A planning commission is set to recommend that Congress ease more than 100-year-old restrictions on the height of buildings in Washington, but only away from downtown.
The National Capital Planning Commission released draft recommendations Monday on changes to the 1910 Height Act, which generally requires that buildings must be no longer than the width of streets they face.
The planning body is recommending “targeted exceptions” to the height limit outside the portion of the city designed by Pierre L'Enfant in the 18th Century, which includes downtown and the National Mall. It does not specify how tall buildings should be.
Inside the downtown core, the commission says the rules should be changed only to allow occupancy of penthouses, which would not change the height of buildings.
