Original photo by Steven Vance on Flickr and edited by Dan Reed.

Weekly, Regional Policy Director Dan Reed and DC Policy Director Alex Baca will share with you an action you can take in the immediate future that has the potential, sometimes great and sometimes small, to increase the number of homes in our region, decrease the trips people take by car, make all of it safer, and not screw people over in the process. This week: the right zoning for 1617 U, join us for a Silver Spring photo walk, Scottish castles and zoning in Montgomery County, and have you seen our endorsements in Arlington and Alexandria?

If you have any questions, email dreed@ggwash.org about Maryland and Virginia Do Somethings, and abaca@ggwash.org about Washington, DC, Do Somethings—or, about whatever you want to talk about.

DC

ZC 23-02, which would rezone 1617 U Street NW and 1620 V Street NW from MU-4 to MU-10, was once again on the zoning commission’s agenda on Thursday, May 9. You can watch the recording here; what you need to know is that there will be a limited-scope hearing in June—I’m not sure of the date yet—primarily for the Office of Planning to address why it applied for MU-10, instead of any other zone. Limited-scope hearings are new to me, but that there’s one happening means that the case record is still open. If you live nearby, it is worth sending a quick note to zcsubmissions@dc.gov saying that you support an MU-10 designation.

MU-10 is a good zone. I’ve grown increasingly fond of it as the 1617 U saga has unwound, because the rezoning process has, to me, really demonstrated that it’s the best fit for the site, which is publicly owned and likely to remain so even after it’s redeveloped. I think most places in the District should be high-density, but I especially think that publicly owned land should be high-density.

A chart showing how many dwelling units (DUs) could be built at 1617 U under different zoning.  Image by DC Office of Planning.

OP’s supplemental report on its application, requested by the zoning commission, includes this dope chart showing how setbacks, “split zoning,” and less-dense zones would considerably reduce the number of homes, and income-restricted, subsidized homes (“DU” means “dwelling units”) that would be legal to build on the site.

The slog continues. As always, your support will be most meaningful if you live close to 1617 U. —AB

Maryland

*NEXT SATURDAY* Have you ever wanted to learn more about street photography? Would you like some company when you’re out taking photos? Join us for a photo walk Saturday, May 18 from 11am to 1pm where we’ll explore downtown Silver Spring. We rely on the GGWash Flickr pool for the photos we use here, all of which come from volunteers like you! You can RSVP here.

Some years ago a few of us were at the Quarry House, and I drove a friend visiting from out of town to their parents’ house in Chevy Chase. He said, have you heard of Ross Dhu Gate? I had to ask him to repeat it a few times, because I couldn’t figure out what language he was speaking. And then he gave me directions to something that looked, in that dark rainy night, like something out of a movie.

Named for and designed to mimic a 15th-century Scottish castle, Ross Dhu was a 1920s estate whose owners immediately fell into hard times. Within a few years of being built, the castle became a nightclub and finally an apartment building before it was demolished and the land rezoned and subdivided in 1957. The gatehouse is still there and currently on the market for $1.795 million–honestly a steal in Chevy Chase–but aspiring castle-apartment builders might get a second chance.

A few weeks ago on Do Something, we talked about Attainable Housing Strategies, or Montgomery County’s ongoing effort to produce more affordably-priced homes by legalizing duplexes, townhomes, and small apartment buildings in more communities. This map, which you can play around with here, shows where county planners think that should happen. In single-family zones throughout the county, they recommend allowing two and in some cases three homes on lots where today you can build one house. Shown below is the “Priority Housing District,” where planners recommend allowing up to four homes on single-family-zoned lots (the blue areas). It includes everything within a mile of Red Line, Purple Line, and MARC stations, and within 500 feet of future Bus Rapid Transit lines.

The “Priority Housing District” (in purple), and properties where Montgomery County planners recommend allowing four homes per lot instead of one today (in blue). Image by Montgomery Planning.

The areas that planners’ recommendations would change are close-in, walkable, transit-rich places—think Chevy Chase, Kensington, Takoma Park, and so on. What they have in common is that they were mostly developed in the early 20th century and, outside of places like downtown Bethesda or Silver Spring, consist mainly of single-family homes. They’re also the places where for decades, residents have been the loudest and most effective in blocking new housing. You couldn’t build Ross Dhu Castle today, because apartment buildings are now illegal in that neighborhood.

(The Attainable Housing Strategies recommendations don’t cover cities with their own zoning, like Rockville and Gaithersburg, and while they do cover further-out areas like Germantown, the zoning already allows a wider range of house types, so it won’t change as much.)

If that sounds ambitious, it is. The Priority Housing District alone is as big as Arlington County or Alexandria, two places that also opened up exclusionary zoning last year–and they too did a blanket change for all single-family zones in their jurisdiction. There and here, the argument was that single-family zones kept huge swaths of the community off-limits to people who couldn’t afford or didn’t want or need a detached house. Instead, they’d have to go to the handful of places in Montgomery County zoned for apartments and townhomes, which have seen explosive growth.

Allowing more housing across the county would give people more options in where and how to live, within their budget–and ensure that more communities carried their fair share of growth and change. It wouldn’t be a bad thing if Chevy Chase had more Scottish castles-turned apartment buildings.

This summer, the Planning Board will decide what areas should or shouldn’t be included in the Attainable Housing recommendations, and send their recommendations to the County Council, who makes the final decision. There will be a tremendous amount of pressure to take places off of this map, or to limit changes to less-wealthy neighborhoods who won’t speak out. We believe that this map should be as expansive as possible, and encourage you to let the Board know you feel the same way.

  • If you have a few minutes: email the Planning Board at mcp-chair [at] mncppc-mc [dot] org, address it to Chair Artie Harris and members of the Montgomery County Planning Board, and say “I support the staff recommendations for Attainable Housing Strategies, including the Priority Housing District. We need to make sure more people can afford to live in Montgomery County’s jobs- and transit-rich neighborhoods, and allowing up to four homes in single-family zones within one mile of transit is an important tool to making that happen. I urge the board to send these recommendations to the County Council.” As always, bcc me at dreed [at] ggwash [dot] org so I know you sent it.–DR#DC

Virginia

This week we announced that we’re endorsing JD Spain and Tenley Peterson for Arlington County Board and Alyia Gaskins for Alexandria Mayor! Elections are where our priorities move forward, which means right now The Work is: supporting their campaigns, donating, and encouraging your friends and loved ones to vote.

Electoral work might not be a volunteering opportunity that appeals to you, or you might be supporting campaigns other than the ones we’ve endorsed. We understand! But…if you’re looking to do something to ensure that there are more places for people to live, and more ways for them to get where they need to go, the best thing to do right now is to help get the candidates who can get us there elected.

Here’s what you can do:

  1. Visit the candidates’ websites, where you can find opportunities to volunteer and donate to their campaigns:
  2. See if you’re registered to vote in Virginia and make a plan to vote!
  3. If you’re planning on early voting, here’s where you can go in Arlington or Alexandria.
  4. If you’re voting on Election Day, find your polling place in Arlington or Alexandria.

I’m super proud of our Elections Committee for all of their hard work putting these together, and I’m excited to support these candidates in this year’s primary.–DR

Your support of GGWash enables us, Dan and Alex, to do our jobs. Our jobs are knowing how development and planning works in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. If it’s appropriate to take action to advance our goals, which we hope you share, we can let you know what will have the most impact, and how to do it well. You can make a financial contribution to GGWash here. And if you want to see Do Something in your inbox, scroll down and sign up for our daily emails.