The Height of Buildings Act of 1910 was an Act of Congress passed by the 61st United States Congress on June 1, 1910 to limit the height of buildings in District of Columbia, amending the Height of Buildings Act of 1899. The new height restriction law was more comprehensive than the previous law, and generally restricts building heights along residential streets to , and along commercial corridors to the width of the right-of-way of the street or avenue on which a building fronts, or a maximum of , whichever is shorter.
Background
In response to the construction of the 164-foot (50-meter) Cairo Hotel in 1894, D.C. Commissioners issued height regulations for buildings in D.C., limiting their height to for residential and for business, or to the width of the street in front, whichever was smaller. The original Height of Buildings Act, passed by Congress in 1899, removed the front street restriction, but reaffirmed limiting buildings to on residential streets and on business streets. It also made an exception for buildings on business streets wide, which were permitted to be tall.
Description
The 1899 act was amended in 1910 creating Chapter 6, Subchapter 1, Section 5. Section 5 added the restriction that the height of any building would be limited to the width of the adjacent street plus up to a maximum of on residential streets, on commercial streets, and on a small portion of the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue between 1st and 15th Streets Northwest opposite the Federal Triangle.
The act has since been amended eight times, of which five amendments made exceptions for specific buildings: St. Matthews Church in December 1930, the Harrington Hotel in June 1914, the National Press Club Building in April 1926, the United Masonic Temple in April 1930, and finally the Georgetown University Hospital in March 1945. The other two amendments included raising the height maximum on residential streets by five additional feet, and permitting residential buildings to have ten instead of eight floors.
Tallest buildings in District of Columbia
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, completed in 1959, was granted an exemption to the law by the District Zoning Commission. At 329 feet tall, the National Shrine stands as the tallest building in Washington, D.C., excluding the Washington Monument () and the Hughes Memorial Tower (). When the original act was passed in 1899, the Old Post Office Building was grandfathered in, and remains as the tallest high-rise federal building in the district. One Franklin Square is the tallest commercial building in District of Columbia and the fifth highest building overall. Completed in 1989, its twin towers rise to and above the main roof line, which reaches the district's height limit of .
Proposed policy changes
The current policy of the 1910 Height Act has been in place with only small modifications for over 100 years. Its influence on the development of the district both within the monumental core and beyond has shaped District of Columbia's skyline. In order to determine if the district could be provided some relief related to building heights within the original boundaries of the L'Enfant Plan and a loosening of federal oversight outside of the monumental core while protecting federal interests, a revisiting of policy was deemed warranted by Congress at this time.
One specific issue the District of Columbia government identified that is impacting development within the downtown core is the law prohibiting the use of the penthouse level (i.e. roof) for needs other than mechanical (i.e. HVAC equipment) structures. For example, the height of a building as calculated by the Height Act does not include roof top structures used for mechanical needs within the total allowable height. However, if structures on the roof top (such as a pool house associated with a roof top pool) are constructed for human occupation, it is then calculated as part of the overall height of the building under the law. As a result, architects and designers currently would have to lower their building designs by an entire floor to allow for some human occupied space on the roof, if the building is to reach the maximum allowable height. By allowing usable, human occupying space at the penthouse level, the District of Columbia is arguing that there would be no real impact on the overall height limit and it would not change the "human scale" of the current landscape within the district. The current allowable height within the downtown area of the district prohibits "people's enjoyment of some of the district's greatest spaces and most striking views".