Washington, DC — The Mayor’s DC Office of Planning decided to “UpFLUM” the property at Christ United Methodist Church, located nearby 4th and I Streets next to the SW Library in the SW Waterfront neighborhood.

“NO ONE SPOKE TO US, ASKED US, OR EVER ASKED OUR OPINION on this matter,” wrote Pastor Monica Raines who leads the parish at the affected church, in a recent email to the DC City Council. 

UpFLUMing is how the DC City Council controls upzoning – granting the real estate industry the permission to build bigger denser residential and commercial construction projects as a matter of right — referencing the Mayor’s proposed changes to the Future Land Use Map (FLUM).

The Mayor has proposed 200 million square feet of UpFLUMing across the city, an important figure with real consequences not noted anywhere on the Mayor’s website dedicated to the proposed DC Comprehensive Plan changes.

Looking at the online map provided by OP, it shows that Ward 6 and Southwest DC as being especially affected by the Mayor’s proposed changes.

Ward 6 Councilmember, Charles Allen was already written to by residents urging him to reject the Mayor’s changes to the Comp Plan.

“OP’s offices are in Southwest, so this really baffles me. How hard would it be for them to even walk over to the church and ask for their perspective? OP is not doing real planning – they are co-signing development, on behalf of the Mayor’s office,” noted Pamela McKinney, SW Action and Ward 6 mother. “Other property owners around the city simply haven’t been made aware that these substantial changes are being proposed and may permanently affect them and their communities.”

The Mayor’s proposed changes to the DC Comprehensive Plan are now before the DC City Council. To note, the required impact studies to accompany the proposed FLUM changes have not been submitted to the Council by the Office of Planning.

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