The D.C. General Hospital building, which is now used as a homeless shelter. Photo via Google Street View.

One hundred people who live at the D.C. General shelter may be relocated to another building on the Hill East campus because of potential “health and safety risks” to the occupants.

A Zoning Commission notice of public hearing published in the D.C. Register today calls for the residents of Building 9 — a low barrier shelter that can serve 100 homeless women — be relocated to Building 27 after an assessment raised concerns with the Department of Human Services.

“In mid to late 2013, an assessment of Building 9 was completed and it identified various environmental hazards including elevated concentrations of airborne asbestos and the presence of lead containing materials,” a report by the Office of Planning states. “These environmental hazards, coupled with an aging HVAC system and deteriorating plumbing infrastructure, prompted the [Department of Human Services] and Department of General Services (DGS) to start planning abatement, demolition and construction efforts for the remediation of the building in order to meet the health and safety needs of the residents.”

While it was originally planned “to be done with the shelter in place,” “it was determined that due to the amount of environmental hazards present, Building 9 could not be safely occupied while the abatement and demolition activities were being carried out.”

That’s where Building 27 — and the zoning amendment — comes in.

“Both buildings are located in the Hill East Zone District, which disallows new emergency shelters for more than four persons,” the notice says. “The amendment would allow either building to serve as an emergency shelter for up to 100 persons, but only one building may be used for this purpose at any one time.”

While, the OP report states, DHS’ goal is to relocate the facility off-site, “the budget at this time is not sufficient to construct a new facility or to completely renovate the existing space in Building 9 this year. A return to Building 9 in the future is possible if it is properly renovated. However, in preparation for future development of Hill East, the District continues to look off site for alternate housing for all shelter residents currently housed at Hill East.”

At a March meeting, the Zoning Commission adopted the amendment on an emergency basis, and a public hearing has been scheduled for June 5.