Posts tagged Preservation
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On solar panels, DC’s preservation board puts aesthetics over addressing the climate crisis
“I applaud your greenness and your desire to save the planet,” said architect and preservation board member Chris Landis, “and I realize that we are in crisis politically as well as sustainably. But I just have this vision of a row of houses with solar panels on the front of them and it just — it upsets me.” Keep reading…
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This project aims to let residents guide how lower Georgia Avenue develops
A frequent complaint residents have about new development in their neighborhood is that things changed without their input. A new initiative called the Lower Georgia Avenue Equitable Development Project aims to let community members guide how their neighborhood will develop. Keep reading…
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DC will now allow solar panels in historic districts! (Mostly.)
Homeowners may be able to put solar panels on the fronts of their roofs in historic districts, under new sustainability guidelines released by DC’s Historic Preservation Office Friday. HPO may still push homeowners to adjust colors, appearance, and so forth of their panels, but won’t outright prohibit them. Keep reading…
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Updates to DC’s Comprehensive Plan fit together housing and preservation
When Mayor Muriel Bowser and Office of Planning (OP) Director Andrew Trueblood released citywide targets for affordable housing production by neighborhood planning area, they also made public amendments to the rest of the Comprehensive Plan—all 24 chapters of it. The Comp Plan guides how the city will grow in the years to come. Keep reading…
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The “Call Your Mother” fight highlights the absurdity of Georgetown’s zoning
Last week, the owners of the popular bagel shop, Call Your Mother, appeared before the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) to request a variance to operate their shop at 3428 O Street NW, on the corner of O Street and 35th. While the ANC voted to approve the variance, and the Office of Planning also supported it, but some neighbors objected. Keep reading…
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We’re reading the amendments to DC’s Comp Plan. Here’s what it says about land use.
On Tuesday, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Office of Planning Director Andrew Trueblood not only released citywide targets for affordable housing production by neighborhood planning area, but also made public amendments to the rest of the Comprehensive Plan—all 24 chapters of it. The Comp Plan guides how the city will grow in the years to come. Keep reading…
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Grappling with the climate crisis, DC’s preservation board rejects front-facing solar panels
“I applaud your greenness and your desire to save the planet,” said architect and preservation board member Chris Landis, “and I realize that we are in crisis politically as well as sustainably. But I just have this vision of a row of houses with solar panels on the front of them and it just — it upsets me.” Keep reading…
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Draft updates to part of DC’s comprehensive plan are good news for housing advocates
DC’s Comprehensive Plan sets the course for how the District will grow in the next decade, and the Framework at the beginning sets the tone for the rest of the plan. Right now the District is updating this plan, beginning with the Framework. Housing advocates have been paying close attention to whether the updates will modernize how development works in the District. Keep reading…
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DC takes steps to streamline solar power, but some still don’t take a shine to it
To help meet DC’s goal of generating 100% of its energy renewably by 2032 and 10% with solar power by 2041, a likely zoning change will make it easier to build community solar “farms” on the ground and atop garages. But, not surprisingly, some people object, wanting neighbors to have opportunities to speak up in opposition before any solar installations can be built. Keep reading…
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Plans for Georgetown’s C&O Canal meet misanthropic planning attitudes
The Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal in Georgetown is largely a desolate place, but a new plan aims to bring life back to the canal as it historically had. But not everyone thinks a livelier C&O Canal is a good idea, particularly the Committee of 100 on the Federal City, which has called the plans an ill-advised attempt to recreate New York’s wildly sucessful “High Line” park. Keep reading…