On December 11, 2014, the Zoning Commission (ZC) voted 5-0-0 to take proposed action on ZC 08-06A – Zoning Regulations Review (ZRR). You can watch the Special Public Meeting online and you can review the proposed text and related documents, including OP’s November 14, 2014 memo.

Now…you might ask, what’s next? The Office of Planning (OP) is working to incorporate the changes requested by the Zoning Commission. Once OP has completed its revisions, the Office of Zoning (OZ) and the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) will review and edit the draft text. OAG will also review the text for legal sufficiency at this time.

After the OAG review is complete, OAG will work with OZ and OP to prepare a notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which will include revised text. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will be published in the DC Register with a 60-day comment period. At this time, the record in the case will be reopened to allow the public to provide additional comments. At the same time, a referral will be made to the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), which will also have 60 days to review and comment on the proposed text.

At the close of the comment period, the Zoning Commission will schedule Final Action and make its final decision at a regularly scheduled public meeting. A Final Order containing the Zoning Commission’s written decision in the case will be issued.

We know everyone is interested in the proposed effective date for the new regulations. The Zoning Commission will review vesting language drafted by OAG; however, the ZC has indicated that it would like to leave the effective date open for the time being.

We’ll continue to post updates here on the blog. Stay tuned for a link to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and more on vesting and effective date.