107.1 The 2006 Comprehensive Plan was the outcome of a five-year revision process, from 2002 to 2006, and two subsequent amendments: a minor amendment in 2011, and a major revision that began in 2016.

107.2 In 2002, the Mayor and DC Council deferred the regularly scheduled amendment of the District Elements and instead asked OP to conduct a Comprehensive Plan assessment. A 29-member citizens task force was convened to advise the District as it evaluated changes that would improve the Comprehensive Plan's effectiveness, organization, and format. The Comprehensive Plan Assessment Report, issued in February 2003, recommended a major Comprehensive Plan revision and fundamental changes to the document's structure. The report also suggested that the first step in the revision process should be to develop a broad vision for the District's future.

107.3 A Vision for Growing an Inclusive City was developed in response. The Vision included an appraisal of the District's major planning issues and an articulation of goals for addressing these issues in the future. Its content was shaped by position papers on topics ranging from education to housing, workshops with department heads and civic leaders, and input from more than 3,000 District residents at the Mayor's Citizens Summit in November 2003. The Vision was endorsed by DC Council in June 2004.

107.4 Work on the Comprehensive Plan revision began in Fall 2004. With the Vision's directive to "grow an inclusive city," the revision was designed to be an inclusive process. The goal of this process was not merely to involve the public in creating the Comprehensive Plan—it was to build a constituency for the Comprehensive Plan that could advocate for more effective implementation in the future. Thus, education and outreach about the Comprehensive Plan became as important as public input.

107.5 The 2006 Comprehensive Plan was the first to be prepared during the digital era and, as such, a host of new tools were used to convey it to the community. The project website, www.inclusivecity.org, was used to publicize meetings, display information, provide drafts for comment, and receive feedback through bulletin boards and e-mail. The website received more than 1.3 million hits over the course of the project. Television and radio were also used, drawing residents to town meetings, workshops, and public hearings.

107.6 The 2006 Comprehensive Plan's content was also shaped by a Plan Revision Task Force. The 28-member task force represented diverse interests and geographic areas, and advised OP on the Comprehensive Plan's content as well as its maps and place-specific recommendations. Similarly, an interagency working group

representing more than 20 District and federal agencies was convened throughout the process to provide policy feedback and technical assistance. Small group discussions, attended by stakeholders and others with a particular interest in plan topics, were convened on specific issues such as higher education and environmental quality.

107.7 Large community workshops were also essential to the 2006 Comprehensive Plan revision. Three rounds of workshops were held, each comprised of four to eight interactive meetings or gatherings. In all, the workshops drew more than 1,500 participants, with virtually every neighborhood of the District taking part. The workshops were supplemented by dozens of meetings with Advisor Neighborhood Commissions, citizen and civic associations, interest groups, and individuals.

107.8 While public involvement was the driver behind the Comprehensive Plan's content, its policies and actions have also been shaped by many other sources. Foremost among these is the prior Comprehensive Plan; many of its policies have been edited and carried forward. Similarly, recent plans and planning efforts, including the newly updated Federal Elements, also guide the Comprehensive Plan's content. Finally, an enormous amount of data collection and analysis underpins the Comprehensive Plan's recommendations. This data was largely absent from the prior Comprehensive Plan, which led to findings and recommendations that were not always supported by fact.

107.9 The 2006 Comprehensive Plan was presented to the DC Council in the summer of 2006, with DC Council public hearings held in the fall. Revisions to the draft Comprehensive Plan were made based on DC Council comments and public testimony, and the document was adopted in December 2006.

107.10 In 2009, OP launched the planning process for the first amendment to the 2006 Comprehensive Plan and held several community meetings to converse with stakeholders. Using an open call to the public, OP received approximately 250 proposed amendments.

107.11 Following a period of evaluation and drafting, OP introduced legislation to the DC Council, detailing recommended amendments to the Comprehensive Plan. Public hearings were held in the fall of 2010. Based on public testimony and the DC Council feedback, OP revised the recommended amendments, and an amended plan was adopted in April 2011.

107.12 In 2016, OP began the second amendment to the 2006 Comprehensive Plan. At the outset, OP determined that the Comprehensive Plan's Core Themes and Guiding Principles, which are outlined in the Framework Element, would remain intact—maintaining the fundamental structure of the document. During the spring

of 2016, OP assessed the Comprehensive Plan, met with other District agencies, and began to consult with community stakeholders. In the summer and fall of 2016, OP administered a major advertising campaign, branded as [PLAN]DC, to generate awareness and interest in the Comprehensive Plan update process. The campaign reached over 12 million people through Metrorail and Metrobus ad circulation and more than two million people through newspaper readership. A project website, plandc.dc.gov, was used to publicize meetings and share related information and materials. Since 2017, the [PLAN]DC website has received more than 46,000 page views and 13,000 PDF downloads. In the fall of 2016, OP held seven town hall meetings throughout the District, as well as several Advisory Neighborhood Commission workshops, to educate participants and provide forums for dialogue about community priorities.

107.13 From March to June 2017, OP held a 90-day open call to receive proposed amendments from the public, an approach designed to give all stakeholders a chance to suggest specific changes or contributions to the Comprehensive Plan. During that time, OP held 26 technical assistance sessions in locations around the District to help residents draft amendments in the appropriate format and navigate online and paper application forms. As a result of the community engagement and open call process, the District received approximately 2,816 submissions for proposed text amendments and approximately 248 submissions for proposed map amendments.

107.14 In January 2018, OP introduced legislation to amend the Framework Element of the Comprehensive Plan in advance of the other District Elements, to allow debate and establish a common foundation for other plan changes. In January 2019, legislation to amend the Framework Element was reintroduced.

107.15 During the second amendment process, OP took care to correct out-of-date information and ensure that text throughout the Comprehensive Plan is current and relevant. As part of this effort, complete and obsolete actions were documented as such and synchronized with the table in the Implementation Element. Descriptions of community engagement results from 2004 through 2006 were removed from the Area Elements and placed in appendices as a historical record. The Implementation Element was also modified to reflect current planning practices, and the guidance for future amendments was updated.

107.16 In 2019, OP shared its recommended amendments to the remaining District Elements with the public and led another round of community engagement to highlight important changes to the Comprehensive Plan and articulate key themes and goals.

107.17 In Spring 2019, OP conducted a DC Values campaign, with a survey and in-person outreach efforts. The DC values identified in the campaign were derived from the public amendments OP received throughout the open call process. OP

analyzed all of the public input received since the Comprehensive Plan amendment process began in 2016: open call amendment proposals, community meeting notes, and agency feedback. OP distilled the responses into eight crosscutting, high-level values: accessibility, diversity, equity, livability, opportunity, prosperity, resilience, and safety. A report was published on the results of the engagement.

107.18 The eight DC Values can be considered overarching concepts that are aligned with and support the Core Themes and Guiding Principles that are outlined in the Framework Element. The results of the DC Values campaign helped reflect resident aspirations for the District's growth and how this amendment process can align policies for long-term growth in a manner that builds towards a vibrant and inclusive Washington, DC. The results of this campaign are provided in the introduction to establish the context in which the District is evolving and to capture shared values for the future.

107.19 OP developed a two-pronged outreach approach that sought public feedback on these values through an online survey and on-the-ground outreach. The survey link was distributed through Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners and community networks, and OP staff developed a mobile outreach activity for neighborhood events, meetings, and festivals.

107.20 OP reached nearly 3,100 District stakeholders across all eight wards. The online survey asked residents and stakeholders which values resonated most with them and which values should be the highest priorities for amending the Comprehensive Plan. The online survey received 2,494 responses and, overall, each of the values resonated with respondents. Of the eight values, livability (57 percent of respondents), safety (51 percent of respondents), and equity (46 percent of respondents) received the highest number of votes. prosperity (21 percent) received the lowest number of votes.

107.21 Respondents who chose livability frequently touched on affordability, development impacts, and public amenities. When choosing equity, respondents shared concerns about rising costs and inequitable access to opportunity, not just for housing, but for businesses, employment, and other necessities. A desire for racial equity seemed to be a driving reason for selecting equity as a priority, as well. When safety was prioritized, respondents discussed pedestrian and bike safety and violent crime prevention as their most prevalent reasons for so prioritizing.

107.22 For District residents who participated in the survey, not only were livability, equity and safety considered the most important values, they were also considered to be foundations for the rest of the values and critical for retaining growth in the District.

107.23

Figure 1.3. Values Relationship to Core Themes.

SOURCE: District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; 31 DCR 1049 (March 9, 1984)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Element Amendment Act of 1984, effective March 16, 1985 (D.C. Law 5-187; 32 DCR 873 (February 15, 1985)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-129; 37 DCR 55 (January 5, 1990)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act Comprehensive Plan

of 1989 NCPC-Recommended Amendments, and Closing of Public Alleys in Square 669, S.O. 88-452, Act of 1990, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-132; 37 DCR 2213 (April 6, 1990)); as amended by District Government Land Use Temporary Amendment Act of 1994, effective October 1, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-190; 41 DCR 5360 (August 12, 1994)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1994, effective October 6, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-193; 41 DCR 5536 (August 19, 1994)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Amendment Act of 1994, effective March 21, 1995 (D.C. Law 10-235; 42 DCR 30 (January 6, 1995)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1996 effective April 18, 1996 (D.C. Law 11-110; 43 DCR 530 (February 9, 1996)); as amended by Second Technical Amendments Act of 1996 effective April 9, 1997 (D.C. Law 11-255; 44 DCR 1271 (March 7, 1997)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 1998, effective April 27, 1999 (D.C. Law 12-275; 46 DCR 1441 (February 19, 1999)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1999, effective April 12, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-91; 47 DCR 520 (January 28, 2000)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2006, effective March 8, 2007 (D.C. Law 16-300; 54 DCR 924 (February 2, 2007)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 2008, effective March 25, 2009 (D.C. Law 17-353; 56 DCR 1117 (February 6, 2009)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2010, effective April 8, 2011 (D.C. Law 18-361; 58 DCR 908 (February 4, 2011)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2021, effective August 21, 2021 (D.C. Law 24-20; 68 DCR 006918 (July 16, 2021)).