5196889 Planning, Office of - Notice of Mayoral Hearing and Availability of the Draft Southwest Neighborhood Plan for Public Comment

  DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OFFICE OF PLANNING

NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT SOUTHWEST

NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

 

ACTION: Notice of Availability of the Draft Southwest Neighborhood Plan (a Small Area Plan)    for Public Comment.

 

SUMMARY: The DC Office of Planning (OP) has published the Draft Southwest Neighborhood Plan (“Draft Plan”) for public review and comment. The public comment period for the Draft Plan will begin on November 21, 2014 and end on January 30, 2015.  OP will host a Mayoral Hearing on the Draft Plan on January 28, 2015 from 6:30-8:30 pm in the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) Conference Room located at 1100 4th Street, SW, Second Floor, Washington DC 20024. Comments must be submitted to OP by the closing date, January 30, 2015.

 

The Draft Plan, a Small Area Plan, is a community-based strategy developed for the purpose of creating an urban design, land use, and neighborhood preservation framework to enhance parks, pedestrian and street connections, integrate community amenities, enhance transportation choices, and accommodate and guide the direction of future growth in the Southwest neighborhood. The planning area boundary is bordered on the north by I-395, to the west by Maine Avenue SW, to the east by South Capitol Street and to the south by P Street SW.  The Draft Plan also provides land use guidance for multiple, underutilized District-owned properties where government uses are currently located. The Draft Plan provides residents, property owners, city officials and District agencies with a blueprint for informing future capital funding priorities, shaping growth and preserving neighborhood character.

 

The public planning process was officially launched by OP in September 2013 and was centered on a robust community engagement and participation from residents, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners, Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells, neighborhood and civic organizations, property owners, institutions and government agencies. The Draft Plan documents the community-based process and records the shared vision and guiding principles that were collectively developed to serve as the foundation for the Plan’s key opportunity areas and recommendations. The Draft Plan’s vision is to create a thriving, active environment that preserves and enhances the Southwest neighborhood’s culture and character. The recommendations are framed around seven core Concepts:  Model Community; Modernist Gem; Green Oasis; Arts and Cultural Destination; Thriving Town Center; Optimized District Parcels; and Vibrant Connections. These themes cover open space, historic preservation, design guidance, land use, retail, housing, public realm and transportation. The Draft Plan includes an implementation matrix with time frames and the responsible entities for each recommendation to transform the Plan into reality.

 

Many of the general recommendations in the District’s 2006 Comprehensive Plan for the Southwest area have been implemented, including the reopening of 4th Street SW and the ongoing construction of the “the Wharf” on the Southwest waterfront.   Significant change has happened in and around Southwest since the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan in 2006, necessitating the creation of a Small Area Plan to guide both growth and preservation at the neighborhood level in the Southwest community. 

 

The Draft Plan Builds on citywide plans such as Sustainable DC, moveDC, and Play DC, as well as studies completed for the Planning Area such as the District Department of Transportation’s (DDOT) M Street SE/SW Transportation Study. The Draft Plan also was informed by technical analyses including an Existing Conditions Analysis and a Market Analysis. The Draft Plan incorporates feedback from four large community-wide meetings, seven Advisory Committee meetings, and three focus groups, as wells as comments from online engagement.

 

Public Comment

 

OP is providing a public comment period longer than the required 30 days to provide additional time for community review and comment over the holiday period. The public comment period for the Draft Southwest Neighborhood Plan will begin on November 21, 2014 and end on January 30, 2015. Comments must be submitted in writing to OP by the closing date, January 30, 2015.

 

 

Mayoral Hearing

In addition to receiving written comments on the Draft Plan, the OP will host a Mayoral Hearing on January 28 , 2015 from 6:30-8:30 pm in the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) Conference Room located at 1100 4th Street, SW, Second Floor, Washington DC 20024. Please note that comments can be submitted until January 30, 2015.  At the hearing, the DC Office of Planning will provide boards with visual representation pertaining to the recommendations set forth within the Draft Plan and respond to any questions relative to the graphic displays. Following this, members of the public will have an opportunity to offer comments for the public record. To provide oral testimony, please contact Melissa Bird. For all comments, please include your full name, contact information, affiliation of the commenter and organize comments by the chapters of the Draft Plan.  Comments can be submitted via email, US mail (post marked prior to the closing comment date), or fax. 

 

For further information and to submit all comments please contact:

 

Melissa Bird

Neighborhood Planning Coordinator for Ward 6

DC Office of Planning

1100 4th Street SW, Suite E650

Washington, DC 20024

Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

 

OP, working in collaboration with participating District government agencies, will consider all public comments on the Draft Plan and make its final recommendations on the Plan to the Mayor of the District of Columbia. Subsequently, the Mayor will submit a Revised Draft Plan to the DC Council for consideration. The Council will then provide additional opportunities for public comments, and will vote on an approval resolution for the Southwest Neighborhood Plan. The Mayor will implement the Plan in conjunction with affected District government agencies.

 

 

The Draft Plan is available for review at the following locations:

 

DC Office of Planning

1100 4^th Street, SW, Suite E650

Washington, DC 20024

 

Southwest Neighborhood Library

900 Wesley Place, SW

Washington, DC 20024

 

Martin Luther King Jr. Library

901 G Street, NW

Washington, DC 20001

 

Greenleaf Extension  

203 N Street, SW

Washington, DC 20024

 

Greenleaf Senior Building

1200 Delaware Ave, SW

Washington, DC  20024

 

Westminster Church

400 I Street, SW

Washington, DC 20024

 

The Draft Plan is also available online at the DC Office of Planning’s website:

www.planning.dc.gov or at www.swneighborhoodplan.org

 

 

Submitted by:

Melissa Bird, Ward 6 Planning Coordinator, DC Office of Planning, 1100 4^th Street, SW, Suite E650, Washington, DC 20024. [phone] (p), [phone] (f) or email at [e-mail]