Matt Yglesias

More ARTS

Reader Grandarch asked “Matt – Where did you discover this arts zoning restriction? The DC zoning department has nice maps of the different zones (residential, light commercial, etc.), but I don’t remember this arts overlay restriction.” In addition to the regular zones, DC also has “overlay” zones. You can read about both kinds here. Chapter 19 concerns the “Uptown Arts-Mixed Use Overlay”:

The Uptown Arts-Mixed Use (ARTS) Overlay District is applied to the Commercial and Mixed Use Districts in the following squares and portions of squares in the 14th and U Streets, N.W., area: 202 through 211, 234 through 242, N242, 272, 273, 274, 303, 304, 305, 331, 332, 333, 358 through 361, 393, 416, 440, 441, and the portions of squares 2875 and 2877 that are south of V Street.

The ARTS Overlay (and, no, I have no idea why this is in capital letters) has some good provisions, and I wouldn’t want to imply otherwise. But the restaurant cap seems under-motivated and somewhat pernicious.

The Chicken ‘n Egg Menace

Via Dave Alpert, the mayor of Clayton, California takes on the challenge of little girls selling excess produce from their family’s garden on Saturday mornings. Apparently, this violates zoning rules. Mayor Gregg Manning says: “They may start out with a little card-table and selling a couple of things, but then who is to say what else they have. Is all the produce made there, do they make it themselves? Are they going to have eggs and chickens for sale next.”

What’ll be next — a ban on lemonade stands? Probably not. More mayor: “Lemonade stands are technically illegal, but they don’t last long enough to do anything about.” But maybe if future developments allow for more rapid lemonade-detection we can rid ourselves of this scourge.