Summary:

Meridian International Center has teamed up with a developer to turn their leafy lot on 16th Street into a nine story luxury apartment building and conference center. This project will lead to increased congestion, traffic, and the destruction of dozens of mature and heritage trees. Despite overwhelming community opposition, including several unanimous resolutions by the ANC, which is legally entitled to "great weight" consideration by D.C. agencies, the powers that be in D.C. government have approved this project. However, we believe it can - and should - be stopped.

Website: http://www.keepmeridianhillgreen.org/

How?

By rezoning the vacant lot to RA-2 to comply with D.C.'s Comprehensive Plan. There are two maps that control land use in D.C. - the Zoning Map, and the Comp Plan's Future Land Use Map (FLUM). D.C. law says that these maps should match, which means that what is allowed under the Zoning Map needs to correlate with the FLUM's land use designation. In this case, the Zoning Map allows a nine story building, but the FLUM allows only row homes and other low-rise buildings (2 - 4 stories). According to D.C. law, when a discrepancy like this exists, the FLUM controls and the Zoning Map must be amended.  That's Zoning Commission's job, so we are filing an application to request that they rezone the lot. 

Why are we just hearing about this? 

Good question. The Office of Planning is supposed to flag these kinds of map discrepancies in the early stages of any development proposal, but failed to do so in this case. No explanation has been provided.

What Can I Do?

1. Sign this petition, which will be filed with our application to rezone the lot.
2. Ask ANC1C to continue supporting our efforts - Commissioner Amanda Fox Perry, 1C08@anc.dc.gov 
3. Encourage Ward One Councilwoman Brianne Nadeau to support our efforts, bnadeau@dccouncil.us
4. Follow us on social media for updates - Facebook: Keep Meridian Hill Green, Twitter: @KeepMeridianGrn
5. Read, WaPo op-ed article
6. Read, Washington Business Journal Article