Chevy Chase ANC Adopts Several Housing Equity Resolutions

• March 23rd 2021

by Nena Perry-Brown

Last summer, DC Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 3/4G, which largely covers Chevy Chase, formed a temporary Task Force on Racism with the goal of studying and making recommendations around racial equity and social justice.

On Monday night, the ANC adopted amended versions of the recommendations made around housing. Below, UrbanTurf highlights certain aspects of the resolutions.

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Affordable Housing at Expected Development Sites

The Office of Planning (OP) and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) expect to pursue redevelopment of the Chevy Chase Community Center and the Chevy Chase Library, so the ANC's resolutions include a push that at least half of any housing developed on those sites be affordable. An amendment passed last night clarified that "affordable" housing in this instance should be for households earning up to 50% of median family income. The ANC would also encourage inclusion of family-sized units.

Another resolution seeks to encourage development of affordable and workforce housing along the upper Connecticut Avenue corridor ("Chevy Chase Gateway"), including sites like the Safeway and the WMATA bus depot. 

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Studying Ways to Create and Preserve More Affordable Housing

Resolutions that fell under this umbrella include advocating for study of the neighborhood's naturally-affordable housing stock, looking at using accessory dwelling units to create affordable housing, and study of how to add affordable units off the main commercial corridors. Because references to "gentle density" and "missing middle housing" were sticking points for some commissioners and some neighborhood residents (reference was also made to the community listserv, where advocacy for the neighborhood to remain single-family housing was a hot topic last week), those terms were taken out of the resolutions.

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There was also a resolution tasking the ANC to encourage the DC Council to pass rent control reform provisions that could create more affordability in the neighborhood, including by making rent control permanent rather than subject to expiration. Another resolution encourages landlords to accept voucher recipients for neighborhood rentals while noting that the city should provide voucher recipients sufficient support services.

The ANC commissioners emphasized that these resolutions are a first step in an ongoing conversation, and that the resolutions do not necessarily indicate what the commission will advocate for during OP's recently-launched Small Area Plan process. Some action items will be referred to the ANC's under-formation standing Commission on Racial and Social Equity.

An accompanying resolution requesting that the city work to ensure that the community has the infrastructural and public facility capacity to accommodate any new development is expected to be introduced at the next ANC meeting.

The full report with recommendations is available here.

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This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/chevy-chase-anc-adopts-several-housing-equity-resolutions/18034.