The Office of Planning asked the Zoning Commission to clarify and slightly expand the Zoning Administrator's (ZA) administrative flexibility for projects subject to Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) orders.

Joel Lawson (Office of Planning) told commissioners the current wording has created repeated administrative disputes and delays at the Department of Buildings. "The amount of flexibility the zoning administrator has is very small. Like, you mean it's 2%, you know, so it's a rounding error basically on things," Lawson said, arguing the proposed changes are intended to add clarity and consistency.

Proposal highlights: OP would add pervious-surface coverage to the list of items for which the ZA may grant a small tolerance, convert the front-setback tolerance from a percentage to a fixed 12-inch allowance in appropriate situations, and change the parking-flexibility rule to '2% of spaces or 1 space' to avoid rounding to zero for small lots.

Support and purpose: Designers, building representatives and some ANCs said the revisions would reduce time and cost in permitting by avoiding repeated stop-gap appeals about small plan differences between BZA approvals and final permit drawings. OP said the changes are not intended to permit substantive shifts in use or form but to allow minor plan adjustments that commonly arise in construction drawings.

Concerns and public comments: Committee of 100 and community witnesses warned that delegating more discretion to a ZA can reduce public notice and public input, particularly where changes could alter use or neighborhood impacts. Committee of 100 asked the commission to preserve notice requirements when a ZA action would affect topics that materially change neighborhood character.

Next steps: The commission left the item in the hearing record for further consideration. OP agreed to provide revised draft language in the record clarifying the limits of ZA flexibility and the notification mechanics for affected parties.