A discussion on fostering development near Metro stations quickly turned into a pointed — and, officials hope, constructive — indictment of Prince George’s County’s planning and zoning process. The meeting was a response to a pair of bills that would have allowed developers to fast-track the development process for projects within a half-mile of Metro or Maryland Transit Authority stations. The bills were tabled after criticism that they would allow such projects to bypass public hearings. Many speakers said the public hearing process is not what slows projects down. Cheryl Cort, policy director for the Coalition for Smarter Growth, called the development process a “labyrinth.”
Category: CSG in the News
Zoning Commission Chairman: No One Bikes to the Grocery Store
Responding to the notion that people in the transit-friendly area could get around by means other than a car, Zoning Commission Chairman Anthony Hood said that no one rides a bike to the grocery store.
HOT Express Lanes On 495 Set To Open Nov. 17
The operators of the 495 Express Lanes have set Saturday, Nov. 17 — five days before Thanksgiving — as opening day. The two new lanes in each direction spanning 14 miles between the Springfield interchange and the Dulles Toll Road will be E-ZPass only.
Passionate testimony fills 4-hour Housing Task Force hearing
Individual tenants and representatives of large organizations alike spoke about their experiences with District housing policy at a hearing on Monday. Those testifying overwhelmingly reflected the need for more affordable housing. Cheryl Cort, from the Coalition for Smarter Growth, argued for better use of public lands for affordable housing.
FABB Hosts First Ever Bike Summit at GMU Saturday
The first ever Fairfax Bike Summit is open to the public at George Mason University Saturday. “This event will be a powerful opportunity to learn from each other. Our goal is to build a coalition of local residents and work toward a bike future where people of all ages and abilities are comfortable riding on the streets,” said Bruce Wright…
Video: Apartments and Condos Fueling Construction Boom in DC
Housing developers all across the country are feeling confident, especially about
the future of building apartments and condos. And one place that’s really
booming—the nation’s capital. Sylvia Hall sits down with CSG policy director Cheryl Cort to talk about the D.C. housing market.
Board approves financing for U.S. 460 toll-road project
The Commonwealth Transportation Board approved the financing arrangements Wednesday to make the $1.4 billion U.S. 460 toll-road project a reality. The state anticipates finalizing the deal with US 460 Mobility Partners, the project’s design-build consortium, in December, officials told the state Transportation Board.
Board greenlights $900M-plus for stretch of U.S. 460
A state transportation board on Wednesday approved the use of more than $900 million in public bonds for a new, tolled highway out of Hampton Roads.
What’s the Best Way to Build New Highways: Private? Public? Tolls? Magic?
As the opening of the Interstate 495 Express Lanes on northern Virginia’s Capital Beltway draws closer, backers of the $2 billion project say they cannot guarantee the four new HOT lanes will achieve the goal of reducing traffic congestion while simultaneously returning a profit for their private sector operator.
PBS Frontline Documentary “Poisoned Waters” Featuring Stewart Schwartz
PBS’s Pulitzer-prize winner journalist Hedrick Smith exposes in his new Frontline documentary “Poisoned Waters” the damage being done to the nation’s delicate aquatic ecosystems like Puget Sound and the Chesapeake Bay. During his investigation, he finds that one of the major sources of the problem is our land use decisions and how we have chosen to grow. Low-density residential and commerical development built in the Chesapeake Bay watershed provide acres of impervious surface that send stormwater, laden with pollutants from parking lots and highways, rushing into the bay.
Stewart Schwartz, CSG’s Executive Director, leads Hedrick Smith on a tour of Arlington County and shows how smart growth helps protect the Bay by reducing stormwater runoff through redevelopment of parking lots into compact, walkable, urban communities. Watch the clip of the tour below, or see the full video on PBS’s website. Chris Miller, the president of the Piedmont Environmental Council, our partner organization, also comments on the options for our region during the clip.