D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 11, r. 11-U203

Current through Register Vol. 71, No. 49, December 6, 2024

Rule 11-U203 - SPECIAL EXCEPTION USES - R-USE GROUPS A, B, C, AND D

203.1

The following uses shall be permitted in R-Use Groups A, B, and C, if approved by the Board of Zoning Adjustment as a special exception pursuant to Subtitle X, Chapter 9 and subject to the applicable conditions for each use below:

(a) Accessory apartment that does not meet the requirements of Subtitle U § 253;

(b) Chancery not meeting the conditions for a matter-of-right use, subject to disapproval by the Board of Zoning Adjustment pursuant to Subtitle X, Chapter 2;

(c) Clerical and religious group residences in excess of fifteen (15) persons subject to the following conditions:

(1) The use shall not adversely affect the use of neighboring property; and

(2) The amount and arrangement of parking shall be determined adequate;

(d) Community center building, park, playground, swimming pool, or athletic field, operated by a local community organization or association, subject to the following conditions:

(1) The use shall not be organized for profit, but shall be organized exclusively for the promotion of the social welfare of the neighborhood in which it is proposed to be located;

(2) The use shall not include retail sales to the general public but may charge a fee to members for services, which may include refreshments;

(3) The use shall not likely become objectionable in a R zone because of noise or traffic; and

(4) The use shall be reasonably necessary or convenient to the neighborhood in which it is proposed to be located;

(e) Community Residential Facility subject to the following conditions:

(1) The use shall house nine (9) to fifteen (15) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families;

(2) In any of the R-2 and R-3 zones, there shall be no other lot containing a facility in the same square or within a radius of five-hundred feet (500 ft.) from any portion of the lot; and

(3) In all other R zones there shall be no other lot containing a facility in the same square or within a radius of one thousand feet (1,000 ft.) from any portion of the lot;

(f) Continuing care retirement community, subject to the provisions of this paragraph:

(1) Provision of a landscaped area at least five feet (5 ft.) wide facing public space, residential use, or parks and recreation use, regardless of zone, that:

(A) Maintains as many existing native trees as possible;

(B) Includes a diverse mix of native trees, shrubs, and plants, and avoids planting a monoculture;

(C) Ensures all trees measure a minimum of six feet (6 ft.) in height at the time of planting; and

(2) The Application, including the landscape plan, shall be referred to the District Department of Energy and Environment for review and report.

(g) Continuing care retirement community, subject to the provisions of this paragraph:

(1) The use shall include one or more of the following services:

(A) Dwelling units for independent living;

(B) Assisted living facilities; or

(C) A licensed skilled nursing care facility;

(2) If the use does not include assisted living or skilled nursing facilities, the number of residents shall not exceed eight (8);

(3) The use may include ancillary uses for the further enjoyment, service, or care of the residents;

(4) The use and related facilities shall provide sufficient off-street parking spaces for employees, residents, and visitors;

(5) The use, including any outdoor spaces provided, shall be located and designed so that it is not likely to become objectionable to neighboring properties because of noise, traffic, or other objectionable conditions; and

(6) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may require special treatment in the way of design, screening of buildings, planting and parking areas, signs, or other requirements as it deems necessary to protect adjacent and nearby properties.

(h) Daytime care uses subject to the following conditions:

(1) The facility shall be located and designed to create no objectionable traffic condition and no unsafe condition for picking up and dropping off persons in attendance;

(2) Any off-site play area shall be located so as not to endanger individuals traveling between the play area and the center or facility;

(3) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may require special treatment in the way of design, screening of buildings, planting and parking areas, signs, or other requirements as it deems necessary to protect adjacent and nearby properties; and

(4) More than one (1) child/elderly development center or adult day treatment facility in a square or within one thousand feet (1,000 ft.) of another child/elderly development center or adult day treatment facility may be approved only when the Board of Zoning Adjustment finds that the cumulative effect of these facilities will not have an adverse impact on the neighborhood due to traffic, noise, operations, or other similar factors;

(i) Emergency shelter use for five (5) to fifteen (15) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families, subject to the following conditions:

(1) In R-Use Group A, there shall be no other property containing an emergency shelter for seven (7) or more persons either in the same square or within a radius of one thousand feet (1,000 ft.) from any portion of the property;

(2) In R-Use Groups B and C, there shall be no other property containing an emergency shelter for seven (7) or more persons either in the same square or within a radius of five hundred feet (500 ft.) from any portion of the property;

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

(4) The proposed facility shall meet all applicable code and licensing requirements;

(5) 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;

(6) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may approve more than one (1) emergency shelter in a square or within one thousand feet (1,000 ft.) only when the Board of Zoning Adjustment finds that the cumulative effect of the facilities will not have an adverse impact on the neighborhood because of traffic, noise, or operations; and

(7) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may approve a facility for more than fifteen (15) 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;

(j) Health care facility use for nine (9) to three hundred (300) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families, subject to the following conditions:

(1) In R-Use Group A, there shall be no other property containing a health care facility either in the same square or within a radius of one thousand feet (1,000 ft.) from any portion of the property;

(2) In R-Use Groups B and C, there shall be no other property containing a health care facility either in the same square or within a radius of five hundred feet (500 ft.) from any portion of the property;

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

(4) The proposed facility shall meet all applicable code and licensing requirements;

(5) 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; and

(6) More than one (1) health care facility in a square or within the distances of (1) and (2) above may be approved only when the Board of Zoning Adjustment finds that the cumulative effect of the facilities will not have an adverse impact on the neighborhood because of traffic, noise, or operations;

(k) Parking as a principal use, or accessory parking elsewhere than on the same lot as the principal use, subject to the following conditions:

(1) Parking garages shall not be permitted; parking spaces shall be in an open parking lot area or in an underground garage no portion of which, except for access, shall extend above the level of the adjacent finished grade;

(2) All parking shall meet the conditions of Subtitle C, Chapter 7;

(3) No commercial advertising signs shall be permitted outside a building, except a sign advertising the rates as required by Chapter 6 of Title 24 DCMR, Public Space and Safety;

(4) At least eighty percent (80%) of the parking surface shall be of pervious pavement;

(5) Accessory parking shall not be accessory to "parking as a principal use";

(6) The applicant shall demonstrate the following:

(A) The parking spaces shall be so located, and facilities in relation to the parking lot shall be so designed, that they are not likely to become objectionable to adjoining or nearby property because of noise, traffic, or other objectionable conditions;

(B) The present character and future development of the neighborhood will not be affected adversely; and

(C) The parking is reasonably necessary and convenient to other uses in the vicinity;

(7) Parking as a principal use shall be subject to the following conditions:

(A) All parking shall be located in its entirety within two hundred feet (200 ft.) of an existing MU, NMU, D, or PDR zone;

(B) The lot shall be contiguous to or separated only by an alley from a MU, NMU, D, or PDR zone; and

(C) A majority of the parking spaces shall serve residential uses or short-term parking needs of retail, service, and public facility uses in the vicinity;

(8) Accessory parking shall be subject to the following condition:

(A) All parking spaces shall be located in their entirety within two hundred feet (200 ft.) of the area to which they are accessory; and

(B) All parking spaces shall be contiguous to or separated only by an alley from the use to which they are accessory;

(9) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may require that all or a portion of the parking spaces be reserved for the following:

(A) Residential parking;

(B) Unrestricted commercial parking;

(C) Accessory parking for uses within eight hundred feet (800 ft.); and

(D) Shared parking for different uses by time of day; conditioned on lighting to reduce impacts on adjoining properties;

(10) In the R-1B/GT and R-3/GT zones, no commercial parking lots shall be permitted; and

(11) The application shall be referred to the District Department of Transportation for review and report;

(l) Performing arts, live theatrical use of an existing theater or performance space in an institutional, educational, or performing arts building subject to the following conditions:

(1) The use shall not be organized for profit; and

(2) The use shall not likely become objectionable because of noise, hours of events, traffic, parking or other objectionable conditions;

(m) Private schools and residences for teachers and staff of a private school, but not including a trade school, subject to the following conditions:

(1) Shall be located so that it is not likely to become objectionable to adjoining and nearby property because of noise, traffic, number of students, or otherwise objectionable conditions;

(2) Ample parking space, but not less than that required by this title, shall be provided to accommodate the students, teachers, and visitors likely to come to the site by automobile; and

(3) After hearing all evidence, the Board of Zoning Adjustment may require additional parking to that required by this title;

(n) Private stables shall be permitted as an accessory use subject to the following conditions:

(1) It shall be set back a minimum of fifty feet (50 ft.) from all lot lines and located so as not to affect adversely the light and air of the building to which it is accessory or of adjacent land and buildings;

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

(3) The applicant shall demonstrate that any external yard will be fenced for the safe confinement of the animals;

(o) Use of existing residential buildings and the land on which they are located by a nonprofit organization for the purposes of the nonprofit organization:

(1) If the building is listed in the District of Columbia's Inventory of Historic Sites or, if the building is located within a district, site, area, or place listed on the District of Columbia's Inventory of Historic Sites;

(2) If the gross floor area of the building in question, not including other buildings on the lot, is ten thousand square feet (10,000 sq. ft.) or greater;

(3) The use of existing residential buildings and land by a nonprofit organization shall not adversely affect the use of the neighboring properties;

(4) The amount and arrangement of parking spaces shall be adequate and located to minimize traffic impact on the adjacent neighborhood;

(5) No goods, chattel, wares, or merchandise shall be commercially created, exchanged, or sold in the residential buildings or on the land by a nonprofit organization, except for the sale of publications, materials, or other items related to the purposes of the nonprofit organization; and

(6) Any additions to the building or any major modifications to the exterior of the building or to the site shall require approval of the Board of Zoning Adjustment after review and recommendation by the Historic Preservation Review Board with comments about any possible detrimental consequences that the proposed addition or modification may have on the architectural or historical significance of the building or site or district in which the building is located;

(p) Uses and programs conducted by a religious congregation or group of congregations, subject to the following conditions:

(1) The program shall not be organized for profit, but shall be organized exclusively for the promotion of the social welfare of the community;

(2) The part of the program conducted on the property shall be carried on within the existing place of worship building(s) or structure(s);

(3) The staff conducting the program shall be composed of persons, at least seventy-five percent (75%) of whom volunteer their time and services;

(4) The operation of the program shall be such that it is not likely to become objectionable in the R zones because of noise, traffic, parking, or other objectionable conditions;

(5) No signs or display indicating the location of the program shall be located on the outside of the building or the grounds; and

(6) Any authorization by the Board of Zoning Adjustment shall be limited to a period of three (3) years, but may be renewed at the discretion of the Board of Zoning Adjustment;

(q) Utility uses subject to the following conditions:

(1) An electronic equipment facility shall not be permitted;

(2) Any requirements for setbacks, screening, or other safeguards that the Board of Zoning Adjustment deems necessary for the protection of the neighborhood; and

(3) Any new construction of a freestanding structure for use as an optical transmission node shall be built to appear compatible with surrounding construction, including exterior building material, fenestration, and landscaping and there shall be no advertisement on the structure; and

(r) Youth Rehabilitation Home, Adult Rehabilitation Home subject to the following conditions:

(1) The use shall house no more than eight (8) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families;

(2) In the R-2, R-3, R-10, R-13, and R-17 zones there shall be no other lot containing a youth rehabilitation home or adult rehabilitation home use in the same square or within a radius of five-hundred feet (500 ft.) from any portion of the lot; and

(3) In all other R-Use Groups A, B, and C there shall be no other lot containing a youth rehabilitation home or adult rehabilitation home use in the same square or within a radius of one thousand feet (1,000 ft.) from any portion of the lot; and

(4) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may approve more than one youth rehabilitation home or adult rehabilitation home 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;

(s) Youth Residential Care Home nine (9) to fifteen (15) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families:

(1) In R-Use Group A, the Board of Zoning Adjustment may approve more than one facility within one thousand feet (1,000 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

(2) In R-Use Group B and C, the Board of Zoning Adjustment may approve more than one facility 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

(t) Any use within a District of Columbia former public school building that does not comply with the matter of right conditions of Subtitle U § 252 subject to the special exception conditions of Subtitle U § 252.

203.2

In R-Use Group C, a corner store use not permitted as a matter of right pursuant to Subtitle U § 254, shall be permitted as a special exception subject to the conditions of Subtitle U § 254;

203.3

College or university use that is an academic institution of higher learning, including a college or university hospital, dormitory, fraternity, or sorority house proposed to be located on the campus of a college or university shall be permitted as a special exception if approved by the Zoning Commission subject to the conditions of Subtitle X, Chapter 1 and Subtitle Z.

D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 11, r. 11-U203

Final Rulemaking published at 63 DCR 2447 (9/6/2016); amended by Final Rulemaking published at 64 DCR 7254 (7/28/2017); amended by Final Rulemaking published at 66 DCR 12144 (9/13/2019); amended by Final Rulemaking published at 69 DCR 12886 (10/21/2022); amended by Final Rulemaking published at 70 DCR 11297 (8/25/2023)