504 SPECIAL EXCEPTION USES (MU-USE GROUP A)

504.1 The following uses shall be permitted as a special exception if approved by the Board of Zoning Adjustment under Subtitle X, Chapter 9, subject to any applicable provisions of each section:

1. (a) Chancery use, subject to disapproval by the Board of Zoning Adjustment in accordance with Subtitle X;
2. (b) College or university use that is an academic institution of higher learning, including a college or university hospital, dormitory, fraternity, or sorority house proposed to be located on the campus of a college or university subject to the conditions of Subtitle X;
3. (c) Youth Rehabilitation Home, Adult Rehabilitation Home for one (1) to twenty (20) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families, subject to the following conditions:
4. (1) There shall be no other property containing youth rehabilitation home or adult rehabilitation home for seven (7) or more persons in the same square;
5. (2) There shall be no other property containing a youth rehabilitation home or adult rehabilitation home for seven (7) or more persons within a radius of five hundred feet (500 ft.) from any portion of the subject property;
6. (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;
7. (4) The proposed facility shall meet all applicable code and licensing requirements;
8. (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
9. (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 of Zoning Adjustment finds that the cumulative effect of the facilities will not have an adverse impact on the neighborhood because of traffic, noise, or operations;

(d) Emergency shelter for five (5) to twenty-five (25) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families subject to the conditions of Subtitle U § 504.1 (c);

(e) Institutional, religious program uses, subject to the following conditions:

(1) The part of the program conducted on the property shall be carried on within the existing place of worship building(s) or structure(s);

(2) The operation of the program shall be such that it is not likely to become objectionable in the zone because of noise and traffic;

(3) No sign or display indicating the location of the program shall be located on the outside of the building or the grounds; and

(4) Any authorization by the Board of Zoning Adjustment shall be limited to a period of three (3) years, but may be renewed at the discretion of the Board of Zoning Adjustment;

(f) Lodging for any number of guests, subject to the following conditions:

(1) The height, bulk, and design of the lodging use shall be in harmony with existing uses and structures on neighboring property;

(2) To ensure that the height, bulk, and design is in harmony with existing uses and structures on neighboring property, the Board of Zoning Adjustment may require special treatment in the way of design, building setbacks, screening, landscaping, sign controls, and other features as it deems necessary to protect neighboring property;

(3) The approval of the lodging use shall result in a balance of residential, office, and lodging uses in the applicable zones in the vicinity of the lodging use;

(4) The gross floor area devoted to function rooms and exhibit space shall not exceed fifteen percent (15%) of the gross floor area of the hotel;

(5) The lodging use shall be located within one thousand three hundred feet (1,300 ft.) of the Central Employment Area or a Metrorail station as measured from the entrance of the lodging use closest to the main lobby and guest registration desk to the edge of the Central Employment Area or the entrance to the Metrorail station, following public rights-of-way;

(6) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may require more or less off-street

parking spaces and loading berths than required by this title to accommodate the activities of the lodging use, so as to avoid unduly impacting parking or traffic on the surrounding streets; and

1. (7) The location and design of driveways, access roads, and other circulation elements of the lodging use shall be located to avoid dangerous or other objectionable traffic conditions;
2. (g) Construction of a new office building or construction of an addition to a building for office use, or conversion of an existing building to office use, subject to the following conditions:
3. (1) The use, height, bulk, and design shall be in harmony with existing uses and structures on neighboring property; and
4. (2) The use shall not create dangerous or other objectionable traffic conditions;
5. (h) Parking, as an accessory use located elsewhere than on the same lot as the principal use, subject to the following conditions:
6. (1) The total number of parking spaces provided for the principal use shall not exceed the minimum number of spaces required for the principal use;
7. (2) It shall be considered economically impracticable or unsafe to locate the parking spaces within the principal building or on the same lot on which the building or use is permitted because of the following:
   1. (A) Restricted size of lot caused by adverse adjoining ownership or substantial improvements adjoining or on the lot;
   2. (B) Unusual topography, grades, shape, size, or dimensions of the lot;
   3. (C) The lack of an alley or the lack of appropriate ingress or egress through existing or proposed alleys or streets; or
   4. (D) Traffic hazards caused by unusual street grades or other conditions; and
8. (3) The parking spaces shall be located and all facilities in relation to the parking spaces shall be designed so that they are not likely to become objectionable to adjoining or nearby property because of noise, traffic, or other objectionable conditions;

(i) Parking garages, subject to the following conditions:

(1) The use and all related facilities shall be located and designed so that they are not likely to become objectionable to adjoining and nearby property because of noise, traffic, or other objectionable conditions;

(2) The present character and future development of the neighborhood shall not be affected adversely by the use;

(3) The parking garage shall serve either residential uses or provide short-term parking for retail, service, and public facility uses, but shall not provide all-day commuter parking;

(4) The parking provided shall be within eight hundred feet (800 ft.) of the use to be served, and shall be necessary to that use; and

(5) Minor services for users of the garage such as hand-washing, polishing, interior detailing, tire inflation, and battery charging and electric vehicle charging stations shall be permitted as accessory uses within a permitted parking garage;

(j) Retail, service (general), and eating and drinking establishment uses subject to the following conditions:

(1) The properties are in any of the MU-2 zones;

(2) The properties are those located south of M Street, N.W. and N.E.;

(3) The uses shall be located on or below the ground floor of the building;

(4) The uses shall not include a drive-through; and

(5) The uses shall be located and designed such that they are not likely to become objectionable to neighboring properties because of noise, traffic, or other objectionable conditions; and

(k) Utility uses other than those permitted as a matter of right, subject to the following conditions:

(1) A use is determined necessary in the public interest by the Public Service Commission;

(2) Any requirements for setbacks, screening, or other safeguards that the Board of Zoning Adjustment deems necessary for the protection of the neighborhood; and

(3) Any new construction of a freestanding structure for use as an optical transmission node shall be built to appear compatible with surrounding construction, including exterior building material, fenestration, and landscaping, and there shall be no advertisement on the structure.

(l) Youth Residential Care Home for sixteen (16) to twenty-five (25) persons not including resident supervisors or staff and their families:

(1) There shall be no other lot containing a youth residential care home within a radius of five hundred feet (500 ft.) from any portion of the lot; and

(2) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may approve more than one (1) youth residential care home 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.

SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 63 DCR 2447, 3338 (March 4, 2016 – Part 2); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 69 DCR 012886 (October 21, 2022); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 70 DCR 011297 (August 25, 2023).