On June 3rd, Councilmember, Charles Allen, wrote a letter to the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development calling on the office to consider adopting a Community Land Trust model for the site. Although predicting development timelines is notoriously tricky, CM Allen believes that in about 4 years time, the site will be ready for redevelopment. During the time, we will continue to do outreach and come up with a plan that will serve the Southwest community well. You can read more about the model and petition here.

On Saturday, April 24th from 12-3 PM, SW Action supported the Ward 6 Mutual Aid's Clothing Giveaway at King Greenleaf Recreation Center. In addition to 100 meals donated from World Central Kitchen via Rasa, the special event included a 'treasure' table next to SW Mutual Aid's clothing tables where SW community members took clothes, shoes, jewelry, spa items, and any other miscellaneous treasures that caught their eye! We also shared information about SW Action, the CLT petition, and encouraged those that dropped by to fill out our community development survey.

SW Action member, Pamela McKinney, wrote an opinion piece for the DC Line highlighting the conflict of interest in the Jemal Cotton Annex project and the problem with community benefit agreements in general. You can read it here.

SW Action is launching a petition to expand the Douglass Community Land Trust (DCLT) into Southwest at the current fire truck repair station, which will be relocated in the future. SW Action wants to start a SW chapter of the DCLT to guide how the land will be developed. To learn more about CLTs, how they have been proven to create long-term affordable housing, affordable retail space, visit this page.

SW Action applied their grading criteria to the Westminster Presbyterian project. The project received a score of 84/100. This is by far, one of the highest scores obtained by any project we have applied our criteria to. You can read the full analysis of the project here.

SW Action released a press release regarding all the problems with the Cotton Annex project, including a clear conflict of interest between Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, Andy Litsky, and the non-profit group, the SW Community Foundation, who is supposed to be receiving $100,000 from the developer. Read the press release here.

24 Southwest residents signed on to a letter urging Councilmember Allen to reject the Comprehensive Plan as proposed. The letter asks the Councilmember to include stronger language in the Plan and require more protections and benefits for historically underserved communities. You can read the letter here.

In this second event, we'll be looking at the history of development, displacement, and homelessness in NOMA (includes Union Market)—juxtaposed with BID-sponsored, million dollar underpass art installations and mural festivals like Pow!Wow! DC.

The Community Development group has discussed the types of businesses and community organizations residents use and what they'd like to see. To learn what our neighbors' thoughts are on this topic, a short survey was created. You can take the survey here.

During the Zoning Commission's November 19, 2020 public hearing, Chairman Anthony Hood asked the Office of Planning to include SW Action member, Coy McKinney, in future discussions regarding affordable housing (link to video). A few weeks later, the Office of Planning followed up on this request and scheduled a meeting. McKinney and fellow member, Jennifer Ho, drafted recommendations for changes to the design review process (even though Hood seems to imply the discussions should be broader).