Release: Monday, Nov. 8, 2021
Contact: Nick DelleDonne ,
delledonne.n@comcast.net, 703 929 6656
Zoning Administrator to Answer, ‘Is a Roof a Roof?’
BZA Hearing on Masonic Temple, Nov. 10
The major hearing to determine the fate of the proposed oversized, inappropriate Masonic Temple development at 15th & S Sts., NW, is set for Wednesday, November 10 at 9:30 at the DC Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA). The central witness will be Matthew LeGrant, the DC Zoning Administrator, too ill to testify at the first hearing in July, who will be cross-examined on why he approved the subdivision of the Masons’ lot to allow development by calling the 332-ton roof an 'ornament' in a decision written for him by the Temple's developer, Perseus.
Board of Zoning Adjustment Public Meeting and Hearing Case 20453
Wednesday, November 10, 2021, 9:30 am:
WebEx Meeting Online: Click here, Password (Online): DCOZ
Call into the WebEx Meeting: +1 (202) 860-2110
Access Code (Phone): 2303 854 7577
Watch on YouTube Live: Click here
Dupont East Civic Action Association (DECAA) is appealing LeGrant's decision. The DECAA team includes attorneys Michael Hays and Ed Hanlon, and, as witness experts, award-winning architect Ravi Ricker and Professor James C. McCrery at Catholic University, a Presidential appointee to the US Commission of Fine Arts.
The Masons seek to divide their property – to put the majestic Historic Landmark Temple on a postage-sized lot. On the remainder, the Masons propose to build a 5-story apartment building, which will tower over the existing row houses in an Historic District, with two levels of underground garage, a penthouse roof deck and two levels of subterranean cellar apartments, outlawed in New York City and unknown in DC.
The Masons contorted language to try to meet the District's zoning regulations, contends the roof is an 'ornament,' and S Street is the “front.” even though it will not actually be the front.
The project is already an environmental danger. DECCA obtained the Environmental Assessment Report (EAR) commissioned by the Masons' developer. It describes how the site was home to an auto repair shop that left underground oil and gasoline tanks and a PEPCO transformer vault with PCBs, a known carcinogen.
Under a DCRA permit, Perseus is drilling 15 wells to a depth of 70 feet to lower the water table. This will risk damage to nearby homes and buildings with the runoff flowing to the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. And, as far as DECCA can determine, the soil and groundwater have not been tested, in direct contradiction of the developer’s EAR recommendations.
Stop the Masonic Temple Development
Join DECAA Today
703 929 6656
