Requirements of the ANC Report
Pursuant to Subtitle Z § 406.2 and Subtitle Y § 503.2, the ZC and the BZA shall give “great weight” to the written report of the affected ANC, as required by the Comprehensive Advisory Neighborhood Commissions Reform Amendment Act of 2000.
To ensure the submission of a complete ANC report, the OZ provides Form 129 – ANC Report Form, to assist ANC Commissioners in writing their report. To be deemed complete and able to be given “great weight, “the written report of the ANC at a minimum must contain the following information:
- Identification of the appeal, petition, or application;
- When the public meeting of the ANC was held to consider the appeal, petition, or application;
- Whether proper notice of that meeting was given by the ANC;
- The number of members of the ANC that constitutes a quorum and the numbers of members present at the meeting;
- The issues and concerns of the ANC about the appeal, petition, or application as related to the standards of the Zoning Regulations against which the appeal, petition, or application must be judged (this is where you would list any comments, issues, or concerns you may have about the project that are legally relevant to zoning matters);
- The recommendation, if any, of the ANC as to the disposition of the appeal, petition, or application;
- The vote on the motion to adopt the report to the BZA or ZC;
- The name of the person(s) authorized by the ANC to present the report; and
- The signature of the ANC chairperson or vice-chairperson.
When the ANC lists its issues and concerns about the appeal, petition, or application, the ANC should list any comments, issues, or concerns the ANC has about the project that are legally relevant to the zoning matters. When the ANC lists its recommendations, these may include any proposed conditions or mitigation measures to reduce/eliminate identified adverse impacts relevant to the standards of the Zoning Regulations. Any proposed conditions, as well as the list of issues and concerns of the ANC, may be submitted on a separate piece of paper.
Submitting ANC Reports
ANC reports and any accompanying documents must be submitted to the record by using:
- The Interactive Zoning Information System at www.dcoz.dc.gov;
- By email to [email protected] for the ZC or [email protected] for the BZA; or
- In person or by U.S. mail addressed to 441 4th Street, NW, Suite 200-S, Washington, DC 20001.
Great Weight
ANC reports that meet the above listed requirements will receive “great weight.” Great weight means that the ZC or BZA must acknowledge the legally relevant issues and concerns raised by the ANC and explain with a degree of particularity in their order why it did or did not find the ANC’s views persuasive. If the ANC raises issues and concerns that are not relevant to zoning, the ANC’s report will not receive great weight as to those matters. Examples of such non-relevant matters include matters pertaining strictly to the construction codes, and matters dealing with other laws such as alcoholic beverage and cannabis licensing laws, etc. Matters that pertain to zoning, but do not relate to the relief requested, are not considered “legally relevant” and therefore the ANC’s report will not receive great weight to these matters. For example, an ANC report raising issues related to the criteria for variance relief will not be given great weight in a special exception application.
View Form 129 - Advisory Neighborhood Commission Report here.
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