D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 10-A, § 708
708.1 The retail sector has generated significant tax revenue that provided employment and income for residents, enhanced the vitality of Washington, DC, and improved shopping, dining, and entertainment choices for District neighborhoods. In recent years, the range of retail options in the District has been increasing. Between 2006 and 2017, nearly six million square feet of retail space has been constructed, with another one million square feet under construction, and an additional six million square feet in the development pipeline.
708.2 New and remodeled retail space has been a leading component of community revitalization throughout Washington, DC, including in CityCenterDC, Gallery Place, Columbia Heights, Logan Circle, Barracks Row, Brookland, H Street, NE, and U Street NW, which have reemerged as major shopping, entertainment, and dining destinations. At the same time, established retail districts such as Friendship Heights, Dupont Circle, Cleveland Park, Georgetown, and Adams Morgan are drawing fewer patrons, as the District's retail landscape continues to diversify by expanding south and east across the District. Importantly, this expansion is returning retail to Washington, DC's eastern quadrants, where residents without automobiles have had significantly reduced access to household goods. Some of the communities in the eastern quadrants undergoing retail growth include Fort Lincoln, Fort Totten, Anacostia Gateway, and Skyland.
708.3 The retail economy is important to the tax base, and new retail options are anticipated to capture more consumer spending from residents, workers, and visitors, which strengthens the tax base. Retail expansion has occurred in numerous neighborhood commercial areas across the District and in the Central Employment Area. Since 2006, District-wide retail growth has dramatically reduced the District's retail leakage as a proportion of resident spending, which was estimated at $1 billion per year in 2006. Between 2009 and 2016, retail sales and use taxes were up 36 percent, and retail employment was up 28 percent.
708.4 In the District, strong retail growth has been driven by robust demand from the food and beverage segment. Nationally, the retail economy is experiencing major shifts in durable goods retailing, due in part to growth in online retailing. These changes are likely to reshape the regional retail landscape and may yield a mix of benefits and challenges for retail in the District. DOES anticipates that non-store retailers, which include online retailers, will be the fastest growing component of retail trade through 2026. This is a major shift that is anticipated to drive new retail business models that will change how retailers connect with customers and likely impact traditional brick-and-mortar stores.
708.5 Efforts are underway to expand retail choices and strengthen existing retail businesses, in both Central Washington, DC and in District neighborhoods.
Continued planning and market assessment will help retail areas across the District adapt to changing market conditions. Since 2006, OP has conducted two major retail initiatives: the Retail Action Strategy and Vibrant Retail Streets Toolkit. These initiatives provide a foundation for communities and retailers to adapt to the changing retail landscape, where new retail formats that are experiential and blended with online sales are imparting major changes in retail business models, trade areas, and marketing techniques. These studies identified market potential for numerous retail areas and strategies to attract neighborhood-serving uses, such as grocery stores, home furnishings, and home improvement stores that are missing or underrepresented today. Additional studies may assess the potential for new retail formats, such as shared spaces that are paired with administrative and technical support that make entrepreneurship more accessible by efficiently using limited and expensive land. If the full market potential of retail is tapped starting in 2006, as much as seven to 10 million square feet of floor space might be accommodated by 2026.
Pursue a retail strategy that will allow the District to fully capitalize on the spending power of residents, workers, and visitors, and that will meet the retail needs of communities across the District and particularly in underserved communities.
Strengthen Downtown Washington, DC as a regional experiential retail destination in order to capitalize on its status as a transit hub and its historic role as the crossroads and central marketplace for the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Downtown should be tenanted and promoted as a regional experiential retail destination of choice, with multiple traditional and nontraditional retail anchors, a variety of consumer goods retailers, specialty shops, retailers unique to the Washington, DC region, and a wide variety of restaurants and entertainment venues.
Create and support additional shopping opportunities in Washington, DC’s neighborhood commercial districts to better meet the demand for basic goods and services. Reuse of vacant buildings in these districts should be encouraged, along with appropriately scaled retail infill development on vacant and underused sites. Promote the creation and growth of existing locally owned, nonchain establishments because of their role in creating unique shopping experiences, as well as in generating stronger local supply chains that facilitate community wealth building.
Support the efforts of local entrepreneurs who enhance the District’s economy by
manufacturing and retailing goods within Washington, DC, which increases the local employment and tax revenue generated by consumer retail spending.
708.10 Policy ED-2.2.5: Business Mix Reinforce existing and encourage new retail districts by attracting a mix of businesses, including local companies, regional chains, and nationally recognized retailers. 708.11 Policy ED-2.2.6: Grocery Stores and Supermarkets Support and incentivize the development of new grocery stores and supermarkets, and prioritize stores in neighborhoods with existing food deserts, where residents currently travel long distances for food and other shopping services, and neighborhoods most affected by hunger and poverty to improve access to healthy, affordable food. Because such uses inherently require greater depth and lot area than is present in many commercial districts, consider adjustments to current zoning standards to depth and lot area to accommodate these uses, and explore new models like co-ops. 708.12 Policy ED-2.2.7: Planning For Retail Coordinate neighborhood planning efforts with the District's economic development planning and small business development programs to improve retail offerings by leveraging the Vibrant Retail Streets Toolkit. Evaluate techniques, such as consolidating retail near highly trafficked locations along major corridors (particularly near transit station areas). Consider strategies to increase a retail area's market position, including by coordinating promotion. 708.13 Policy ED-2.2.8: Innovative Retail Identify and implement innovative retail strategies. This could include supporting pop-up or mobile retailers in neighborhoods with insufficient or unproven market demand for new stores. These strategies can help new businesses become established, or introduce new products and concepts, provide seasonal merchandise and services, and fill commercial buildings during short-term vacancies. 708.14 Policy ED-2.2.9: Clustered Retail at Transit Cluster retail around areas of high foot traffic, including Metrorail stations, bicycle facilities, high-capacity transit stops, and other multimodal meeting points. Create strong, vibrant retail nodes of to effectively link retail and transit. 708.15 Action ED-2.2.A: Update Retail Action Agenda Update the District-wide Retail Action Agenda. The agenda should include an evaluation of the current and projected amount of market-supportable retail, strategies for increasing retail offerings in historically underserved communities, submarket-specific retail positioning strategies, and an analysis of how changing
retail trends and technologies, such as online retailing and automation, are likely to impact retail businesses and employment in the District.
708.16
Determine the feasibility of developing zoning amendments that would permit higher ground floor retail ceiling heights in neighborhood commercial areas. Through processes including ZR-16, many zones have been revised to better accommodate the national standards for retail space, which has higher ceiling limits than typical office or residential uses. However, there may be an additional opportunity to make similar adjustments to zones used in neighborhood commercial areas. If these adjustments are feasible, better accommodating national retail space standards would help improve the District’s economic resilience.
708.17
Conduct an analysis of the District’s retail economy to assess the impacts from online retailing and opportunities to capture resident retail spending. The study should also assess opportunities to attract additional retail spending by visitors and residents of nearby jurisdictions.
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)).