co-founder of Black Neighbors of 1617 U Street, who attended the “Brianne on your Block ” event. Adams and his family have lived at 17th and V Streets for decades.

In May of 2021, Councilmember Nadeau rushed through a last-minute amendment to the DC planning map for 1617 U Street avoiding community debate. Her amendment moved the site from Moderate Density to a High-Density category during the City Council’s consideration of changes to the DC Comprehensive Plan (link). Since then, Nadeau has not hosted any community forums (by Zoom or in-person) about the largest-ever project along the west end of the U Street corridor. There were no planning impact studies associated with Nadeau’s map change when the Mayor signed it into law.

D.C. Zoning Chair Wants to Postpone Hearings Until There Has Been Proper Community Outreach

At the January 18, 2024, zoning hearing regarding 1617 U Street, the Mayor’s Office of Planning & DMPED admitted they had made little effort to engage with affected neighbors, businesses, civic organizations, churches or, especially, the impacted neighboring Black community In the year since OP and DMPED filed their rezoning application.

The city’s outreach has been so obviously inadequate that the Chair of the Zoning Commission, Anthony Hood (a zoning commissioner for more than 25 years), declared he was ready to “postpone [the hearings] … until this engagement is tightened up” because “it’s a showstopper … [and] disturbing [for] folks who look like me.” Hood wants racial equity to mean something, starting with engagement with Black neighbors.

https://www.youtube.com/live/xr-8mUtfKko?si=DA1RIjtz7P0DR30-&t=7267

If the zoning application is approved, Councilmember Nadeau and the Mayor would be able to green light the transfer of 1617 U Street (2-acres of public land) to a yet-to-be-named developer who could then construct and profit from a very dense 10-story + penthouse building “by-right.”

Massing of a potential MU-10 Building at 1617 U Street
Massing of a potential MU-10 Building at 1617 U Street

Most of the newly constructed units would likely be unaffordable market-rate studios and one bedroom apartments. The existing life safety services currently housed at the site certainly would be lost at least temporarily, if not permanently. The Office of Planning admitted no impact studies have been done to determine the potential consequences of these zoning changes.

The next zoning hearing concerning the proposed upzoning of 1617 U Street is scheduled for Monday, February 26, 2024, starting at 4pm. Interested members of the public may sign up to testify by going here >> http://www.tinyurl.com/testifydc

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