Latest from Get the Dirt

If the COVID-19 pandemic was
not already difficult enough on the D.C. real estate development community,
recent proposed legislation by the D.C. Council might make developing
condominiums in the city more challenging.

On September 17, 2020, the D.C. Council’s Committee on
Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization held a public hearing on two bills that
will impact

Dr. Robert Redfield, the Director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, said during his testimony before a Senate subcommittee on
September 16 that wearing face masks may be more effective than a vaccine at
protecting against COVID-19. What is surprising is the authority tasked
with enforcing public health requirements for face masks in the

As
part of the initial flurry of administrative and regulatory changes in response
to the ongoing pandemic, the Zoning Commission (Commission) took emergency
action to approve a text amendment to the Zoning Regulations extending the
validity of approval orders that otherwise would expire between April 27, 2020,
and December 31, 2020. The amendment applies to

As COVID-19-related closures are likely to continue into 2021, the
Zoning Commission (Commission) recently took emergency proposed action to further
clarify the rules and procedures for virtual meetings and hearings. The text
amendment applies to Commission and Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA)
proceedings, which have been held virtually since May 2020.

The amendment would allow

On July 1, 2020, the Board of Zoning Adjustment (Board) reversed a
decision by the Zoning Administrator (ZA) allowing the by-right conversion of
an existing dwelling unit into an eight-unit apartment house in the RA-1 zone.  

The crux of the appeal in BZA Case 20226 concerns the ZA’s
interpretation of Subtitle U §§ 401.1

The District of Columbia’s Department of Consumer and
Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) – the agency that, among other tasks, issues building
permits and business licenses – conducted a virtual meeting on April 15, 2020.
More than 500 residents and business owners submitted their business licensing
questions online during the meeting so that DCRA staff could respond