Section 11-K300. GENERAL PROVISIONS (USN)

300.1 The purposes of the USN zone are to:

(a) Implement the Comprehensive Plan by ensuring that development of the air rights is not inconsistent with the goals and policies of the Comprehensive Plan including:

(1) Creation of a catalytic development that would provide an active streetscape connection between neighborhoods west of the railroad tracks and east of the railroad tracks;

(2) Infill of an underutilized property near a multi-modal transportation hub with the provision of a mix of high density commercial and residential uses; and

(3) Preservation and enhancement of Union Station, and general economic development of the North of Massachusetts Avenue (NoMa) area and the District of Columbia;

(b) Reconnect the District of Columbia by creating an urban fabric that will reconnect the H Street commercial corridor to the east, North Capitol Street to the west, NoMa to the north and west, and Union Station to the south;

(c) Provide a suitable visual relationship to surroundings by ensuring the provision of exemplary architecture for any building in the USN zone, and encouraging upper story setbacks and minimized penthouses;

(d) Improve the character of H Street by establishing H Street, N.E., between 1st and 2nd Streets, N.E., as an attractive, active, pedestrian-oriented street with active ground floor uses and a varied façade;

(e) Utilize transportation infrastructure by facilitating development that would take advantage of Union Station’s unique combination of local, regional and national investment in pedestrian, bicycle, rail transit, bus transit, and intercity rail infrastructure, and ensuring that development complements and allows the expansion and enhancement of the transportation infrastructure;

(f) Establish a mix of uses throughout the USN zone including residential and retail, as well as office, hotel, and other permitted uses; and

(g) Create a walkable environment by requiring suitable ground floor uses, appropriate building design and appropriate site layout, including wide sidewalks.

300.2 The USN zone is created to implement the Comprehensive Plan and other public policy goals and objectives.

300.3 The USN zone recognizes the unique characteristics and development constraints of the site and provides for appropriate, site specific methods for the measurement of height and density.

300.4 The USN zone shall constitute the Zoning Regulations for the geographic area referred to in Subtitle W § 119.1.  Where there are conflicts between this chapter and other chapters or subtitles of this title, the provisions of the USN Zone shall govern.

300.5 When used in this chapter, the term “transportation way” means any piece of infrastructure, the intent of which is to convey people or goods from one (1) place to another.  Examples include, but are not limited to, sidewalks, stairs, elevators, fixed guideways for transit, and streets.  Transportation ways may be either on, above or below ground, and may be either publicly or privately-owned.  Transportation ways do not include internal components of any portion of a building.

300.6 The land and the volume of space below the air rights lots shall not be zoned USN.  Development will occur on top of a structural platform that will span the railroad tracks underneath.

300.7 The USN zone shall not be applied to any lot located on the ground or any air rights lot outside of the boundaries described in Subtitle W § 119.1.

 

 

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, 3176 (March 4, 2016 – Part 2).