The plan for the Ward 3 shelter. (Courtesy of the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services)

Mayor Muriel Bowser’s plan to close D.C. General by opening smaller neighborhood shelters took two major steps forward today as the D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustment gave its approval for the final shelters.

The board voted to grant zoning waivers for the Ward 3 and 5 sites despite organized opposition from neighbors.

“I think the site selection, it’s not going to make everyone happy, but I do believe that it was a very extensive process,” board member Lesylleé M. White told WAMU.

In Wards 3 and 5, neighbors unsuccessfully sued the city, arguing that they hadn’t been properly consulted in the wake of a shake-up of Bowser’s original proposal. Under the final plan passed by the D.C. Council, the administration had to change the sites in Wards 3, 5, and 6 from private to city-owned land and purchase the land in Wards 1 and 4.

In Ward 3, the city sought, and has now won, a zoning waiver to put a 50-bed shelter on part of the land where the Second District Police Department sits. In Ward 5, the plan calls for a 50-bed shelter on Rhode Island Avenue in Brookland.

They each drew such strong reactions (both for and against) that the zoning board hearing lasted for more than 13 hours.

In an op-ed in the Washington Post, one opponent called it a “fight for Brookland’s soul.” Others pointed out the inhumanity of the current conditions at D.C. General, and city officials warned that delaying any part of the plan would render them unable to close the main family shelter.

With the zoning approvals, the city remains on track with its revised timeline to close D.C. General in the winter of 2019/2020. Construction on the Ward 3,5, and 6 sites are slated to begin in November.