There’s a big chance for you to speak out, and the deadline is September 25th.
Have you been following the District’s massive zoning re-write? If you fell off the wagon at some point, we don’t blame you. The Zoning Commission kicked off the revision back in 2008 to make comprehensive changes to a code dating back to 1958! Of course, it had seen its fair share of amendments over the years, but certain elements just didn’t hold up to modern standards.
The Zoning Commission’s re-write process has been an arduous process. What the commission originally saw as a five-year plan to finish the re-write, it has stretched well beyond that point. Through it all, local blog Greater Greater Washington (GGW) has followed the process for most of its lifetime. Pages on pages of content has been written on the process, and the blog’s founder David Alpert has boiled it all down in GGW’s interpretation to a convenient summary before the final approval.
DCAR has also kept a watchful eye on the process, focusing on the provisions in the Zoning Commission’s proposal affect residential units. We submitted public comments particularly on accessory apartments. As the Commission has taken preliminary action to approve new regulations for accessory apartments, here is what you should be aware of moving forward:
- Removing the requirement for a Special Exemption and allow them by-right;
- eliminating a public hearing process, and;
- adding a Special Exemption to waive up to two requirements.
You can see more about the Zoning Commission’s action on accessory apartments here>>. Other topics we kept our eyes on included vehicle parking and alley lot rules.
Ultimately, what the Zoning Commission has recommended is near its final version. But there is still one last period to send your comments to the Zoning Commission. To send your comment, you can fill the Office of Zoning’s comment module. Accessory Apartments can be found under “Subtitle U-Use Permissions,” while parking can be addressed at “ Subtitle C-General Rules.” Alley lot comments can be addressed at “ Subtitle B-Definitions, Rules of Measurements, and Use Categories.”
This comment period ends on Friday, September 25th. After that, we’ll have to wait to see when the dust settles.