Section 10-A213. LAND SUPPLY

 

213.1Land supply in the District of Columbia includes “pipeline” sites, vacant infill sites, underutilized sites, large sites, and other sites. These categories are mutually exclusive, meaning there is no double counting between them. 213.1

 

213.2Pipeline sites are sites where specific development projects are already planned or under construction. Such sites comprise over 800 acres in the District. They represent 20,000 housing units and about 20 million square feet of commercial space. The degree of certainty that these projects will be built in the next 10 years is relatively high. 213.2

 

213.3Vacant infill sites comprise about 600 acres in the District and are not associated with any particular project or proposal. They are generally less than ten acres and include a mix of privately owned properties and publicly-owned sites. Some 440 acres of this land is residentially zoned, including about 160 acres of multi-family zoned land, and 280 acres of land zoned for single family and townhomes. About 40 vacant acres are commercially zoned and 20 vacant acres are industrially zoned. While vacant lots occur in all parts of the city, about half of the city’s vacant land is located east of the Anacostia River. 213.3

 

213.4Underutilized sites comprise about 345 acres. For the purposes of the Comprehensive Plan, these are defined as commercially and industrially zoned properties containing structures with low assessed values. Examples might include auto body shops, car washes, and fast food restaurants located in high density commercial districts. This does not necessarily mean these uses should be displaced-it simply means the private market will create pressure to replace them over time. The underutilized sites tend to be clustered along corridor streets such as New York Avenue, Benning Road, and Georgia Avenue. 213.4

 

213.5Large sites in the District include about a dozen properties or clusters of adjoining properties, with the potential for reuse during the next 20 years. They range in size from 25 acres to over 300 acres. They include sites that already contain extensive development, like DC Village and Reservation 13, and sites that are largely vacant, such as Poplar Point and the McMillan Reservoir Sand Filtration site. These sites hold many possibilities for the future, from large mixed use communities to new parks and open spaces. In total, the large sites represent about 1,500 acres. Some have already been master planned for new uses; the future of others has yet to be determined. Some are federally owned, and some are owned by the District. The Office of Planning estimates that federally owned sites will account for less than 10 percent of the District’s job and household growth in the next 20 years. 213.5

 

213.6There are many other sites in the District where development could occur. These include approximately 2,000 vacant buildings, many of which contain multiple vacant housing units. Some of these buildings can be renovated and others are likely to be demolished and replaced. There are also freeways and railyards, in some cases with developable air rights above. There are at least eight aging housing projects that have been identified as possible “new communities.” There are also hundreds of properties in the city that are developed below the maximum square footage allowed by zoning. Some property owners may choose to replace what is on these lots today with something larger in the future. 213.6

 

213.7Table 2.1 summarizes vacant and underutilized commercial land within the District and provides an estimate of potential additional development that these lands could accommodate based on existing zoning. 213.7

 

213.8Table 2.1: Vacant and Underutilized Lands Citywide 213.8

 

http://planning.dc.gov/planning/frames.asp?doc=/planning/lib/planning/2006_revised_comp_plan/2_framework.pdfelling.

 

 

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.