At two meetings in the last year, ANC 3B heard from the Office of Planning about their ongoing rewrite of the more than 50-year old DC Zoning Code. The current code is complicated and out of date, predating the existence of Metro and many of the changes that have come to DC in recent decades.
There are many changes under discussion by the Office of Planning. In a February 2013 resolution supporting the newly proposed code, ANC 3B highlighted three of them:
- The updated proposal makes reasonable allowances for local corner stores in rowhouse residential areas such as Glover Park so that the ability to walk a short distance to local, neighborhood-friendly stores enriches our neighborhood fabric and provides easy access to daily necessities.
- The updated proposal offers improved options for homeowners to create an accessory dwelling unit, creating more affordable housing, increasing the value of existing housing stock, allowing for neighborhood population growth without modifying existing building density, and allowing seniors to age in place in their own homes.
- The updated proposal modifies required parking minimums that undermine market forces, increase housing costs, reduce incentives to use mass transit, and damage the historic and walkable form of many neighborhoods.
The resolution supporting the zoning code rewrite, which can be seen here, passed unanimously, 5-0.