To: DC Zoning Commissioners:
We are aware that you are taking up a request by the Mayor's Office of Planning to set-down their application to create new zone districts for the Chevy Chase community, specifically between Livingston St. and the Chevy Chase Circle on upper Connecticut Avenue.
Chevy Chase Voice asks you to void the set down application in Case No. 23-25, primarily because OP has unlawfully ignored the most recent ANC 3/4G resolution and OP is defaulting on its promise to fully engage with the community before approving the set down application.
Please review the following facts to support halting the set down application action in ZC Case No. 23-25:
1. On June 26, 2023, the Office of Planning presented "draft" ideas to ANC 3/4G and the community in attendance about possible new zones for the upper-Connecticut Avenue corridor. OP suggested this as a work in progress. ANC 3/4G Chair Lisa Gore said to Joel Lawson (OP representative who submitted the application) at the end of the meeting: "Well I want to thank OP (the DC Office of Planning) for coming out tonight and giving us another run at the draft zoning changes and I think, Joel [Lawson], as you heard, we still have some major issues with your draft."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=shared&t=1113&v=lm1FEPQp9Iw
2. On July 7, 2023, the ANC voted on a formal ANC resolution that was sent to the DC Office of Planning stating: "We urge the Office of Planning and the Department of Planning and Economic Development to receive the ANC’s community survey, due to be completed in the Fall of 2023, before advancing in the zoning process."
https://anc3g.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023-07-24-Final-Civic-Core-Site-Resolution-2.pdf
3. Neither DMPED nor OP have responded to the ANC 3/4G official July 2023 resolution per the Great Weight law that requires OP as an executive agency to do so. See DC Code § 1–309.10 (a), (h)(1).
4. The Mayor's Office of Planning (Jennifer Steingasser) submitted the application to the Zoning Secretary in Case No. 23-02 on October 13, 2023.
https://app.dcoz.dc.gov/CaseReport/ViewExhibit.aspx?exhibitId=324455
5. OP submitted the zoning application before DMPED completed OurRFP community meetings and resolutions about the future of the Chevy Chase Commons.
https://dmped.dc.gov/page/chevy-chase-civic-site
6. OP did not inform the ANC of their zoning application per D.C. Code § 1–309.10 (b). Link to law:
https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/1-309.10
7. OP did not inform the Ward 3 Councilmember, Matthew Frumin, before submitting the zoning application in Case No. 23-25.
https://savedcpublicland.org/chchcommons/frumin-letter/
8. The Office of Planning's 78-page set-down report dated October 13, 2023 makes no mention of the July 2023 ANC Resolution asking that OP refrain from proceeding with zoning applications until ANC survey results and dialog with the community are completed.
https://app.dcoz.dc.gov/CaseReport/ViewExhibit.aspx?exhibitId=324453
9. The new zones are not mentioned in the Chevy Chase Small Area Plan; consequently, approving these new development zones would invalidate the previous approval of the Chevy Chase Small Area Plan, necessitating a new CC SAP be approved before this new zoning can be approved.
Conclusion:
OP has unfairly and prematurely ended the community conversation about the content of the zoning application in ZC Case NO. 23-02.
The Zoning Commission now has the choice not to be part of OP's decision to trample over its promises to continue community dialog until we get a robust understanding of community desires and needs about changes to the Chevy Chase built-environment that will affect all those who live and work nearby, forever.
Per the July 2023 ANC 3/4 G resolution and basic planning principles, the 1300 members of Chevy Chase Voice ask you to vote against setting-down OP's zoning application filed on October 13, 2023, until we finish community deliberation about the types of zone districts the community actually wants to see drive the future development of the upper-Connecticut Ave corridor.
Attachments area
Preview YouTube video ANC 3/4G Public Hybrid Meeting June 26, 2023
Respectfully,
Chevy Chase Voice
Welcome to the CCV letter writing campaign! Writing letters to your elected officials has never been easier! You can edit the text below or send it as is. Please make sure to note whether you live in ward “3” or “4” or “other” on the drop down menu below your personal information.
Take two minutes and send your representative government your 2 cents!
Thank you, Chevy Chase Voice
Why we are urging you to write:
In the Spring of 2023 Chevy Chase, DC, neighbors coalesced around a simple goal: to preserve a community asset that had been targeted by the city for private redevelopment. Long the community’s gathering area, Chevy Chase Commons is the site of the Chevy Chase Community Center and Library and Commons Park which includes a basketball court, a playground, shade trees, a garden, and a parking lot to enhance neighborhood access. The proposed development will wholly change the character and use of the Chevy Chase Commons. No one truly feels at home when housing, even affordable housing, and public uses mingle. Gone will be a key driver of community.
In order for 80-foot buildings to be built on the site, some part of the site must be "surplussed" and sold (at below-market cost) or leased (at $1 a year) to a private developer. Leasing can be an interim step before selling, so even if the site stays in public hands in the near-term, it could very well end up in private hands thereafter.
The current Chevy Chase Commons, Library and Community Center are not “surplus” as defined by city law, which says the city can only surplus land it owns if there is no longer a public purpose to be met. In fact, the Commons is fulfilling an important public purpose that should be maintained at its current level of human scale and amenities. CCV wants the facilities to be upgraded and updated, but without reducing green space and outdoor amenities. This is what the community has been promised, for years, by the city.
A proven method to defeat the city's redevelopment plans is to make it untenable politically for elected officials to support them. That is why we urge you to communicate your views to the ANC commissioners, who are meant to represent you at the grassroots level; to the DC Council members who are meant to represent you at the Ward and At-Large levels; and to the Mayor, whose plan this is. To simplify letter-writing, this app has officials' email addresses built in and supplies talking points in text that you can edit to convey your own uniquely expressed message. CCV has prepared other points for you to consider and add (feel free to cut and paste) - click link to: Additional Points . It is critical to write now, before the ANC 3/4G finalizes its Survey design.