District of Columbia Administrative Code

REVIEW AND PROCESSING OF APPLICATIONS The Director shall review for completeness every application filed with the Board within five (5) days of its receipt. Upon completing the review of an application, the Director shall notify the applicant in writing of any deficiency. The not…

EXPEDITED REVIEW An applicant may waive its right to a hearing for an eligible application and request an expedited review process subject to the provisions of this section. An eligible application is an application for: (a) A modification to a theoretical subdivision resulting f…

PUBLIC NOTICE REQUIREMENTS Not less than forty (40) days before the public hearing on an application, the Director shall give notice of public hearing by: Publishing the notice of public hearing in the D.C. Register; Providing a copy of the notice of public hearing to the applica…

PARTIES: GENERAL GUIDELINES This section and Subtitle Y § 404 only apply to applications for special exceptions and variances because parties are permitted to participate in those proceedings. These provisions do not apply to chancery applications, which are rulemaking proceeding…

REQUESTING PARTY STATUS Except for the Applicant and the affected ANC, to participate as a party in a proceeding before the Board, any affected person shall file with the Board a Request for Party Status on the form and in the manner that the Director may prescribe. The person re…

REFERRALS TO AND REPORTS OF PUBLIC AGENCIES The provisions of this section apply as follows: This section except for Subtitle Y § 405.8 applies in its entirety to all variance and special exception applications and all appeals; and Except for the provisions of Subtitle Y § 405.8,…

ADVISORY NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSION (ANC) REPORT This section applies to an affected ANC. The Board shall give "great weight" to the issues and concerns included in the written report of the ANC pursuant to § 13(d) of the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions Act of 1975, effective Marc…

MOTIONS PROCEDURE A motion is a request by parties for the Board to take an action. Unless made during a hearing, all motions shall be in writing. The first page of every motion shall contain: the parties’ names, the case number, and the name of the presiding officer, if known. E…

HEARING PROCEDURES: GENERAL PROVISIONS The presiding officer at a public hearing on an application shall have the authority to: Call the public hearing to order; Consider preliminary matters, including, but not limited to party status requests, motions, and qualifying expert witn…

HEARING PROCEDURES: VARIANCE AND SPECIAL EXCEPTION APPLICATIONS The order for presenting evidence and arguments at public hearings on variance and special exception applications shall be as follows: Preliminary and procedural matters; Applicant’s case; Report and recommendations …

HEARING PROCEDURES: CHANCERY APPLICATIONS All chancery proceedings shall be of a rulemaking nature. The order of procedure at the hearing shall be as follows: Call to order and opening statement by the presiding officer; Consideration of procedural matters; Applicant's case; Repo…

REVIEW AND PROCESSING OF APPEALS The Director shall review for completeness every appeal submitted with the Board within five (5) days of its receipt. Upon completing the review of an appeal, the Director shall notify the appellant in writing of any deficiency. The notice shall l…

INTERVENOR STATUS: GENERAL GUIDELINES In a zoning appeal, the following persons automatically have party status: The appellant; The person whose administrative decision is the subject of the appeal, the appellee; The owner, lessee, operator, or contract purchaser of the property …

REQUESTING INTERVENOR STATUS Those persons who do not have automatic party status in a zoning appeal pursuant to Subtitle Y § 501.1, but who wish to participate as an intervenor in a contested case proceeding before the Board, shall file a written request for intervenor status wi…

ADVISORY NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSION (ANC) REPORT This section applies to an ANC within which the property that is the subject of an appeal is located; except that if the subject property is located on a street that serves as a boundary line between two ANCs, the section applies to b…

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING: ZONING APPEALS Not less than forty (40) days before the public hearing, the Director shall provide notice of the public hearing by: Publishing the notice in the D.C. Register; Providing a copy of the notice of public hearing to the appellant; Providing a…

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING: CIVIL INFRACTION APPEALS Not less than forty (40) days before the public hearing, the Director shall provide notice of the public hearing by: Publishing the notice in the D.C. Register; Providing a copy of the notice of public hearing to the appellant; P…

HEARING PROCEDURES: GENERAL PROVISIONS The presiding officer at a public hearing shall have the authority to: Call the public hearing to order; Consider preliminary matters, including, but not limited to, intervenor status requests, motions, and qualifying expert witnesses; Condu…

HEARING PROCEDURES: ZONING APPEALS The order for presenting evidence and arguments at the public hearing on a zoning appeal shall be as follows: Preliminary and procedural matters; Appellant’s case; The respective cases of the parties or intervenors in support of the appeal, in t…

ORAL ARGUMENT PROCEDURES: CIVIL INFRACTION APPEALS The order of procedure for presenting oral argument at a public hearing on a civil infraction appeal shall be as follows: Preliminary and procedural matters; Opening oral argument by the appellant; Oral argument by any other part…

DISPOSITION OF CASE BY WITHDRAWAL OR DISMISSAL This section applies to all applications and appeals. An applicant or appellant may withdraw, respectively, an application or appeal at any time prior to the issuance of the Board’s written final decision and order, subject to the fo…

PROPOSED FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW This section applies to all applications and zoning appeals filed with the Board under this subtitle except chancery applications. When requested by the Board, a party shall submit proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law t…

CLOSING THE RECORD The record shall be closed following the public hearing, except that the record may be kept open for a stated period for the receipt of specific exhibits, information, or legal briefs, as may be directed by the presiding officer. Each party shall serve any spec…

EXCLUSIVE RECORD No decision or order of the Board on an application or appeal shall be made except upon the exclusive record of the proceedings before the Board. SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 63 DCR 2447, 3500 (March 4, 2016 – Part 2). District of Columbia Municipal Regu…

FINAL DECISION AND EFFECTIVE DATE OF DECISIONS The provisions of this section apply as follows: This section applies in its entirety to all variance and special exception applications and all appeals; and Except for the provisions of Subtitle Y §§ 604.3 through 604.7 and 604.12, …

RECONSIDERATION OF FINAL ORDER; REHEARING AFTER FINAL ORDER The provisions of this section apply as follows: This section applies in its entirety to variance and special exception applications and zoning appeals; The provisions of this section relating to reconsideration apply to…

STAY OF FINAL DECISION AND ORDER The provisions of this section apply as follows: This section applies in its entirety to zoning appeals and variance and special exception applications; Except with respect to a stay pending rehearing, the provisions of this section apply to civil…

VALIDITY OF APPROVALS AND IMPLEMENTATION An order granting a special exception or variance where the establishment of the use is dependent upon the erection or alteration of a structure shall be valid for a period of two (2) years, or one (1) year for an Electronic Equipment Faci…

CONSENT CALENDAR – TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO FINAL ORDERS AND MODIFICATIONS WITHOUT HEARINGS TO ORDERS AND PLANS This section applies to all applications and appeals filed with the Board under this subtitle. The procedure shall allow the Board, in the interest of efficiency, to ma…

MODIFICATION WITH HEARING Any request for modification that cannot be processed pursuant to Subtitle Y § 703 shall require a public hearing. An application for a modification with hearing shall be made in an appropriate manner provided by the Director. The applicant for a modific…

TIME EXTENSIONS The provisions of this section apply in their entirety to applications approved by the Board of Zoning Adjustment. The Board may extend the time periods in Subtitle Y § 702.1 for good cause shown upon the filing of a written request by the applicant before the exp…

EXPIRATION OF SPECIAL EXCEPTIONS AND USE VARIANCES If a special exception use or use variance is established, the use will only expire if: An expiration date is specified in the order; The special exception use or use variance is discontinued for any reason for any period of thre…

INTRODUCTION TO THE REMAND PROCESS This chapter provides regulations for the Board to follow when the District of Columbia Court of Appeals remands a Board decision for further proceedings. SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 63 DCR 2447, 3500 (March 4, 2016 – Part 2). District…

REMAND PROCEDURES Upon receipt of a Court of Appeals mandate remanding a Board decision, the Director shall request the Office of Zoning Legal Division to provide a memorandum that: Summarizes the Court of Appeals holding; Identifies the issues that must be decided on the remand;…

JURISDICTION; AUTHORITY; POWERS This chapter supplements procedures set out in the Zoning Act of 1938, approved June 20, 1938 (52 Stat. 797, as amended; D.C. Official Code §§ 6-641.01 to 641.15 (2012 Repl.)) (hereinafter “Zoning Act”); the Zoning Regulations of the District of Co…

GENERAL PROVISIONS In any conflict between the provisions of this subtitle and any other provisions of this title, the other provisions of this title shall govern. In any conflict within this section between general and specific provisions, the specific provisions shall govern. I…

ORGANIZATION The Commission shall consist of five (5) members and shall have the duties and powers set forth in this subtitle. The Commission shall consist of three (3) Mayoral appointees, the Architect of the Capitol (or staff designee), and the Director of the National Park Ser…

MEETINGS AND HEARINGS On or about the first (1st) day of the calendar year, the Director shall publish in the D.C. Register a twelve (12)-month calendar or schedule of meeting dates, and continually update the Office of Zoning electronic calendar to reflect the meeting dates. The…

TRANSCRIPTS OF PUBLIC MEETINGS AND HEARINGS The transcripts of Commission public meetings and hearings are a matter of public record and shall be available through the Office of Zoning. The public meetings and hearings shall be reported under the supervision of the presiding offi…

RULES OF ETHICS The following Rules of Ethics are intended to be complementary to, and not in place of, the ethical requirements applicable to all District Officials, as those requirements are stated in the Ethics Manual for the District of Columbia and the District and federal l…

FILING FEES At the time of filing a request for approval of an extension of time to the validity of a Zoning Commission order, the applicant shall pay a filing fee as follows: Six (6)-month time extension pursuant – five hundred twenty dollars ($520); One (1)-year time extension …

HEARING FEES If the Commission schedules a public hearing on an application or petition for an amendment to the Zoning Map, prior to advertisement of the hearing, the applicant or petitioner shall pay a hearing fee in accordance with the following schedule: For a map amendment to…

WAIVER OF HEARING FEES In the case of an application to permit the construction of a low- or moderate-income subsidized housing development, the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development may request the Commission to waive the normal hearing fee. For the purposes of th…

EXEMPTION FROM FEES A department, office, or agency of the government of the District of Columbia is not required to pay a filing or hearing fee for an application, where the property is owned by the District of Columbia or that agency or is under one (1) or both of their jurisdi…

MISCELLANEOUS FEES Fees for miscellaneous zoning services and documents provided by the Office of Zoning are as prescribed in Subtitle Y § 1601. SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 63 DCR 2447, 3573 (March 4, 2016 – Part 2). District of Columbia Municipal Regulations Zoning Reg…

ADMINISTRATION OF FEES The Director shall be responsible for administering, interpreting, and applying the terms of the fee schedule in Subtitle Z §§ 1600 and 1601. All fees shall be paid by check or money order made payable to the D.C. Treasurer, or by credit card where indicate…

REVIEW OF FEES Upon the effective date of this title, and on a tri-annual basis thereafter, the Office of Zoning shall update the Commission on the status of their fees. If the Office of Zoning finds that the fees should remain the same, it shall indicate its findings to the Comm…

PROCESS FOR APPOINTING THE DIRECTOR The Director of the Office of Zoning (Director) shall be appointed by the District members of the Commission and shall serve as an Excepted Service employee in accordance with D.C. Official Code § 1-609.01. The Director shall be a District resi…

APPEARANCE AND REPRESENTATION In a proceeding before the Commission, any person or party may appear on that person’s or party's own behalf. Any person or party may be represented by any other person duly authorized in writing to do so. The authorization shall state specifically t…

APPLICATIONS AND PETITIONS Any contested case proceeding before the Commission shall be initiated by the filing of an application with the Commission on the form and in the manner that the Director may prescribe, except that the Commission may initiate a case on its own motion. C…