Do Something: The week of November 27, 2023

Weekly, Regional Policy Director Dan Reed and DC Policy Director Alex Baca 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: sit tight on the proposed Chevy Chase Historic District, really good and really dumb bills in Montgomery County, and how to help us do more in Northern Virginia.

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

You know, Giving Tuesday was this past Tuesday. Our executive director, Chelsea Allinger, sent all y’all (who are subscribed to our email list) an email about it. I forgive you if you didn’t open it, but, if you received it, I think you should give it a read. It’s of course an ask for you to donate to GGWash! We are a non-profit, financial contributions do allow all of us to do our jobs, and our individual donors are who we point to when we need to demonstrate that there is a constituency for our issues. We say it over and over—literally, the footer of this post is boilerplate language politely asking you to give us money—because your contributions really, really matter. If you are able to financially support GGWash, and want to, thank you.

Of course, giving to GGWash is not at all the only way to support us and support “the movement,” which is why we tell you when to Do Something! Regarding that: Yesterday, we re-ran some of our bangers on historic preservation’s foibles in “honor” of Chevy Chase DC Conservatory’s application for a historic-district designation for Chevy Chase. We’re opposed to this; we bet a good chunk of GGWash readers and supporters are, too.

But there isn’t much to do about it at this moment, besides talk about it, and we don’t yet know when there will be anything to do, because, “When the [Historic Preservation Review Board’s] calendar permits, it will consider the application in accordance with the Historic Landmark and Historic District Protection Act of 1978, and with the criteria set forth in Title 10C, D.C. Municipal Regulations, Chapter 2, to determine whether the properties merit designation. Historic district applications are typically scheduled for hearing some months after receipt, to allow plenty of time for discussion and comment.”

When HPRB schedules a hearing next year, we’ll get organized, and get you organized, to tell its members—who, to my knowledge, have never denied an application—that this is an utterly unserious proposal that’s cropped up, conveniently, as the District is getting serious about upzoning Rock Creek West. For my part, I’ll argue that the good people of Chevy Chase, whose neighborhood was developed with the intent to “create…a new community that was designed to be insulated from the cultural and economic diversity of the city” (per page 6 of the application) do not deserve the privilege of an extra layer of development review couched as merely, innocently preserving “property…associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history” because it “embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction” (per page 64 of the application).

But it’ll be “some months” until I, or you, get to say that in an HPRB hearing. For now, read the application. It’s excruciatingly boring and at times funny in its self-delusion. The mere consideration of it is a terrible use of public resources. So don’t get too spun up in all that until it’s go time. —AB

Maryland

First off: last week I failed to mention that our Planners of Color Happy Hour was a huge success! We had at least 50 people come through at Shanklin Hall, and it felt really good to have this space for BIPOC planning professionals. Everyone I talked to asked when we’re doing it again, so keep an eye out for that!

Earlier this week, the Montgomery County Council introduced a bill that would do away with parking requirements for new homes within a half-mile of Metro and Purple Line stations. These are the places in Montgomery County where people can most easily live without a car–and many already do–and homes are the most expensive. Requiring that new homes in these places come with a parking space, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars to build and may not get used, just doesn’t make sense. Myself and Carrie Kisicki of the Coalition for Smarter Growth spoke at a press conference Tuesday announcing the bill, dubbed ZTA 23-10.

I am immensely grateful to Council President Evan Glass, Council Vice President Andrew Friedson, and Councilmember Kristin Mink, who put this bill together–and were able to secure support from all eleven councilmembers. The council will hold a public hearing on ZTA 23-10 January 16, and they still need our support. While eleven votes means County Executive Marc Elrich can’t veto it (I had a lovely conversation with Marc when I saw him on Monday, but I don’t know what he thinks about it), a resident literally showed up to Tuesday’s press conference to complain about the bill, and you can bet he and his friends will be out in force. You can sign up to testify starting Friday, December 1.

You might remember that state delegates introduced a version of this bill in the Maryland General Assembly last winter, which passed unanimously before dying in the Senate. There’s a ton of energy around housing and transportation issues in Annapolis right now, and we’re gonna have some cool stuff to share in the coming weeks. Until then, there’s one bill that could cause a lot of problems.

PG/MC 113-24 would block the Montgomery County Planning Department from making transportation plans that discussed sidewalks, bike lanes, or transit stops. Sponsored by state senator Ben Kramer, the bill says the Planning Department can only talk about the location of “nodes, links, and required rights-of-way,” and if you don’t know what that means, neither do we.

It’s beyond reckless to restrict the county’s ability to plan for people walking, biking, or using transit, and I wonder if this has something to do with two bills Senator Kramer introduced last year that would hand over the planning functions to the County Executive. Here’s our testimony.

This bill has a hearing before Montgomery County delegates and senators this Monday, December 4 at 7pm at the Council Office Building in Rockville. You can sign up on the delegation’s website to testify in person, or you can email your comments to the delegation at MontgomeryCounty [dot] HouseDelegation [at] mlis.state.md.us. Make sure to write the number of the bill you’re talking about in the top right-hand corner. —DR

Virginia

NoVA friends: This is a powerful moment right now. This week, Alexandria’s City Council voted to open up single-family zoning, following in the footsteps of Arlington County. Fairfax County just overhauled its parking policy, which will make it way easier—and affordable—to build walkable, car-optional homes and neighborhoods. Falls Church has made huge progress in turning Route 7 into a real downtown, and this year had an election that will keep it moving that direction.

Though I’m a lifelong Marylander, I’ve spent a ton of time in Northern Virginia both professionally and visiting friends and family, and I’m inspired by the energy of my fellow organizers and advocates fighting for more home and more equitable, sustainable communities. We don’t spend nearly as much time there as we should! That can and should change with your help. Giving Tuesday was this week, and I can make no promises, but if you support us with donations, we’ll be able to do a lot more in Virginia. —DR

Your support of GGWash enable us, Dan and Alex, to do our jobs, big parts of which are knowing how development and planning works in DC, Maryland, and Virginia, so that 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.