Section 11-U513. SPECIAL EXCEPTION USES (MU-USE GROUP E)

 

513.1The following uses shall be permitted as a special exception if approved by the Board of Zoning Adjustment under Subtitle X, Chapter 9, subject to the provisions of this section:

 

(a)Animal care and animal sales uses, subject to the following conditions:

 

(1)When located in a nonresidential building or on a property not zoned residential, the use shall not abut nor be closer than twenty-five feet (25 ft.) to any property line of an existing residential use or a residential zone;

 

(2)When located in a mixed-use building, the use shall not be on the same floor as a residential use and shall be horizontally separated from any residential use by at least one (1) floor of nonresidential use;

 

(3)The use shall be located and designed to create no objectionable conditions to adjacent properties resulting from animal noise, odor, or waste; and shall utilize industry standard sound-absorbing materials, such as acoustical floor and ceiling panels, acoustical concrete and masonry, and acoustical landscaping;

 

(4)External yards or other external facilities for the keeping of animals shall not be permitted, except that an Animal Shelter may have external yards or other external facilities for the keeping of animals which shall be entirely located a minimum of two hundred feet (200 ft.) from an existing residential use or residential zone; and

 

(5)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 means of an air filtration system (for example, High Efficiency Particulate Air [HEPA] filtration) or an equivalently effective odor control system;

 

(b)Emergency shelter for five (5) to twenty-five (25) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families, subject to the following standards and requirements:

 

(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 subject 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 facility shall meet all applicable code and licensing requirements;

 

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

 

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

 

(6)The Board of Zoning Adjustment may approve an emergency shelter for more than twenty-five (25) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families, only if the Board of Zoning Adjustment finds that the program goals and objectives of the District of Columbia cannot be achieved by a facility of a smaller size at the subject location and if there is no other reasonable alternative to meet the program needs of that area of the District;

 

(c)Fast food establishments or food delivery service eating and drinking establishments in the MU-4, MU-17, MU-25, and MU-27 zones, subject to the following conditions:

 

(1)No part of the lot on which the use is located shall be within twenty-five feet (25 ft.) of a R, RF, or RA zone, unless separated therefrom by a street or alley;

 

(2)If any lot line of the lot abuts an alley containing a zone district boundary line for a residential zone, a continuous brick wall at least six feet (6 ft.) high and twelve inches (12 in.) thick shall be constructed and maintained on the lot along the length of that lot line. The brick wall shall not be required in the case of a building that extends for the full width of its lot;

 

(3)Any refuse dumpster shall be housed in a three (3)-sided brick enclosure equal in height to the dumpster or six feet (6 ft.) high, whichever is greater. The entrance to the enclosure shall include an opaque gate. The entrance shall not face a residential zone;

 

(4)The use shall not include a drive-through;

 

(5)The use shall be designed and operated so as not to become objectionable to neighboring properties because of noise, sounds, odors, lights, hours of operation, or other conditions;

 

(6)The use shall provide sufficient off-street parking, but not less than that required by Subtitle C, Chapter 7 to accommodate the needs of patrons and employees;

 

(7)The use shall be located and designed so as to create no dangerous or otherwise objectionable traffic conditions; and

 

(8)The Board of Zoning Adjustment may impose conditions pertaining to design, screening, lighting, soundproofing, off-street parking spaces, signs, method and hours of trash collection, or any other matter necessary to protect adjacent or nearby property;

 

(d)Gasoline service station to be established or enlarged, or a repair garage not including body and fender work, subject to the following conditions: 

 

(1)The station shall not be located within twenty-five feet (25 ft.) of a residential zone or unless separated from the residential zone by a street or alley;

 

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

 

(3)Required parking spaces may be arranged so that not all spaces are accessible at all times. All parking spaces provided under this subsection shall be designed and operated so that sufficient access and maneuvering space is available to permit the parking and removal of any vehicles without moving any other vehicle onto public space;

 

(e)Massage establishment that has as a principal use the administration of massages subject to the following conditions:

 

(1)The establishment shall be compatible with other uses in the area;

 

(2)The use shall not be objectionable because of its effect on the character of the neighborhood or because of noise, traffic, or other conditions; and

 

(3)The establishment shall not have an adverse impact on religious, educational, or other institutional facilities located in the area;

 

(f)Motorcycle sales and repair;

 

(g)Parking, for uses within this chapter that are located elsewhere than on the lot on which the use is located but within the square in which the principal use is located;

 

(h)Retail uses otherwise permitted with conditions that do not comply with the conditions; 

 

(i)Retail, large format, subject to the conditions of Subtitle U § 511.1(j);

 

(j)Service uses that are permitted with conditions, that do not comply with the prescribed conditions;

 

(k)Utilities uses, subject to the requirements for setbacks, screening, or other requirements, as the Board of Zoning Adjustment deems necessary for the protection of neighboring or adjacent property;

 

(l)Veterinary office or hospital, subject to the following conditions: 

 

(1)A veterinary hospital may board any animal permitted to be lawfully sold in the District of Columbia, pursuant to D.C. Official Code § 8-1808(h)(1), except domesticated dogs;

 

(2)No more than fifty percent (50%) of the gross floor area of the veterinary hospital may be devoted to the boarding of animals subject to the spacing requirements of Subtitle U § 513.2(a);

 

(3)The veterinary hospital shall be located and designed to create no objectionable conditions to adjacent properties resulting from animal noise, odor, or waste;

 

(4)The veterinary hospital shall not abut an existing residential use or a residential zone;

 

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

 

(6)Pet grooming, the sale of pet supplies, and incidental boarding of animals as necessary for convalescence, are permitted as accessory uses; and

 

(7)The Board of Zoning Adjustment may impose additional requirements as it deems necessary to protect adjacent or nearby properties; and

 

(m) Animal boarding uses not meeting the conditions of Subtitle U § 512.1(l), 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) External yards or other exterior facilities for the keeping of animals shall not be permitted; and

 

(9) 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

 

(n) Any use permitted as a matter of right in MU-Use Group E that does not   comply with the required conditions for MU-Use Group E may apply for permission as a special exception, except firearms retail sales establishments.

 

 

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, 3338 (March 4, 2016 – Part 2); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 64 DCR 340 (January 13, 2017).