D.C. Council Chairman Postpones Comprehensive Plan Vote Amid Concerns Over His Changes

by Jon Banister, Bisnow Washington,  D.C., September 16, 2019

The D.C. Council has postponed a key vote on the District’s Comprehensive Plan after planners and housing advocates raised concerns over a recent addition to the bill.

Council Chairman Phil Mendelson removed the final vote on amendments to the Comprehensive Plan’s Framework Element from the agenda for Tuesday’s legislative meeting and rescheduled the vote to Oct. 8, his spokesperson, Lindsey Walton, confirmed.  “We’ve received a number of comments, most of these before first readings but more discussion since then, to address issues of displacement and promoting affordable housing and so we’ve been working on what I would call tweaks to enhance what the document says with regard to those issues,” Mendelson said during a Monday press conference.

D.C. Planning Director Andrew Trueblood sent Mendelson a letter last week detailing concerns over additions to the amendments that he said could make it easier for development opponents to delay projects by appealing them in court. He called for the additions to be removed or significantly revised. Advocates including Coalition for Smarter Growth shared Trueblood’s concerns and supported his recommendations…

Read full Bisnow story here.