{"id":785,"date":"2021-08-02T11:39:59","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T11:39:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/?p=785"},"modified":"2021-10-13T00:04:01","modified_gmt":"2021-10-13T00:04:01","slug":"masonic-temple-developer-seek-to-rush-approvals-decaa-to-challenge-construction-permit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/dc\/785","title":{"rendered":"Masonic Temple\/Developer Seek to Rush Approvals &#8211; DECAA to Challenge Construction Permit"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin:0in;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif\"><b><span style=\"font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)\">For Release: Monday, August 2, 2021<\/span><\/b><span style=\"font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin:0in;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif\"><b><span style=\"font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)\">Contact: <\/span><\/b><span style=\"font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)\">Nick\u00a0DelleDonne\u00a0,\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin:0in;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif\"><a href=\"mailto:delledonne.n@comcast.net\" style=\"color:rgb(5,99,193)\"><span style=\"font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif\"><a href=\"mailto:delledonne.n@comcast.net\" >delledonne.n@comcast.net<\/a><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)\">, 703 929 6656<\/span><span style=\"font-size:14pt;line-height:107%;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style=\"margin:0in;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif\"><b><span style=\"font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)\">\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style=\"margin:0in;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif\"><b><span style=\"font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)\">Masonic Temple\/Developer Seek to Rush Approvals &#8211;<\/span><\/b><span style=\"font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style=\"margin:0in;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif\"><b><i><span style=\"font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)\">DECAA to Challenge Construction Permit<\/span><\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style=\"margin:0in;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)\">In a brazen move to circumvent ongoing court and regulatory approval, the Masonic Temple, acting through its developer Perseus TDC, has applied for a building permit (application B1907507) to begin construction of their oversize, community-destroying project at 15<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0and S Streets, NW, while the case is pending in the DC Court of Appeals and the DC Board of Zoning Adjustment.\u00a0 Acting for the community, the Dupont East Civic Action Association (DECAA), in a letter dated July 31<sup>st<\/sup>, put the parties, Perseus and the Masons, on notice that DECAA will appeal any construction permit.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)\">\u201cIf Perseus and the Scottish Rite Temple decide to begin construction knowing the permit will be challenged, they<i>\u00a0do so at their own financial and legal risk.\u00a0<\/i>They are now on notice,\u201d said DECAA Board Member Ed Hanlon. The parties include the District Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA), the developer Perseus and the Scottish Rite Masons of the 33<sup>rd<\/sup>\u00a0Order.<\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)\">DCRA is already bending-over-backwards for this development. It is on record as calling\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black\">a 46-foot high, 332-ton roof on the Temple an &#39;ornament&#39; so that it doesn\u2019t count towards the height of the building. Also, DCRA let the developer\u2019s attorney write the \u2018zoning determination letter\u2019 that DCRA adopted without change as the DC Government&#39;s approval for the project.\u00a0 The letter was subsequently deleted from the DCRA website after the Inspector General initiated an investigation.\u00a0 And the Historic Preservation Office (HPO) changed its position from\u00a0opposition to approval when the developer called HPO to ask for the change.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)\">\u201cWhat started as concerns over historic preservation and community engagement has become a concern for administrative corruption,\u201d said DECAA president Nick DelleDonne. The Masons\/Perseus want to build a five-story building, with two subterranean levels of apartments 15 ft below ground, plus a two-level underground parking garage and a rooftop swimming pool and \u201camenities\u201d deck.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style=\"margin:0in;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-size:14pt\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For Release: Monday, August 2, 2021 Contact: Nick\u00a0DelleDonne\u00a0,\u00a0\u00a0 delledonne.n@comcast.net, 703 929 6656 \u00a0 Masonic Temple\/Developer Seek to Rush Approvals &#8211; DECAA to Challenge Construction Permit \u00a0 In a brazen move to circumvent ongoing court and regulatory approval, the Masonic Temple, acting through its developer Perseus TDC, has applied for a building permit (application B1907507) to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,14,67,4,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dc","category-historic-sites","category-planning","category-w2","category-zoning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=785"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2857,"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785\/revisions\/2857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}