A Subject Matter Summary for "Historic District"

As its name suggests, the District of Columbia Historic Landmark and Historic District Protection Act of 1978 {1} ("the Act") establishes procedures for the designation of local historic districts to protect historic properties within them. An historic district is an area or neighborhood comprised of historic properties which has been designated by the DC Historic Review Board (HPRB) after a public hearing and which the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) has issued a written determination to nominate to the National Register of Historic Places. {2}

The act of designation then imposes a framework of historic preservation regulations on property owners in the district which serve to limit significant exterior changes to the character of the property or the district. {3} For example, property owners of "contributing" properties must apply to the Mayor for a permit to alter, demolish, subdivide, or build new construction within a historic district. {4} Those properties which do not contribute are called "non-contributing buildings" and they do not have to get Historic Preservation permission for alterations, demolitions, subdivisions or new construction.

Under the Act, the term "Historic district" means an historic district that either is "(A) Listed in the National Register of Historic Places as of the effective date of this subchapter (March 3, 1979); (B) Nominated to the National Register by the State Historic Preservation Officer for the District of Columbia; or (C) Which the State Historic Preservation Officer for the District of Columbia has issued a written determination to nominate to the National Register after a public hearing before the Historic Preservation Review Board." {5}

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{1} D.C. Code §6-1101 et seq.

{2} D.C. Code §6-1102(5)

{3} See generally 10A DCMR, and the guidelines issued by the DC Historic Preservation Office at http://planning.dc.gov/historicpreservation.

{4} See D.C. Code §6-1104, 6-1105, 6-1106, 6-1107. For a definition of "contributing" property, see 10 DCMR Sec. 9901. Contributing properties are often specifically identified in the historic district nomination application.

{5} D.C. Code §6-1102(5).

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