GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OFFICE OF ZONING Open Government Report 2014 To institutionalize a culture of transparent and open government, accountability, and to expand opportunities for resident participation and collaboration, this Report describes how the Office of Zoning (DCOZ) has and will continue to develop and enhance transparency, public participation, and collaboration. In accordance with Mayor’s Order 2014-170, this report addresses the following topics: 1) Transparency DCOZ is committed to a transparent, open form of government. District agency websites are required to make records available online to the public, if those records exist. In cases where these records exist, but are not yet available online, DCOZ works to provide them as soon as possible. All FOIA requests are handled professionally and expeditiously. DCOZ is very proud of the amount of searchable information that is available on its website. DCOZ continues to expand on the information already available 24/7 to the public by making the remaining case workflows available to the public through Interactive Zoning Information System (IZIS) in FY15. Information that is currently available includes: Zoning Commission (ZC) Rules of Practice and Procedure Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) Rules of Practice and Procedure ZC and BZA Final Orders – since 1970 ZC and BZA Transcripts – since 1997 ZC and BZA Case Records – IZIS o All case file documents for PUDs, map amendments, special exceptions, variances and appeals o Case information for all case types (i.e., status, relief, action, order, transcripts, video, etc.) The Official Zoning Map of the District of Columbia o Zone district information o Case information (i.e., orders, relief, and locations for closed cases) o All active ZC and BZA cases o Ability to search for zoning information based on one’s location on the zoning map ZC and BZA Live Webcast of Meetings and Hearings ZC and BZA Video-on Demand of Public Meetings and Hearings – since 2006 DCOZ's FY14 Budget P Card Purchases 1 Expenditures Awarded Contracts DCOZ Public Employee Salary Information DCOZ Organizational Chart DCOZ Performance Plans District-wide FOIA Reports Rights of the Public Submission of Feedback to DCOZ In addition, pursuant to the Open Meetings Act, DCOZ has made every effort to be in compliance with Open Meetings requirements, including announcing, noticing, and voting on all closed meetings for the purpose of seeking legal advice from counsel and deliberating upon, but not deciding cases scheduled for decision, pursuant to §§ 405(b)(4) and 405 (b)(13) of the District of Columbia Administrative Procedure Act. Further, in accordance with § 408, DCOZ maintains an archive of recordings of all such meetings. DCOZ continues to work closely with the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) to identify a datasets that OCTO publishes on their website. In the future, requirements for open data reporting will be provided by the Chief Data Officer. 2) Public Engagement and Participation In FY12, DCOZ launched IZIS which allows the public to file documents or comments in a case 24/7. This past fiscal year the Zoning Regulation Review case, 70% of all other ZC cases, and 90% of all Board of Zoning Adjustment cases records were available online for the public to access and make comments via IZIS. Although DCOZ does use Twitter and Facebook as methods for sharing information, they are not acceptable methods for submitting comments into case records. DCOZ is currently working to make the rest of its case workflows available to the public through IZIS. It plans to have this information available by the start of FY2016. http://app.dcoz.dc.gov/ http://app.dcoz.dc.gov/Content/Search/Search.aspx DCOZ employs many methods of alerting the public of its hearings and meetings. Notices are sent to the affected Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, Ward Council Member, and Property Owners within 200 feet of projects. In special cases, notices are also sent to libraries, community centers, businesses, civic and citizens associations, professional associations, etc. In addition, DCOZ publicizes public meetings and hearings on its website and on the website of the office of the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability. 2 http://dcoz.dc.gov/zc/calendar.shtm http://www.bega-dc.gov/ 3) Collaboration DCOZ has employed various methods to improve collaboration with other government agencies, including: The implementation of IZIS has made it easier for government agencies to submit reports to ZC and BZA cases and for the public to be able to find these reports as soon as they are filed. http://app.dcoz.dc.gov/Content/Search/Search.aspx DCOZ collaborates with the Office of the Chief Technology Officer, Office of Planning, and other government agencies to feed data to the central DCGIS and the DC Official Zoning Map. http://zmap.dcoz.dc.gov/ DCOZ is currently collaborating with the Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR) to build a web application that will allow applicants to request owner data for properties within 200 ft. radius of project premises under ZC or BZA review. 3