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 or embedded as matter-of-right zoning requirements; how IZ Plus will be calculated and whether its current sliding scale and 125% cap produce a proportional amount of affordable housing when the new zones allow much larger increases in FAR and height; and practical infrastructure limits.

Commissioner Wright pressed OP on pedestrian mid-block connections and whether they are mandatory or mere recommendations, asking how the rules would be enforced under matter-of-right development. Brown Roberts said the proposal incorporates many of the framework's form and setback requirements into mandatory zoning text and that projects that fail to meet a mandatory element would need to seek relief. "If a project includes the pedestrian mid-block connection, the design guidelines become pertinent," she said.

Housing-department staff and other witnesses said the IZ Plus sliding scale was designed with economic analyses tied to construction-cost transitions from wood-frame to steel-and-concrete construction; Art Rogers of the Department of Housing and Community Development called out operational concerns and noted the scale caps at about 18% for certain building types and 20% in other cases under the existing rules. He warned commissioners that when a map amendment converts what had been "bonus" density into by-right entitlements, the mechanics for calculating an IZ obligation become more complex.

Supporters of the zoning changes — a coalition of neighbor groups, architects, developers and housing advocates — testified that the corridor could support thousands of new homes. OP and proponents pointed to the Wisconsin Avenue framework estimate that rezoning could enable roughly 9,500 new units citywide along the corridor with roughly 1,700 affordable homes if development follows the framework's assumptions. Proponents said matter-of-right zoning and clear written design requirements would reduce litigation and delay, making it more feasible to build housing and the associated affordable units.

Opponents and several neighborhood organizations urged the commission to delay approval until OP rewrites how IZ Plus applies to very large FAR increases. Ward 3 Housing Justice, the Committee of 100 and neighborhood ANCs argued that the IZ Plus ladder currently stops at a 125% density increase, creating an effective "freebie" for any density above that threshold and failing to deliver housing for lower-income households. Meg McGuire of Northwest Opportunity Partners warned that "matter of right seems headed to matter of wrong" unless the city links larger entitlements to stronger, deeper affordability and family-sized units.

Small-business and infrastructure concerns also surfaced. Several residents and organizations asked the commission to require on-the-ground design protections so large new buildings do not 'canyonize' the avenue, to preserve small commercial tenants, and to provide a fuller infrastructure assessment (schools, sewer/water capacity) before broadly granting extensive new entitlements.

Developers and housing providers countered that deeper IZ set-asides or lower income-eligibility thresholds (30'50% AMI) will often make projects infeasible without layered public subsidies such as tax credits, HANTA abatements or direct public investment. Somerset Development and other affordable-housing builders described projects that depend on multiple funding sources and urged the commission to balance aggressive affordability goals with realistic financeability.

After several hours of testimony, the commission asked OP to provide additional analysis and refinements. OP staff indicated that producing the requested materials would require months; the commission and staff agreed on a schedule to return with more information in April and asked parties who testified to file final written materials into the record (the commission asked for party filings by the next day and a targeted OP submittal by April 20). The record otherwise remained open for the limited, scheduled follow-up.

The hearing ended with commissioners signaling continued interest in both stronger affordability outcomes and clearer design standards: whichever approach the commission adopts ' by-right design rules or a formal design-review layer ' members said they want both a credible path to new housing near transit and assurances that the public realm and deeply affordable family-sized units will not be shortchanged.

What happens next: OP will prepare the additional analyses requested by commissioners, the commission scheduled follow-up work in April, and interested parties were invited to file supplemental written comments in the record.