A blue whale grows more than thirty pounds a day and doubles in size in its first six months of life. Every developer wants to land the whale of a deal. Many big deals in the District of Columbia require complicated entitlements before the Board of Zoning Adjustment or the Zoning Commission. Unfortunately, the District’s zoning world has fallen prey to a growing number of challenges before the DC Court of Appeals, and the court is only feeding the problem.
What we are seeing is not only an increase in zoning cases that are being appealed, but also greater scrutiny from the Court of Appeals over decisions made by the Board of Zoning Adjustment or the Zoning Commission. Simply put, the Court of Appeals is demonstrating a willingness to vacate and remand zoning decisions. This has happened twice in April 2018 alone, including for the redevelopment of the St. Thomas’ Episcopal Parish building in DuPont Circle and a PUD in Barry Farm.
The sheer number of appellate cases is startling. Since January 2016, a period of a little more than two years, there have been fifty-three appeals of decisions made by the Board of Zoning Adjustment or the Zoning Commission. Compare this to only seventy-one appeals in the preceding four years between January 2012 and December 2015. Read more ›