D.C. Comp Plan Update Includes 'Gentle Density' in Single-Family Residential Neighborhoods

A lot of long-term planning is underway in Washington, D.C.

1 minute read

April 29, 2020, 6:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Washington D.C.

Andrei Medvedev / Shutterstock

"Along with submitting the final draft of amendments to the Comprehensive Plan to the DC Council, the Office of Planning (OP) has also submitted a report on how the city's single-family zones can accommodate more density and the resulting impact on affordability and equity," reports Nena Perry-Brown.

OP is hoping to achieve a much wider scale adoption of accessory dwelling units and other forms of missing-middle housing  in single-family residential neighborhoods, according to Perry-Brown, but OP stops short of recommending District-wide by-right zoning for that kind of new density (following the models provided by Minneapolis and the state of Oregon). 

"Because SFZ areas are some of the city's most racially-segregated, largely retaining the demographics established by restrictive covenants and discriminatory lending, the report recommends targeting gentle density for particular areas that would achieve equity goals," according to Perry-Brown.

A separate article by Alex Baca digs into the entire package of Comprehensive Plan amendments, referenced above. As noted by Baca, the timeline of adoption for these is still highly speculative.


Monday, April 27, 2020 in Urban Turf

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