Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
BZA approves 500‑foot replacement public‑safety communications tower at 6001 Georgia Ave NW
Loading...
Summary
The board granted DGS a use variance and area variances to replace two aging towers with a single 500‑foot tower at 6001 Georgia Avenue NW to support public‑safety and government communications, citing public‑service needs and site uniqueness.
The Board of Zoning Adjustment on July 30 approved the District of Columbia Department of General Services’ application to replace two aging communication towers with a single 500‑foot tower at 6001 Georgia Avenue NW, granting a use variance (because the tower sits in an RA‑1 portion of a split‑zoned parcel) and two area variances from tower setback requirements. The board voted 4–0 in favor.
DGS and its technical consultants told the board the two existing latticed towers (one roughly 700 feet and another roughly 400 feet in earlier record references) are over 40 years old, no longer meet modern structural codes and currently host vital public‑safety communications used by the Metropolitan Police Department, Office of Unified Communications, federal agencies and commercial carriers. DGS project staff said the new tower will consolidate infrastructure, improve safety, provide long‑term structural compliance and maintain continuous coverage for first responders.
Office of Planning recommended approval, noting the parcel’s exceptional combination of elevation, long‑standing infrastructure use and public‑service function that together make it unsuitable to satisfy the normal height/setback requirements without undue hardship. OP also noted the new tower would be lower than the tallest existing tower (reducing visual impact) and that the National Capital Planning Commission had provided support. DGS representatives said the replacement will preserve coverage, reduce visual clutter by eliminating two towers and allow future growth capacity for another 25 years.
The board recorded an approval motion and supported the application after hearing that the project team had coordinated with the ANC, National Park Service (for temporary construction parking on NPS land), and other stakeholders. The board concluded the public‑service character of the facility and the site’s unique elevation and existing infrastructure satisfied the variance standards, subject to DOB permitting and related regulatory reviews.
