Norton to Introduce Bill to Give D.C. Authority to Appoint All Members of the D.C. Zoning Commission

Bill Removes Federal Officials from Commission

WASHINGTON, D.C.—As she continues to press Congress for statehood for the District of Columbia, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) is simultaneously moving on a second track to maximize the authority of the District to govern its local affairs. Today, she announced that she will introduce a bill that would give the District the authority to appoint all members of the D.C. Zoning Commission (Commission). Currently, the Commission consists of two federal officials (the Architect of the Capitol and the Director of the National Park Service, or their designees) and three mayoral appointees, subject to D.C. Council approval. The federal officials are members even though the Commission has no authority over federal property.

"Land use is a quintessential local matter in our country," Norton said. "Despite the Home Rule Act, which gave the District jurisdiction over its local matters, 40 percent of the members of our local zoning commission are federal officials, who are unaccountable to the 700,000 residents who live in the District. The federal government loses nothing from my bill because the interests of the federal government in land use in the nation's capital are protected by federal law and federal agencies."

The Commission creates the zoning maps and regulations, which must "not be inconsistent with the comprehensive plan for the national capital." The mayor is responsible for the local elements of the comprehensive plan, subject to D.C. Council approval. The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), which is the central federal planning agency for the federal government in D.C. and approves federal projects here, is responsible for the federal elements of the comprehensive plan. This bill would not alter the comprehensive plan process nor the authority of NCPC or the Commission.

This bill would immediately remove the Architect of the Capitol and the Director of the National Park Service from the Commission, and the Commission, initially, would consist solely of the three mayoral appointees. The District would have the authority to reconstitute the membership of the Commission through local legislation.

Norton also is working on a bill to give the District more authority over the Board of Zoning Adjustment.