1727 Massachusetts Avenue: Show You've Consulted the Neighbors and the ANC Will Support You

CORRECTION: In the original headline and first sentence, I incorrectly gave the address as 1717 Massachusetts Avenue. Apologies for the mistake.

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle has reversed itself on a zoning variance request for 1717 1727 Massachusetts Avenue NW. ANC2B now supports the requested zoning variance. The decision came at ANC2B's regular monthly meeting on August 13.

Coming soon: office space in the basement

The zoning variance would enable the owner of a basement unit in the building to legally rent out the unit as office space. The unit functioned as a kind of
handyman's workroom at one time -- it has two rooms and a bathroom, but no kitchen. It has been the home of some kind of small business for over a decade, although strictly speaking the owner did not have authorization to use it in this way. The owner decided he wanted to rent out the office space to some kind of white-collar professional. He discovered he needed a zoning variance to do so.

Previously, the ANC voted to protest the zoning variance application. The ANC felt the other members of the condo community had not been consulted, so it voted to ask DC's Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) to delay the hearing.

At the August 13 meeting, the unit owner, Arnie Litman, appeared before the ANC. He said that the condo bylaws had been reviewed. There was nothing in the bylaws that prohibited the conversion. Other members of the condo association were also notified and given opportunity to protest. None did.

The ANC voted unanimously to endorse the request for a special exception.

See a copy of the letter that ANC2B sent to the BZA here.

This request was also the subject of SALM blog posts on July 9 and July 14.

The documents in this case can be reveiwed by entering case number 18802 into the search bar of the BZA's Interactive Zoning Information System.