District of Columbia Administrative Code

927 SPECIAL EXCEPTION REVIEW CRITERIA (W-0) 927.1 In addition to proving that the proposed use meets all specific special exception criteria applicable to it as well as the general criteria set forth in § 3104, the applicant shall also demonstrate that: (a) The buildings, structu…

928 SPECIAL EXCEPTION APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS (W-0) 928.1 An applicant for a special exception shall provide a survey plan showing: (a) Existing vertical contours at two-foot intervals; (b) The 100-year floodplain and all existing streams, wetlands, and bodies of water, as well …

929 REFERRAL OF SPECIAL EXCEPTION APPLICATIONS (W‑0) 929.1 Before commencement of a Public Hearing on an application for any special exception in the W-0 Zoning District, the Commission or Board shall refer the application to the D.C. Office of Planning for coordination, review, …

930 HEIGHT OF BUILDINGS OR STRUCTURES (W) 930.1 Except as provided in this section, the height of buildings and structures, not including a penthouse, shall not exceed the maximum height in the following table: ZONE DISTRICT MAXIMUM HEIGHT (Feet) W-0 40 feet W-1 45 feet W-2 60 fe…

931 FLOOR AREA RATIO (W) 931.1 In the W-0 District, the floor area ratio of all buildings and structures shall not exceed five-tenths (0.5), provided that: (a) The floor area ratio on a lot used exclusively for recreational use, marina, yacht club, or boathouse buildings and stru…

932 PERCENTAGE OF LOT OCCUPANCY (W) 932.1 No building or portion of a building devoted to residential use, including accessory buildings, shall occupy the lot upon which it is located in excess of the percentage of lot occupancy in the following table: ZONE DISTRICT MAXIMUM PERCE…

933 REAR YARDS (W) 933.1 A rear yard shall be provided for each residential building or structure, other than a floating home. 933.2 When a residential use begins at or below grade, the minimum depth of rear yard shall be three inches per foot (3 in./ft.) of vertical distance fro…

934 SIDE YARDS (W) 934.1 Within the W-0 District, for any building or structure located in whole or in part on land, the minimum width of each side yard shall be twelve (12) feet. 934.2 No side yard shall be required in the W-1, W-2, and W-3 Districts. If a side yard is provided,…

935 COURTS (W) 935.1 Where a court is provided in a Waterfront District, the court shall have the following minimum dimensions: STRUCTURE MINIMUM WIDTH OF OPEN COURT MINIMUM WIDTH AND AREA OF CLOSED COURT Residential building 4 in. per foot of height; Width: 4 in. per foot of hei…

936 PENTHOUSES (W) 936.1 The provisions of § 411 shall apply to penthouses in the Waterfront Zone Districts. 936.2 [REPEALED]. SOURCE: §§ 4407.1 and 4407.2 of the Zoning Regulations, effective May 12, 1958; as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 27 DCR 2066, 2070 (May 16, 19…

937 GROSS FLOOR AREA (W) 937.1 A public recreation and community center shall not exceed a gross floor area of forty thousand square feet (40,000 sq. ft.), unless approved by the Board of Zoning Adjustment as a special exception in accordance with the provisions of § 3104.1. SOUR…

938 WATERFRONT SETBACK (W-0) 938.1 A setback inland from the bulkhead or the mean high water level, whichever provides the larger setback, of not less than one hundred feet (100 ft.) to any building or structure, shall be provided. 938.2 Notwithstanding § 938.1, a waterfront setb…

ENACTMENT AND TITLE The Zoning Commission for the District of Columbia, pursuant to authority conferred by Congress under the Zoning Act of 1938, approved June 20, 1938 (52 Stat. 797, as amended; D.C. Official Code §§ 6-641.01 to 6-641.15 (hereafter, the Zoning Act), after public…

101 INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION 101.1 In their interpretation and application, the provisions of this title shall be held to be the minimum requirements adopted for the promotion of the public health, safety, morals, convenience, order, prosperity, and general welfare to: Prov…

102 VESTED RIGHTS UNDER THE PREVIOUS 1958 ZONING REGULATIONS, AS AMENDED. 102.1 A project identified within this section shall be considered to have vested development rights (vested project) subject to the provisions and requirements of the 1958 Zoning Regulations, any condition…

CODE ORGANIZATION Title 11 is organized into a series of subtitles consisting of the Zoning Regulations and the Administrative Regulations. The Zoning Regulations consist of: Subtitle B - Definitions, Use Categories, and Rules of Measurement; Subtitle C - General Rules; Subtitle …

201 RELATIONSHIP OF GENERAL SUBTITLES TO LAND USE SUBTITLES The general regulations of Subtitle C are to be read in concert with the specific use category regulations of each land use subtitle, including tables which identify use requirements, permissions, conditions, and excepti…

202 ZONES 202.1 For the purpose of this title, the District of Columbia shall be divided into the following zone districts: Residential House (R) – low-density single dwelling unit residential; Residential Flat (RF) - row dwelling zones for two (2) to four (4) units; Residential …

203 DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS 203.1 The development standards for a zone shall be determined by the combination of the general rules in Subtitle C, general standards in each land use subtitle, and base zone-specific regulations as stated in the development standard tables and text in…

204 USE PERMISSIONS 204.1 Subtitle U contains use permissions for R, RF, RA, MU, ARTS, D and PDR zones. Use permissions for all other zones are contained in their respective subtitles. 204.2 Subtitle B contains use definitions, use categories, and use groups. SOURCE: Final Rulema…

ZONING MAP The official Zoning Map of the District of Columbia shall be the zoning map that is produced and maintained by the Office of Zoning effective on the effective date of this title. The zoning map shall be available for public access from the Office of Zoning, either on p…

ZONE BOUNDARY LINES The zone boundaries shall be shown on each section of the Zoning Map. The scale of the Zoning Map and the dimensions entered on the map shall be shown on each section of the map to serve as guides. Dimensioned zone boundaries showing on the Zoning Map are inte…

ZONE BOUNDARY LINE CROSSING A LOT When a zone boundary line divides a lot that was in single ownership on May 12, 1958, the permitted use and bulk of a structure located on that lot may be determined as follows: The allowable bulk for the portion of the lot located in a lesser re…

APPLICABILITY OF ZONING ON GOVERNMENT OWNED LAND The following government properties shall not be considered included in any zone: Properties owned by the Government of the United States and used for or intended to be used for a Federal public building or use; Properties owned by…

RESTRICTIONS ON UNZONED LAND No building permit or certificate of occupancy shall be issued nor proceeding instituted before the Board of Zoning Adjustment, nor shall any property in private ownership be used for any purpose until after the Zoning Commission has designated zoning…

AMENDMENTS 210.1 As provided in the Zoning Act, the Zoning Commission may from time to time amend any part or all of the regulations in this title and the Zoning Maps adopted in this title. Amendments to this title or the Zoning Maps may be proposed by any of the following: The o…

REFERRALS TO OTHER AGENCIES Where the provisions of this title provide for the referral of an application to another public agency for review and report, a period of forty (40) days from the date of the submission shall be allowed, unless a different period is stated specifically…

AUTHORITY In accordance with § 11 of the Zoning Act, the Mayor shall administer and enforce the Zoning Regulations. SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 63 DCR 2447, 2623 (March 4, 2016 – Part 2). District of Columbia Municipal Regulations Zoning Regulations of 2016: Authority a…

301 BUILDING PERMITS Except as provided in Subtitle A §§ 301.5 and 301.7, a building permit shall not be issued for the proposed erection, construction, conversion, or alteration of any structure unless the plans for the erection, construction, conversion, or alteration fully con…

CERTIFICATES OF OCCUPANCY Except as provided in Subtitle A §§ 302.2, 302.7, 302.8, and 302.9, no person shall use any structure, land, or part of any structure or land for any purpose until a certificate of occupancy has been issued to that person stating that the use complies wi…

COMPLIANCE WITH CONDITIONS IN ORDERS The provisions of this section shall apply when a building permit or certificate of occupancy has been issued under the authority of an order of the Board of Zoning Adjustment or the Zoning Commission, and the order of the Board of Zoning Adju…

DEVIATIONS AND MODIFICATIONS PERMITTED BY ZONING ADMINISTRATOR'S RULING 304.1 The deviations from the Zoning Regulations and modifications to approved plans permitted by this section shall not be applicable for any calculation or for determining compliance with Subtitle U §§ 301.…

PENALTIES As provided in § 10 of the Zoning Act, the owner or person in charge of or maintaining any building or land, or any other person who erects, constructs, reconstructs, alters, converts, maintains, or uses any building or structure, or part of a building or structure, or …

ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BY COMMISSION OF FINE ARTS In addition to all provisions of this title, any building or structure erected after May 12, 1958, within the area of jurisdiction of the Shipstead-Luce Act, approved May 16, 1930 (46 Stat. 366, as amended; D.C. Official Code § 6-61…

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL The Zoning Commission is charged with preparing, adopting, and subsequently amending the Zoning Regulations and Zoning Map in a means not inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital area. SOURCE: Final Rulemaking pu…

CONGRESSIONAL LIMITATION ON BUILDING HEIGHTS In addition to any controls established in this title, all buildings or other structures shall comply with the Act to Regulate the Height of Buildings in the District of Columbia, approved June 1, 1910, as amended (36 Stat. 452; D.C. O…

HEIGHTS OF BUILDINGS ADJACENT TO PUBLIC BUILDINGS In addition to the requirements of this title, buildings or structures adjacent to public buildings shall be subject to the “Schedule of Heights of Buildings Adjacent to Public Buildings” as adopted by the Commissioners of the Dis…

PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE PLAN In addition to any controls established in this title, any building or structure within the boundaries of the Pennsylvania Avenue Sub-Area delineated in Subtitle I shall be subject to the Pennsylvania Plan [Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation (PAD…

DEFINITIONS For the purpose of this title, the following definitions shall not be held to modify or affect in any way the legal interpretations of these terms or words where used in other regulations: Words in the present tense shall include the future tense; Words in the singula…

INTRODUCTION Use permissions for each zone are identified in the Land Use subtitles. 200.2 When used in this title, the following use categories shall have the following meanings: Agriculture, Large: The on-site cultivation or maintenance of plants, or the breeding or keeping of …

201 RULES FOR DETERMINING USE CATEGORIES 201.1 Use categories describe activities being performed on-site that have similar functions, physical characteristics, impacts, or operational behaviors. 201.2 All individual uses shall be included in at least one (1) use category. On- an…

202 APPLICABILITY OF MULTIPLE USES 202.1 When a site contains more than one (1) use and these uses fall within different use categories, each use is subject only to the regulations of the applicable use category. 202.2 If a use is determined to fall into more than one (1) use cat…

203 ACCESSORY USES 203.1 Any use allowed as a permitted use in a zone shall be allowed as an accessory use within that zone. 203.2 Any use allowed only with conditions in a zone shall be allowed as an accessory use within that zone, subject to all applicable conditions. 203.3 Acc…

204 TEMPORARY USES 204.1 Any use allowed as a permitted use in a zone shall be allowed as a temporary use within that zone. 204.2 Any use allowed only with conditions in a zone shall be allowed as a temporary use within that zone, subject to all applicable conditions. 204.3 Tempo…

PURPOSE This chapter provides general rules for measurement and calculation applicable to all zones unless otherwise stated in this title. The development and density standards shall be applied together to regulate bulk and build out of a lot. The potential density of a lot does …

301 DENSITY Residential density is calculated as either the maximum number of principal dwelling units per lot in the R and RF zones or by floor area ratio (FAR) in the other zones. In other than residential zones, the density is calculated by FAR. Specified uses may also be limi…

302 RULES OF MEASUREMENT FOR DWELLING UNIT DENSITY 302.1 In the low-density R zones, density is established as a single principal dwelling unit per lot. In those low-density residential zones that are limited to a single principal dwelling per lot, a single accessory apartment ma…

303 RULES OF MEASUREMENT FOR FLOOR AREA RATIO 303.1 FAR shall be calculated by dividing the total GFA, as calculated under Subtitle B § 304, of all buildings on a lot by the area of that lot. 303.2 For the purpose of calculating FAR, lot area shall not include private rights-of-w…

304 RULES OF MEASUREMENT FOR GROSS FLOOR AREA (GFA) 304.1 GFA is measured from the exterior faces of exterior walls and from the center line of walls separating two (2) buildings. 304.2 Except as provided in Subtitle I § 200.1, non-residential floor area shall be the total GFA of…