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Home | News | New zoning rules are being proposed for Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.'s zoning code is being updated, and new zoning rules are being proposed that would alter incentives for developers to bring housing, retail, parking and arts programming downtown, according to the Washington Business Journal.

The D.C. Office of Planning is proposing the changes, which will be reviewed by the Zoning Commission; the regulations probably will not take effect for at least a year.

City planners, developers and zoning attorneys met to generate the proposals. The most prominent changes include:
  • Density—planners recommend replacing the current system of underlays and housing priority areas (which result in 30 downtown zoning combinations) with six zones that have commercial floor-to-area ratios ranging from zero to 10 and height limits from 90 feet to the maximum allowed by federal restrictions.

  • Housing—Planners propose a system of housing credits to replace existing incentives and requirements. The credits would include combined lot developments, transferable development rights, density bonuses, receiving zones and six to eight new "housing trading areas" to ensure housing's close proximity to a development area.

  • Retail—Planners propose continuing to include retail space in every new development but easing the process by mapping street frontages that require retail space. Transferable development rights for retail, which only have been used by two projects during the past 20 years, would be eliminated.



11/2/2009

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