Trump's arch clears another hurdle, setting up a big debate: Do height limits apply?
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That law has shaped the skyline of the city ever since.

"It's really about the relationship of a building to the street and to the public realm around it," Morton said. "And it's also a way to preserve distance and view corridors … the sense of a procession through the city that tells a story."

The law grandfathered in certain existing structures, like the Old Post Office Tower (315 feet), and was amended several times to allow for individual exemptions, like the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (329 feet) and the National Press Club building ( 14 stories ).

But exceptions have been rare.

"There hasn't been one in decades, as far as I know," said Sara Bronin, a George Washington University Law School professor who specializes in property, land use, zoning, and historic preservation.

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