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vermillionmango t1_j5mg5b8 wrote

It's illegal in most of DC. They are grandfathered in but new ones can't be built in most residential zones.

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ekkidee t1_j5ms5z4 wrote

How are they illegal?

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vermillionmango t1_j5o6rlx wrote

In most R zones rowhouse setback (space from sidewalk to front door) is too small, floor area ratio (ratio of built house:property size) is too high, don't have the required offstreet parking space, minimum lot size is too small (single rowhouse lots are under the required property lot sizes in many cases), or just you can't built undetatched housing that shares an outside wall because the only allowed building is a detatched single family home.

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ekkidee t1_j5og471 wrote

Damn. That sucks. Thanks for the answer. It would seem to create artificially high demand for any existing structures.

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cptjeff t1_j5ojy0t wrote

> the required offstreet parking space

That only applies to multi unit buildings, not rowhouses.

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vermillionmango t1_j5onf3g wrote

https://handbook.dcoz.dc.gov/zoning-rules/general-rules/parking/vehicle-parking/

>Residential, single dwelling unit 1 per principal dwelling.

>Residential, flat 1 per 2 dwelling units.

>Residential, multiple dwelling unit 1 per 3 dwelling units in excess of 4 units, except: 1 per 2 dwelling units for any R or RF zone; 1 per 6 units of publicly assisted housing, reserved for the elderly and/or handicapped.

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TheCoelacanth t1_j5n9430 wrote

Not enough space dedicated to cars.

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Gooner695 t1_j5nnryb wrote

A great, real life example of this happened in Alexandria, VA either last year or 2021. There was an empty lot in a row of a rowhomes where another home used to be. The lot owners had to file with the city for a zoning adjustment (and have public hearings about it and everything) just to be able to rebuild the townhome that was once there.

Parking requirements, setback requirements, minimum lot sizes, and other dumb regulations make many old buildings illegal today. Have you ever wondered why modern apartment buildings all have hallways to the doors but in old ones they were closer to the staircase? That’s because modern building codes require access to multiple stairwells (but that requirement does not improve fire safety in reality).

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