The Zoning Commission voted 5-0-0 to set down for public hearing a text amendment from the Office of Planning that would revise the District’s alley-lot regulations.

The Office of Planning presenter, Jesse, told the commission the proposal grew from prior casework and requests from alley-lot owners and members of the Board of Zoning Adjustment. OP estimated about 1,900 alley lots across the District (concentrations in Capitol Hill and Georgetown), including roughly 300 existing residential units, 450 garages, and nearly 900 vacant lots.

Major proposed changes include: lowering the required alley width for subdivision to 15 feet in many instances (currently 24 feet in other cases), establishing a special-exception mechanism for subdivision relief that now requires a variance, allowing residential uses on certain alley lots in R-1 and R-2 zones (with limitations for R-1 to existing alley lots or lots created from existing alley lots), permitting home occupations in alley-lot dwelling units, and adjusting development standards such as lot occupancy and yard requirements for R-1 alley lots.

OP said the proposal is not inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan and passed the office’s racial equity evaluation. Commissioners asked OP to obtain more detailed estimates of potential housing yield and asked that referral agencies such as the Fire Marshal and Department of Buildings provide substantive feedback beyond boilerplate comments. Vice Chair Miller and others moved to set down the case for a public hearing; the motion passed on a roll call vote recorded as 5-0-0.