Peter May, NPS point man for DC planning and land-use issues
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Very long article profiling Peter May. His official title is Associate Regional Director for Lands, Planning, and Design for the National Capital Region of the National Park Service.
“May is one of five members of the Zoning Commission, which approves or disapproves any changes to the city’s zoning and is currently reviewing the first comprehensive update to the D.C. zoning code since 1958, with far-reaching implications for the future of the city’s neighborhoods. He’s technically the third alternate for the Interior Department on NCPC, but in practice he’s been the only representative to serve on the commission since he started at the Park Service in 2007. He also sits on the Board of Zoning Adjustment periodically as part of a rotating system, weighing in on developments that seek exceptions to zoning regulations, and is a member of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Transportation Planning Board, which plans major road and transit changes for the region.”
As many of you know, the National Park Service has far-reaching authority over land-use matters in the DC region, because NPS controls much of the land in the area, from the National Mall to Rock Creek Park, the GW Memorial Parkway and several smaller parks in DC as well as facilities like the popular Mount Vernon Trail. The NPS attempted to block the installation of Capital Bikeshare stations on the National Mall, until local media pointed out that the motivation was the exclusive Tourmobile contract (which turned out to be an illegal contract, being renewed yearly on a no-bid basis). NPS decides whether to issue permits to various bike-related events, from the former Bike DC ride to races like the former Washington DC Triathlon and the Nation’s Triathlon. (The organizers of Bike DC and the Washington DC Triathlon decided to end their events, mostly out of frustration from the unpredictable nature of the permit process. For example, if there were security concerns about the Bike DC route, why did the NPS approve the event before. Same event, largely the same route, but the NPS decided that security risks were problematic now?)
The article points out that May is a cyclist. He started biking in D.C. in 1980 and continues to bike everywhere (until he recently suffered a volleyball injury). Unlike other federal officials who have power over local D.C. issues, he is a long-time D.C. resident. The profile indicates that while NPS has made many controversial decisions related to D.C., someone like Peter May is the best that D.C. residents could hope for in that role. Read the article and decide for yourself. I skimmed over parts of it, but I think I got the overall picture. One big problem is that, according to May and others, NPS does not have flexibility in its oversight of the urban parks in the D.C. area. May says that NPS has to follow the laws and guidelines laid out by Congress, which treat the large national parks like Yellowstone the same as the smaller urban parks like the National Mall, Pershing Park and Franklin Park.
An interesting read for those concerned about local land-use issues, including matters related to bike infrastructure.
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