The Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission held a special meeting Wednesday to discuss potential changes to the District’s long-term city planning blueprint.
Commissioners passed a series of resolutions urging city officials to include sustainability and social justice in the city’s Comprehensive Plan, D.C.’s long-term city plan introduced in 2006. The ANC’s recommendations included prioritizing the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, like building sustainable cities and communities and providing affordable and clean energy, and improving housing outcomes for LGBTQ residents.
The Comprehensive Plan is currently under public review, and ANCs have until Friday to submit resolutions with their recommendations for the plan, according to the Office of Planning website.
Commissioner Nicole Goldin said the Comprehensive Plan should conform with the UN’s SDGs to increase “accountability and inclusivity” in urban planning moving forward.
“I do a lot of work in the international space, and in particular, I do a lot of work on inclusive growth and inclusive development in cities,” Goldin said. “And in that context, have seen how a number of U.S. cities, as well as around the world, are utilizing and integrating the globally adopted framework of the Sustainable Development Goals to increase accountability and inclusivity of urban plans.”
Commissioner Detrick Campbell introduced a resolution that would strengthen the District’s infrastructure intended to mitigate the effects of climate change, like floodplains.
“I think the actual Comprehensive Plan doesn’t really go into more detail other than to basically just mention resiliency but nothing about how it tries to do that or going into details of certain goals that they would want to do,” Campbell said.
Senior and ANC vice chair James Harnett introduced a resolution urging the Comprehensive Plan to include a goal to reduce the number of total miles traveled by vehicles in the District.
Patrick Kennedy, the ANC’s chair and a candidate for Ward 2’s D.C. Council seat, introduced a resolution encouraging the Office of Planning to consider adding a second entrance to the Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro station. The office originally included a second entrance in the Comprehensive Plan, but officials removed it before the plan was introduced in October.
Harnett also introduced a resolution to alleviate the problems LGBTQ people face with housing that calls for increasing investment in permanent supportive housing for LGBTQ people and addressing homelessness among LGBTQ youth.
“The resolution specifically addresses the need for us to both continue to be supportive of LGBTQ people and recognize that the Comprehensive Plan has a role to consider areas where permanent supportive housing for LGBTQ people would make sense,” Harnett said.
Kennedy said housing is an issue for both older and younger LGBTQ people in the northwest quadrant of the District.
“There’s just, I think, a cultural conflict in some cases that seniors have experienced and testified to from that community,” Kennedy said. “So I think it is a particular concern, particularly in this area because we do have a lot of LGBTQ seniors, and more so by the year.”
