Section 11-1705. CHINATOWN (DD)

 

1705.1The principal policies and objectives from the Comprehensive Plan for the Chinatown area are to:

 

(a)Protect and enhance Chinatown as Downtown's only ethnic cultural area;

 

(b)Maintain and expand the existing concentration of retail uses emphasizing Chinese and Asian merchandise and related wholesale operations serving residents, visitors, tourists, and business travelers;

 

(c)Reinforce the area's economic viability by encouraging mixed use development, including substantial housing, cultural and community facilities, offices, retail and wholesale businesses, and hotels; and

 

(d)Protect existing housing and the most important historic buildings with suitable preservation controls, residential and commercial zones, and economic incentives.

 

1705.2This section applies to properties in the following squares: 428, 452, 453, 485, and 486, and those portions of squares 429 and 454 that are north of a line extending the midpoint of G Place eastward from 9th Street to 6th Street.

 

1705.3Each building that fronts on H Street from 5th to 8th Street, on 7th Street for a distance of one-half (1/2) block north and south of H Street, or on 6th Street for a distance of one-half (1/2) block south of H Street, shall devote not less than 1.0 FAR equivalent to retail, service, arts, and arts-related uses listed in §§ 1710 and 1711 and wholesaling accessory to those uses; provided, that this requirement shall be 0.5 FAR equivalent for a building that fronts on any other street segment in Chinatown or for a building that provides on-site or off-site, a residential component as required by § 1706.

 

1705.4In Square 485, a residential building that is brought up to building code and covenanted to continue in residential use for twenty (20) years or longer shall be eligible for transferable development rights equal to the floor area maintained in residential use.

 

1705.5A building that provides the required 1.0 FAR equivalent for preferred uses specified in § 1705.3, and that includes any of the bonus uses indicated in this subsection, may count the gross floor area equivalent devoted to such use or uses at the bonus ratio indicated for the purpose of earning bonus density:

 

		Gross floor area devoted to the bonus use		Proportionate number of square feet of additional gross floor area earned for on-site or off-site development
(a)	Uses listed in §§ 1710 and 1711, in excess of the 1.0 FAR equivalent required by § 1705.3; and	1	to	1
(b)	Small, minority, or displaced business	1	to	1

 

authority

The Zoning Commission for the District of Columbia (the “Commission”), pursuant to its authority under §§ 1, 3, and 8 of the Zoning Act of 1938, approved June 20, 1938 (52 Stat. 797, 798, and 799; D.C. Official Code §§ 6-641.01, 6-641.03, and 6-641.07).

source

Final Rulemaking published at 38 DCR 612, 625 (January 18, 1991); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 47 DCR 9741-43 (December 8, 2000), incorporating by reference the text of Proposed Rulemaking published at 47 DCR 8335, 8477-78 (October 20, 2000); as corrected by Errata Notice published at 58 DCR 4314, 4315 (May 20, 2011).