Public Statement on 1250 U Street Planned Unit Development

Prepared by the USNA Board of Directors for the March 16, 2023 public hearing of the Zoning Commission.

EastBanc is seeking permission to build a 9 story apartment/hotel/retail building on 13th & U and 15 townhomes in Temperance Alley. View the project plans here. A “Planned Unit Development” is a special process that allows developers to build taller or denser than is normally permitted by the zoning code. In exchange for zoning relief, the project must offer “a commendable number or quality of public benefits” that “advance the public health, safety, welfare, and convenience.”

First, we’d like to extend our thanks to EastBanc for their productive partnership and generous support of the Temperance Alley Community Garden over the last two and a half years. In October 2020, the U Street Neighborhood Association signed a lease agreement with EastBanc that allowed us to use Square 274, Lots 804–820 as a neighborhood event space. In addition to the lease, EastBanc is reimbursing the association for infrastructure and programming expenses, up to $50,000 over a three-year period.

Since opening the gates, we've been using these funds to design and landscape a vibrant green space where an intergenerational group of volunteers has grown over 1,000 pounds of produce for the community and hosted over 300 free public gatherings including educational workshops, mutual aid fundraisers, and arts programming. The garden will close when EastBanc breaks ground. But USNA and EastBanc have shown what’s possible when developers and local organizations team up to make the most of lots that would otherwise sit vacant and unutilized during the permitting process. 

Regarding the proposed PUD before the Commission today: the applicant is asking for a considerable number of exemptions to the Zoning Regulations. We believe this project has the potential to improve the neighborhood and the city if it incorporates the excellent benefits ideas that have been put forward by the U Street community.  

The RF-1 Townhome Parcel is not in compliance with the PUD minimum land area requirements of the Zoning Regulations. Even if the Commission were to exercise its ability to waive 50% of the requirement, the applicant would still fall short of the minimum land area requirement. We’re unsure why this would be permissible. If the Townhome Parcel portion of the application is allowed to move forward despite not meeting the Zoning Regulations’ legal requirements for a PUD, the benefits to the neighborhood should be exceptional. 

Last fall, USNA set up a Community Benefits Committee to facilitate a participatory brainstorming process and decide as a neighborhood which public benefits we’d like to see as part of this PUD. We distributed a digital survey to our members and residents, hosted an in-person reflection and ideation event, and submitted a recommendations report to the applicant and the ANC. The applicant’s proffer does not yet reflect our requests for more affordable housing or an adequate amount of community green space.  

For over 20 years, our neighborhood has supported plans to build affordable housing in Temperance Court NW. In 2001, Public Welfare Foundation donated Square 274 and $300,000 to MANNA Community Development Corporation. They sought permission from the city to build 10 permanently affordable row dwellings at Temperance Court in October 2002. Though this plan was supported by the ANC and all relevant DC agencies, it was not successful. In 2008, Public Welfare Foundation and Metamorphosis Development Group once again proposed ten affordable townhomes at Temperance Court. They were not successful. In 2010, the nonprofit CityFirst Enterprises proposed permanently affordable housing at Temperance Court. They were not successful. After these rejections, the land was sold to the current owner in 2012. 

We do not believe that the proposal to build and sell 15 luxury townhomes—with only two set aside at 80% MFI—is of “exceptional merit.” It is in the interest of the District to require that applicants seeking numerous zoning exemptions provide affordable housing far above the minimum requirements. The Zoning Commission should not waive the PUD minimum land area requirement unless the developer agrees to include more of the benefits that neighbors recommended to the applicant and the ANC in our October 2022 report.

In particular: we ask for more of the townhomes to be set aside as affordable and for significantly more green space than the 300 sq ft planter box that is currently being offered by the applicant. Ten of the fifteen proposed townhomes exceed the 60% maximum lot occupancy allowed by the Zoning Regulations. Given the high proposed lot occupancy, we continue to believe that a superior design would incorporate at least 3,000 square feet of green space for our new and existing neighbors on the South end of Square 274. Outdoor community spaces are few and far between in the U Street corridor, and we’ve seen firsthand the mental health and neighborhood-building benefits that these venues provide. 

During our time as leaseholders of Temperance Garden, we’ve come to learn a lot about the history of this site. Eighty years ago, there were over 100 black, low-income residents living here in 26 dwellings. The lots in today’s PUD application are undeveloped only because, in 1953, the Washington Housing Authority tore down the housing in Temperance Court, removed all of the residents, and failed to build replacement housing. This story is well documented in James Borchert’s 1980 book Alley Life in Washington. We urge the Commission to consider the broader historical context of forced displacement and the many prior attempts to build affordable housing as it evaluates the applicant’s benefits proffer. Replacing Temperance Alley’s low-income housing with high-end townhomes would be a slow-motion injustice that is not in the moral interest of the U Street community or the District of Columbia. From an equity perspective, it shouldn’t matter whether the city demolished this housing 7 days ago or 70 years ago. 

We have the opportunity to help create a better ending to this story. The historic Square 274 holds a lot of potential—and we look forward to continuing collaborating with EastBanc on making it as enlivening as it can be.

Aaron Z. Lewis
President

Riley Sloan
Vice President

Marie Leznicki
Secretary

Carol Itskowitz
Treasurer

Joshua Morin
Chair, Temperance Alley Committee

John Green
Chair, Public Safety Committee

Kelsye Adams
Chair, Friends of Harrison