Those big “middle fingers to taste and scale” will be just a little bit shorter. Last night, the Zoning Commission gave initial approval to reduce the allowable height that homeowners can expand their rowhouses in certain districts.

“Pop-ups,” as they’re commonly known, have become one of the more contentious issues among D.C. residents in recent years, and as predicted, the Zoning Commission voted to reduce their allowable height from 40 feet to 35 feet. Urban Turf reports that the decision was reached in a 3-2 vote, with Commission Chairman Anthony Hood, Michael Turnbull, and Peter May voting for the new rule, and Vice Chair Marcie Cohen and Robert Miller against it.

The argument to keep the zoning laws as is is essentially that reducing the allowable height is “downzoning,” which critics say limits the rights of property owners and isn’t the best move when living space in the city is scarce. “We don’t need to change the whole zoning framework,” Miller argued during last night’s hearing.

The vote would apply to buildings in the R-4 districts, which Housing Complex reports is just over 15 percent of D.C.’s residential land. A second, final vote is expected sometime this spring.