Above is a developer proposal rendering. To see all proposals go here: https://dmped.dc.gov/publication/Chevy-chase-Civic-Site-rfp-presentations
Issue:
The D.C. government is planning to surplus and give away the Chevy Chase Commons, the site of our Library and Community Center, to for-profit developers. Our Chevy Chase Commons site is home to our community’s library and our shared outdoor/indoor recreation space, open green space, and event space (such as hosting Chevy Chase Day). It is the civic and educational center of our community. Throughout the year, it hosts numerous classes and programs for children, teens, adults, and seniors. For eight weeks in the summer, 75 children per day, from ages 3 to 13, participate in day-long summer camps at the Community Center and the outdoor recreation space. If the Chevy Chase Commons is given away and developed as a multi-use high-density mixed residential and commercial complex, the community will suffer irreparable harm from the loss of this invaluable resource and the numerous problems ensuing from that development.
Background:
In May 2023, the DC Office of Planning publicly presented its plan to apply upzone the Commons and upper Connecticut Ave between Livingston and Chevy Chase Circle. The plan is to convert the Commons site to a mixed-use complex, with residential buildings on top of or beside a rebuilt library / community center and commercial spaces. Upzoning on upper Connecticut Avenue would allow buildings that dwarf the current surrounding 2, 3 and 4 story commercial and residential properties, and would greatly reduce open space. At the Chevy Chase Commons site, the library and community center currently cover 35% of the land with the rest of the parcel covered by the Commons Park and parking. Under the new zoning, outdoor open space could be reduced from 65% of the site to 40%, eliminating above-ground parking, basketball courts, the playground, reading garden, trees, and green space and parking. Zoning approved 80 feet height, up to 7 stories high, with 60% of the lot covered. Under this upzoning the Final Rule approved by the Zoning Commission would allow the construction as a matter of right of a building so large it would contain 250,000 square feet of floor space on the Chevy Chase Civic Site.
For the past three years, the City has been quietly planning to rezone the area along Connecticut Avenue from Livingston Street to Chevy Chase Circle with the goal of increasing density through 70-80 foot high-rise developments. The process was conducted during the pandemic, primarily through virtual meetings by the Office of Planning (OP) and the Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC), with little community input. Based on this flawed process, the City is now prepared to give away the Chevy Chase Commons public land for a nominal fee to build up to 200 residential units with some of the proposals combining commercial establishments with the residential development. In surplussing public land, the city sells public property to developers at a steep discount or leases it to them for $1 per year for 99 years. The promise of affordable housing is a fig leaf for a lucrative privatization deal.
Impact:
The proposed up-zoning of the Chevy Chase Commons and upper Connecticut Ave corridor will result in:
- Far less open space will remain for neighbors to recreate, bring children, sit quietly, and enjoy the outdoors, and hold community events, and for the city to run its summer programs.
- More parking problems and added traffic across the neighborhood.
- Hi-rise buildings inappropriate for the neighborhood.
- More students for already overcrowded public schools.
- Infrastructure strained by aging utilities.
- The loss of our small business commercial district, to be replaced by big box chain retail.
Our Chevy Chase Commons is the community’s hub, providing shared recreation, green space, the library, community center and event venues. It hosts numerous programs for seniors and children and summer camps that serve children of all ages. TheDC Zoning case decision for case 23-25 is wrong - specifically, NMU-4 CC1 (mixed use upzoning for the business district) and NMU-5 CC2 (mixed use upzoning for the Commons site). The decision was based on flawed data, unconstitutional standards and it is incompatible with the DC Comprehensive Plan and Future Land Use Map; in short, it is illegal zoning, rubber stamped for the Mayor’s growth plans. If the Commons public land is privatized and developed as a high-density complex it would cause irreversible harm, including greater congestion, loss of green space and increased infrastructure strain. The beloved Chevy Chase small business district will be forever lost, as local retailers and restaurant owners are displaced by developers and new landlords.
Take Action:
Sign the petition and stand up for the only public Commons land in the heart of Chevy Chase—today, and for future generations. Speak out to protect Chevy Chase small businesses from displacement.
Thank you for your support,
Chevy Chase Voice
ccdcvoice.org | ccdcvoice@gmail.com
I, THE UNDERSIGNED, oppose the D.C. government’s plan to surplus the publicly-owned Chevy Chase Commons and dramatically upzone upper Connecticut Ave. I oppose the loss of the outdoor recreational facilities and green space, especially for an incompatible private land-use like housing. No other DC community is being asked to forfeit its public Commons. I want our public land to continue to serve its numerous public uses for the community. Therefore, I oppose surplussing the Chevy Chase Commons site, any sale or leasing of the site to developers, and incompatible upzoning on upper Connecticut Avenue. With regards to the Chevy Chase Commons, I call upon our elected officials to cease surplussing plans, leasing or selling to private developers and building anything outside of our current zoning restrictions.
Chevy Chase Voice will deliver this petition to: MAYOR BOWSER, WARD 3 COUNCILMEMBER FRUMIN, WARD 4 COUNCILMEMBER LEWIS GEORGE, COUNCIL CHAIR MENDELSON, the DC COUNCIL and ANC 3/4G.