NCPC Releases Final Height Act Recommendations, Open to Taller Buildings

• November 18th 2013

by UrbanTurf Staff

On Sunday, the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) released its final recommendations regarding their recent study of DC’s Height Act. These recommendations will be formally reviewed on Tuesday by the commission, which will vote on sending them on to Congress.

UrbanTurf reported on the draft recommendations when they were released in September. The five final recommendations do not look much different from those:

• The Height Act should remain in place for the area within L’Enfant City in order “to protect the integrity of the form and character of the nation’s capital.”
• For areas of DC outside of L’Enfant City, building heights can be proposed to exceed existing limits, but the changes would in essence need the approval of NCPC and Congress.
• In order to maintain views to and from important national resources, NCPC recommends for federal and local protections to be established for DC’s most significant viewsheds.
• The Height Act should be amended to allow for human occupancy in penthouses that are currently limited to the housing of mechanical equipment.
• Updates should be made regarding fireproof construction in the city.

UrbanTurf will update readers regarding the fate of these recommendations following Tuesday’s hearing.

An earlier headline for this article was changed.
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This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/taller_buildings_in_dc_ok_with_approval/7833.