Section 11-1707. HISTORIC PRESERVATION (DD)

 

1707.1The most directly applicable policies and objectives from the Comprehensive Plan and other adopted policies for Downtown may be summarized as follows:

 

(a)Preserve the unique character and fabric of historic buildings, the Downtown Historic District, and the Pennsylvania Avenue Historic Site;

 

(b)Encourage restoration and adaptive reuse of historic landmarks and contributing buildings in historic districts, together with compatible alterations and compatible new construction;

 

(c)Restrict permitted building bulk on critical historic frontages and lots with historic buildings so as to encourage preservation of historic buildings and assure a suitable scale of new construction in historic districts, especially in projects combining new development with preservation;

 

(d)Permit flexibility as to building height, rear yard, and court requirements so as to allow maximum design flexibility for the massing and sculpting of the restricted building mass in relationship to the scale and character of affected historic buildings on the lot and nearby subject to the exterior design review and controls exercised by the Historic Preservation Review Board;

 

(e)Provide appropriate economic incentives to encourage preservation, including suitable on-site density and transferable development rights; and

 

(f)Encourage occupancy of historic buildings by active uses such as arts, cultural, entertainment, retail, and small business uses, in keeping with the potential of historic buildings to make multiple contributions to the character of a "Living Downtown."

 

1707.2This section applies to historic landmarks and to specified properties within the Downtown Historic District and Pennsylvania Avenue Historic Site.

 

1707.3Uses within buildings in the historic districts and landmark sites within the DD Overlay District are governed by the underlying zone districts and the special use requirements and incentives provided in §§ 1703 through 1706.

 

1707.4The permitted on-site FAR for any permitted use shall be 6.0 on each of the following lots and squares listed in this subsection; provided, that in a multi-lot development or combined lot development within a single square, the permitted 6.0 FAR may be averaged with the permitted FARs of other lots that are part of the development, including any lots not subject to the 6.0 FAR maximum, so as to achieve a composite FAR for the entire development:

 

(a)Square 320, lots 17, 800, 801, 808, 809, and 810;

 

(b)Square 346;

 

(c)Square 347, lots 18, 19, 800 through 803, and 818 through 826;

 

(d)Square 376, lots 36 through 46, 48, 63, 64, 70, 801, 802, and 803;

 

(e)Square 377, lots 35, 819 through 821, 823 through 827, and 846;

 

(f)Square 406, lots 11, 15, 807, 808, 809, and 814;

 

(g)Square 428, lots 16, 17, 801 through 804, and 808 through 815;

 

(h)Square 429;

 

(i)Square 452, lots 26 through 29, 800, 802 through 806, and 817 through 824;

 

(j)Square 453, lots 24 through 31, 40, 50, 811, 812, 813, 815 through 819, 821, 831 through 835, 839, and 48;

 

(k)Square 454, lots 827 through 835;

 

(l)Square 518, lots 845 through 855;

 

(m)Square 405, lot 839;

 

(n)All of Square 429 1/2;

 

(o)All of Square 430;

 

(p)Square 431, lots 23, 815, and 816;

 

(q)Square 458, lots 816, 818, and 823;

 

(r)Square 459, Lot 809;

 

(s)Square 460, lots 802 through 805 and 818;

 

(t)All of Square 485;

 

(u)Square 517, lots 20, 46, 834, and 835;

 

(v)Square 457, lots 36, 826, and 871; and

 

(w)Square 456, lots 34, 37, 857, and 868.

 

1707.5A project in the Downtown Historic District or the Pennsylvania Avenue Historic Site, or an individual historic landmark shall not be eligible to construct bonus density or transferable development rights on-site, but may transfer bonus density or unused development rights to other lots in the DD Overlay District or to lots in a receiving zone as delineated in § 1709; provided:

 

(a)The historic building or part of the historic building shall be a historic landmark or a building within the Downtown Historic District or the Pennsylvania Avenue Historic Site that has been preserved in whole or in part pursuant to the Historic Landmark and Historic District Protection Act of 1978, effective March 3, 1979 (D.C. Law 2-144, as amended; D.C. Official Code §§ 6-1101 to 6-1115 (formerly codified at D.C. Code §§ 5-1001 to 5-1015 (1994 Repl. & 1999 Supp.))), and this chapter;

 

(b)The property shall be one of those properties identified in § 1707.4 and accordingly restricted in on-site density to 6.0 FAR or an historic landmark that has an FAR of 6.0 or less including any existing or proposed additions;

 

(c)A historic building that has previously been restored pursuant to approval of the Historic Preservation Review Board within a ten-year (10-year) period prior to January 18, 1991, shall not be eligible to earn transferable development rights;

 

(d)Undeveloped gross floor area of up to 4.0 FAR may be transferred from the historic sending lot to a lot or lots elsewhere in the DD Overlay District or in a receiving zone; provided:

 

(1)Each one square-foot (1 ft.2) of unused density less than the matter-of-right commercial density of the underlying zone district shall earn one square-foot (1 ft.2) of transferable development rights; and

 

(2)The matter-of-right densities of the applicable underlying zone districts are deemed to be 10.0 or 8.5 FAR in the DD/C-4 Overlay District pursuant to §§ 771.2 and 771.5, 6.5 FAR in the DD/C-3-C Overlay District and, for the purpose of this section only, 6.0 FAR in the DD/C-2-C Overlay District;

 

(e)In order to qualify for the transfer of development rights provided in this section, the property owner shall execute an instrument of transfer as provided in § 1709 that:

 

(1)Effects a binding reduction in the unused development rights under the Zoning Regulations otherwise available to the sending lot, to the extent of the rights transferred; and

 

(2)Requires completion of restoration of the historic building, buildings, or parts thereof pursuant to plans approved by the Historic Preservation Review Board or the Mayor's Agent for Historic Preservation as required by D.C. Law 2-144, D.C. Official Code §§ 6-1101 to 6-1115 (2001) (formerly codified at D.C. Code §§ 5-1001 to 5-1015 (1994 Repl.));

 

(f)For the purposes of administering § 1707.5(e)(2), the Historic Preservation Division, Office of Planning, shall certify in writing to the Zoning Administrator that restoration has been completed pursuant to plans approved as consistent with D.C. Law 2-144, D.C. Official Code §§ 6-1101 to 6-1115 (2001) (formerly codified at D.C. Code §§ 5-1001 to 5-1015 (1994 Repl.));

 

(g)Prior to the completion of restoration as certified in § 1707.5(f), one or more transfers of development rights as provided for in § 1709 may be executed following issuance of a building permit for the sending lot, but a certificate of occupancy for the transferred development rights on the receiving lot shall not be issued until the restoration on the sending lot has been certified, as provided in § 1707.5(f);

 

(h)After the completion of restoration has been certified as provided in § 1707.5(f), any transferred development rights shall vest in the receiving lot without any relationship to the status of the historic sending lot;

 

(i)Notwithstanding the requirements of §§ 1707.5(g) and (h), up to twenty-five percent (25%) of the transferable development rights that the sending lot is eligible for may be transferred to and fully vest in a receiving lot under the following conditions:

 

(1)The owner of the sending lot shall receive final approval of restoration plans from the Historic Preservation Review Board pursuant to D.C. Law 2-144, D.C. Official Code §§ 6-1101 to 6-1115 (2001)(formerly codified at D.C. Code §§ 5-1001 to 5-1015 1994 Repl.));

 

(2)The instrument of transfer as required by § 1707.5(e) shall include a requirement that the monetary proceeds of the transfer of development rights shall be utilized by the owner of the sending lot exclusively for the cost of design and restoration, or restoration and new construction, of the historic building on the sending lot;

 

(3)If the financial proceeds of the transfer exceed the total cost of design and construction on the sending lot, the instrument of transfer shall provide that full funding of design and construction shall be reserved, together with a draw schedule and timetable for the construction work, prior to any other use of the funds in excess of that required for design and construction; and

 

(4)If § 1707.5(i)(3) is applicable to a project, the transferable development rights shall not vest in the receiving lot or lots until the Director of the D.C. Office of Planning has certified to the Zoning Administrator that the allocation of funds and draw schedule provided pursuant to § 1707.5(i)(3) are sufficient to allow the completion of the project; and

 

(j)Bonus density, if any, generated by bonus uses on the sending lot may be transferred in addition to the transferable development rights provided in this subsection for restricted density on the historic lot, as provided in § 1709.

 

1707.6The rear and side yard requirements of the underlying zone district shall not apply in the Downtown Historic District or Pennsylvania Avenue Historic Site.

 

1707.7A historic landmark or a contributing building in a historic district that has a gross floor area in excess of the 6.00 FAR limit specified in § 1707.4 shall be permitted to occupy all floors of the building for permitted uses.

 

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, 632 (January 18, 1991); as amended by: Final Rulemaking published at 39 DCR 8312, 8313 (November 13, 1992); Final Rulemaking published at 43 DCR 599 (February 9, 1996); Final Rulemaking published at 47 DCR 9741-43 (December 8, 2000), incorporating by reference the text of Proposed Rulemaking published at 47 DCR 8335, 8481-82 (October 20, 2000); and Final Rulemaking published at 48 DCR 10053, 10054 (November 2, 2001); as corrected by Errata Notice published at 58 DCR 4314, 4315 (May 20, 2011).