511.1 The following uses in this section shall be permitted as a special exception if approved by the Board of Zoning Adjustment under Subtitle X, Chapter 9, subject to the provisions of this section.

1. (a) College or university uses that would otherwise not be permitted as a matter of right within the zone, subject to the conditions of Subtitle X;
2. (b) Youth Rehabilitation Home, Adult Rehabilitation Home, for one (1) to fifteen (15) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families subject to the following conditions:
3. (1) There shall be no other lot containing a youth rehabilitation home or adult rehabilitation home use in the same square; and
4. (2) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may approve more than one youth rehabilitation home or adult rehabilitation 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.
5. (c) Emergency shelter for five (5) to fifteen (15) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families, subject to the following conditions:
6. (1) There shall be no other property containing an emergency shelter for seven (7) or more persons in the same square, or within a radius of five hundred feet (500 ft.) from any portion of the property;
7. (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;
8. (3) The proposed shelter shall meet all applicable code and licensing requirements;
9. (4) The shelter shall not have an adverse impact on the neighborhood because of traffic, noise, operations, or the number of similar facilities in the area; and
10. (5) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may approve more than one (1) emergency shelter facility in a square or within five hundred feet

(500 ft.) from the property 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) Entertainment, assembly, and performing arts uses, except a bowling alley shall not be permitted, subject to the following conditions:

(1) The use shall not be within twenty-five feet (25 ft.) of a residentially zoned property unless separated by a street or alley; and

(2) Soundproofing to the extent deemed necessary for the protection of adjoining and nearby property shall be required;

(e) Fast food establishment, subject to the following conditions:

(1) The establishment shall be located within a multi-tenant building or shopping center; it shall not be located in a single-tenant detached building;

(2) No more than thirty percent (30%) of the total gross floor area of the multi-tenant building or shopping center shall be occupied by fast food establishments;

(3) Any refuse dumpster used by the fast food use 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. The entrance to the enclosure shall include an opaque gate. The entrance shall not face nor be within ten feet (10 ft.) of a R, RF, or RA zone;

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

(5) 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, or other conditions;

(6) The use shall provide sufficient off-street parking, but not less than that required by Subtitle C, Chapter 7, to accommodate the needs of patrons and employees;

(7) The use shall be located and designed so as to create no dangerous or otherwise objectionable traffic conditions; and

1. (8) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may impose conditions pertaining to design, screening, lighting, soundproofing, off-street parking spaces, signs, method and hours of trash collection, or any other matter necessary to protect adjacent or nearby property;
2. (f) Gasoline service station to be established or enlarged, subject to the following conditions:
3. (1) The station shall not be located within twenty-five feet (25 ft.) of a residential zone or unless separated from the residential zone by a street or alley;
4. (2) The operation of the use shall not create dangerous or other objectionable traffic conditions; and
5. (3) Required parking spaces may be arranged so that all spaces are not accessible at all times. All parking spaces provided under this subsection shall be designed and operated so that sufficient access and maneuvering space is available to permit the parking and removal of any vehicles without moving any other vehicle onto public space;
6. (g) Parking, for uses within this chapter that are located elsewhere than on the lot on which the use is located but within the square in which the principal use is located;
7. (h) Retail, large format, subject to the following conditions:
8. (1) The development standards and design guidelines contained within this section apply to all new large format retail establishments with single tenant space of fifty thousand (50,000) gross square feet or greater;
9. (2) The use shall be located so that it is not likely to become objectionable to adjoining and nearby property because of noise, traffic, parking, loading, deliveries, lighting, trash compacting and collection, hours of operation, or otherwise objectionable conditions;
10. (3) Sufficient automobile parking, but not less than that required in Subtitle C, Chapter 7, shall be provided to accommodate the employees and customers;

(4) An application under this section shall include the following information:

(A) A general site and development plan, indicating the proposed use, location, dimensions, number of stories, and height of building;

(B) A study of site characteristics and conditions;

(C) A description of existing topography, soil conditions, vegetation and drainage consisting of written material, plats, maps and photographs;

(D) Proposed topography including street grades and other grading contours;

(E) Identification of mature trees to remain and percent of site to be covered by impervious surface;

(F) Proposed drainage and sewer system and water distribution;

(G) Proposed treatment of existing natural features, such as steep slopes, ravines, natural watercourses;

(H) Proposed method of solid waste collection;

(I) Estimated water consumption (gallons per year);

(J) A transportation study, containing the following:

(i) Proposed circulation plan, including the location of vehicular and pedestrian access ways, other public space and the location and number of all off-street parking and loading spaces, loading berths and service delivery spaces;

(ii) Estimated number and type of trips assumed to be generated by project, and assumed temporal and directional distribution;

(iii) Traffic management requirements (lights, stop signs, one-way streets, etc.);

1. (iv) Relationship of the proposed project to the mass transit system (nearest bus stops and routes, nearest Metrorail stations, etc.); and
2. (v) Vehicular trip generation, trip assignment and before-and-after capacity analyses and level of service at critical intersections; and
3. (vi) Any other information needed to fully understand the final building proposed for the site;(5) An applicant requesting approval under this section must demonstrate that the proposed use, building, or structure, including the siting, architectural design, site plan, landscaping, sidewalk treatment, and operation, will:- (A) Be in context with the surrounding street patterns;
4. (B) Minimize unarticulated blank walls adjacent to public spaces through facade articulation, materials, display windows, entries, and other architectural efforts; and
5. (C) Will not result in light spillage off the site;(6) Where additional stores or individual uses are located within a large format retail use, each such store shall have at least one (1) exterior customer entrance;(7) The following list should be considered as guidelines for the design of large format retail buildings:- (A) Building design shall incorporate architectural features and patterns to provide visual interest;
6. (B) Exterior walls shall feature projections and recesses;
7. (C) Building roofs shall incorporate pitched rooflines and detailed roofing materials;
8. (D) Building materials shall include stone, wood, brick, glass, and metal in keeping with the surrounding architectural context;

(E) Entryways shall be well-marked and engaging and provide connection via wide sidewalks to primary streets and parking;

(F) Building design shall incorporate sustainable measures to include solar energy, geothermal heating and cooling, and use of permeable paving for surface parking areas; and

(G) Landscaping shall be provided in the rear and side yards to screen and limit visibility of storage areas;

(8) This section shall not apply to the following:

(A) Large format retail that would occupy a planned unit development approved as of the effective date of this title; or

(B) Large format retail that would occupy a project with a completed review under the large tract review regulations (Title 10-B DCMR, Chapter 23) as of the effective date of this title; except that a modification to a completed large tract review that would result in a project with fifty thousand square feet (50,000 sq. ft.) or more of retail use shall also require approval under this section prior to certificate of occupancy for a use meeting the definition of large format retail;

(i) Service uses permitted as a matter of right with conditions that do not comply with the conditions;

(j) Utilities uses, subject to the requirements for setbacks, screening, or other requirements as the Board of Zoning Adjustment deems necessary for the protection of neighboring or adjacent property; and

(k) Veterinary office or hospital, or veterinary boarding hospital subject to the following conditions:

(1) A veterinary hospital or 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(j)(1);

(2) No more than fifty percent (50%) of the gross floor area of the veterinary hospital may be devoted to the boarding of animals;

1. (3) The veterinary hospital or veterinary boarding hospital shall be located and designed to create no objectionable conditions to adjacent properties resulting from animal noise, odor, or waste;
2. (4) The veterinary hospital or veterinary boarding hospital shall not abut an existing residential use or a residential zone;
3. (A) The building was designed and constructed or will be re-designed and renovated to mitigate noise to limit negative impacts on residential units that the use will abut, including the use of acoustical tiles, caulking to seal penetrations made in floor slabs for pipes, and spray-on noise insulation;
4. (B) The windows and doors of the space devoted to the veterinary hospital or veterinary boarding hospital use shall be kept closed, and all doors facing a residential use will be solid core;
5. (C) Animal waste shall be placed in closed waste disposal containers located in enclosed areas or away from abutting or confronting residential windows and doors; and shall be collected by a waste disposal company at least weekly;
6. (D) Odors will be controlled by means of an air filtration system or an equivalently effective odor control system; and
7. (E) Floor finish material, areas intended to be wet, and wall finish materials measured a minimum of forty-eight inches (48 in.) from the floor, shall be impervious and washable;
8. (5) External yards or other external facilities for the keeping of animals shall not be permitted;
9. (6) Pet grooming, the sale of pet supplies, and incidental boarding of animals as necessary for convalescence, are permitted as accessory uses; and
10. (7) The Board of Zoning Adjustment may impose additional requirements as it deems necessary to protect adjacent or nearby properties.(n) Youth Residential Care Home for nine (9) to fifteen (15) 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 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.

511.2 Any use permitted as a matter of right in MU-Use Group D that does not comply with the required conditions for MU-Use Group D may apply for permission as a special exception, except uses involving the installation of automobile accessories or fast food establishments located in single-tenant detached buildings.

SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 63 DCR 2447, 3338 (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 65 DCR 12148 (November 2, 2018); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 67 DCR 11964 (October 16, 2020); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 69 DCR 012886 (October 21, 2022).