District of Columbia Code
Part B - Anacostia Waterfront Environmental Standards
§ 2–1226.38. Site planning and preservation standards

Projects subject to this part shall comply with the following site planning and preservation standards:
(1) The project shall be designed to ensure continued public access to the Anacostia River and associated waterways and to the Anacostia riverwalk and trail system.
(2) Existing public parks shall be preserved and the Mayor shall endeavor to minimize encroachment unless there is no feasible alternative. If the project encroaches on a public park, the encroachment shall be mitigated in kind at a minimum acreage ratio of at least 1-to-1 and the mitigation shall be of equal or greater quality than the parkland that is lost.
(3) No construction or development shall disturb delineated wetlands or land within 100 feet of delineated wetlands, which shall be maintained as a buffer, unless the DDOE and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers both agree that construction in these areas cannot reasonably be avoided. Any impacts on wetlands approved by the DDOE shall require mitigation in-kind at a minimum acreage ratio of 3-to-1. The mitigation shall be provided on-site, unless on-site locations are unavailable or infeasible as determined by both the DDOE and the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Preference for mitigation should be given to restoring degraded wetlands or recreating former wetlands, not creating new wetlands. On-site remaining wetlands and buffers that are not impacts and off-site mitigation areas shall be permanently protected.
(4)(A) Streams that have been diverted into pipes or other constructed conveyances shall be daylit unless determined by the DDOE to be infeasible.
(B) For the purposes of this paragraph, the word “daylit” means the redirection of streams into above-ground channels in order to restore the streams to a more natural state and to enhance the riparian environment and ecological integrity of the Anacostia River system.
(5) The applicant shall ensure protection or creation of woodland and meadow riparian buffer zones along each bank of the Anacostia River defined in the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative Framework Plan of between 50 and 300 feet along the main channel of the Anacostia River, except where necessary to ensure public access and use of the waterfront. Development along tributary streams of the Anacostia River shall maintain a minimum riparian buffer of 25 feet. The DDOE may require a wider buffer along the channel or tributary streams where it is determined that a wider buffer zone is necessary to protect waterways.
(6) Roadways shall comply with the Anacostia Waterfront Transportation Architecture Design Standards developed by the DDOT.
(7) Projects shall incorporate planted vegetated buffers within the right-of-way of all roadways to increase tree cover and shade, mitigate traffic noise, absorb toxic emissions, and minimize stormwater runoff at levels determined by the DDOE by rulemaking.
(8) Projects shall ensure sufficient tree planting to provide canopy coverage within 20 years of project occupancy of 30% of non-roof impervious surfaces and 40% of overall-non-roof surfaces within the project area.
(9) Development along both sides of the Anacostia River and along associated waterways shall, unless determined by the DDOE to be infeasible, include continuous, publicly accessible trails that comply with the Anacostia Riverparks Plan and Riverwalk Design Guidelines.
(10) Projects shall coordinate with the DDOE on any habitat restoration activity to ensure consistency with the DDOE’s Wildlife Action Plan.
(Mar. 26, 2008, D.C. Law 17-138, § 458, 55 DCR 1689; Oct. 23, 2012, D.C. Law 19-192, § 2(f), 59 DCR 10174.)
The 2012 amendment by D.C. Law 19-192 substituted “projects” for “applicants” in (7), (8), and (10).

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