D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 10-A, § 1813
1813.1 The neighborhoods of Barry Farm, Hillsdale, and Fort Stanton are sandwiched between Historic Anacostia on the north and the St. Elizabeths Campus and Suitland Parkway on the south. While these three neighborhoods are currently home to more than 8,000 residents, they also contain some of the largest vacant sites in Ward 8. For example, the nine-acre Sheridan Station site sat vacant between 1996 and 2007, after the apartment complex that once stood there was demolished. Sheridan Station joined Matthews Memorial Church as a development opportunity that has provided high-quality housing options for District residents and expanded mixed-income communities in Ward 8. Phase 1, completed in December 2011, consists of 144 units of multi-family and townhouse rentals. The project has provided 65 replacement housing units for Barry Farms residents, with 25 units delivered in 2011 and 40 units in 2014. This focus area includes one of Washington, DC’s largest public housing complexes at Barry Farm, the historic Fort Stanton Park, and the Smithsonian Institution Anacostia Museum. Topography in the area is hilly, affording panoramic views of Central Washington, DC.
1813.2 This area has been called out in the Area Element for three reasons. First, Barry Farm has been identified as a new community, and policies are in place through a Master Plan to guide future change. Second, policies are needed to encourage development to be sensitive to the hilly terrain and the area’s established moderate- to low- density character, although increased density is anticipated to accommodate redevelopment of a mixed-use, mixed-income community with the one-for-one replacement of existing public housing units. Third, policies should encourage a better connection of this area to the fast-changing areas on the north and south, with improved access to transit, parks, jobs, public facilities, and retail services. Barry Farm, Hillsdale, and Fort Stanton should not be left behind as the areas around them move forward. In 2006, the D.C. Council approved the Barry Farm Redevelopment Plan. Consistent with the New Communities Initiative (NCI), the goal of the redevelopment effort is to transform the affordable housing development into a mixed-income, mixed-use community. In 2020 the Historic Preservation Review Board designated a portion of Barry Farm Dwellings as a historic landmark. It is envisioned that one of the landmarks buildings would house a museum and cultural center to commemorate the legacy of Barry Farm.
1813.3 Policy FSS-2.3.1: Barry Farm New Community
needs and the needs of households on the public housing unit waiting list.
While some increase in density will be required to meet the one-for-one replacement goal, consideration should be given to including nearby vacant land in the new community site so that densities may remain in the moderate to medium range with ample green and open space as anticipated by the 2006 Barry Farm Redevelopment Plan and as measured across the overall new community site. Building heights may exceed those heights typically used in medium-density zones, particularly near larger roads on the edge of the site, to accommodate the moderate to medium density over the entire site.
1813.4
Encourage compatible infill development on vacant and underused land within the Hillsdale and Fort Stanton neighborhoods, emphasizing low- to moderate-density housing designed for families while allowing higher densities where appropriate
to increase housing opportunities near transit. Special care should be taken to respect the area’s topography, avoid erosion, improve the street and circulation system, and mitigate any traffic increases caused by new development.
1813.5
Improve pedestrian, protected bicycle, and road connections between the Barry Farm, Hillsdale, and Fort Stanton communities, and between these communities and the future developments at Poplar Point and the St. Elizabeths Campus. Residents should be able to safely walk or bicycle to the Anacostia Metro station, Anacostia Park, and Fort Stanton Park.
1813.6
Work with nonprofit partners and residents to restore the Barry Farm Historic Landmark, a grouping of five buildings at the corner of Stevens Road SE and Firth Sterling Avenue SE, to create a public museum, archive and educational space dedicated to the study of Barry Farm neighborhood history, and the connections to the early post-Civil War community, civil rights, public housing, go-go music, and other themes connected to the history of the community.
SOURCE: District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; 31 DCR 1049 (March 9, 1984)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Element Amendment Act of 1984, effective March 16, 1985 (D.C. Law 5-187; 32 DCR 873 (February 15, 1985)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-129; 37 DCR 55 (January 5, 1990)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989 NCPC-Recommended Amendments, and Closing of Public Alleys in Square 669, S.O. 88-452, Act of 1990, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-132; 37 DCR 2213 (April 6, 1990)); as amended by District Government Land Use Temporary Amendment Act of 1994, effective October 1, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-190; 41 DCR 5360 (August 12, 1994)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1994, effective October 6, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-193; 41 DCR 5536 (August 19, 1994)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Amendment Act of 1994, effective March 21, 1995 (D.C. Law 10-235; 42 DCR 30 (January 6, 1995)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1996 effective April 18, 1996 (D.C. Law 11-110; 43 DCR 530 (February 9, 1996)); as amended by Second Technical Amendments Act of 1996 effective April 9, 1997 (D.C. Law 11-255; 44 DCR 1271 (March 7, 1997)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 1998, effective April 27, 1999 (D.C. Law 12-275; 46 DCR 1441 (February 19, 1999)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1999, effective April 12, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-91; 47 DCR 520 (January 28, 2000)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2006, effective March 8, 2007 (D.C. Law 16-300; 54 DCR 924 (February 2, 2007)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 2008, effective March 25, 2009 (D.C. Law 17-353; 56 DCR 1117 (February 6, 2009)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2010, effective April 8, 2011 (D.C. Law 18-361; 58 DCR 908 (February 4, 2011)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2021, effective August 21, 2021 (D.C. Law 24-20; 68 DCR 006918 (July 16, 2021)).