Photo by CickatoesDel. Eleanor Holmes Norton wants Mayor Vince Gray and Council Chair Phil Mendelson to put aside their differences and have a nice chat about the Height Act. For the city!
“Although the positions of the D.C. Office of Planning and the [National Capital Planning Commission] differ, I do not believe that their positions are irreconcilable if city leaders engage in appropriate discussions,” Norton, who was present at Congressman Darrell Issa’s hearing last week, wrote in a letter to Gray and Mendelson. “Serious conversations among city leaders should be able to take into account the understandable concerns of some residents who want more certainty against undesirable changes. Considering our continuous efforts to defend and expand home rule, I caution against indications that local elected officials cannot reach agreement on matters affecting the city’s own governance.”
Mendelson has rebuffed the home rule argument, saying in a letter to Issa, “Other home rule issues … are exponentially more important than a right to change heights — a right that citizens don’t want and that the Office of Planning now claims it may not want to exercise.”
Karen Sibert from Mendelson’s office told DCist the “Chairman plans to have a discussion with the Mayor.” Gray’s spokesperson said, “The Mayor and the Chairman will continue to discuss this issue.”
