| For Immediate Release November 17, 2004 |
Contacts: | Nina Dastur 202-339-9335 ndastur@communitychange.org |
| Allison Conyers 202-547-2500 aconyers@acorn.org |
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DEMAND GROWS FOR POLICY TO CREATE MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN DC
Washington, DC. The need for affordable housing in the District of Columbia is increasing, as is the number of organizations pushing for a policy to spur more affordable housing options for low-income and moderate-income residents. The Campaign For Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning—a diverse coalition of over 50 organizations working to meet housing needs of working families—will host a breakfast focused on how the adoption of a mandatory inclusionary zoning policy can ease the district’s affordable housing crisis. Campaign endorsers will be joined by council members and other city officials who will express their support for this important affordable housing policy. Following the breakfast, coalition members will submit a text amendment to the Zoning Commission that would establish mandatory inclusionary zoning in the District.
THE BREAKFAST WILL BE HELD ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2004, AT THE JOHN WESLEY AME ZION CHURCH, 1615 14TH STREET, NW, FROM 8 AM TO 10 AM
Inclusionary zoning policies require that new and/or rehabilitated residential developments to include housing units affordable to low and moderate-income residents.
Organizers of Wednesday’s event note that recent reinvestment in the district has attracted affluent new residents and resulted in escalating housing and rental costs that are forcing existing residents out of their homes. Joslyn Williams, president of the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO, contends that "as the city becomes a more attractive place to live, the price of housing will only continue to escalate. Mandatory inclusionary zoning can help ensure that all residents benefit equally from the city’s revitalization. We should not price-out the city’s janitors, bus drivers, teachers, fire fighters, police officers, and other low- and moderate-income DC residents who are in danger of being displaced by rising housing costs, and whose services the city desperately needs," he said.
DC ACORN Board Chair Pocahontas Outlaw added that "We are calling on the mayor, the city council, and everyone who cares about the quality of life in Washington, DC, to join us in urging the Zoning Commission to adopt a mandatory inclusionary zoning policy, and to do it quickly. It can contribute to stable, mixed-income communities throughout the district and it can provide access to economic and social opportunities at the same time. All of the residents of the district deserve nothing less," said
"The policy established by the text amendment
would use the expertise and capacity of for profit developers
to help address
the city’s affordable housing crisis," Nina Dastur
of the Center for Community Change added. "We’ve
already lost opportunities in the city’s booming real
estate market to produce affordable housing for district
residents," she
added. "We can avoid losing more by adopting this policy
now."
Expanding Housing Opportunity in Washington, DC makes these
points about the need for affordable housing:
"Inclusionary zoning could offer a win-win situation for residents and developers because both benefit," said Radhika Fox, senior associate at PolicyLink and co-author of Expanding Housing Opportunity in Washington, DC: The Case for Inclusionary Zoning, "Inclusionary zoning," she continued, "has proven successful across the United States in such places as Boston, San Diego, San Francisco, and nearby Montgomery County. That success has made more affordable housing available to low-income and moderate-income people and inclusionary zoning can be successful in Washington, DC as well."
The Campaign for a Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning Policy is a diverse coalition of local labor unions, affordable housing advocates, social service providers, civic associations, and faith-based unions.
For more information, please visit www.dciz.org
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