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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘District of Columbia
Building Heights Act of 1994’’.
SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON HEIGHT OF BUILDINGS IN DIS-
TRICT OF COLUMBIA.
(a) USE OF STREET WIDTH TO DETERMINE MAXI-
MUM HEIGHT OF BUILDING.—Section 5(a) of the Act en-
titled ‘‘An Act to regulate the height of buildings in the
District of Columbia’’, approved June 1, 1910 (sec. 5–
405(a), D.C. Code), is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘the course of which’’ and in-
serting ‘‘the alignment of which’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘For
purposes of this subsection, a ‘street’ includes any
road, avenue, drive, cart way, or other route open to
the public as a regular right-of-way, but does not in-
clude an alley.’’.
(b) LIMITATIONS ON SIZE AND HEIGHT OF ROOF
STRUCTURES.—Section 5(h) of such Act (sec. 5–405(h),
D.C. Code) is amended by striking ‘‘Spires, towers,’’ and
all that follows through ‘‘the adjacent roof:’’ and inserting
the following: ‘‘Roof structures that are not constructed
or used for human occupancy (including structures hous-
ing machinery or equipment) may be erected to a greater
height than any limit otherwise prescribed in this Act if
approved by the Mayor of the District of Columbia: Pro-
vided, That such structures when above such limit shall
be fireproof: Provided further, That such a structure
(other than a spire, tower, dome, minaret, pinnacle, chim-
ney, or smokestack) shall be set back from the exterior
or bounding walls of the building upon which the structure
is placed at distances not less than the structure’s height
above the adjacent roof: Provided further, That the Mayor
of the District of Columbia may not waive the requirement
described in the previous proviso with respect to a struc-
ture unless the Mayor of the District of Columbia finds
that the application of the requirement to the structure
will be unduly restrictive or highly impractical, and that
the waiver of the requirement will not materially interfere
with the purpose of this Act or adversely affect the expo-
sure of adjacent buildings to light and air: Provided fur-
ther, That for purposes of this subsection, an ‘exterior or
bounding wall’ of a building is any wall having a dimen-
sion of 4 feet or more in height or horizontal depth ex-
posed to the outside, other than a building wall that di-
rectly abuts a structure with a height equal to or greater
than the height of the building, and a ‘roof’ is the exterior
surface and supporting structure on the top of a building:
Provided further, That for purposes of this subsection a
skylight shall not be considered a roof structure if it is
less than 5 feet in height:’’.
(c) INCREASE IN PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS.—
(1) GENERAL PENALTY FOR VIOLATION.—Sec-
tion 8 of such Act (sec. 5–408, D.C. Code) is
amended by striking ‘‘not less than $10 nor more
than $100 per day’’ and inserting ‘‘not more than
$10,000 per day’’.
(2) PENALTY
FOR
VIOLATION
OF
INJUNC-
TION.—Section 8 of such Act (sec. 5–408, D.C.
Code) is amended by striking ‘‘not less than $100
nor more than $500,’’ and inserting ‘‘not more than
$100,000,’’.
SEC. 3. INCREASE IN AUTHORITY OF NATIONAL CAPITAL
PLANNING COMMISSION TO ENFORCE BUILD-
ING HEIGHT LIMITATIONS.
(a) REQUIRING NCPC APPROVAL FOR ROOF STRUC-
TURES EXCEEDING GENERAL LIMITATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 5(h) of the Act enti-
tled ‘‘An Act to regulate the height of buildings in
the District of Columbia’’, approved June 1, 1910
(sec. 5–405(h), D.C. Code), as amended by section
2(b), is amended by striking ‘‘Mayor of the District
of Columbia’’ each place it appears and inserting
‘‘Mayor of the District of Columbia and the National
Capital Planning Commission’’.
(2) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 5(c)
of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act providing for a com-
prehensive development of the park and playground
system of the National Capital’’, approved June 6,
1924 (sec. 1–2004(c), D.C. Code; 40 U.S.C. 71d(c)),
is amended—
(A) by inserting after ‘‘the Council,’’ the
following: ‘‘and to include the approval of the
height of any roof structure of any building in
the District of Columbia (as described in sec-
tion 5(h) of the Act entitled ‘An Act to regulate
the height of buildings in the District of Colum-
bia’, approved June 1, 1910),’’; and
(B) by striking the period at the end and
inserting the following: ‘‘, and its approval or
disapproval respecting any such height within
45 days after the day it was submitted to the
Commission.’’.
(b) PERMITTING NCPC OR MEMBERS TO REQUEST
NCPC APPROVAL OF HEIGHT OF ANY BUILDING IN DIS-
TRICT.—Section 5(c) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act provid-
ing for a comprehensive development of the park and play-
ground system of the National Capital’’, approved June
6, 1924 (sec. 1–2004(c), D.C. Code; 40 U.S.C. 71d(c)),
as amended by subsection (a)(2), is amended by inserting
after ‘‘June 1, 1910),’’ the following: ‘‘and, at the request
of the Commission or any of its members, the determina-
tion of whether any building proposed to be constructed
in the District of Columbia meets the requirements of such
Act,’’.
(c) PROVIDING STANDING FOR NCPC OR MEMBERS
TO ENFORCE BUILDING HEIGHT LIMITATIONS.—
(1) AUTHORITY
OF
COMMISSION
AND
MEM-
BERS.—Section 5 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act pro-
viding for a comprehensive development of the park
and playground system of the National Capital’’, ap-
proved June 6, 1924 (sec. 1–2004, D.C. Code; 40
U.S.C. 71d) is amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
‘‘(f)(1) The Commission and each of its members
shall have standing to enforce any limitation on buildings
and structures in the District of Columbia described in
the Act entitled ‘An Act to regulate the height of buildings
in the District of Columbia’, approved June 1, 1910.
‘‘(2) If a member of the Commission exercises the
authority provided under paragraph (1) to enforce a limi-
tation on buildings and structures, the member shall exer-
cise the authority in the member’s own name and at the
member’s own expense unless the Commission authorizes
the member to exercise the authority in the name of the
Commission and at the Commission’s expense.’’.
(2) CONFORMING AUTHORITY UNDER BUILDING
HEIGHTS ACT.—Section 8 of the Act entitled ‘‘An
Act to regulate the height of buildings in the Dis-
trict of Columbia’’, approved June 1, 1910 (sec. 5–
408, D.C. Code), is amended—
(A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘his
assistants’’ and inserting ‘‘his assistants, or by
the National Capital Planning Commission or
any of its members (in accordance with section
5(f) of the Act entitled ‘An Act providing for a
comprehensive development of the park and
playground system of the National Capital’, ap-
proved June 6, 1924),’’; and
(B) in the second sentence, by inserting
after ‘‘District of Columbia’’ the first place it
appears the following: ‘‘or the National Capital
Planning Commission or any of its members (in
accordance with section 5(f) of the Act entitled
‘An Act providing for a comprehensive develop-
ment of the park and playground system of the
National Capital’, approved June 6, 1924)’’.
(3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 11 of
the Act of June 20, 1938 (52 Stat. 801; sec. 5–427,
D.C. Code) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: ‘‘Nothing in this section shall be construed
to limit the standing of the National Capital Plan-
ning Commission or any of its members to enforce
any limitation on buildings and structures in the
District of Columbia pursuant to section 5(f) of the
Act entitled ‘An Act providing for a comprehensive
development of the park and playground system of
the National Capital’, approved June 6, 1924.’’.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act shall apply with
respect to buildings and structures in the District of Co-
lumbia for which building permits or modifications to
building permits are issued on or after March 23, 1994.
Æ