(Washington, DC) The DC Office of Planning (OP) will hold its first public meeting for the Benning Road Corridor Land Development Plan on Feb. 15, to engage neighborhood residents and business owners in a four month planning study aimed at transforming the corridor into a world-class boulevard. The corridor study, part of the citywide Great Streets Initiative, is intended to provide a development strategy that will:

• Guide redevelopment to address the needs of the adjacent neighborhoods
• Improve the aesthetic look and feel of the commercial corridor "
• Expand the current retail and commercial mix
• Enhance open space and public realm features
• Coordinate public investment

OP is working with a team of consultants led by Louis Berger Group, to ensure community involvement. Other members of the team include Economic Research Associates (economic analysis); Retail Compass (retail market analysis); and Justice and Sustainability Associates (citizen participation).

The study area encompasses neighborhoods in Wards 5, 6 and 7 along the Benning Road corridor, which spans from Bladensburg Road to Southern Avenue. The neighborhoods include: Kingman Park, Carver Terrace, Langston Dwellings, River Terrace, Mayfair, Benning Heights, Marshall Heights and Benning Ridge.

During the February 15 meeting, OP and its consultants will discuss existing conditions along the corridor and an economic analysis of existing and future retail demand and capacity. A second public meeting later this spring will be held to start drafting the land development plan and review potential concepts. OP expects to hold more than half a dozen additional public sessions before the draft plan is finished this summer. Several of these will focus on particular segments of the corridor.

For more information, please contact neighborhood planning coordinators:

                Washington,  DC 20018

Time:      6:00-8:30pm, February 15, 2007

              (Open House at 6:00pm , Presentation begins 6:30pm)