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  Community Clips Smart Growth News for the Washington, DC Region January 10, 2008
Smart Growth in 2008! With your help smart growth has made huge progress and market demand for what Chris Leinberger calls “walkable urbanism” has never been greater. Yet, we are failing in our effort to save the Chesapeake Bay, in large part because we are still not doing enough to rein in sprawl. (Roanoke Times Editorial, 12/28/07). And our region emits more CO2 --- the leading contributor to global warming – than Sweden, Switzerland, and other nations. Finally, projects like the Intercounty Connector are antithetical to goals for the Bay, global warming and smart growth. Last year’s Growing Cooler report shows that green buildings in walkable, bikeable, transit accessible locations – location efficiency --is essential. Our collective goal should be to make the Washington DC region the world leader in using smarter growth to achieve energy efficiency, environmental protection, and fight against global warming. "Walkable Urbanism" Featured on Kojo Nnamdi Show (WAMU Podcast) Callers supported walkable urbanism, from DC to Reston to Hyattsville. Affordable housing, transportation choices, Zipcar, small business and local character preservation, and mixed-use developments allowing people to live close to where they work were all part of the discussion. Leinberger noted that a housing unit in a walkable neighborhood consumes half the energy of a suburban, car-dependent housing unit. Moreover, walkable housing and transit-oriented development, in conjunction with local zoning reform, tax incentives for TOD design over sprawl, and green building programs, are the number one solution to global warming and energy consumption. Go to http://wamu.org/programs/kn/ for the on-line podcast. National Smart Growth Conference in DC - Feb. 7-9 The annual New Partners for Smart Growth conference is coming to town! The conference brings together government, industry, architects and environmentalists to discuss smart growth policy. We will show off the DC-region’s smart growth successes on panels and tours. This is a great opportunity to learn more and to hear national experts. The registration fee of $309/$359 (Public or Non Profit/ Private) is a worthwhile investment because the conference has come to you and you won’t have to pay airfare or hotel! There are also one-day registrations. Please join us and encourage your elected officials and local planners to attend. Affordable Housing Law Delayed by the Fenty Administration With overwhelming agreement, the D.C. Council introduced a bill to require the Fenty Administration to implement an affordable housing law first adopted in December 2006. Championed by Chairman Gray and Councilmember Graham, the bill supports the position of the Campaign for Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning. Inclusionary zoning is a national best practice. The DC law requires all new developments of 10 units or more to set aside 8-10% of the housing units as affordable to low and moderate-income residents. This approach allows private housing developers to help address the region’s urgent need for affordable housing. Thank your councilmembers and let Mayor Fenty know you want to see Inclusionary Zoning implemented immediately: http://smartergrowth.net/issues/housing/iz.html The Intercounty Connector - Governor O'Malley's Legacy? As the former Mayor of Baltimore, Governor O’Malley should understand that bypass highways have undermined the economy of cities. He says he is passionate about Saving the Bay and fighting global warming and will revive Md. smart growth. Then why support the ICC? The state Secretary of Transportation admits that the ICC will not relieve traffic on the Beltway, I-270 or I-95. It will, in many cases, increase traffic on local roads. It will shift jobs and investment away from DC and Prince George’s County while destroying thousands of acres of forests, streams and wetlands in the headwaters of Rock Creek and the Anacostia River. It will increase driving by 20% and CO2 emissions enough to undermine the recent Md. Clean Car bill. At $3.1 billion, the ICC siphons money from critical local road and transit projects. The Sierra Club and Environmental Defense have appealed their lawsuit against the ICC. We will continue to urge Governor O’Malley to cancel this project. The ICC should not be his legacy. Instead, we hope his legacy will be a restored Bay and the nation’s best policies to fight climate change. We urge you to continue to oppose the Intercounty Connector in Maryland by contacting Gov. O'Malley here. and sign Sierra Club's petition. Smart Growth Returns to Loudoun Loudoun County continues to face the challenge of 30,000+ new houses already in the pipeline. Key initiatives should include adequate services for existing communities, ensuring good design for new development, and developing a more progressive transportation plan that emphasizes local street connections, pedestrian/bicycle friendliness, transit and traffic reduction. The Campaign for Loudoun’s Future will continue to be a strong advocate for smart growth in the county. Tysons Corner Plan Update Tysons Corner consultants are now running traffic models based on two land use and two transportation scenarios. The results will be considered by the public at community meetings on Feb 28th, and 29th. There will also be a community forum about design and density on January 28th. A much expanded grid of local streets, bicycle/pedestrian oriented street design, mix of uses including much more residential development, a range of public spaces and community amenities, strong parking policies, and additional transit investments must all be part of a comprehensive solution for Tysons Corner. Focused, well-designed walkable development near Metro is increasingly essential for reducing traffic and air pollution, for combating global warming, and for saving our region’s natural resources. Braddock Metro Plan Update The final community workshop for the Braddock Metro Neighborhood redesign effort will take place Thursday, January 24. The draft plan will be released next month, and the process wraps up in March with public hearings. We have been active participants in the process, and are pleased with its progress. The consultants have been willing to listen and coming up with creative, balanced solutions. We believe it is essential that the Braddock neighborhood achieve a win-win solution that offers significant community walkability, a mix of housing, retail, parks, and a sense of place while allowing development to take advantage of one of our critical Metro stations. If you want to learn more or tell us what you think of the redesign process, please email us. Northern Virginia Transportation Plan (Comment Today and Attend Tonight!) The new Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) is holding a hearing on its first 6-Year Transportation Plan tonight, Thursday, January 10th, at 6 pm, at George Mason High School, 7124 Leesburg Pike in Falls Church. Please review the plan for your local community. The law establishing the NVTA requires a substantial share of the money to go to transit and local roads. The Authority has criteria that places emphasis on ped/bike, transit and smarter growth but it is still a work in progress. You will find some major road widening including the PW County Parkway, Route 15, Route 7 and Route 28 frontage roads. These may or may not be compatible with the creation of more pedestrian friendly, transit-oriented and walkable communities. Email your comments to: TheAuthority@thenovaauthority.org, but also please attend to speak about your priorities. MD/DC/VA Regional Transportation Plan (Comment by Jan 12!) The regional Long Range Plan (scroll down to Long Range Plan) and 6-Year project list is out for public comment with comments due on January 12th. We urge you to support making funding for transit, pedestrian and bicycle needs the region’s top priority, including supporting the Potomac Yard transitway and the extension of VRE to Haymarket. See newly added projects. Among the new projects we urge you to oppose are the I-95/395 HOT lanes, widening of I-66 inside the Beltway, and Manassas Battlefield Bypass/TriCounty Parkway. Here’s why: For I-95/395 VDOT failed to evaluate rail transit, the disastrous effect on slugging, expanding HOV/bus only service instead of adding tolls, and transit-oriented development alternatives -- and the contract which transfers control of the new lanes and the toll revenues for 75 years has not been subject to public hearings or review. For I-66, VDOT has failed to evaluate a full range of alternatives and is using incremental widening which will simply push the bottlenecks to new locations. The Manassas Battlefield Bypass (and TriCounty Parkway) would be part of the Western Byass (Outer Beltway) opening new land to sprawling development. We also urge you to oppose the Intercounty Connector in the plan. Send your comments here. Upcoming Events
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