915.1 The uses in this section shall be permitted in the WR-1 zone if approved by the Board of Zoning Adjustment as a special exception under Subtitle X, Chapter 9, subject to any applicable conditions of each paragraph below:

(a) Community-based institutional facilities (CBIF) for one (1) to twenty (20) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families, subject to the following conditions:

(1) There shall be no other property containing a CBIF for seven (7) or more persons in the same square;

(2) There shall be no other property containing a CBIF for seven (7) or more persons within a radius of five hundred feet (500 ft.) from any portion of the subject property;

(3) There shall be adequate, appropriately located, and screened off-street parking to provide for the needs of occupants, employees, and visitors to the facility;

(4) The proposed facility shall meet all applicable code and licensing requirements;

(5) The facility shall not have an adverse impact on the neighborhood because of traffic, noise, operations, or the number of similar facilities in the area; and

(6) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may approve more than one (1) community-based institutional facility in a square or within five hundred feet (500 ft.) only when the Board finds that the cumulative effect of the facilities will not have an adverse impact on the neighborhood because of traffic, noise, or operations; and

(b) Community solar facility not meeting the requirements of Subtitle K § 913.1(e), subject to the following:

(1) Provision of a landscaped area at least five feet (5 ft.) wide facing public space, residential use, or parks and recreation use, regardless of zone, that:

(A) Maintains as many existing native trees as possible;

1. (B) Includes a diverse mix of native trees, shrubs, and plants, and avoids planting a monoculture;
2. (C) Ensures all trees measure a minimum of six feet (6 ft.) in height at the time of planting; and
3. (2) The Application, including the landscape plan, shall be referred to the District Department of Energy and Environment for review and report; and(b) Emergency shelter use for five (5) to twenty-five (25) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families, subject to the following conditions:- (1) There shall be no other property containing an emergency shelter for seven (7) or more persons either in the same square or within a radius of five hundred feet (500 ft.) from any portion of the property;
4. (2) There shall be adequate, appropriately located, and screened off-street parking to provide for the needs of occupants, employees, and visitors to the facility;
5. (3) The proposed facility shall meet all applicable code and licensing requirements;
6. (4) The facility shall not have an adverse impact on the neighborhood because of traffic, noise, operations, or the number of similar facilities in the area;
7. (5) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may approve more than one (1) emergency shelter in a square or within five hundred feet (500 ft.) only when the Board finds that the cumulative effect of the facilities will not have an adverse impact on the neighborhood because of traffic, noise, or operations; and
8. (6) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may approve a facility for more than twenty-five (25) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families, only if the Board finds that the program goals and objectives of the District of Columbia cannot be achieved by a facility of a smaller size at the subject location and if there is no other reasonable alternative to meet the program needs of that area of the District.

915.2 The following uses shall be permitted in the WR-2, WR-3, WR-4, and WR-5 zones if approved by the Board of Zoning Adjustment as a special exception under Subtitle X, Chapter 9, subject to any applicable conditions of each paragraph below:

(c) Animal sales, care, and boarding shall be subject to the following conditions:

(1) The use shall produce no noise or odor objectionable to nearby properties, including residential units located in the same building as the use, and shall utilize industry standard sound-absorbing materials, such as acoustical floor and ceiling panels, acoustical concrete and masonry, and acoustical landscaping;

(2) The applicant shall demonstrate that the use will comply with the following conditions, and any Board of Zoning Adjustment approval shall be subject to the use's continued compliance with these standards:

(A) The use shall take place entirely within an enclosed building;

(B) The windows and doors of the space devoted to the animal boarding use shall be kept closed;

(C) No animals shall be permitted in an external yard on the premises;

(D) Animal waste shall be placed in closed waste-disposal containers and shall utilize a qualified waste disposal company to collect and dispose of all animal waste at least weekly; and

(E) Odors shall be controlled by means of an air filtration system (for example, High Efficiency Particulate Air "HEPA" filtration) or an equivalently effective odor control system;

(F) A veterinary boarding hospital may board any animal permitted to be lawfully sold in the District of Columbia, pursuant to D.C. Official Code § 8-1808(h)(1); and

(3) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may impose additional requirements pertaining to the location of buildings or other structures; entrances and exits; buffers, barriers, and fencing; soundproofing; odor control;

waste storage and removal (including frequency); the species and/or number and/or breeds of animals; or other requirements, as the Board deems necessary to protect adjacent or nearby property;

(d) Community-based institutional facilities (CBIF) for one (1) to twenty (20) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families, subject to the conditions of Subtitle K § 915.1(a);

(e) Community solar facility not meeting the requirements of Subtitle K § 913.1(e), subject to the following:

(1) Provision of a landscaped area at least five feet (5 ft.) wide facing public space, residential use, or parks and recreation use, regardless of zone, that:

(A) Maintains as many existing native trees as possible;

(B) Includes a diverse mix of native trees, shrubs, and plants, and avoids planting a monoculture;

(C) Ensures all trees measure a minimum of six feet (6 ft.) in height at the time of planting; and

(2) The Application, including the landscape plan, shall be referred to the District Department of Energy and Environment for review and report.

(f) Food establishment and a fast food establishment that meets the definition of a food delivery services shall be permitted by special exception, subject to the following conditions:

(1) No part of a lot on which a fast food establishment or food delivery business is located shall be within twenty-five feet (25 ft.) of a residential zone, including WR-1, WR-7, and WR-8, unless separated therefrom by a street or alley;

(2) Any outdoor refuse dumpsters shall be housed in a three (3)-sided brick enclosure equal in height to the dumpster or six feet (6 ft.) high, whichever is greater, with the entrance to the enclosure including an opaque gate;

(3) The use shall not include a drive-through;

1. (4) There shall be no customer entrance in the side or rear of a building that faces an alley containing a zone boundary line for a residential zone;
2. (5) There shall be adequate facilities to allow deliveries to be made and trash to be collected without obstructing public rights-of-way or unreasonably obstructing parking spaces, aisles, or driveways on the site;
3. (6) The use shall be designed and operated so as not to become objectionable to neighboring properties because of noise, sounds, odors, lights, hours of operation; and
4. (7) The use shall be located and designed so as to create no dangerous or other objectionable traffic conditions;(g) Emergency shelter use for five (5) to twenty-five (25) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families, subject to the conditions of Subtitle K § 915.1(c); and(h) All motor vehicle related uses are prohibited except motor vehicle sales, which may be permitted as a special exception subject to the following conditions:- (1) There shall be no outdoor storage of vehicles;
5. (2) The surface of any streetwall or wall fronting on a plaza shall devote at least fifty percent (50%) of the surface area at the ground floor to display windows with clear glass or pedestrian entrances;
6. (3) Vehicular access into the showroom shall be through a moveable glass façade, or through an internal ramp or elevator from an underground garage;
7. (4) If vehicular access into the showroom is from the street through a moveable façade, the applicant shall submit a plan showing the area external to the building, including landscaping, hardscape, the method by which vehicles shall be transferred into the showroom, and where any necessary delivery trucks shall unload and park;
8. (5) The Board of Zoning Adjustment shall find that the loading activities shall not unduly impact pedestrian movement outside the building, or negatively impact the streetscape, including street trees and street

furniture. If the use fronts on a public street, approval under this section shall not imply approval by the Public Space Committee or any other permitting authority;

(6) Any repair of vehicles shall occur inside the building in a location not visible from the right-of-way; and

(7) The Board of Zoning Adjustment shall find that the use does not impair the overall pedestrian or retail environment of the neighborhood.

915.3 The following uses shall be permitted in the WR-7 and WR-8 zones if approved by the Board of Zoning Adjustment as a special exception under Subtitle X, Chapter 9, subject to any applicable conditions of each paragraph below:

(a) Community solar facility not meeting the requirements of Subtitle K § 913.1(e), subject to the following:

(1) Provision of a landscaped area at least five feet (5 ft.) wide facing public space, residential use, or parks and recreation use, regardless of zone, that:

(A) Maintains as many existing native trees as possible;

(B) Includes a diverse mix of native trees, shrubs, and plants, and avoids planting a monoculture;

(C) Ensures all trees measure a minimum of six feet (6 ft.) in height at the time of planting; and

(2) The Office of Zoning shall refer the Application, including the landscape plan, to the District Department of Energy and Environment for review and; recommendation if filed to the case record within the forty (40)-day period established by Subtitle A § 211; and

(i) Emergency shelter use for five (5) to twenty-five (25) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families, subject to the conditions of Subtitle K § 915.1(c).

SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 63 DCR 2447, 3176 (March 4, 2016 – Part 2); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 65 DCR 6596 (June 15, 2018); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 66 DCR 12137 (September 13, 2019); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 67 DCR 11679 (October 9, 2020).