Zoning Commission votes to hold closed training session under Open Meetings Act

The Zoning Commission for the District of Columbia voted 5-0 to hold a closed training meeting, citing the Open Meetings Act and D.C. law permitting training sessions for commissioners.

The move matters because the commission said the session will provide legal and technical instruction on emerging interpretive questions in zoning enforcement and rulemaking. Chair Anthony Hood said the closed meeting would be held for the purpose of receiving training "as permitted by D.C. Official Code § 2-575(b)(12)."

Commissioners authorized a closed session after a motion from Chair Anthony Hood. Commissioners voted in roll call (Hood, Vice Chair Miller, Commissioner Wright, Commissioner Stidham, Commissioner Imamura), resulting in a 5-0-0 vote to approve the closed meeting. The chairman said the notice of the closed meeting would be provided in accordance with the Open Meetings Act.

According to the motion described on the record, the planned training topics include changes to zoning regulations related to the rail yard, questions about "raze versus demolition," when a deck ceases to qualify as a deck, and when an accessory building becomes a dwelling unit; the commission said the training would include legal advice from the Office of Zoning legal division. Chair Hood moved the closed meeting and the commission completed a roll-call vote to approve it.

The commission did not hold the training in public during this meeting; the vote was to authorize a separate, closed session for that purpose under the cited D.C. statutory authority. Commissioners did not discuss substantive policy outcomes or adopt regulatory changes in this meeting as part of that closed training authorization.

The vote and the statutory citations were read into the public record during the virtual meeting and will be reflected in the commission's meeting notices and any subsequent filings required by the Open Meetings Act.