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Living Chevy Chase: Neighbors for a living chevy chase dc

The proposal for a Chevy Chase historic district is off the table -- at least for now. See the announcement here.

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What You Can Do

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Living Chevy Chase: Neighbors for a living chevy chase dc

The proposal for a Chevy Chase historic district is off the table -- at least for now. See the announcement here.

Join Our Email List

What You Can Do

Scroll down to see what's new.

About US

What is Living Chevy Chase?

We are a group of long-time Chevy Chase DC homeowners who believe our neighborhood has grown organically over the past 120 years and is now a better place to live and more attractive to the eye then when it was first built. We want to allow our community to continue that process. We believe that a Historic District would put our homes and our future in the hands of an unelected citywide bureaucracy that has no obligation to (and cannot legally) act to further our own or our community's desires or needs. A Historic District would impose significant obstacles, hassles and costs on any existing (or future) homeowners who want to make minor repairs or major changes to their homes. Act now to stop this overreach - just click on What You Can Do above.

A group attempted to turn over control of our neighborhood and our homes to the unelected citywide preservation bureaucracy. At least for now, that effort has been stopped in its tracks. Many thanks to all who helped make known that our community did not want a historic district imposed on us.

On October 15, 2023, a group filed an application with DC's Historic Preservation Review Board to designate a substantial chunk of Chevy Chase DC as a Historic District. If accepted, that would give the HPRB overall control of our homes and of our neighborhood, down to many routine repairs and maintenance issues that every homeowner faces. For a map of the proposed district, see here. On April 8, 2024, the Historic Preservation Office (HPO) -- the administrative arm for the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) -- announced that it " is not prepared to recommend that the current proposal for a Chevy Chase Historic District be considered by the HPRB at this time." HPO stated that "it is clear that public sentiment on the proposal is sharply divided" and that its "preliminary assessment is that the proposed boundaries are not sufficiently justified." Many thanks to all who helped express our community's opposition to the historic district proposal -- and who accomplished something important for our community and our city. See here for HPO's announcement.

You can keep control of your home (and of our neighborhood) with a few simple steps. A historic district once recognized is likely permanent and irrevocable. Act now! Click on What You Can Do tab above.

Join our mailing list. Write a quick and easy letter to HPRB. Put up a yard sign. Tell your friends. Click here to find out what you can do now!

The degree of HPRB control over the exterior of your home in a historic district is hard to believe. See for yourself!

Don't take our word for it, and don't believe others who say that your choices will be affected in only minor ways . Click here to see for yourself just how extensive are HPRB's restrictions in a historic district. Virtually every detail of the exterior of a building is governed by HPRB, not the homeowner. Choice goes down, costs go up!

Proponents of a Historic District have said that homeowners needn't worry about the HPRB's review process. Take a quick look at HPRB's own process chart!

For a chart prepared by the Historic Preservation Review Board that shows the steps involved in reviewing a homeowner's application for a permit, see this website (chart prepared by HPRB and downloaded in 2022 from their website).

Even many everyday and minor repairs and upgrades would face new obstacles, hassles, and costs in a historic district.

Numerous everyday projects that today require no permit or a quick "postcard permit" would require a visit by you (or your contractor, at your expense) to the Historic Preservation Office, an average delay of 3-4 days, and the possibility of much longer delays, much more documentation, expensive reconfiguration or altered design, and/or costlier options to satisfy the HPO (see here for more info):

Pointing, cleaning and waterproofing masonry
Replacing a walkway or driveway or patio
Replacing roofing, including shingles
Replacing siding, gutters or downspouts
Installing a garden shed or retaining wall
Installing or replacing air conditioning unit, utility meter
Repairing or replacing a fence, exterior stairs or handrails
Repairing or altering a porch or deck
Exterior venting for new furnace, water heater, stove
Solar panels – depending on the orientation and shape of your roof, you may have to locate them in a less efficient place, use fewer of them and/or use more expensive or less efficient materials. For more details see here.

Historic designation would make it much more difficult and expensive (if allowed at all) to make substantial changes or additions to the exterior of your home

"Substantial” additions (>250 sq ft) or any change to a facade triggers Historic Preservation Review Board “compatibility” design approval. Virtually anybody, not just near neighbors, can comment or object.
HPRB review is based on one criterion only: “compatibility” with the way our community looked 80 or 100 years ago, as determined by an unelected board that cannot, by law, consider any other concerns. The HPRB process gives no special voice to, and is in no way answerable to, our community’s desires. For just one example of the HPRB's disregard for a community's desires, see here.
Getting HPRB approval often requires retaining a special consultant or expert to persuade the HPRB bureaucracy to let you do go forward with your project. More expense, time, and hassle!

For more information on restrictions/permits necessary in historic districts, look at the information sheets on this website listed below, or see the below sites:

HPRB Case Studies ("Real HPRB Cases") on this website.
HPO Main Page - https://planning.dc.gov/page/historic-preservation-office
Work Qualifying for HPO Review - https://planning.dc.gov/node/1180431
Property – Special Permit - https://dcra.dc.gov/node/1423961
HPRB Design Guidelines By Topic -https://planning.dc.gov/node/1183905
HPRB Review Process - on this website or https://planning.dc.gov/node/917422 (Click on "Guide to Preservation Reivew)
Application for historic district filed October 2023 - see https://planning.dc.gov/node/1692351

Historic status is neither needed nor appropriate for preventing replacement/additions to smaller houses

It is unfair to owners to think historic district coverage is necessary to preserve smaller “affordable” housing. There are now zero affordable homes in the proposed district. There have been only a small handful of house replacements in the last 30 years, and most have been entirely in keeping with the neighborhood.
Many of us have already adapted and added to our homes, often in ways which would have been vetoed by or met resistance from the HPRB. It is unfair to change the rules so that those who have not yet made changes would lose the ability to do the same (and would likely suffer a loss in value as a result). For a more detailed discussion, see "Beggar Thy (Smaller House) Neighbor" here.

Imposing historic status on more than 400 homes is the wrong tool to regulate new development in the 4-block Connecticut Ave commercial strip, which can be better controlled with focused regulation that does not impose the delays, costs, and hassles of a historic district on homeowners -- and which would be much more open to new housing choices (including affordable housing) rather than perpetuating the exclusionary policies of the past.

Historic preservation review is limited by law to viewing all development proposals through one and only one lens – design “compatibility” with an arbitrary past historical period. It does not and under the law cannot consider any other values, such as economic vitality, the need to adapt the strip to climate concerns or to the post-Covid world, or the need for our neighborhood to provide dedicated, affordable housing, and reverse our history of exclusionary practices.
This neighborhood and the ANC fought hard to get the City Council to give us the right tool – a design-based special zone for the commercial strip .
Instead of “compatibility” with a past historic epoch, a special zone would include enforceable design compatibility guidelines that can be specific (not subjective) and can reflect all the values of importance to our neighborhood (not merely the static historic “compatibility” standard).

Get Involved!

Please get in touch if you’d just like more info, or if you are willing to get up to speed on these issues and help us provide accurate information to your neighbors. Please get in touch – we need your help! LivingChevyChaseDC@gmail.com

Founding Committee: Dodie Brady, Jim Feldman, Phyllis Jordan, Alan Marzilli, Greg Schmidt

Living Chevy Chase: Neighbors for a living chevy chase dc

Living Chevy Chase: Neighbors for a living chevy chase dc

What's new

Recently added materials of interest

About US

What is Living Chevy Chase?

A group attempted to turn over control of our neighborhood and our homes to the unelected citywide preservation bureaucracy. At least for now, that effort has been stopped in its tracks. Many thanks to all who helped make known that our community did not want a historic district imposed on us.

You can keep control of your home (and of our neighborhood) with a few simple steps. A historic district once recognized is likely permanent and irrevocable. Act now! Click on What You Can Do tab above.

The degree of HPRB control over the exterior of your home in a historic district is hard to believe. See for yourself!

Proponents of a Historic District have said that homeowners needn't worry about the HPRB's review process. Take a quick look at HPRB's own process chart!

Even many everyday and minor repairs and upgrades would face new obstacles, hassles, and costs in a historic district.

Historic designation would make it much more difficult and expensive (if allowed at all) to make substantial changes or additions to the exterior of your home

For more information on restrictions/permits necessary in historic districts, look at the information sheets on this website listed below, or see the below sites:

Historic status is neither needed nor appropriate for preventing replacement/additions to smaller houses

Get Involved!

Materials and information for download