Zoning commission hears Day 2 of omnibus text amendments on balconies, decks and lot frontage

Chairman Anthony Hood convened the second of six public hearings on the omnibus zoning text amendment case S‑12 and outlined four topics for discussion: how balconies count toward gross floor area (GFA/FAR), whether balconies count toward lot occupancy, a proposed ground‑level deck exemption, and clarification of the 30‑foot lot frontage rule for subdivisions and record‑lot creation in RF and RA zones.

The Office of Planning presented the proposals and rationale. Joel Lawson, Associate Director for Development Review at the DC Office of Planning, said the amendments are intended to ‘‘remove unnecessary barriers to housing’’ and ‘‘add clarity to the zoning regulations’’ while not proposing rezoning or changes to permitted uses or heights. Lawson described the first proposal as a straightforward change: ‘‘to exempt balconies, whether inset in from, or extending out from the facade by 8 feet or less from gross floor area’’ so that balconies are not disincentivized by counting against FAR. He told the commission that a matching 8‑foot depth exemption is proposed for lot‑occupancy calculations for open balconies.

The Office of Planning also proposed a 200‑square‑foot exemption for certain ground‑floor decks from lot‑occupancy limits, intended primarily to reduce the number of area‑variance and special‑exception cases generated by modest decks on sloping or small lots. Lawson said the 200‑square‑foot figure was chosen based on common BZA practice and would not exempt covered decks; any deck area above 200 square feet would count toward…