A D.C. administrative law judge ruled that a million-dollar home in Northwest Washington can stand despite a ruling by a federal commission that determined the building permit violated federal standards.
The yearlong dispute has stirred the residents of North Portal Estates, an old Washington neighborhood full of red-bricked Colonial homes that runs along Rock Creek Park. Neighbors have put up hundreds of blue campaign signs in opposition to the construction of the nearly completed new home.
The D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs has tried to revoke the permits for the Tudor-style home on North Portal Drive NW after officials realized that the plans hadn’t been reviewed by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. Federal law requires that the commission review the home’s plans because the construction is across from Rock Creek Park, federal parkland.
Administrative law judge William England Jr. ruled Tuesday that the District can’t revoke its building permit months after it mistakenly approved the construction.
The District, which is representing the neighbors, has 30 days to appeal.
Neighborhood residents are urging the District to appeal. They say England’s ruling disregards the interests of their neighborhood and the interests of the federal government in preserving the integrity of Rock Creek Park. They also say that the city should have the ability to correct the actions of its staff.
The home was one of two that were built next to a large, older home. The Tudor-style home sits in the former backyard of the older home and looks out on the house of Deborah Royster, a Pepco attorney, and Robert Malson, president of the D.C. Hospital Association.
“We have no privacy,” Roster said. “It looms over our house.”
The owner of the new homes, Minh Vu, of Arlington, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
