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Government
of the District of Columbia
ADVISORY
NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSION 3-D
Post
Office Box 40846
Palisades
Station
Washington,
DC 20016
Memorandum
for the District of Columbia Zoning Commission
Date:
3 December 2002
Subject:
Proposed Amendments to the Zoning Regulations
On behalf of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3D I respectfully propose
the following amendments to Title 11 of the District of Columbia Municipal
Regulations:
AMENDMENTS
In §199.1 delete the following provision regarding the measurement of
building height for private residences:
the
vertical distance measured from the level of the curb opposite the middle
of the front of the building to the highest point of the roof or parapet.
and
also delete language in the following paragraph reading:
the height of the building may
be measured from the finished
grade level at the middle of the front of the building to the ceiling
of the top story.
and
replace with:
In those districts in which the height of building
is limited to forty
feet (40 ft.), the height of the building shall be
measured
from the natural grade level at the middle of the
front of the building to the highest point of the roof or parapet; except
the height of a building on a corner lot fronting two (2) or more streets
shall be measured from the natural grade at the middle of the building
side having the lowest elevation to the highest point of the roof or parapet.
In
§400.3 delete “ in excess of that ”
on the first line and insert “ not to exceed eight (8) feet and
the floor area square footage shall not exceed 35 square feet ”
so the new paragraph reads:
A
spire, tower, dome, pinnacle, or minaret serving as an architectural embellishment,
or an antenna may be erected to a height not to
exceed eight (8) feet and the floor area square footage shall not exceed
35 square feet which this section otherwise authorizes in the
district in which it is located.
and
add a new definition in §199.1 to read:
Natural Grade – the undisturbed
ground level formed without
human intervention or, where the undisturbed ground
level cannot be ascertained because of an existing building or structure,
the undisturbed existing grade.
EXPLANATION
These amendments combine features from both regulations by using grade
level rather than curb and the “highest point of the roof” rather than
the “ceiling of the top story.”
By changing “finished grade level” to “natural grade level” architects
and contractors will be restricted from artificially mounding landscape
to create unnatural height for constructing a residence building.
Because of the possibility that developers may select the highest grade
on corner lots to designate the building “front” for purposes of measuring
height, this amendment would require that the measurement from the lower
side would prevail in all cases.
The current DCMR §400.2 provides that building height limits may be exceeded
for architectural embellishments, and §400.3 lists examples. Therefore,
there are no height limits placed on towers, domes, etc., and contractors
have used this provision to increase the overall building height. Sometimes
towers and domes have extended 10-20 feet above the normal roofline making
a mockery of building height limitations. This amendment limits embellishments
to 8 feet and proscribes that the floor area square footage of the embellishment
shall not exceed 35 square feet so that there is no question about these
spaces being considered as habitable.
BACKGROUND
Rules regarding building height are designed to protect the character
of the various neighborhoods in the District of Columbia, prevent overcrowding
of land, and provide adequate light and air.
Too often zoning officers approve permits for building structures that
far exceed the height limit envisioned in the DCMR. Generous interpretations
have allowed some contractors to “mound up” the grade to achieve even
greater height, thereby dwarfing neighbors, cutting off sunlight and airflow.
Section 400.1 mandates a residence building shall not exceed 40 feet in
height and 3 stories tall in districts R-1 through R-5-A. §199.1 provides
that the vertical distance shall be “measured from the
level of the curb opposite the middle of the front of the building to
the highest point of the roof or parapet.” In those districts in which
the height of the building is limited to forty feet, there is an exception
that provides the measurement may be from the finished
grade level at the middle of the front of the building to the ceiling
of the top story. [emphasis added]
Although the mandatory “shall” should prevail unless the government has
good and sufficient reason to use the less restrictive and discretionary
“may” exception, the zoning authority consistently and uniformly applies
the latter as a matter of rule. The result is that there is
no building height requirement for private
residences! This is true because there is not a limit on height above
the ceiling of the top story, and it could extend beyond that five, ten,
fifteen feet, or more. The only recourse citizens have to correct this
anomaly is through an amendment to the Zoning Regulations.
JUSTIFICATION
If it were the intent of the regulation drafters of §199.1 to measure
in all circumstances from grade to the top ceiling they would not have
written, “curb to the highest point of the roof or parapet.” It seems
clear the Zoning Commission created an alternative “may” to accommodate
special considerations such as construction on hills or depressions where
curb measurement would be unfair for steeply slopped sites.
It is instructive that measurements to the “highest point of the roof
or parapet” prevail in all other cases, including buildings
limited to 60 feet in height, those limited to 90 feet in height, and
buildings removed from all lot lines by a distance equal to its proposed
height. Additionally, the height of an accessory building is measured
to the “highest point of the roof,” (§2500.7) and provisions in the National
Observatory Precinct District call for measurement to the “highest point
of the roof or parapet.” (§1534.2) Only in other districts where buildings
are limited to forty feet are the measurements made as a matter of rule
to the ceiling of the top story.
Looking at other jurisdictions for guidance, the following measure vertical
distance to the highest point of the roof with some variations for mansard,
gable, or gambrel roofs – but none to the ceiling of the top story:
Montgomery
County, Maryland
Prince
William County, Virginia
Fairfax
County, Virginia
Arlington
County, Virginia
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
Toledo,
Ohio
Albuquerque,
New Mexico
It should be noted that many of these jurisdictions limit a residence
building to a height of 35 feet rather than the 40 feet in the District
of Columbia. We are willing to offer a separate zoning amendment to
the regulations in order to limit the single family and duplex residential
building height, and that it shall not exceed 35 feet. This would be
more in keeping with the long existing character of the earlier housing
stock in older neighborhoods that already exists within the District of
Columbia.
The commissioners of ANC3D recommend approval of these amendments to 11DCMR.
_______________________
John Finney, Chairman
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