Yes! Let Capitol Hill keep its character by not mandating unwanted parking. Photo by M.V. Jantzen on Flickr.

This is the sixth of ten daily posts about why the Zoning Commission should approve the Office of Planning recommendations on off-street parking, leading up to the hearing on Thursday, July 31 at 6:30 pm. Please attend and testify if you can, or submit comments to the zoning commission in this thread.

Previously:

Today’s topic: Some of the good projects that don’t happen because of parking minimums.

Exhibit A is this story in DCmud, about a former KFC site at 15th and Pennsylvania SE, near Potomac Avenue Metro. The developer wants to build a two-story building spanning the entire frontage of the lot, creating a continuous streetwall. The neighbors want a two-story building spanning the entire lot. Good urban design principles would call for a building spanning the entire lot.

Zoning, however, mandates 28 spaces of parking. That would take up too much of the lot, and underground parking is presumably too expensive for such a small building. The result? A long, drawn-out BZA process or a bad project.

Many of the variances granted by the BZA concern relief from parking minimums. But zoning variances are a very complex process, and require the developer to show “exceptional practical difficulties or exceptional and undue hardship.” Just having neighbors and developers agree that a project is better without parking doesn’t meet that standard.

Zoning rules are a powerful force. When we require something, it’s extremely difficult for a property owner to get around the rule, and for good reason. That’s why we should tread lightly in our demands, not simply requiring things because they might be nice, but because there’s a compelling reason to mandate it. With parking, as the Potomac Avenue example and so many others illustrate, there’s not.

Therefore, the Zoning Commission should approve the Office of Planning’s recommendations. To do that, they need to hear from you. Please write your own comments for the Zoning Commission here and come testify on the 31st.

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.