Zoning commission hears competing visions for Wisconsin Avenue rezoning as officials press OP for affordability and design details

The D.C. Zoning Commission on a virtual public hearing debated a proposed map and text amendment that would create three new mixed-use zones along Wisconsin Avenue between Western Avenue and Rodman Street, aimed at increasing housing — including affordable units — and revitalizing two transit nodes at Friendship Heights and Tenleytown.

Office of Planning Senior Planner Maxine Brown Roberts presented the changes as an implementation of the 2021 Comprehensive Plan and the Wisconsin Avenue Development Framework, saying the package translates planning guidance into zoning by setting new FARs, heights, lot-occupancy limits, pedestrian-corridor standards and ground-floor activation rules. "Therefore, the Office of Planning recommends approval of the proposed text and map amendment," Brown Roberts said in her presentation.

OP's proposal would map IZ Plus across the corridor so that higher-density development is subject to the inclusionary zoning sliding scale. The Office of Attorney General's Alexandra Kane told commissioners OAG supports making substantial density available by-right and recommended OP study whether the IZ Plus assumptions remain valid in current market conditions. "OAG is in support of the rezoning along Wisconsin Avenue, which we believe will serve and advance the Comprehensive Plan's goals of increasing housing and affordable housing along key transit corridors," Kane said.

Commissioners focused their questioning on three fault lines: whether design guidance should be enforced through a formal design-review process…