INDUSTRIAL LAND IN A POST-INDUSTRIAL CITY District of ...

District of Columbia Industrial Areas Study DC Office of Planning
Prepared by Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates, Inc.
4.7.1 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN GUIDELINES
The four industrial land classifications discussed in sections 4.2 through 4.5—areas for
retention, intensification, municipal use, and land use change—should be reflected in the final
adopted update of the Comprehensive Plan’s land use policy map. On the prior Comprehensive
Plan map, these areas were designated “production and technical employment.” Striping was
used to indicate where this category could be mixed with other uses.
The new map should adopt the PDR designation, consistent with this report, and the map
should reflect all the areas programmed for retention, intensification, municipal use, and land
use change. A new category of ‘Municipal Service Area” should be added to the Comp Plan
map as well. This designation can be shown as a solid color over publicly-owned land such as
DC Village; and in a striped pattern mixed with the PDR color for areas where private ownership
predominates. Likewise, the PDR color should be solid in areas recommended for IP and M
zoning; and striped with commercial designations elsewhere.
The economic development chapter, as well as the land use chapter, of the Comprehensive
Plan should reflect the recommendations of this report. To that end, a summarized version of
the major land use recommendations, albeit in a less specified form, has been incorporated into
the Economic Development background study for the Comprehensive Plan. It is hoped that
some version of this language will be incorporated into the policies and strategies of the final
Plan document.
4.7.2 REZONING CRITERIA
Early in this planning process, OP requested that criteria be developed that would provide
guidance to the Zoning Commission with regards to rezoning requests. These criteria would be
based upon the following factors:
Land use context: is the area clearly industrial in nature? Does it adjoin residential or
commercial areas? Would it function as a logical extension of such areas? Would a land
use change likely result in addition pressure on remaining industrial lands?
Transportation context: does the site have appropriate access for trucks or freight rail?
Can the property be accessed without using residential streets? How far is the property
from a major arterial roadway or freeway? Is it adjacent to a Metro stop?
Environmental context: is the site contaminated? If so, could it be cleaned to
residential standards? What use would best facilitate environmental cleanup?
Conversely, are there sensitive environmental features that would make the site
inappropriate for industrial use?
Existing conditions: Are the current uses considered appropriate or undesirable?
Would redevelopment require significant displacement of existing uses?
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