1309.1 For the purpose of this chapter, a “Designated Frontage” means the shoreline or bulkhead line along the Anacostia River waterfront.

1309.2 A building, structure, or use with frontage on a Designated Frontage shall devote seventy-five percent (75%) of its ground floor frontage, excluding any residential entrance, lobby, and support areas, along the Designated Frontage, except for space devoted to building entrances or required for fire control, to the following preferred use categories:

1. (a) Arts, design, and creation;
2. (b) Eating and drinking establishments;
3. (c) Entertainment, assembly, and performing arts;
4. (d) Medical care;
5. (e) Retail;
6. (f) Service, general or financial, provided a bank or financial institution shall not be located at the intersection of a street and the waterfront;
7. (g) Animal care, sales, and boarding provided there is no overnight boarding of dogs except for convalescence at a veterinary hospital; and
8. (h) Marine.

1309.3 Buildings and structures with frontage on a Designated Frontage must comply with the following design requirements:

1. (a) The ground floor shall have a minimum clear floor-to-ceiling height of fourteen feet (14 ft.) for a continuous depth of at least thirty-six feet (36 ft.);
2. (b) The ground story shall have at least fifty percent (50%) of the surface area facing a Designated Frontage, excluding any residential entrances, devoted to display windows or pedestrian entrances having clear low-emissivity glass, and ensure that the view through the display windows and pedestrian entrances is not blocked for at least ten feet (10 ft.) in from the building face. If located on a corner, wrap around the corner to a minimum depth of twenty-feet (20 ft.) on the side street;
3. (c) Ground-floor pedestrian entrances, or areas where a future ground-floor

entrance could be installed without structural changes, shall be located no more than an average distance of forty feet (40 ft.) apart on the façade facing the Designated Frontage, and shall be level with the sidewalk or street directly in front of the entrance; and

(d) No direct vehicular garage or loading entrance or exit shall be permitted to a new building or structure along a Designated Frontage.

SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 72 DCR 006195 (May 23, 2025).