RESOLUTION OPPOSING PUBLIC SPACE APPLICATION #339585
WHEREAS:
- In 1870, Congress designated certain right-of-way owned by the federal government but next to private property in DC as park areas to be maintained by the adjacent property owner, designating the space as “public parking”[1] (thus, the term “parking” refers to parks rather than a place to park automobiles). Public parking, although under the care and keeping of the adjacent landowner, is supposed to benefit the public at large.
- Accordingly, much of what residents think of as “their” front yards, and side yards for those with corner lots, is in fact public space.
- Because DC law places public parking under the care and keeping of adjacent landowners, the law permits landowners to install fences up to 42 inches of height that are also of “open design of at least 50%”[2] around the parking. This permits owners to exclude third persons physically from their land, but makes the green space in the parking visually available to all passers-by while creating an open feel.
- The extensive greenspace visible around private properties in DC is a defining characteristic of our city.
- Where some compelling rationale exists, however, landowners may apply for permission to build fences higher than 42 inches
- The residents of 3848 Harrison Street NW (“Applicants”) have applied for permission to build a 6-foot wooden fence in public space in their side yard 5 feet parallel to the sidewalk along 39th Street to enhance their privacy. Because theirs is a corner lot, the public space in question directly abuts a sidewalk and street.
- If ANC 3E supported applications for over height fences for every resident who sought to install such fences to enhance their privacy, the exception would swallow the rule.
- Numerous other landowners would no doubt then seek and expect to receive similar support for their over height and/or solid fences, and the ANC (and Public Space Commission) would have no reasonable basis to oppose such applications.
- Other landowners who prefer either no fence around the public parking abutting their homes, or fences smaller than 42 inches or fences that in some manner are transparent, would complain – justifiably – that the ANC has essentially chosen to read the decades-old rule out of the rule book.
- Supporting such applications would therefore create an untenable situation.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
- Because the Applicants have not provided a compelling rationale to depart from the longstanding rule that fences in public space may not exceed 42 inches, it would not be in the public interest to support their application to install an over height fence, and the ANC must therefore oppose it.
The resolution passed by a vote of __-__-__at a properly noticed meeting held on December 12, 2019, at which a quorum was present, with Commissioners Bender, Ehrhardt, Hall, McHugh, Quinn, in attendance.
ANC 3E
__________________
by Jonathan Bender
Chairperson
[1] The District of Columbia subsequently acquired additional right of way, some of which landowners technically own subject to easement, and which may not be strictly termed “public parking.” Because DC law treats such space identically to public parking, for convenience we here refer to all public space attached to residential lots as public parking. See generally “The City Park Outside Your Front Door,” Forest Hills Connection, https://www.foresthillsconnection.com/home-front/the-city-park-outside-your-front-door/
[2] https://ddot.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ddot/publication/attachments/ddot_public_realm_design_manual_2011.pdf section 4.5.1
Resolution Opposing Overheight Fence Application for 3848 Harrison Street