Dive Brief:
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In a move to discourage builders from constructing tall, narrow “pop-up” houses in popular District of Columbia neighborhoods, the city’s Zoning Commission has cut the maximum allowed height of single-family rowhouses from 40 feet to 35.
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The commission also restricted developers from dividing homes in certain neighborhoods into more than two condo units. Builders had hoped the board would cap the number of units at four.
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The new rule — in effect immediately — applies only to neighborhoods in DC’s R-4 zone, which includes some of the trendiest locales in the city: Adams Morgan, Capitol Hill and Columbia Heights.
Dive Insight:
Neighbors often dislike pop-ups because they tower over other rowhouses on the street, block views, create eyesores and squeeze too many people—and their cars—into too small of a space. Fans of the so-called “skinny” or “monster” homes say they make room for more housing in a city with little space to grow.
The restriction on the number of condos in a pop-up came as a surprise after the commission had taken a preliminary vote in March allowing up to four units per building as long as one of them was earmarked for families earning less than 80% of the area’s median household income of $109,200.
The only builders who are insulated from the new rules are those whose projects have already been approved.
