Category Archives: Zoning

Today is last day to comment on proposed zoning changes

Posted by nextstoprp in Zoning

Today is the last day to comment on proposed zoning changes. At last night’s Vibrant Streets meeting (I will have a write-up on that in the next couple of days), a couple of people raised parking concerns. We as residents have to use the opportunity like this comment period to actually comment in a forum that matters, one in which decision-makers have to take residents’ views into consideration. The zoning changes are a lot to digest, but it is worth taking the time to become educated about them. Read more about the zoning changes on DC’s Zoning blog.

From the Office of Zoning, there are a few ways to comment:

  1. The online ZRR Comment Module: You will be able to choose a subtitle and make comments by section by clicking on “Add Comment” in the sidebar. You will not need to create a user ID and password to use this system.
  2. Interactive Zoning Information System (IZIS): You will be able to submit comments by uploading a PDF document into the system. You will need a user ID and password to use this system. Please use the following tutorial for instructions on uploading testimony into IZIS.
  3. By e-mail to zcsubmissions@dc.gov: You will be able to submit comments by emailing a PDF document (there is an 8 MB limit for documents submitted by email.)
  4. By mail to 441 4th Street, N.W., Suite 200-S, Washington, D.C. 20001

All Comments should be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on September 25, 2015.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Office of Zoning at 202-727-6311 or dcoz@dc.gov.

One more week to comment on proposed Zoning changes

Posted by nextstoprp in Zoning

From DC’s Office of Zoning:

—

The Zoning Regulations Review, also known as the ZRR, is a project that began in 2007 led by the Office of Planning (OP) to revise the DC Zoning Regulations. This is the first time the Zoning Regulations have been comprehensively revised since 1958.

This multi-year project started a new phase when the DC Office of Planning (OP) submitted its draft text for the ZRR to the Zoning Commission on July 29, 2013. On September 9, 2013, the Zoning Commission set down the proposed ZRR text for public hearings and subsequently held over 25 hearings and meetings. On December 11, 2014, the ZC took proposed action, approving the proposed text.

The Zoning Commission for the District of Columbia, pursuant to its authority under § 1 of the Zoning Act of 1938, approved June 20, 1938 (52 Stat. 797, as amended; D.C. Official Code § 6-641.01 (2012 Repl.)), hereby gives notice of its intent to amend Title 11 (Zoning) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR).
The following documents are the proposed text amendments as approved by the Zoning Commission on December 11, 2014.

Subtitle A – Authority and Applicability
Contains information that is currently containted in Chapters 1 and 32 of the Current Zoning Regulations, including the code organization, effective date, vesting, and administration and enforcement provisions.

Subtitle B – Definitions, Rules of Measurement, and Use Categories
Contains definitions for the entire set of regulations; definitions, examples, and exceptions for use categories; and rules of measurement for height, setbacks, lot occupancy, etc.

Subtitle C – General Rules
Contains general guidelines for non-conformities, tree protection, green area ratio, parking, roof structures, etc.

Subtitle D – Residential House (R) Zones
Contains height, lot occupancy, setback, accessory standards, etc. for low- to moderate-density residential areas. It also includes the rules regarding Section 223 (special exceptions for single-family dwellings) in the current Zoning Regulations.

Subtitle E – Residential Flat (RF) Zones
Contains height, lot occupancy, setback, accessory standards, etc. for areas developed primarily with row dwellings, but within which there have been limited conversions of dwellings or other buildings into more than two dwelling units.

Subtitle F – Residential Apartment (RA) Zones
Contains height, lot occupancy, setback, accessory standards, etc. for moderate- or high-density residential areas suitable for multi-household development.

Subtitle G – Mixed-Use (MU) Zones
Contains development standards, density, height, lot occupancy, setback standards, etc. for mix-ed use developments that permit a broad range of commercial, institutional and multi-family residential development at varying densities.

Subtitle H – Neighborhood Mixed-Use (NC) Zones
Contains development standards, density, height, lot occupancy, setback standards, etc. for stable mixed-use areas permitting a range of commercial and multi-household residential development in defined neighborhood commercial areas.

Subtitle I – Downtown (D) Zones
Contains development standards, density, height, lot occupancy, setback standards, etc. to allow for the appropriate mix of residential, office, lodging, retail, service, entertainment, cultural, and other uses in defined areas of Central Washington.

Subtitle J – Production, Distribution, and Repair (PDR) Zones
Contains the regulations for the use of land and structures and the erection and modification of structures in areas characterized by production, distribution, and repair uses, typically with heavy truck traffic and loading and unloading operations.

Subtitle K – Special Purpose Zones
Contains the regulations for single large sites that require a cohesive, self-contained set of regulations to guide site design, building height and bulk, land uses, or other aspects of development. Examples include: Union Station North, Southeast Federal Center, Capital Gateway, etc.

Subtitle U – Use Permissions
Contains the use permissions for matter-of-right and special exception uses in the R, MU, and PDR zones.

Subtitle W – Specific Zone Boundaries
Contains boundaries established for specific zone districts.

Subtitle X – General Procedures
Contains procedural regulations for campus plans, chanceries, planned unit developments, map and text amendments, design review, etc.

Subtitle Y – Board of Zoning Adjustment Rules of Practice and Procedure
Contains regulations pertaining to Board information, application requirements, party status, ANC report information, hearing and meeting procedures, orders, fees, etc.

Subtitle Z – Zoning Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure
Contains regulations pertaining to Commission information, application requirements, party status, ANC report information, hearing and meeting procedures, orders, fees, etc.

Proposed Title 11 DCMR – Zoning – compilation of all the Subtitles

The public is encouraged to submit comments on the proposed text. Comments should be filed using one or more of the following methods:

  1. The online ZRR Comment Module: You will be able to choose a subtitle and make comments by section by clicking on “Add Comment” in the sidebar. You will not need to create a user ID and password to use this system.
  2. Interactive Zoning Information System (IZIS): You will be able to submit comments by uploading a PDF document into the system. You will need a user ID and password to use this system. Please use the following tutorial for instructions on uploading testimony into IZIS.
  3. By e-mail to zcsubmissions@dc.gov: You will be able to submit comments by emailing a PDF document (there is an 8 MB limit for documents submitted by email.)
  4. By mail to 441 4th Street, N.W., Suite 200-S, Washington, D.C. 20001

All Comments should be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on September 25, 2015.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Office of Zoning at 202-727-6311 or dcoz@dc.gov.

Zoning revision summaries for ANC 4B & ANC 5A

Posted by nextstoprp in Zoning and tagged with , ,

Last month DC’s Office of Planning sent each ANC a summary of the proposed revisions to the zoning code that would affect that particular ANC.  Click here (pdf) for the summary for ANC 4B and here (pdf) for ANC 5A.

The summaries are helpful in focusing what seems to be a mammoth undertaking and explaining the pertinent changes.  For this area, there are changes that will reduce parking minimum requirements for new construction within 0.5 miles of the metro station and encourage various means of transportation.

There would be new buffer requirements for industrial zones from residential zones.  For this community, this mainly affects areas close to the rail lines by Fort Totten station, around 2nd Street NE, and around Chillum Place NE.  There would be new limitations on non-industrial uses (e.g., nightclub, emergency shelter, and waste related services).  The Fort Totten Overlay provisions of the current code would be carried over into the new code.  The Office of Planning noted the Ward 5 Industrial Land Transformation Task Force might propose additional recommendations.

It is plausible that a few areas could have accessory apartments.

On March 11, 2014, the Office of Planning is hosting an open house on the proposed revision at the Petworth Library (4200 Kansas Avenue NW) from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

Industrial land in the city

Posted by nextstoprp in Zoning and tagged with ,

The Washington Business Journal recently reported on the city’s industrial land as compared to that of Montgomery County.  The article gives me a good excuse to circle back and cover an item I had intended to cover a while ago, which is the task force created to study the industrial land in Ward 5.  At the end of September, the Ward 5 Industrial Land Transformation Task Force held an open house to share progress on the study, due at the end of this year.  The members identified several goals for the study:  (1)  jobs & economic development; (2) new & emerging uses; (3)  improved industrial neighbors; (4)  community amenities; (5)  municipal needs; (6)  create great new places; and (7)  implementation.    All of the maps and documents shared at the open house are available on the Ward 5 Industrial Land Transformation page of the Office of Planning website.

Preserving Industrial Land

While not an explicit goal of the task force, preservation of existing industrial land was a repeated refrain during the open house.  I look forward to seeing how the task force ends up treating this notion of preserving industrial land.  Given that Ward 5 houses around 50% of the city’s industrial land, it will not be too surprising if the development pressures happening in other areas of the city (such as around Buzzard Point) ends up meaning that the industrial land in Ward 5 is preserved to accommodate lost industrial uses in other parts of the city.  Task force members at the open house directed me to the economics consultants to discuss this point.  The economists acknowledged that industrial uses being pushed out by development will go to other areas of the city, including in Ward 5.  Some, however, will relocate outside of the city, and others will simply fold completely.

Inherent in this notion of preserving and adapting existing industrial land is a discussion of vacant and underutilized land.  I was again directed to the economists to discuss this point.  I asked if they had a sense of how much vacant industrial land exists in the city.  They could not immediately quantify the amount of vacant land, but did say that there was not much and directed me to a map showing areas of vacant industrial land.  The most visible areas are adjacent to Rhode Island metro station, land along New York Avenue, and a smaller area in Fort Totten.

While a visual of vacant land is somewhat easy to capture, more difficult is a visual of otherwise underutilized land.  The economists said there was not a clear-cut definition or set of parameters to decide whether land is underutilized.  I asked how the city could preserve and make more efficient use of underutilized land without a sense of what makes the land underutilized.  By way of example, they said a parking deck could be built on existing surface parking lots in Ivy City that are used to park city utility vehicles.  The parking deck would decrease the surface area used to park vehicles and free up space for other uses.  They noted that any consideration of making more efficient use of municipal services and industrial areas would need to consider buffers from residential areas.  Buffers could include retail, landscaping, or possibly even artist live/work spaces.

2006 Industrial Land Study

One other aspect I am looking forward to seeing is how the Ward 5 study matches up with the study on the city’s industrial land commissioned by the Office of Planning in 2006 (pdf).  A summary of the report is available on the city’s website.  That report recommended that some land use in areas in Lamond Riggs, Fort Totten, Brookland, New York Avenue (Ivy City and Bladensburg) be protected and be made available for municipal services.  Lamond Riggs, Fort Totten, and Brookland were also identified as areas in need of buffer considerations.  The study also supported a recommendation that the areas closest to Fort Totten and Brookland metro stations be redeveloped for transit-oriented development.*

* Earlier this year, the real estate development committee for WMATA indicated that bids would go out before the end of the year to redevelop the land by the metro stations with mixed-use devleopment.

ANC 5A-08 SMD Community Meeting Wrapup

Posted by nextstoprp in Cafritz Art Place at Fort Totten, Neighborhood Development, Zoning and tagged with , ,
Guest Post

ANC-5A SMD 5A-08

Community Meeting Wrapup

On Thursday evening, May 16, ANC 5A-08 Commissioner Angel Alston held her first SMD 5A-08 Community Meeting of 2013 at the Backus Campus of UDC’s Community College. The meeting included a report from Officer Lucas on police activity in the Fourth District, plus information on the following topics.

Fort Totten Park

Due to years of foot traffic, unauthorized dirt-path shortcuts to the Metrorail Station have developed in Fort Totten Park, between Gallatin and Galloway Streets NE.

As a result of several recent meetings that Commissioner Alston had with the National Park Service (NPS) and other stakeholders, the NPS began improving the safety and security of the paths on Friday, May 17. Overgrown shrubbery is being trimmed, and the portable flood lights will be repaired.

Cafritz’s ArtPlace at Fort Totten Project

Background Information: The ArtPlace at Fort Totten Planned Unit Development (PUD) is a multi-building, multi-phase construction project that includes rental apartments, retail space, and cultural facilities on 16+ acres. The ArtPlace Project will be built over a period of several years on the west side of South Dakota Ave., NE, near the Fort Totten metrorail station.

Since the 1950’s, the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation has owned the land on which the ArtPlace Project will be built. The Foundation is a private, independent non-profit organization, and its overall mission is to improve the quality of life for residents of the Washington, DC, area.

The ArtPlace Project has been in the planning stages for years; the DC Zoning Commission first approved it in 2009.

Presenters for Cafritz: Several representatives for the ArtPlace Project attended the SMD 5A-08 Community Meeting to discuss the status of “Building A,” the first to be constructed in the multi-year ArtPlace Project. Presenters included Dennis Hughes, from the law firm Holland and Knight, and architects from the Washington, DC-based architectural firm Shalom Baranes Associates.

Pre-Construction for Building A: Five Riggs Plaza Apartment buildings (50+ years-old) that occupied part of the site for Building A have already been demolished. Mr. Hughes said that the construction of Building A is currently “out for bid by general contractors.”

Regarding the schedule for the next phase of the project, Mr. Hughes said that work on Building B will not begin until Building A construction is “well underway.”

Mr. Hughes said that he is not at liberty to discuss potential stores and businesses that might use Building A. Confidential occupancy negotiations are in-progress for the retail components of the building.

Public-Space Plan In-Progress: Mr. Hughes and the other ArtPlace Project representatives gave a presentation on the landscape plans for the perimeter streetscape of ArtPlace Building A. They said that Cafritz has submitted the Public-Space Plan for Building A for discussion at DDOT’s Public-Space Committee Meeting on Thursday, June 27th, 2013.

The Public Space Committee meets monthly to review requests for the use and occupancy of the public right-of-way, ensuring that those areas conform to DC’s public-space laws and engineering standards.

Public Space Committee meetings are open to the public; DDOT encourages citizens to attend.

For More Information

To see the ArtPlace Project documents online, go to the DCOZ link below. Also, reference copies of some of the ArtPlace Project documents are on view at the Lamond-Riggs Library.

For ArtPlace Project documents on the DCOZ website, go to:

http://app.dcoz.dc.gov/content/search/Search.aspx

In the “Search By” list, select “ZC or BZA Case Number.” In the “Search Term” box, enter: 06-10.

Note that as of this writing, the ArtPlace at Fort Totten project website is content free–that is, a blank white screen.

 

Zoning regulations update community meetings

Posted by nextstoprp in Neighborhood Development, Zoning and tagged with

DC’s Office of Planning (OP) is holding a series of community meetings in each ward to discuss updates to the zoning regulations.  Individuals can attend meetings in any ward, not just their home ward. 

The remaining January meetings are-

Ward 3:  Tuesday, January 8, 2013, Wilson High School, 6:30 pm-8:30 pm;

Ward 5:  Wednesday, January 9, 2013, Foster Auditorium, Ely Building, Gallaudet University, 6:30 pm-8:30 pm; 

Ward 7:  Saturday, January 12, 2013, Room 2309/10, DOES Building, 10:00 am-12:00 pm; and

Ward 4:  Wednesday, January 16, 2013, Takoma Education Campus, 6:30 pm-8:30 pm. 

In addition a second twitter townhall will be held Monday, January 14, 2013 at 12 noon (#ZRR). (this post will be updated once correct date is confirmed) 

Copies of the proposed text can be found on OP’s regulation update site here and additional information can be found on their blog here.  Printed copies are also available at OP’s office (1100 4th St. SW, 6th Floor) and in libraries in each ward (Woodridge library in Ward 5 and Takoma Library in Ward 4).  The regulation update site includes FAQs and areas of interest, notably information relating to recommendations for updated PUD regulations, design review regulations, and a number of other areas that are relevant to the neighborhood.

*This post has been updated