300.1 The Land Use Element is the cornerstone of the Comprehensive Plan. It establishes the basic policies guiding the physical form of the District, and provides direction on a range of development, preservation, and land-use compatibility issues. The element describes the range of considerations and balancing of priorities involved in accommodating an array of land uses within Washington, DC.

300.2 The critical land use issues are addressed in this element. These include the following:

1. Providing adequate housing, particularly affordable housing;
2. Conserving, creating, and maintaining inclusive neighborhoods, while allowing new growth that fosters equity, including racial equity, and accessibility;
3. Strengthening downtown;
4. Enhancing neighborhood commercial districts and centers;
5. Balancing competing demands for finite land resources;
6. Directing growth and new development to achieve economic vitality and creating jobs while minimizing adverse impacts on residential areas and open spaces;
7. Promoting transit-accessible, sustainable development;
8. Improving resilience; and
9. Siting challenging land uses.

300.3 More than any other part of the Comprehensive Plan, this element lays out the policies through which growth and change occur, while conserving and enhancing neighborhoods, commercial districts, and other areas. The Land Use Element integrates and balances competing policies of all the other District Elements and should be given greater weight than other elements.

300.4 Although Washington, DC was almost fully developed by 1960, the demand for land, housing, and jobs has continued to fuel land use change. The changing needs of the federal government, private industry, and other institutions continually reshape the landscape. Aging, environmentally inefficient, and underused building

stock requires refurbishment and replacement. The renewed popularity of urban living generates the need for more housing and new amenities.

300.5 Land use changes have the potential to make Washington, DC more vibrant, economically healthy, exciting, and even more environmentally sustainable, equitable, and resilient than it is today. But without proper direction and coordinated public investment, change can also be adverse. Not all areas of the District are as economically healthy, and not all are positioned to benefit from future change. The Land Use Element strives for positive outcomes in all parts of the District and for all residents by setting policies on appropriate uses and densities and describing how different uses can successfully co-exist.

300.7 The element is divided into several sections. The first section provides basic data on land use and density in Washington, DC. Subsequent sections of the element present policies and actions organized under the following major topic headings:

1. Creating and Maintaining Vibrant Neighborhoods; and

The definitions of land use categories and descriptions of the Future Land Use Map and Generalized Policies Map may be found in Chapter 2 (Framework Element).

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)).