§ 6-1104 — Demolitions.

(a) Before the Mayor may issue a permit to demolish an historic landmark or a building or structure in an historic district, the Mayor shall review the permit application in accordance with this section and § 6-1108.03 , and, for applications that will be submitted to the Historic Preservation Review Board or the Commission of Fine Arts for a public hearing, place notice of the application in the District of Columbia Register and on the website for the Historic Preservation Office.

(b) Prior to making the finding required by subsection (e) of this section, the Mayor may refer the application to the Historic Preservation Review Board for a recommendation, but shall so refer all applications that are not subject to review by the Commission of Fine Arts under the Old Georgetown Act ( § 6-1201 et seq.). The Mayor shall consider any recommendation by the Review Board or by the Commission of Fine Arts pursuant to such referral.

(c) Within 120 days after the Review Board receives the referral, the Mayor shall, after a public hearing, make the finding required by subsection (e) of this section; provided, that the Mayor may make such finding without a public hearing in the case of a building or structure in an historic district or on the site of an historic landmark if the Review Board or Commission of Fine Arts has advised in its recommendation that the building or structure does not contribute to the historic district or the historic landmark.

(d) If the Review Board recommends against granting the permit, it shall promptly notify the applicant in writing of its recommendation and the reasons therefor.

(e) No permit shall be issued unless the Mayor finds that issuance of the permit is necessary in the public interest, or that failure to issue a permit will result in unreasonable economic hardship to the owner.

(f) The owner shall submit at the hearing such information as is relevant and necessary to support his application.

(1) In any instance where there is a claim of unreasonable economic hardship, the owner shall submit, by affidavit, to the Mayor at least 20 days prior to the public hearing, at least the following information:

(A) For all property:

(i) The amount paid for the property, the date of purchase, and the party from whom purchased, including a description of the relationship, if any, between the owner and the person from whom the property was purchased;

(ii) The assessed value of the land and improvements thereon according to the 2 most recent assessments;

(iii) Real estate taxes for the previous 2 years;

(iv) Annual debt service, if any, for the previous 2 years;

(v) All appraisals obtained within the previous 2 years by the owner or applicant in connection with his purchase, financing or ownership of the property;

(vi) Any listing of the property for sale or rent, price asked, and offers received, if any; and

(vii) Any consideration by the owner as to profitable adaptive uses for the property; and

(B) For income-producing property:

(i) Annual gross income from the property for the previous 2 years;

(ii) Itemized operating and maintenance expenses for the previous 2 years;

(iii) Annual cash flow, if any, for the previous 2 years.

(2) The Mayor may require that an applicant furnish such additional information as the Mayor believes is relevant to his determination of unreasonable economic hardship and may provide in appropriate instances that such additional information be furnished under seal. In the event that any of the required information is not reasonably available to the applicant and cannot be obtained by the applicant, the applicant shall file with his affidavit a statement of the information which cannot be obtained and shall describe the reasons why such information cannot be obtained.

(h) In those cases in which the Mayor finds that the demolition is necessary to allow the construction of a project of special merit, no demolition permit shall be issued unless a permit for new construction is issued simultaneously under § 6-1107 and the owner demonstrates the ability to complete the project.

Legislative History

Mar. 3, 1979, D.C. Law 2-144, § 5, 25 DCR 6939; Nov. 16, 2006, D.C. Law 16-185, § 2(d), 53 DCR 6712