It turns out you can fight city hall.
The D.C. Court of Appeals has given a small victory to a District couple that has been fighting the city over its decision not to bury power lines along a commercial strip in their Northeast neighborhood.
Don and Abigail Padou, upset that the city balked at implementing a plan to bury power lines along the main commercial corridor of Brookland, put up about 400 posters announcing a protest rally two summers ago.
The posters went up on a Saturday, but were taken down the following Monday by a city employee.
The District said the Padou’s group, Leave the Trees, violated city regulations on which posters can be posted on utility poles and lampposts. But the Padous said their signs were selectively targeted because of their point of view while other signs that violated the same rules were left untouched.
The couple alleged that their First Amendment rights had been violated and took the city to court, where they represented themselves without a lawyer. The case was thrown out in trial court before it ever really got started, but the appeals court reversed that move last week, saying the first court moved too quickly.
The case now goes back to trial court, and affords the Padous the ability to seek evidence of any ulterior motives in the removal of their posters.
“I don’t think it was a random sweep,” Don Padou said.
Burying the lines was supposed to be part of the city’s effort to jazz up Brookland’s commercial corridor on 12th Street; the effort also includes replacing sidewalks and adding landscaping.
Padou said the city has set aside enough money to pay to bury the power lines, which he said would make the corridor more attractive by allowing larger trees to grow there.
But Padou said the District Department of Transportation is worried that burying Brookland’s power lines may lead to a strong demand for similar, pricey work around the city.
Padou estimates that it would cost about $2 million to bury the lines along a one-mile stretch on 12th Street and connect them to users. He said much of the money comes from a federal grant and can’t be used for other things.
A DDOT spokeswoman declined to discuss the case or the power lines, citing a policy against commenting on pending litigation.
