Well, unfortunately, i'm based in Africa, but I have a house on W street...and until we organize to pass a package of zoning regulations to control this sort of thing, we will very shortly have these on every street. Since i wrote this same sentence 3 months ago, we've seen 4 more popups go up in Bloomingdale. The simple fact is that square foot costs combined with a lack of housing inventory in Bloomingdale have reached that tipping point where this sort of popup becomes very attractive for developers. I will be back in May for a few weeks and I propose to organize at that point a meeting to get a process organized that will begin to put this sort of solution in place to stop these popups. If you are interested please send an email to me at culturebank ** hotmail.com and I will send you an email with the time and place of that meeting.
Just curious - are you talking about a 3 story house in Bloomingdale? I would call this house a 3 story. I don't think that there are many houses in the neighborhood that have a full third story. Don't know how big the third floor was on this one, but it did have third story windows.
Scott: I"m open to anything that promises to be a real solution. I think however from my discussion with neighbors and friends that alot of folks don't want the "nuclear option" which is historic designation status because it makes renovations too expensive and cumbersome from a permitting standpoint. However, i am totally unaware of anything else that can be done except zoning.... I'm open to ideas and suggestions. What is clear is that the popups that we are seeing are pretty ghastly and they are mostly being perpetrated by developers or flippers...not by residents. I'm very much against that sort of thing. I'm open to popups that are either seamless with the existing architecture or hidden from the street....that's the type that I"m planning for my house in fact (popping up the back i mean which will be invisible from the road).
Also there has been some talk of a neighborhood conservancy...but that idea has not been fleshed out and it's unclear if there are any real teeth or force of law in that sort of solution.
Translate "neighborhood conservancy" into "conservation district." which the DC Office of Planning is mulling. What's the difference between a designated historic district and a designated conservation district? The requirements for achieving either would be identical; however, one would be able to install vinyl windows and non-wooden doors in a conservation district. You are correct that conservation districts have not been legislatively adopted in the District of Columbia. But that is the intent.
Well perhaps the first meeting could just be to invite someone to present on all the options....the conservation district (sounds great), the historic district and just a package of zoning changes. Regardless, i think we need to act fast to prevent this from happening on every street in Bloomingdale.
11 comments:
Stop the insanity!! Glad I bought in a row of 3-story houses...
disgusting.
Well, unfortunately, i'm based in Africa, but I have a house on W street...and until we organize to pass a package of zoning regulations to control this sort of thing, we will very shortly have these on every street. Since i wrote this same sentence 3 months ago, we've seen 4 more popups go up in Bloomingdale. The simple fact is that square foot costs combined with a lack of housing inventory in Bloomingdale have reached that tipping point where this sort of popup becomes very attractive for developers. I will be back in May for a few weeks and I propose to organize at that point a meeting to get a process organized that will begin to put this sort of solution in place to stop these popups. If you are interested please send an email to me at culturebank ** hotmail.com and I will send you an email with the time and place of that meeting.
Todd: Is your only proposed solution a zoning solution?
Just curious - are you talking about a 3 story house in Bloomingdale? I would call this house a 3 story. I don't think that there are many houses in the neighborhood that have a full third story. Don't know how big the third floor was on this one, but it did have third story windows.
Scott: I"m open to anything that promises to be a real solution. I think however from my discussion with neighbors and friends that alot of folks don't want the "nuclear option" which is historic designation status because it makes renovations too expensive and cumbersome from a permitting standpoint. However, i am totally unaware of anything else that can be done except zoning.... I'm open to ideas and suggestions. What is clear is that the popups that we are seeing are pretty ghastly and they are mostly being perpetrated by developers or flippers...not by residents. I'm very much against that sort of thing. I'm open to popups that are either seamless with the existing architecture or hidden from the street....that's the type that I"m planning for my house in fact (popping up the back i mean which will be invisible from the road).
Also there has been some talk of a neighborhood conservancy...but that idea has not been fleshed out and it's unclear if there are any real teeth or force of law in that sort of solution.
Translate "neighborhood conservancy" into "conservation district." which the DC Office of Planning is mulling. What's the difference between a designated historic district and a designated conservation district? The requirements for achieving either would be identical; however, one would be able to install vinyl windows and non-wooden doors in a conservation district. You are correct that conservation districts have not been legislatively adopted in the District of Columbia. But that is the intent.
Well perhaps the first meeting could just be to invite someone to present on all the options....the conservation district (sounds great), the historic district and just a package of zoning changes. Regardless, i think we need to act fast to prevent this from happening on every street in Bloomingdale.
Yes, there are plenty on 1st north of RIA
This is not a true 3-story, hence the pop-up...
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