Section 10-A1000. HISTORIC PRESERVATION ELEMENT OVERVIEW

 

1000.1The Historic Preservation Element guides the protection, revitalization and preservation of the city’s valuable historic assets. It defines the District’s role in promoting awareness of Washington history, identifying and preserving historic resources, and ensuring compatible design in historic neighborhoods. The Element recognizes historic preservation as an important local government responsibility that provides an opportunity for community input, development collaboration, partnerships, and education. 1000.1

 

1000.2The critical historic preservation issues facing the District of Columbia are addressed in this Element. These include:

 

•Defining what constitutes a "historic" resource

 

•The standards and guidelines that apply to historic buildings and sites

 

•Enforcement of preservation laws

 

•Increasing public education and awareness of our city's history and historic assets. 1000.2

 

1000.3Washington is unique not only because it is the Nation’s Capital, but also because it is the great planned city of the United States. Pierre L’Enfant’s famous 1791 Plan for the city has been largely followed and respected over the past two centuries, and was reinforced and amplified by the 1901 McMillan Plan. The city’s grand plans were implemented slowly and fitfully, and perfected through a shared passion for civic embellishment that took root as the city matured. These plans were brought to life through the personal stories of a multitude of citizens who contributed their own dreams to the city. Washington is the capital of a democracy. In its wealth of different ideas, its rich and its poor, its messy vitality and its evident compromises, it reflects that fact in a multitude of ways its founders could never have predicted. 1000.3

 

1000.4Images of Washington have also changed, as have ideas about what to preserve from its past. Old Georgetown was rediscovered and protected by 1950, and in 1964 the national monuments ranked high on the city’s first list of landmarks worth saving. By the end of the 1960s, the Old Post Office and other Victorian treasures returned to favor as the rallying point for a new generation of preservationists. With Home Rule in the 1970s, the landmarks of the city’s African-American heritage finally gained the attention they deserved. 1000.4

 

1000.5In the District of Columbia today, there are more than 600 historic landmarks and more than 40 historic districts, half of which are local neighborhoods. In all, nearly 25,000 properties are protected by historic designation. Historic landmarks include the iconic monuments and the symbolic commemorative places that define Washington, DC as the Nation’s Capital, but they also include retail and commercial centers, residences, and places of worship and leisure of thousands of ordinary citizens who call “DC” home. 1000.5

 

1000.6Preservation needs in the city are constantly changing. Fifty years ago, the biggest challenge was to prevent the demolition of entire neighborhoods for freeways and “urban renewal.” Today’s challenges include unprecedented pressure for new growth, soaring property values, and escalating construction costs. Gentrification is the issue in some historic neighborhoods, but in others it is decay. Unprecedented security considerations, tourism management, and the preservation of buildings from the recent past are high on the preservation agenda. 1000.6

 

1000.7With these challenges come new opportunities. This is an era of revitalized historic neighborhoods, vibrant new design ideas, and a more sophisticated appreciation of the role that preservation can play in rejuvenating the city. Collaboration and consensus about preservation are largely replacing the antagonistic battles of the past. Preservation will move forward with the policies in this Plan. 1000.7

 

1000.8The District’s Historic Preservation Program

 

The foundation of the District of Columbia historic preservation program is the Historic Landmark and Historic District Protection Act of 1978 (see text box). This law establishes the city’s historic preservation review process and its major players, including the Mayor’s Agent, Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB), and Historic Preservation Office (HPO). 1000.8

 

1000.9Purposes of the Historic Landmark and Historic District Protection Act of 1978 (DC Code § 6-1101(a)).

 

It is hereby declared as a matter of public policy that the protection, enhancement and perpetuation of properties of historical, cultural and aesthetic merit are in the interests of the health, prosperity and welfare of the people of the District of Columbia. Therefore, this act is intended to:

 

1.Effect and accomplish the protection, enhancement and perpetuation of improvements and landscape features of landmarks and districts which represent distinctive elements of the city’s cultural, social, economic, political and architectural history;

 

2.Safeguard the city’s historic, aesthetic and cultural heritage, as embodied and reflected in such landmarks and districts;

 

3.Foster civic pride in the accomplishments of the past;

 

4.Protect and enhance the city’s attraction to visitors and the support and stimulus to the economy thereby provided; and

 

5.Promote the use of landmarks and historic districts for the education, pleasure and welfare of the people of the District of Columbia.

 

1000.10The HPRB has responsibility for the designation of historic landmarks and districts, and for advising the Mayor’s official agent on construction activities affecting historic properties. The HPO is a component of the DC Office of Planning (OP) and serves as both the HPRB staff and the District’s State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) for the purposes of the federal historic preservation programs established by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. § 470). Under federal law, the SHPO is responsible for preservation planning, review of federal projects, survey and registration of historic properties, administration of preservation tax credits, and educational programs. 1000.10

 

1000.11The mission of the District’s preservation program is to foster the wise stewardship of historic and cultural resources through planning, protection, and public education. This is achieved through the identification and designation of historic properties, review of their treatment, and engagement with the public using a variety of tools to promote awareness, understanding, and enjoyment of the city’s historic environment. 1000.11

 

1000.12The preservation program and policies in this plan are premised on the following basic assumptions:

 

•Historic properties are finite, non-renewable community resources, the preservation, protection, and enjoyment of which are essential to the public welfare. When historic or archeological resources are destroyed, they are gone forever.

 

•Not everything that is old is worth preserving, nor is historic preservation aimed at creating a lifeless and static historical environment.

 

•To be considered for preservation, a property must be demonstrated significant in history, architecture, or archaeology.

 

•Historic properties are living assets that were built for use. The goal is to encourage vitality by continuing to use and adapt historic properties for modern needs and attract the necessary financial investment to support these goals.

 

•Historic preservation is a source of economic development and growth. Preservation conserves usable resources, stimulates tourism and investment in the local economy, and enhances the value of the civic environment.

 

•Preservation benefits and educates everyone. It honors and celebrates our shared history. 1000.12

 

notation

The provisions of Title 10, Part A of the DCMR accessible through this web interface are codification of the District Elements of the Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital. As such, they do not represent the organic provisions adopted by the Council of the District of Columbia. The official version of the District Elements only appears as a hard copy volume of Title 10, Part A published pursuant to section 9a of the District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1994, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; D.C. Official Code § 1 -301.66)) . In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions accessible through this site and the provisions contained in the published version of Title 10, Part A, the provisions contained in the published version govern. A copy of the published District Elements is available www.planning.dc.gov.