5982589 Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, Department of - Notice of Final Rulemaking - 12-A DCMR Appendix N (Revised Illustrations)

 

DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS

 

NOTICE OF FINAL RULEMAKING

 

The Director of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, pursuant to the authority set forth in Section 2 of the Gallery Place Project Graphics Amendment Act of 2004, effective April 5, 2005 (D.C. Law 15-278; 52 DCR 835 (February 4, 2005)), and Mayor’s Order 2013-147, dated August 8, 2013, hereby adopts the following amendment of Appendix N (Signs) of Title 12 (D.C. Construction Codes Supplement of 2013), Subtitle A (Building Code Supplement of 2013) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations.  

 

The amendment revises and updates the Illustrations referenced in Section N101.18.2, which govern the types and locations of signs authorized for the Gallery Place Project.  As revised, the Illustrations reflect amendments that have been made to the underlying rules and include signs that are currently being displayed pursuant to those amendments.

 

A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published on February 5, 2016 at 63 DCR 1333. No comments were received, and no changes have been made from the previous version.  The rules were adopted as final on March 14, 2016, and will become effective upon publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.

 

Appendix N, SIGNS, of Title 12-A DCMR, BUILDING CODE SUPPLEMENT OF 2013, is amended as follows:

 

Section N101.18, RULES FOR GALLERY PLACE PROJECT GRAPHICS,  is amended as follows:

 

The Illustrations referenced in Section N101.18.2 are hereby superseded and replaced by the following revised Illustrations, dated November 2015. The revised Illustrations are incorporated by reference into Section N101.18.2 and shall be available in the office of the code official.

 

The illustrations also make reference to Heroic Graphic Areas, which are defined in the illustrations as areas that allow unlimited square footage for signage except for any physical limitations imposed by the physical area of the site or the illustrations.  These areas also allow for digital video monitors, digital screens, and theater marquees, provided that they do not obscure the building’s structural frame, spandrels, and architectural elements.   

 

Revised illustrations are available on the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs website at http://dcra.dc.gov/page/agency-news under “Administrative Publications”. 

 

The Illustrations have been revised as follows:

 

Illustrations 1 and 2.  These Illustrations now contain a Heroic Graphic Area block on the Gallery Place project above the Metro entranceways at the corner of the Seventh Street and H Streets (replacing the Storefront Signage Area). This block authorizes the type of Gallery Place Project Graphics  that currently exist on the Project.

 

Illustrations 3 and 3a.  These Illustrations include the addition of a Heroic Graphic Area block placed vertically from the ground of the alleyway between the Gallery Place Project and the Verizon Center to the top of the second story of the Gallery Place Project and horizontally from the south-facing façade of the Gallery Place Project to the north-facing façade of the Verizon Center.  This block reflects an amendment to the rules that added Section N101.18.2a (Gallery Place Projects Graphics Displays in Private Alley), which authorized the installation of a free-standing digital display (the “G Street Alley Digital Signage”) in the private alleyway located between the Gallery Place Project and the Verizon Center. This Heroic Graphic Area is in addition to the Heroic Graphic Areas already identified in the Illustrations on the west-facing façade of Gallery Place,

 

Explanatory Text.  The text accompanying the Illustrations has also been updated to include: (1) statements on each Illustration affirming that Gallery Place Signage must comply with 12-A DCMR § N101.18; (2) a correction to the language specifying that individual elements of storefront signs may only project up to eight inches (8 in.); (3) a clarification that the G Street Alley Digital Signage is limited to five hundred seventy square feet (570 sq. ft.); and (4) arrows added pointing to the defined elements of typical storefront façades on Illustrations 5 and 6.