WaPo: "DC residents battle over future of high pop-up condos"

Click on the link to read the entire Washington Post article on yesterday's pop-up zoning regulation proposal.

Again, this pop-up zoning regulation proposal would impact Bloomingdale, whose residential area is zoned R-4.
   

Local

D.C. residents battle over future of high ‘pop-up’ condos

By Ian Shapira January 16 at 8:33 AM  

Scores of District residents battled Thursday night in a lengthy public hearing before the city’s Zoning Commission over the future of pop-ups — rowhouses filled with multiple condo units and enlarged with extra stories that stick out over adjacent houses.

...

The stretched-up homes are creating big profits for small-time developers and investors who are capitalizing on Washington’s real estate boom by building in practically the only space they can — in the sky. But pop-ups are also generating angst among long-standing homeowners who cringe when their next-door’s neighbor’s building shoots up, blocking views and sunlight.

The Zoning Commission is deciding whether to support a District office planning proposal, which would reduce the by-right height of family rowhouses in one of the city’s predominant residential areas — the R-4 zone — to 35 feet, down from 40. The proposal could also bar developers from building in the R-4 zone three or more condo units in one home, a benefit that entices developers to add extra stories onto rowhouses.

...

In reaction to pop-up supporters’ concerns, Anthony J. Hood, the zoning commission chairman, asked pop-up supporter to submit their own proposals for dealing with pop-ups. 

The Zoning Commission will meet Feb. 9 to discuss the public hearing and what new research its members will need before making a vote. The commission is also looking at more lenient proposals on pop-ups, but it could take months before any final decision is made.