Section 11-H1105. SPECIAL EXCEPTION USES (NC-USE GROUP A)

 

1105.1  In areas other than designated use areas, the uses in this section shall be permitted if approved by the Board of Zoning Adjustment as a special exception under Subtitle X, Chapter 9, subject to any applicable provisions of each section:

(a) Animal care uses, not meeting the conditions of Subtitle H § 1101.4(g), subject to the following:

(1) The use shall not be located on a lot that abuts an R, RF, or RA zone;

(2) The use shall be located and designed to create no objectionable condition to adjacent properties resulting from animal noise, odor, or waste;

(3) The use shall take place entirely within an enclosed and soundproofed building in such a way so as to produce no noise or odor objectionable to nearby properties. The windows and doors of the premises shall be kept closed;

(4) All animal waste shall be placed in closed waste disposal containers and shall utilize a qualified waste disposal company to collect and dispose of all animal waste at least weekly. Odors shall be controlled by an air filtration system (for example, High Efficiently Particulate Air “HEPA” filtration) or an equivalently effective odor control system;

(5) External yards or other external facilities for the keeping of animals shall not be permitted;

(6) The sale of pet supplies shall be permitted as an accessory use;

(7) The principal use shall not be for the housing, feeding and care of stray or abandoned animals whether for profit or not for profit; and

(8) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may impose additional requirements pertaining to the location of building entrances or exits; buffers, fencing; soundproofing; odor control; waste storage and removal (including frequency); the species and/or number and/or breeds of animals; or other requirements, as the Board of Zoning Adjustment deems necessary to protect adjacent or nearby property;

(b) Community-based institutional facilities provided that the use shall house no more than to fifteen (15) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families;

(c) Emergency shelter uses for up to fifteen (15) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families, subject to the following conditions:

(1) There shall be no other property containing an emergency shelter for seven (7) or more persons in the same square, or within a radius of five hundred feet (500 ft.) from any portion of the property;

(2) There shall be adequate, appropriately located, and screened off-street parking to provide for the needs of occupants, employees, and visitors to the facility;

(3) The proposed shelter shall meet all applicable code and licensing requirements;

(4) The shelter shall not have an adverse impact on the neighborhood because of traffic, noise, operations, or the number of similar facilities in the area; and

(5) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may approve more than one (1) Emergency Shelter use in a square or within five hundred feet (500 ft.) from the property only when the Board of Zoning Adjustment finds that the cumulative effect of the shelters will not have an adverse impact on the neighborhood because of traffic, noise, or operations;

(d) Eating and drinking establishment use that is a prepared food shop with more than twenty-four (24) seats;

(e) Education, college/university uses shall be permitted as a special exception subject to Subtitle X § 102;

(f) Motor vehicle-related uses limited to the following and subject to the corresponding conditions:

(1) The use is a gasoline service station to be established or enlarged, subject to the following conditions;

(2) The use shall not be located within twenty-five feet (25 ft.) of an R, RF, or RA zone;

(3) The operation of the use shall not create dangerous or other objectionable traffic conditions; and

(4) Parking spaces may be arranged so that all spaces are not accessible at all times. All parking spaces shall be designed to allow parking and removal of any vehicles without moving any other vehicle onto public space; and

(g) Utilities uses, other than an optical transmission node, but not including an EEF use, subject to the use not, as a consequence of its design, operation, low employee presence, or proximity to other electronic equipment facilities inhibit future revitalization of the neighborhood, reduce the potential for vibrant streetscapes, deplete street life, or inhibit pedestrian or vehicular movement;

 

(h) Animal boarding uses not meeting the conditions of Subtitle H § 1101.4 (g)(3), subject to the following:

 

(1) The animal boarding use shall take place entirely within an enclosed building;

 

(2) Buildings shall be designed and constructed to mitigate noise to limit negative impacts on adjacent properties, including residential units located in the same building as the use. Additional noise mitigation shall be required for existing buildings not originally built for the boarding of animals, including the use of acoustical tiles, caulking to seal penetrations made in floor slabs for pipes, and spray-on noise insulation;

 

(3) The windows and doors of the space devoted to the animal boarding use shall be kept closed, and all doors facing a residential use shall be solid core;

 

(4) No animals shall be permitted in an external yard on the premises;

 

(5) Animal waste shall be placed in closed waste disposal containers and shall be collected by a waste disposal company at least weekly;

 

(6) Odors shall be controlled by means of an air filtration system or an equivalently effective odor control system;

 

(7) Floor finish material, and wall finish materials measured a minimum of forty-eight inches (48 in.) from the floor, shall be impervious and washable;

 

(8) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may impose additional requirements pertaining to the location of buildings or other structures, entrances and exits; buffers, banners, and fencing, soundproofing, odor control, waste storage and removal (including frequency), the species and/or number of animals; or other requirements, as the Board deems necessary to protect adjacent or nearby property; and

 

(9) External yards or other exterior facilities for the keeping of animals shall not be permitted.

 

 

authority

§ 1 of the Zoning Act of 1938, approved June 20, 1938 (52 Stat. 797, as amended; D.C. Official Code § 6-641.01 (2012 Repl.)).

source

Final Rulemaking published at 63 DCR 2447, 2987 (March 4, 2016 – Part 2); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 64 DCR 22 (January 6, 2017).