By Megan Sayles
AFRO Staff Writer
msayles@afro.com
Community organizations in Washington, D.C., are raising concerns about planned upzoning for sections of Wisconsin and Connecticut avenues in Ward 3 as part of the District’s Rock Creek West planning area. The rezoning would include significant increases in building height and density. This would allow for larger mixed-use developments along major transit corridors with a goal of expanding the D.C. housing supply and promoting transit-oriented growth.
Ward 3 Housing Justice, a grassroots advocacy group, is worried the proposed zoning changes will pave the way for large-scale redevelopment without corresponding guarantees of deeply affordable housing and inclusion for low-income families—especially as Ward 3 already has the lowest share of affordable housing in D.C.
“We’re building housing, but excluding people by nature of not including affordable housing. Unfortunately, this area has a long history of exclusionary development through redlining and other zoning laws,” said Deirdre Brown, a member of Ward 3 Housing Justice and a third generation Washingtonian. “We’re not opposed to density; what we are opposed to is when they’re building density but not creating housing with equity.”
Brown said the organization embraces development when it is designed to be inclusive, ensuring that historically underserved communities have access to the benefits it creates.
“We’re asking that if we’re going to grow, we need to grow with a purpose, and that purpose needs to include Black and Brown working-class families,” Brown continued. “We can’t just keep pushing them out of opportunity.”
A few residential developments have already come out of the Rock Creek West planning area, including Wardman Park, Upton Place and City Ridge. Each are luxury apartment complexes, and out of the more than 2,000 units they produced, only about 9 percent–or 200 units–are designated as affordable.
Brown noted that the majority of them are only deemed “affordable” for households earning at least $75,000 annually.
Ward 3 Housing Justice is calling on the D.C. Zoning Commission to reopen the public record for the upzoning of Connecticut and Wisconsin avenues and to allow additional public comment. The group is also urging the D.C. Office of Planning (OP) to respond to questions raised during public hearings and to ensure that affordability requirements are proportional to the significant density increases in the proposed rezoning.
“When we are authorizing this much additional density, we’re getting nothing in exchange. We’re increasing the land value for the developer but the community is not getting anything in exchange,” said Brown. “The only thing we’re asking for is more affordable housing. We believe density is a public gift and that there should be proportional affordable housing in exchange for that.”
The Office of Planning told the AFRO that the proposed rezoning is intended to expand housing production, improve transit access and support mixed-use development along these corridors. Officials said the zoning amendments implement changes that were adopted by the D.C. Council in the 2021 Comprehensive Plan. They were also informed by the Connecticut Avenue Development Guidelines and the Wisconsin Avenue Development Framework, both developed with public input.
The amendments would require all new developments along the corridors to include affordable units under the Inclusionary Zoning Plus (IZ+) program.
“In total, we estimate these amendments could add about 10,000 new housing units to the area, 2,000 of which would be affordable under IZ+. IZ+ is one of a suite of tools that the District uses to add affordable housing across the city,” said the OP in a statement to the AFRO. “We’re continuing to provide analysis to the Zoning Commission to ensure affordable housing is maximized and the zoning changes are responsive to community stakeholders.”
The Zoning Commission is set to take further action on the proposed upzoning for Connecticut and Wisconsin avenues in April.
