801 MATTER-OF-RIGHT USES (PDR)

801.1 The following uses shall be permitted in a PDR zone as a matter of right, subject to any applicable conditions:

1. (a) Agricultural uses;
2. (b) Animal Sales, Care, and Boarding uses subject to the following conditions:
3. (1) Veterinary hospital, which may also include the incidental boarding of animals as necessary for convalescence, pet grooming, and the sale of pet supplies, but not as an independent line of business; or
4. (2) Animal Shelter subject to the following conditions:
   1. (A) The use shall utilize industry standard sound-absorbing materials, such as acoustical floor and ceiling panels, concrete and masonry, and acoustical landscaping;
   2. (B) The use shall not be located within twenty-five feet (25 ft.) of a lot within any of the R, RA, RF, RA-2/RC, CG-1, or D 1 zones. The twenty-five feet (25 ft.) shall be measured to include any space on the lot or within the building not used by the animal shelter use and any portion of a street or alley that separate the use from a lot within an R, RF, or RA zone. Shared facilities that are not under the sole control of the animal shelter, such as hallways and trash rooms shall not be considered as part of the animal shelter use; and
   3. (C) Outdoor runs and external yards for the exercise of animals shall be permitted, subject to the following requirements:
   4. (1) No animals shall be permitted in outdoor runs or external yards between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.;
   5. (2) External yards and outdoor runs shall be enclosed with fencing or walls for the safe confinement of animals

and the absorption of noise. Fencing and/or walls shall be a minimum of eight feet (8 ft.) in height and constructed of solid or opaque materials with maximal noise-absorbing characteristics;

1. (3) No more than three (3) animals shall be permitted within any exterior yard or outdoor run at a time; and
2. (4) No part of an outdoor run or exercise yard shall be located within two hundred feet (200 ft.) of an existing residential use or residence zone;
3. (D) All animal waste shall be kept in closed waste disposal containers and shall utilize a qualified waste disposal company to collect and dispose of all animal waste at least weekly;
4. (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; and
5. (F) The use shall meet the Standards of External Effects in Subtitle U § 804;- (c) Arts, design, and creation uses;
6. (d) Chancery;
7. (e) College or university uses;
8. (f) Youth Rehabilitation Home and Adult Rehabilitation Home;
9. (g) Community solar facility, subject to the following conditions:
10. (1) Roof-mounted solar array of any size; or
11. (2) Ground-mounted solar array, provided the panels are sited no less than forty feet (40 ft.), including any intervening street or alley, from an adjacent property in the R, RF, or RA-1 zone;
12. (h) Daytime care;
13. (i) Eating and drinking establishments are permitted as a matter of right,

provided no part of the establishment contains a live performance, night club or dance venue;

(j) Education uses, private and public;

(k) Emergency shelter for not more than four (4) persons, not including resident supervisors or staff and their families;

(l) Firearm sales uses are permitted as a matter of right, provided no part of the establishment shall be located within three hundred feet (300 ft.) of the following:

(1) An R, RF, or RA zone;

(2) Parks and recreation use;

(3) Places of worship;

(4) Public or private schools; or

(5) Public libraries;

(m) Government uses, local and large scale;

(n) Medical care;

(o) Institutional uses, general and religious;

(p) Lodging;

(q) Marine;

(r) Motor vehicle-related sales and repair, provided the use is not within two hundred feet (200 ft.) of any R, RA, or RF zone or residential development;

(s) Office;

(t) Parking;

(u) Parks and recreation;

(v) Production, distribution, and repair (PDR) uses are permitted as a matter

of right, subject to compliance with the Standards of External Effects in Subtitle U § 804, except for a self-storage establishment or the following prohibited uses or activities:

(1) Acetylene gas manufacture;

(2) Bone products manufacture;

(3) Calcium carbide manufacture;

(4) Curing, tanning, or storage of hides;

(5) Excavation or quarrying of rock for commercial purpose;

(6) Fertilizer manufacture;

(7) Manufacture or storage of ammunition, explosives, firearms, or military equipment (this condition does not apply to the storage of ammunition or firearms incidental to a use in the firearm sales category);

(8) Manufacturing, processing, mixing, storing, or distributing concrete or asphalt, or the materials that are used to make concrete or asphalt;

(9) Refining or manufacture of bituminous products other than asphalt;

(10) Rubber products manufacture or treatment;

(11) Slaughter or rendering of animals; or

(12) Steel furnace, blast furnace, bloom furnace, coke oven, or rolling mill;

(w) Residential uses are limited to the following list of conditions:

(1) An apartment unit for the use of a caretaker, watchman, or janitor employed on the premises;

(2) An apartment unit that is integrated with and accessory to an artist studio, provided that occupancy of the apartment shall be limited to the artist using the studio portion of the premises and the household of the artist; and

(3) A residential dwelling existing on May 12, 1958, provided, any addition to or enlargement of the dwelling shall not result in a lot occupancy of greater than sixty percent (60%);

(x) Retail uses, except large format retail;

(y) Self-storage establishment uses shall be permitted provided they meet the following:

(1) Devote to any use permitted by this section except for Parking, Transportation Infrastructure, Utility, Waste-related service or Wholesale or storage establishment:

(A) Not less than fifty percent (50%) of the ground floor area;

(B) One hundred percent (100%) of the building's street frontage along a public street to a minimum depth of thirty feet (30 ft.) from the front facade, with the exception of space devoted to building entrances or required for fire control, office associated with the self-storage establishment use, or required by the District of Columbia Building or Fire Codes (Titles 12A and 12H DCMR); and

(2) Design the ground floor with:

(A) A minimum clear floor-to-ceiling height of fourteen feet (14 ft.), measured from the finished grade; and

(B) Not less than seventy-five percent (75%) of the surface area of the street wall associated with the preferred uses required by this paragraph at the ground floor to windows, which shall include:

(i) Clear/low emissivity glass allowing transparency to a depth of twenty feet (20 ft.) into the preferred ground level space, with bottom sills no more than four feet (4 ft.) above the adjacent sidewalk grade; and

(ii) Views from within the building to the street and from the street into the building;

(z) Service uses are permitted as a matter of right, provided that if the use offers massage services, the use shall either:

(1) Be a licensed massage establishment under the provisions of D.C. Official Code § 47-2811; or

(2) Only offer massage services provided by massage therapists with a professional license issued pursuant to Title 17 DCMR;

(aa) Transportation infrastructure;

(bb) Utility (basic) uses are permitted as a matter-of-right; however, if the use is an electronic equipment facility that exceeds twenty-five percent (25%) of the gross floor area of a building located on site:

(1) The building shall not be located within eight hundred feet (800 ft.) of an established or planned Metrorail station; and

(2) The building shall not be located within one thousand two hundred fifty feet (1,250 ft.) of the edge of a river as measured at mean high tide;

(cc) Waste-related service uses, including for conversion to energy subject to the Standards of External Effects in Subtitle U § 804, and the use shall not be permitted on any lot located in whole or in part within one hundred feet (100 ft.) of a residential zone; and

(dd) Wholesale or storage establishment, including open storage, except a junk yard.

SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 63 DCR 2447, 3338 (March 4, 2016 – Part 2); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 63 DCR 10932 (August 26, 2016); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 66 DCR 12137 (September 13, 2019); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 67 DCR 14506 (December 11, 2020); 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).