After decades of litigation and public disputes, the Tabard Inn has defeated a proposal for a nearby boutique hotel in Dupont Circle that innkeepers and neighbors said would block the sunshine.
Neighborhood activists and the owners and supports of the Tabard Inn have been locked in combat with developer Morton Bender since the early 1990s. Bender wants to build a Gatsby-style hotel he has called “N Street Follies.” Because of historic preservation and other city zoning laws, Bender’s designs required approval from neighbors, including the Tabard.
In late May, a historic preservation board ordered Bender’s architects to go back to the drawing board. Last week, the city’s board of zoning appeals turned aside Bender’s request for a special exemption for the Follies.
Bender’s foes didn’t oppose a hotel, but they oppose the size and scale of Bender’s plans. Bender wanted 98 rooms, with at least five stories, for his hotel. Neighbors said it would have literally overshadowed the garden spot at the Tabard, which is renowned among many Washingtonians.
But a decade of acrimonious back-and-forth apparently has made compromise all but impossible.
“There could have been something worked out. There’s obviously a certain amount of bad blood in general,” said David Alpert, whose Greater, Greater Washington Web site lobbied against Bender’s plan.
Councilman Jack Evans, D-Ward 2, also opposed Bender’s plan.
“God, we’ve been going around with him on this for 22 years now,” Evans said. “He’s stubborn, basically.”
Reached at home for comment, Bender said, “I have nothing to say,” and hung up the phone.
It might not end the battle: Bender can come back and refile for another special exemption next year if he likes. Bender has spent a good deal of his career in one courtroom or another, from lawsuits with former business associates to a takeover of the historic Independence Federal Savings Bank.
In the meantime, Tabard customers can continue its days in the sun.
Tabard owner Jeremiah Cohen said the zoning and historic preservation laws were designed to show “respect” for the neighborhood.
“A hotel of that size is not a matter of right. There should be respect for the neighbors,” he said. “It just seems like a no-brainer for me.”
