Section 10-A1103. CSF-1.1 LONG-TERM PLANNING FOR PUBLIC FACILITIES

 

1103.1The District Office of Property Management (OPM) is responsible for the management, care, and operation of all District government facilities. These facilities include over 100 government-owned buildings with nearly 5.9 million square feet of floor space, 13 warehouses totaling almost 730,000 square feet, and 35 leased buildings with 4.3 million square feet of floor space. Assets also include 10 parking lots and seven communication towers. The Capital Services Construction Administration Division of the OPM manages and implements a building improvement program for several of the largest District agencies, including the Office of Aging, the Department of Corrections, Fire and Emergency Medical Services, the Department of Health, the Department of Human Services, the Metropolitan Police Department, the DC Public Library, the Department of Public Works, and the University of the District of Columbia. 1103.1

 

1103.2Historically, planning for the facility needs of these agencies has focused on short-term capital needs rather than long-term growth forecasts or demographic analyses. This is partially due to the advancing age of many facilities and the overriding emphasis on facility replacement and modernization. Given the poor condition of many public buildings, the city’s focus has been on addressing basic life safety issues such as structural integrity rather than planning more systematically for 10 or 20 year needs. At the same time, planning for community facilities is complicated by blurred jurisdiction-agencies like the Department of Parks and Recreation and the DC Public Schools are responsible for their own capital budgeting and facility planning. While such efforts are coordinated with OPM through the City Administrator, the system is still imperfect. 1103.2

 

1103.3The Comprehensive Plan should be viewed as a tool for improving community facility planning on a number of levels. First, it is underpinned by an analysis of existing facilities that identifies existing gaps, redundancies, and functionally obsolete community facilities. For instance, functionally obsolete facilities can include fire stations that no longer can accommodate modern fire fighting equipment and cannot be modernized. Second, it articulates how and where the city will grow-providing a long-term (20 year) perspective on future needs. Third, it addresses facility planning for multiple agencies. This not only provides for more logical and equitable capital planning, it also presents the opportunity for co-location of multiple services in single facilities. 1103.3

 

1103.4Since land in the District is limited and is a scarce resource, the city needs to make sure that existing land devoted to community facilities is well used and retained for the long-term. This means that land resources should generally be preserved in District ownership if a facility is found to be obsolete, in order to ensure that the city can address current and future needs. Short-term or long-term land leases to private entities are preferred to selling such properties so that the District of Columbia can retain an adequate supply of land for the long-term future. 1103.4

 

1103.5The city must employ a range of techniques and tools to develop community facilities given the high cost and limited supply of land. In addition to financing and constructing facilities itself and co-locating compatible facilities together, the District uses joint development and public/private ventures to leverage its assets. 1103.5

 

1103.6Policy CSF-1.1.1: Adequate Facilities

 

Construct, rehabilitate, and maintain the facilities necessary for the efficient delivery of public services to current and future District residents. 1103.6

 

1103.7Policy CSF-1.1.2: Adequate Land

 

Ensure that the District government owns a sufficient amount of land in appropriately distributed locations to accommodate needed public facilities and meet the long-term operational needs of the government. 1103.7

 

See also the Land Use Element and Economic Development Element policies and actions to preserve and protect adequate lands for public facilities.

 

1103.8The Big City Dilemma in Community Services and Facilities Planning

 

Planning for new public facilities like libraries and police stations is an important long-range planning activity. In fast-growing suburban cities and counties, such planning usually occurs in tandem with preparation of the Comprehensive Plan, since the need for new facilities correlates directly with growth. The process is different in large, mature cities like Washington. In older cities, public facilities are usually already established, and the issue is typically replacement and modernization rather than the acquisition of new sites. This can lead to disjointed planning practices. As part of the revision of the District Elements, the Comprehensive Plans for several other large US cities were reviewed. A summary of the public facilities provisions in the San Francisco, Atlanta, Seattle, and Baltimore Comp Plans is provided below:

 

•In San Francisco, the General Plan provides prescriptive guidance on community facility planning. It sets general criteria for locating police and fire stations, libraries, public health centers, and neighborhoods centers. For example, the plan stipulates that police stations should be accessible by public transit, that fire stations should have a ½ mile service area radius, and that each branch library should serve 25,000-50,000 residents. The Plan does not quantify future community facility needs, and does not provide specific locations for future facilities.

 

•Atlanta's Comprehensive Plan includes a public safety element with policies on police, fire and emergency management services. The policies are generally programmatic and only address specific facility needs in a few cases. For instance, high priority replacement fire stations are listed. The Plan's Human Services Element discusses the need for child care and health facilities but does not identify specific sites for such facilities. Similarly, recommendations for libraries address capital projects that are already underway rather than long-term needs for new facilities.

 

•Baltimore's recent Comprehensive Plan draft does not address community services and facilities planning for fire, police, library, health and neighborhood centers.

 

•The Seattle Comprehensive Plan includes a 20-year growth projection that is very similar in quantity to the District of Columbia's projection. In the Capital Facilities Element of their Plan, there are several policies relating to the location of new facilities, including policies to target investments to areas expecting the highest levels of residential and employment growth, and to encourage the location of facilities like schools, libraries, and clinics in transit-served urban villages. The capital facilities needed to meet projected needs are included in the city's Capital Improvement Program rather than in the Comp Plan.

 

1103.9Policy CSF-1.1.3 Retention of Publicly-Owned Land

 

Retain District-owned property for community facility uses. Wherever feasible, the District should use short- or long-term leases for lands not currently needed so as to preserve the District’s long-term supply of land for public use. 1103.9

 

1103.10Policy CSF-1.1.4: Addressing Facilities That Are Functionally Obsolete

 

Develop reuse or disposition plans for public buildings or sites that are functionally obsolete, that cannot be rehabilitated cost-effectively, or that are no longer needed. 1103.10

 

1103.11Policy CSF-1.1.5: Barrier-Free Design

 

Require that all District public facilities accommodate the needs of persons with physical disabilities to the greatest extent possible. 1103.11

 

1103.12Policy CSF-1.1.6: Location of Facilities

 

Ensure that the planning, siting, and design of new public facilities is consistent with all Comprehensive Plan goals and policies, including the Future Land Use Map and the Policy Map. 1103-12

 

1103.13Policy CSF-1.1.7: Public Facilities and Economic Development

 

Locate new public facilities to support economic development and neighborhood revitalization efforts. 1103.13

 

See the Environmental Protection Element for policies on Green Building requirements for new public facilities and the Urban Design Element for policies on the design of public buildings.

 

1103.14Policy CSF-1.1.8: Co-Location

 

Encourage the co-location of multiple community services in the same facility, provided that the uses are functionally compatible with each other and are also compatible with land uses and activities on surrounding properties. The planning of public facilities such as libraries, police and fire stations, recreation centers, job training centers, early childhood development centers, and wellness centers, shall be fully coordinated to ensure that such facilities are logically and efficiently sited, and support the goal of providing neighborhood-based services. Joint planning of Districtoperated facilities with other community facilities such as schools, health clinics, and non-profit service centers shall also be supported through ongoing communication and collaboration between the Office of Planning, the DC Public Schools, the Office of Property Management, the City Administrator, the Office of Budget and Planning, other District agencies, and appropriate outside agencies and partners. 1103.14

 

See the Land Use Element for policies related to the siting of community facilities and mitigation of potential impacts.

 

1103.15Action CSF-1.1.A: Master Public Facilities Plan

 

Develop a Master Public Facilities Plan (MPFP) to ensure adequate community facilities and infrastructure and to provide guidance for the long-term Capital Improvements Program and the 6-year capital budget. The MPFP should include an assessment of all District-owned or maintained community facilities and property and should identify what improvements are needed to correct deficiencies and address planned growth and change in the District. The facilities plan should be continuously maintained and updated regularly with new priorities and timelines. As needed, the Comprehensive Plan should be amended to incorporate the MPFP findings and to add newly developed benchmarks and standards, acreage and locational requirements for various public uses, and identification of sites for new or refurbished facilities. As part of the MPFP and for each planning cluster, the appropriate planning agency shall annually collect and publish data on public school capacity and enrollments, recreational facilities, libraries, emergency medical service response time, sewers, green space, public transit capacity including bus routes and ridership statistics for Metrorail stations and lines as well as parking availability, and traffic volumes on roads and at key intersections. This data should be used when evaluating the need for facility and infrastructure improvements, and for evaluating appropriate densities for development in various neighborhoods both in the rezoning process and for planned unit developments. 1103.15

 

1103.16Action CSF-1.1.B: Criteria For Re-Use

 

Establish formal, measurable criteria for determining when a public facility can be deemed surplus, obsolete or too poorly located for its current public use, and therefore subject to a lease agreement for an interim use. Specific criteria should also be developed that spell out the limited circumstances when District-owned community facilities may be sold or traded for other suitable uses. 1103.16

 

1103.17Action CSF-1.1.C: Site Planning Procedures

 

Develop site planning and management procedures that mitigate adverse impacts from public facilities on surrounding areas. 1103.17

 

notation

The provisions of Title 10, Part A of the DCMR accessible through this web interface are codification of the District Elements of the Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital. As such, they do not represent the organic provisions adopted by the Council of the District of Columbia. The official version of the District Elements only appears as a hard copy volume of Title 10, Part A published pursuant to section 9a of the District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1994, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; D.C. Official Code § 1 -301.66)) . In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions accessible through this site and the provisions contained in the published version of Title 10, Part A, the provisions contained in the published version govern. A copy of the published District Elements is available www.planning.dc.gov.