D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 10-A, § 806
806.1 A park often reflects a neighborhood’s vitality and character. However, too often, District parks have not been treated as the resource for revitalization and community empowerment that they should be. Some suffer from deferred maintenance, illegal dumping, and crime. Others face challenges accommodating competing needs within limited space. Previous plans have created hundreds of small pockets of green space, contributing to the uniqueness of the District’s character. Yet these spaces often pose a challenge in terms of programming and maintenance. In addition, the parks are not managed by a single government but by multiple entities. Collaboration and coordination are both necessary and often complex.
806.2 Washington, DC’s parks should be viewed as limited and precious resources, no less valuable than the neighborhoods they serve. But the purpose of park management should not be solely to preserve open space. Parks meet the recreation, education, and social needs of District residents. The tree canopy and green infrastructure parks provide can improve community resilience and sustainability through such activities as stormwater management, energy conservation, and carbon sequestration. They can support urban agriculture in a reas with limited access to fresh produce. They can generate and support economic and social benefits, such as youth employment, business attraction, cultural activities, and community gathering space. The District should strive to realize these multiple and diverse benefits in the design of its parks and other public spaces.
806.3 Small open spaces (those less than one acre in size) are a significant untapped resource that can enhance the District’s neighborhoods, connect residents to their community through green networks, provide additional green space, and create a sense of place. There are 1,149 of these spaces in the District. They are controlled by multiple entities of the District government: DPR, DGS, and the District Department of Transportation (DDOT). Collectively, these spaces total over 148 acres. NPS manages additional small open spaces throughout the District. These combined small open spaces are triangle parks, circles, medians, paper streets, open spaces at interchanges, and narrow strips of green space running parallel to freeways. They are part of open space systems that contribute to the park-like character of the District and its neighborhoods, creating an urban environment that is distinct to Washington, DC.
Manage the District’s parklands to preserve and enhance their open space character while also accommodating a range of recreational, educational, and environmental functions. Park activities and facilities should be designed in a way that makes the best possible use of each space while minimizing conflicts between
different recreational uses.
806.5 Policy PROS-1.3.2: Parks and Environmental Objectives Use park improvements to achieve environmental objectives, such as water quality improvement, air quality improvement, wildlife habitat restoration, and tree canopy conservation and improvement.806.6 Policy PROS-1.3.3: Preserving Small Open Spaces Develop a coordinated approach for the improvement of small open spaces. Maintain the District's small open spaces as neighborhood amenities supporting a range of recreational, ecological, cultural, and commemorative uses. These active and passive uses should vary based on the setting of each space and should range from planted islands to more active spaces. The spaces should be designed in a way that mitigates stormwater runoff and air pollution from adjacent corridors.806.7 Policy PROS-1.3.4: Conversion of Parkland/Open Space Preserve the basic function of District parks as public open spaces and prevent parkland conversion to other uses. On select park sites with active uses, complementary uses, such as concessions, may be considered as a way to generate the revenue needed to sustain and modernize recreation facilities and further activate such spaces.806.8 Policy PROS-1.3.5: Park Buildings Require any new structure on District-owned parkland to be sited to minimize impacts on existing recreational activities and facilities, avoid encroachment onto athletic fields, and retain as much of the site as possible as usable open space. Public facilities that do not relate to recreational needs should be discouraged from locating on District-owned parkland, especially in areas with parkland deficiencies.806.9 Policy PROS-1.3.6: Compatibility with Adjacent Development Design and manage park activities and facilities, including recreation centers, in a way that is compatible with nearby residential and commercial uses.See also the Historic Preservation Element and the Urban Design Element for additional policies and actions related to historic natural areas and the squares, circles, and triangles associated with the L'Enfant Plan. See the Infrastructure Element for policies on the siting of communication towers (in parks and elsewhere).806.10 Policy PROS-1.3.7: Health and Wellness Use Washington, DC's parks, open space, and recreation spaces to help meet the District's health and wellness priorities, which are linked to physical activity, public safety, healthy food access, psychological health, air and water quality, and
social equity.
806.10a Text Box: Sustainable DC 2.0: One of the District’s most important resources is the health of its residents. The District consistently ranks at the top of lists of the country’s healthiest and fittest cities. Yet significant disparities in health exist along the lines of race, income, and geography. For example, residents in Ward 8 are four times as likely to have diabetes compared to residents in other wards in the District, and Black residents are almost 2.5 times more likely to have heart disease than White residents. Depending on which Ward a person lives in, life expectancy can vary by up to 10 years. Further, many District residents suffer from the negative effects of air pollution, lack safe places to exercise, and are disproportionately at risk for chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Climate impacts, like asthma and heat-related injuries, further compound these issues and often fall disproportionately and unfairly on low-income populations.
806.10b Sustainable DC 2.0, Washington, DC’s plan to make the District the healthiest, greenest, and most livable city in the United States, affirms that building a culture of health means thinking beyond hospitals and clinics as the main sources of personal well-being. The opportunity to make healthy choices starts in homes, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, and communities. Access to high-quality parks and open spaces and completing at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week are key components to achieving personal wellness.
806.11 Policy PROS-1.3.8: Multipurpose Infrastructure Design parks and recreational facilities with infrastructure to serve multiple purposes, including flood risk reduction, urban heat island mitigation, and stormwater management.
806.12 Action PROS-1.3.A: Transfer of Small Open Spaces to DPR Develop a strategy for small open spaces through a coordinated management approach among the various government agencies. The strategy should define the role of small open spaces in the larger park system, which will help agencies manage them more efficiently and promote system-wide investment of resources. Consider the transfer of maintenance responsibilities for small open spaces from DDOT and NPS to DPR to recognize their primary function as parkland stewards, where appropriate.
See also the Environmental Protection Element for policies related to preventing development on land adjacent to parks, which would hinder access, destroy views, or otherwise compromise the value of parkland.
806.13 Action PROS-1.3.B: Site Plan Review Plans for the redesign of individual parks or the development of park facilities shall be reviewed by appropriate District agencies so that they advance the
District’s goals for better public recreation facilities, environmental protection, open space preservation, historic preservation, public safety, accessibility, and resilience.
806.14
Support a District-wide ecosystem consortium that will work to increase wildlife habitat and connectivity, especially among parks. The consortium can collectively identify, map, and protect wildlife and natural resources so that wildlife has access to high-quality habitat throughout Washington, DC.
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)).