The head of the District of Columbia Council

The head of the District of Columbia Council has introduced a bill to allow developers to build housing, offices, and shops alongside or on top of new schools, libraries, and other public facilities. Chairman Linda W. Cropp sees this as a way to get developers to help replace worn-out schools and libraries in the city. Aides to Mayor Anthony Williams believe “more than a dozen sites are ripe for public-private development and could make way for hundreds of new apartments, or offices, along with new facilities, boosting the city’s tax base and population,” the Washington Post reported Feb. 7.