I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4121

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

MARCH 23, 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, except

24 that in no event may a roof structure be higher than 18

1 25 ⁄2 feet above the roof upon which it is located: Provided,

26 that such structures when above such limit shall be fire-
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1 proof: Provided further, that the area of such a structure

may not exceed 1 2 ⁄3 of the total roof area for those districts

3 where there is a limitation on the number of stories or

1 4 ⁄2 of the total roof area for any other districts: Provided

5 further, that there may be an increase in the allowable

6 floor area ratio for such a structure of not more than 0.25:

7 Provided further, that such a structure shall be set back

8 from the exterior or bounding walls of the building upon

9 which the structure is placed at distances equal to the

10 structure’s height above the adjacent roof: Provided fur11 ther, that for purposes of this subsection, an ‘exterior or

12 bounding wall’ of a building is any wall having a dimen13 sion of 4 feet or more in height or horizontal depth ex14 posed to the outside (without regard to whether the wall

15 abuts another structure), and a ‘roof’ is the exterior sur16 face and supporting structure on the top of a building:

17 Provided further, that for purposes of this subsection a

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

19 less than 5 feet in height:’’.

20 (c) INCREASE IN PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS.—

21 (1) GENERAL PENALTY FOR VIOLATION.—Sec22 tion 8 of such Act (sec. 5–408, D.C. Code) is

23 amended by striking ‘‘not less than $10 nor more

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

25 $10,000 per day’’.
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1 (2) PENALTY FOR VIOLATION OF INJUNC2 TION.—Section 8 of such Act (sec. 5–408, D.C.

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

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

5 $100,000,’’.

6 SEC. 3. INCREASE IN AUTHORITY OF NATIONAL CAPITAL

7 PLANNING COMMISSION TO ENFORCE BUILD8 ING HEIGHT LIMITATIONS.

9 (a) REQUIRING NCPC APPROVAL FOR ROOF STRUC10 TURES EXCEEDING GENERAL LIMITATIONS.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 5(h) of the Act enti12 tled ‘‘An Act to regulate the height of buildings in

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

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

15 2(b), is amended by striking ‘‘Mayor of the District

16 of Columbia,’’ and inserting ‘‘Mayor of the District

17 of Columbia and the National Capital Planning

18 Commission,’’.

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

20 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act providing for a com21 prehensive development of the park and playground

22 system of the National Capital’’, approved June 6,

23 1924 (sec. 1–2004(c), D.C. Code; 40 U.S.C. 71d(c)),

24 is amended—
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1 (A) by inserting after ‘‘the Council,’’ the

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

3 height of any roof structure of any building in

4 the District of Columbia (as described in sec5 tion 5(h) of the Act entitled ‘An Act to regulate

6 the height of buildings in the District of Colum7 bia’, approved June 1, 1910),’’; and

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

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

10 disapproval respecting any such height within

11 45 days after the day it was submitted to the

12 Commission.’’.

13 (b) PERMITTING NCPC OR MEMBERS TO REQUEST

14 NCPC APPROVAL OF HEIGHT OF ANY BUILDING IN DIS15 TRICT.—Section 5(c) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act provid16 ing for a comprehensive development of the park and play17 ground system of the National Capital’’, approved June

18 6, 1924 (sec. 1–2004(c), D.C. Code; 40 U.S.C. 71d(c)),

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

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

21 of the Commission or any of its members, the determina22 tion of whether the height of any building proposed to be

23 constructed in the District of Columbia meets the require24 ments of such Act,’’.
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1 (c) PROVIDING STANDING FOR NCPC OR MEMBERS

2 TO ENFORCE BUILDING HEIGHT LIMITATIONS.—

3 (1) AUTHORITY UNDER BUILDING HEIGHTS

4 ACT.—Section 8 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to regu5 late the height of buildings in the District of Colum6 bia’’, approved June 1, 1910 (sec. 5–408, D.C.

7 Code), is amended—

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

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

10 the National Capital Planning Commission or

11 any of its members,’’; 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’’.

16 (2) AUTHORITY OF COMMISSION.—Section 5 of

17 the Act entitled ‘‘An Act providing for a comprehen18 sive development of the park and playground system

19 of the National Capital’’, approved June 6, 1924

20 (sec. 1–2004, D.C. Code; 40 U.S.C. 71d) is amended

21 by adding at the end the following new subsection:

22 ‘‘(f) The Commission and each of its members shall

23 have standing to enforce any limitation on the heights of

24 buildings and structures in the District of Columbia de25 scribed in the Act entitled ‘An Act to regulate the height
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1 of buildings in the District of Columbia’, approved June

2 1, 1910.’’.

3 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 11 of

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

5 D.C. Code) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: ‘‘Nothing in this section shall be construed

7 to limit the standing of the National Capital Plan8 ning Commission or its members to enforce any limi9 tation on the heights of buildings and structures in

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

11 the Act entitled ‘An Act providing for a comprehen12 sive development of the park and playground system

13 of the National Capital’, approved June 6, 1924.’’.

14 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

15 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with

16 respect to buildings or structures in the District of Colum17 bia for which building permits are issued on or after

18 March 23, 1994.

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