D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 10-A, § 304
304.1 Washington, DC has been experiencing a shift in growth over the past decade. This growth has occurred in a variety of forms: land development, income, economic strength, population, and innovation. Previous planning efforts focused on retaining residents and attracting growth to strengthen the economy. Since the Comprehensive Plan was developed in 2006, the District's population has grown almost 20 percent and is anticipated to reach 987,200 residents after 2045. The continued interest in living and working in the District requires a shift in planning efforts to manage such growth and the challenges it brings, while also supporting current residents. The needs and desires of a growing District in the 21st century are different and the approach to how growth is supported reflects that difference. While growth is anticipated as the long-term trend, the District may experience periodic slowdowns or declines during the time horizon of this plan.
304.2 The Comprehensive Plan's companion document, A Vision for an Inclusive City, sets forth the District's desire to employ the highest and best use of its land for the benefit of all residents. Managing growth through an equity lens means providing additional attention and support to communities of color, low-income households, and vulnerable populations and neighborhoods to allow them to share in the prosperity of the District. Vulnerable and underserved communities experience high and rising housing costs, persistent unemployment, worse health outcomes than their higher-income peers, and potential displacement.
304.3 Supporting growth through an equity lens places a different emphasis on development guidance and expectations, as described in section 213.7 of the Framework Element. Growth cannot be ignored, as it is necessary for continued prosperity and revenues to provide for social supports and municipal services. A change in the Future Land Use Map designations can affect the value of the designated and neighboring properties, the capacity of the infrastructure and civic services, and the short- and long-term expectations of development. Previous benefits and amenities used to catalyze growth are now necessities for supporting growth: affordable housing, transportation improvements, infrastructure improvements, open-space development and maintenance, sustainable and resilient design, and arts and culture. Affordable housing is described in detail in the Housing Element. As used here, it is housing available to households earning 80 percent or less of the regional median family income (MFI). Deeply affordable housing refers to units affordable to households earning 40 percent or less of the MFI.
304.4 Growth through an equity lens must address and reduce existing racial inequities resulting from systemic racism and meet the needs of the District's most vulnerable residents. The District has divides by income and race, a result of factors that include urban renewal, redlining, segregation, restrictive racial
covenants, infrastructure development, and disinvestment. Washington, DC has some of the country's highest disparities in income, education, and access to jobs and housing by race. The District's Black population saw declines between 1980 and 2010, with the most recent period of decline between 2000 and 2010, where the Black population decreased by 11 percent (39,030 residents). Between 2010 and 2019, the Black population has increased by five percent (14,105 residents). As the Land Use Element guides the direction of future growth, it also affects future access to housing, education, jobs, services, amenities, and transportation and impacts the health and safety of residents. Growth can and must occur in a way that expands access to affordable housing, education, transportation, employment, and services for communities of color, low-income households, and vulnerable populations. Achieving equitable development requires attention to both the context and needs of different planning areas and to District-wide equity issues, described throughout the Comprehensive Plan.
304.5 Washington, DC's built environment and natural features can buffer against the acute shocks and reduce the chronic stresses the District is facing; conversely, without proper planning or maintenance, the built environment and natural features can make communities vulnerable to these shocks and stresses, particularly communities of color and low-income residents. The Land Use Element addresses the provision, preservation, and enhancement of physical assets and critical facilities, including housing, infrastructure and transportation systems, and its natural, historic, and cultural resources to become truly resilient. The vulnerability of buildings, infrastructure, and ecosystems to the adverse effects of climate change is expected to increase due to more days with high temperatures, more flooding caused by heavy rainfall and rising sea levels, and more economic disruption from extreme weather events.
304.6 Washington is a city of distinctive neighborhoods. The terms "neighborhood character" and "historic character" are used extensively in the Land Use Element and other elements. Neighborhood "character," however, has been a term associated with exclusion and discrimination by race, income, religion, and other categories. As used in the comprehensive plan, neighborhood "character" and historic "character" reflect the sense of place defined by neighborhood architecture, visual landmarks and vistas, streets, public spaces, and historic or cultural places; for instance, the differences between the Anacostia and Bloomingdale neighborhoods. This term must not be construed to refer to the characteristics of people living and working in these areas. Many policies referencing neighborhood character also speak to the interest in improving affordability and racial equity, recognizing the potential balance needed between policy objectives.
304.7 Innovations, such as autonomous vehicles (AVs), sustainable infrastructure, and smart city technology, will shape growth. The unprecedented impacts of the
global pandemic may accelerate or create new changes in land use patterns. The change in retail from brick-and-mortar businesses to online platforms, the mobile workplace, and the increasingly prevalent use of automation across sectors are recent examples of why continuously monitoring and adjusting the understanding of the District and responding to change is needed.
304.8
Policy LU-1.1.1: Future Planning Analysis and Resilience Focus Areas
The Generalized Policy Map shows areas of large tracts and corridors where future analysis is anticipated to plan for inclusive, equitable growth and climate resilience. Boundaries shown are for illustrative purposes. Final boundaries will be determined as part of the future analysis process for each area. In certain locations, planning efforts will be undertaken to analyze land use and policy impacts and ways to capitalize on, mitigate, and incorporate the anticipated growth. Current infrastructure and utility capacity should be evaluated against full build-out and projected population growth. The planning process will target issues most relevant to the community that can be effectively addressed through neighborhood planning. Planning analyses generally establish guiding documents, such as Small Area Plans, Development Frameworks, Retail Strategies, or Design Guidelines. Areas anticipated for future planning analysis include the following:
For areas within the 100- and 500-year floodplain, future planning efforts are intended to guide resilience to flooding for new and existing development and infrastructure projects, including public capital projects. Resilience focus areas will explore watershed resilience to encourage the implementation on a neighborhood scale, as well as site-specific solutions, design guidelines and policies for a climate adaptive and resilient District. Watershed resilience analysis
areas include the following:
304.9 Policy LU-1.1.2: Resilience and Land Use
Implement District-wide, neighborhood-scale, and site-specific solutions for a climate adaptive, emergency responsive, and resilient Washington, DC.
304.10 Action LU-1.1.A: Resilience Equity and Land Use
Develop projects that decrease the vulnerability of people and places to climate risks and public health emergencies, as well as promote future resilience. Use an equity lens to consider and address the disproportionate impacts of climate change on low income and vulnerable residents and communities of color.
Please refer to the Implementation Element for additional guidance on the Future Planning Analysis Areas, Small Area Plans, and other planning studies, and periodic progress reports.
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 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)).