I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4243

To confirm limitations on the height of buildings and roof structures in

the District of Columbia, to expand the authority of the National Capital

Planning Commission to enforce such limitations, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 18, 1994

Mr. STARK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on the District of Columbia

A BILL

To confirm limitations on the height of buildings and roof

structures in the District of Columbia, to expand the

authority of the National Capital Planning Commission

to enforce such limitations, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘District of Columbia

5 Building Heights Act of 1994’’.
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1 SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON HEIGHT OF BUILDINGS IN DIS2 TRICT OF COLUMBIA.

3 (a) USE OF STREET WIDTH TO DETERMINE MAXI4 MUM HEIGHT OF BUILDING.—Section 5(a) of the Act en5 titled ‘‘An Act to regulate the height of buildings in the

6 District of Columbia’’, approved June 1, 1910 (sec. 5–

7 405(a), D.C. Code), is amended—

8 (1) by striking ‘‘the course of which’’ and in9 serting ‘‘the alignment of which’’; and

10 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘For

11 purposes of this subsection, a ‘street’ includes any

12 road, avenue, drive, cart way, or other route open to

13 the public as a regular right-of-way, but does not in14 clude an alley.’’.

15 (b) LIMITATIONS ON SIZE AND HEIGHT OF ROOF

16 STRUCTURES.—Section 5(h) of such Act (sec. 5–405(h),

17 D.C. Code) is amended by striking ‘‘Spires, towers,’’ and

18 all that follows through ‘‘the adjacent roof:’’ and inserting

19 the following: ‘‘Roof structures that are not constructed

20 or used for human occupancy (including structures hous21 ing machinery or equipment) may be erected to a greater

22 height than any limit otherwise prescribed in this Act if

23 approved by the Mayor of the District of Columbia: Pro24 vided, That such structures when above such limit shall

25 be fireproof: Provided further, That such a structure

26 (other than a spire, tower, dome, minaret, pinnacle, chim-
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1 ney, or smokestack) shall be set back from the exterior

2 or bounding walls of the building upon which the structure

3 is placed at distances not less than the structure’s height

4 above the adjacent roof: Provided further, That the Mayor

5 of the District of Columbia may not waive the requirement

6 described in the previous proviso with respect to a struc7 ture unless the Mayor of the District of Columbia finds

8 that the application of the requirement to the structure

9 will be unduly restrictive or highly impractical, and that

10 the waiver of the requirement will not materially interfere

11 with the purpose of this Act or adversely affect the expo12 sure of adjacent buildings to light and air: Provided fur13 ther, That for purposes of this subsection, an ‘exterior or

14 bounding wall’ of a building is any wall having a dimen15 sion of 4 feet or more in height or horizontal depth ex16 posed to the outside, other than a building wall that di17 rectly abuts a structure with a height equal to or greater

18 than the height of the building, and a ‘roof’ is the exterior

19 surface and supporting structure on the top of a building:

20 Provided further, That for purposes of this subsection a

21 skylight shall not be considered a roof structure if it is

22 less than 5 feet in height:’’.

23 (c) INCREASE IN PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS.—

24 (1) GENERAL PENALTY FOR VIOLATION.—Sec25 tion 8 of such Act (sec. 5–408, D.C. Code) is
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1 amended by striking ‘‘not less than $10 nor more

2 than $100 per day’’ and inserting ‘‘not more than

3 $10,000 per day’’.

4 (2) PENALTY FOR VIOLATION OF INJUNC5 TION.—Section 8 of such Act (sec. 5–408, D.C.

6 Code) is amended by striking ‘‘not less than $100

7 nor more than $500,’’ and inserting ‘‘not more than

8 $100,000,’’.

9 SEC. 3. INCREASE IN AUTHORITY OF NATIONAL CAPITAL

10 PLANNING COMMISSION TO ENFORCE BUILD11 ING HEIGHT LIMITATIONS.

12 (a) REQUIRING NCPC APPROVAL FOR ROOF STRUC13 TURES EXCEEDING GENERAL LIMITATIONS.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 5(h) of the Act enti15 tled ‘‘An Act to regulate the height of buildings in

16 the District of Columbia’’, approved June 1, 1910

17 (sec. 5–405(h), D.C. Code), as amended by section

18 2(b), is amended by striking ‘‘Mayor of the District

19 of Columbia’’ each place it appears and inserting

20 ‘‘Mayor of the District of Columbia and the National

21 Capital Planning Commission’’.

22 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 5(c)

23 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act providing for a com24 prehensive development of the park and playground

25 system of the National Capital’’, approved June 6,
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1 1924 (sec. 1–2004(c), D.C. Code; 40 U.S.C. 71d(c)),

2 is amended—

3 (A) by inserting after ‘‘the Council,’’ the

4 following: ‘‘and to include the approval of the

5 height of any roof structure of any building in

6 the District of Columbia (as described in sec7 tion 5(h) of the Act entitled ‘An Act to regulate

8 the height of buildings in the District of Colum9 bia’, approved June 1, 1910),’’; and

10 (B) by striking the period at the end and

11 inserting the following: ‘‘, and its approval or

12 disapproval respecting any such height within

13 45 days after the day it was submitted to the

14 Commission.’’.

15 (b) PERMITTING NCPC OR MEMBERS TO REQUEST

16 NCPC APPROVAL OF HEIGHT OF ANY BUILDING IN DIS17 TRICT.—Section 5(c) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act provid18 ing for a comprehensive development of the park and play19 ground system of the National Capital’’, approved June

20 6, 1924 (sec. 1–2004(c), D.C. Code; 40 U.S.C. 71d(c)),

21 as amended by subsection (a)(2), is amended by inserting

22 after ‘‘June 1, 1910),’’ the following: ‘‘and, at the request

23 of the Commission or any of its members, the determina24 tion of whether any building proposed to be constructed
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1 in the District of Columbia meets the requirements of such

2 Act,’’.

3 (c) PROVIDING STANDING FOR NCPC OR MEMBERS

4 TO ENFORCE BUILDING HEIGHT LIMITATIONS.—

5 (1) AUTHORITY OF COMMISSION AND MEM6 BERS.—Section 5 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act pro7 viding for a comprehensive development of the park

8 and playground system of the National Capital’’, ap9 proved June 6, 1924 (sec. 1–2004, D.C. Code; 40

10 U.S.C. 71d) is amended by adding at the end the

11 following new subsection:

12 ‘‘(f)(1) The Commission and each of its members

13 shall have standing to enforce any limitation on buildings

14 and structures in the District of Columbia described in

15 the Act entitled ‘An Act to regulate the height of buildings

16 in the District of Columbia’, approved June 1, 1910.

17 ‘‘(2) If a member of the Commission exercises the

18 authority provided under paragraph (1) to enforce a limi19 tation on buildings and structures, the member shall exer20 cise the authority in the member’s own name and at the

21 member’s own expense unless the Commission authorizes

22 the member to exercise the authority in the name of the

23 Commission and at the Commission’s expense.’’.

24 (2) CONFORMING AUTHORITY UNDER BUILDING

25 HEIGHTS ACT.—Section 8 of the Act entitled ‘‘An
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1 Act to regulate the height of buildings in the Dis2 trict of Columbia’’, approved June 1, 1910 (sec. 5–

3 408, D.C. Code), is amended—

4 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘his

5 assistants’’ and inserting ‘‘his assistants, or by

6 the National Capital Planning Commission or

7 any of its members (in accordance with section

8 5(f) of the Act entitled ‘An Act providing for a

9 comprehensive development of the park and

10 playground system of the National Capital’, ap11 proved June 6, 1924),’’; and

12 (B) in the second sentence, by inserting

13 after ‘‘District of Columbia’’ the first place it

14 appears the following: ‘‘or the National Capital

15 Planning Commission or any of its members (in

16 accordance with section 5(f) of the Act entitled

17 ‘An Act providing for a comprehensive develop18 ment of the park and playground system of the

19 National Capital’, approved June 6, 1924)’’.

20 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 11 of

21 the Act of June 20, 1938 (52 Stat. 801; sec. 5–427,

22 D.C. Code) is amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing: ‘‘Nothing in this section shall be construed

24 to limit the standing of the National Capital Plan25 ning Commission or any of its members to enforce
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1 any limitation on buildings and structures in the

2 District of Columbia pursuant to section 5(f) of the

3 Act entitled ‘An Act providing for a comprehensive

4 development of the park and playground system of

5 the National Capital’, approved June 6, 1924.’’.

6 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

7 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with

8 respect to buildings and structures in the District of Co9 lumbia for which building permits or modifications to

10 building permits are issued on or after March 23, 1994.

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