GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
OFFICE OF ZONING

 

Open Government Report 2014
 

 
To institutionalize a culture of transparent and open government, accountability, and to
expand opportunities for resident participation and collaboration, this Report describes how
the Office of Zoning (DCOZ) has and will continue to develop and enhance transparency,
public participation, and collaboration. In accordance with Mayor’s Order 2014-170, this
report addresses the following topics:
1)

Transparency
DCOZ is committed to a transparent, open form of government. District agency
websites are required to make records available online to the public, if those records
exist. In cases where these records exist, but are not yet available online, DCOZ
works to provide them as soon as possible. All FOIA requests are handled
professionally and expeditiously.
DCOZ is very proud of the amount of searchable information that is available on its
website. DCOZ continues to expand on the information already available 24/7 to the
public by making the remaining case workflows available to the public through
Interactive Zoning Information System (IZIS) in FY15. Information that is currently
available includes:
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Zoning Commission (ZC) Rules of Practice and Procedure
Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) Rules of Practice and Procedure
ZC and BZA Final Orders – since 1970
ZC and BZA Transcripts – since 1997
ZC and BZA Case Records – IZIS
o All case file documents for PUDs, map amendments, special exceptions,
variances and appeals
o Case information for all case types (i.e., status, relief, action, order,
transcripts, video, etc.)
The Official Zoning Map of the District of Columbia
o Zone district information
o Case information (i.e., orders, relief, and locations for closed cases)
o All active ZC and BZA cases
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Ability to search for zoning information based on one’s location on the zoning map

ZC and BZA Live Webcast of Meetings and Hearings
ZC and BZA Video-on Demand of Public Meetings and Hearings – since 2006
DCOZ's FY14 Budget
P Card Purchases
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Expenditures
Awarded Contracts
DCOZ Public Employee Salary Information
DCOZ Organizational Chart
DCOZ Performance Plans
District-wide FOIA Reports
Rights of the Public
Submission of Feedback to DCOZ

In addition, pursuant to the Open Meetings Act, DCOZ has made every effort to be in
compliance with Open Meetings requirements, including announcing, noticing, and
voting on all closed meetings for the purpose of seeking legal advice from counsel
and deliberating upon, but not deciding cases scheduled for decision, pursuant to §§
405(b)(4) and 405 (b)(13) of the District of Columbia Administrative Procedure Act.
Further, in accordance with § 408, DCOZ maintains an archive of recordings of all
such meetings.
DCOZ continues to work closely with the Office of the Chief Technology Officer
(OCTO) to identify a datasets that OCTO publishes on their website. In the future,
requirements for open data reporting will be provided by the Chief Data Officer.

2)

Public Engagement and Participation
In FY12, DCOZ launched IZIS which allows the public to file documents or
comments in a case 24/7. This past fiscal year the Zoning Regulation Review case,
70% of all other ZC cases, and 90% of all Board of Zoning Adjustment cases records
were available online for the public to access and make comments via IZIS.
Although DCOZ does use Twitter and Facebook as methods for sharing information,
they are not acceptable methods for submitting comments into case records.
DCOZ is currently working to make the rest of its case workflows available to the
public through IZIS. It plans to have this information available by the start of
FY2016.
http://app.dcoz.dc.gov/
http://app.dcoz.dc.gov/Content/Search/Search.aspx
DCOZ employs many methods of alerting the public of its hearings and meetings.
Notices are sent to the affected Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, Ward Council
Member, and Property Owners within 200 feet of projects. In special cases, notices
are also sent to libraries, community centers, businesses, civic and citizens
associations, professional associations, etc. In addition, DCOZ publicizes public
meetings and hearings on its website and on the website of the office of the Board of
Ethics and Government Accountability.

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http://dcoz.dc.gov/zc/calendar.shtm
http://www.bega-dc.gov/

3)

Collaboration
DCOZ has employed various methods to improve collaboration with other
government agencies, including:
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The implementation of IZIS has made it easier for government agencies to
submit reports to ZC and BZA cases and for the public to be able to find these
reports as soon as they are filed.
http://app.dcoz.dc.gov/Content/Search/Search.aspx

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DCOZ collaborates with the Office of the Chief Technology Officer, Office of
Planning, and other government agencies to feed data to the central DCGIS
and the DC Official Zoning Map.
http://zmap.dcoz.dc.gov/

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DCOZ is currently collaborating with the Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR)
to build a web application that will allow applicants to request owner data for
properties within 200 ft. radius of project premises under ZC or BZA review.

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