Home | Newsletter | Advertise
loading...

DC Agency May Restrict Construction in Areas That May Eventually Be Underwater

  • January 6, 2020

by Nena Perry-Brown

A DC agency is considering changes to the city's floodplain regulations which would restrict construction in areas expected to be underwater in 2100.

The Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) may amend its Flood Hazard Rules to expand the agency's purview over DC's floodplain, covering the 500-year floodplain rather than just the 100-year. DOEE could also restrict any new construction in areas within the high tide mark, which also corresponds with those areas forecast as “permanently inundated in the year 2100”.

Floodplain map, courtesy of the Office of Planning. Click to enlarge.

Under the expanded 500-year floodplain regulatory area, DOEE may also prohibit inclusion of underground parking for all-residential developments (without an approved modification), while allowing by-right underground parking for mixed-use developments.  

These possible changes were included as part of a zoning application that was recently filed to remove use prohibitions within the 100-year floodplain from the zoning code. The Zoning Commission is scheduled to consider the application next week.

Here is more of UrbanTurf's recent reporting about the DC floodplain:

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dc-agency-proposes-restricting-construction-in-areas-that-may-be underwater/16303

DC Real Estate Guides

Short guides to navigating the DC-area real estate market

We've collected all our helpful guides for buying, selling and renting in and around Washington, DC in one place. Visit guides.urbanturf.com or start browsing below!

First-Timer Primers

Intro guides for first-time home buyers

Red Flags Revealed During a Home Inspection Top 5 Tax Breaks For Homeowners Tax Relief for DC Homeowners
Condo Fee Tutorial What is a Rent Back? 10 Ways To Tell If a Home Renovation is Well Done
Obtaining a Basic Business License For Your Rental What is an Adjustable Rate Mortgage? The Splitting the Rent Formula
How Much Cash Do You Need to Buy a House? Is This Condo Building Financially Healthy? Interest Rates and Mortgage Points
The Scoop on Mortgage Insurance

Unique Spaces

Awesome and unusual real estate from across the DC Metro

The Most Intriguing Loft in DC The R Street Firehouse DC’s One-Room House
Dupont Circle’s Old Frat House To Become Alley Home Best Transition From a Garage To a Home The Roundhouse
Tilden Gardens Restaurant-Turned-Home Hits Market Next Week Logan Circle’s Most Intriguing Garage Frank Lloyd Wright Goes Green in Kensington
Sears Bungalow Gets a Modern Makeover Old Town General Store Becomes Three-Level Home Making the Most of a Skinny House
A Studio 27 Renovation on Capitol Hill Once a Carriage House, Now a Home The Bank that Became a Home
From Pie to Hooch to Heroin to Home The Live-Aboards of Gangplank Marina A Treehouse with Rock Creek Park As A Backyard
Modern Tranquility in Sperryville Saddle Up For Stable Living Throwing a Curve at 550 Square Feet
A Modern Hilltop Retreat Tilden Street Restaurant Becomes Spacious Home Focus on Design: A Vastu Unit at 22 West
The DC Area’s First Net Zero Home A Yankee Goes Green DC’s First Carbon Neutral Home
Eco-Friendly Alley House Off H Street The Gym, The Stables and The Firehouse