906

DESIGN REQUIREMENTS - H STREET NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD MIXED-USE ZONES

906.1

In the H Street Northeast Neighborhood Mixed-Use zones, the following design requirements apply to all new construction for which a building permit is required:

1. (a) Buildings shall be designed and built so that not less than seventy-five percent (75%) of the streetwall(s) to a height of not less than twenty-five feet (25 ft.) shall be constructed to the property line abutting the street right-of-way. Buildings on corner lots shall be constructed to both property lines abutting public streets;
2. (b) New construction that preserves an existing façade constructed before 1958 is permitted to use, for residential uses, an additional 0.5 FAR above the total density permitted in the underlying zone for residential uses;
3. (c) Parking structures with frontage on H Street, N.E., Florida Avenue, N.E., Maryland Avenue, N.E., 13th Street, N.E., 14th Street, N.E., or 15th Street, N.E., shall provide not less than sixty-five percent (65%) of the ground level frontage as commercial space;
4. (d) Each new building on a lot that fronts on H Street, N.E., Florida Avenue, N.E., Maryland Avenue, N.E., 13th Street, N.E., 14th Street, N.E., or 15th Street, N.E. shall devote not less than fifty percent (50%) of the surface area of the streetwall(s) at the ground level of each building to display windows having clear or clear/low-emissivity glass, except for decorative or architectural accent, and to entrances to commercial uses or to the building;
5. (e) Security grilles shall have no less than seventy percent (70%) transparency;
6. (f) Each commercial use with frontage on H Street, N.E., Florida Avenue, N.E., Maryland Avenue, N.E., 13th Street, N.E., 14th Street, N.E., or 15th Street, N.E. shall have an individual public entrance directly accessible from the public sidewalk. Multiple dwellings unit developments shall have at least one (1) primary entrance on H Street directly accessible from the sidewalk;
7. (g) Buildings shall be designed so as not to preclude an entrance every forty feet (40 ft.), on average, for the linear frontage of the building, excluding vehicular entrances, but including entrances to ground floor uses and the

main lobby;

(h) The ground floor level of each new building or building addition shall have a uniform minimum clear floor-to-ceiling height of fourteen feet (14 ft.) if the building:

(1) Fronts on H Street, N.E.; or

(2) Fronts Florida Avenue, N.E., Maryland Avenue, N.E., 13th Street, N.E., 14th Street, N.E., or 15th Street, N.E., and would have ground floor space occupied by one (1) or more service, retail, or office uses permitted as a matter of right in the underlying zone;

(i) Buildings subject to the minimum clear floor-to-ceiling height requirements of Subtitle H § 906.1(h) shall be permitted an additional five feet (5 ft.) of building height over that permitted in the zone;

(j) Projection signs shall have a minimum clearance of eight feet (8 ft.) above a sidewalk and fourteen feet (14 ft.) above a driveway, project no more than three feet, six inches (3 ft., 6 in.) from the face of the building, and end a minimum of one foot (1 ft.) behind the curbline or extension of the curbline;

(k) Façade panel signs shall not be placed so as to interrupt windows or doors and shall project no more than twelve inches (12 in.) from the face of the building; and

(l) Roof signs are prohibited.

906.2 The Board of Zoning Adjustment may grant as a special exception pursuant to Subtitle X, Chapter 9 and Subtitle H, Chapter 52, relief from the design requirements of Subtitle H § 906.1, subject to the applicant demonstrating to the Board's satisfaction that:

(a) The project is consistent with the design intent of the design guidelines of the H Street NE Strategic Development Plan; and

(b) The size, type, scale, and location of signs shall be compatible with the surrounding corridor and consistent with the design guidelines of the H Street NE Strategic Development Plan.

SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 63 DCR 2447, 2987 (March 4, 2016 – Part 2); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 70 DCR 011297 (August 25, 2023).