Do you remember the ongoing development projects on Holbrook Terrace NE? There were hearing at the Board of Zoning Adjustment on May 17th. Summaries of discussions are below for those that have been following the projects.

The first is BZA Case Number 19168 at 1258 Holbrook Terrace NE for conversion to an eight-unit apartment building. The hearing has been postponed to July 12th. The Board noted that this applicant has requested extensions on 3 previous occasions as they needed more time to work through issues with neighbors and ANC. For this case hearing the applicant waited until after earlier vote on the same day to submit paperwork for extension and did not show at hearing. They noted that this will be last extension and the case will be dismissed if they fail to appear again.

The second is BZA Case Number 19173 at 1264 Holbrook Terrace NE and covers conversion to an apartment building. There have been numerous meetings with the community about this project and several hearings before the BZA. At this hearing the two sides were given time to meet as they had not finalized agreements in the time provided at the last hearing. Once the hearing started, they moved to agreement on the project. 

Highlights of the agreement, many of which focused on construction management, include:

1. Request to have housing accommodation for adjoining neighbor (up to 30 days at $100 per day).
2. Install barriers to contain/prevent dust/debris from contaminating neighboring properties.
3. Liability of damages to be spelled out with neighboring properties. This includes a walk through to assess current and unintended damages.
4. The immediate neighbors’ roof will be replaced by the developer.
5. There were some set back concessions for an adjoining neighbor and no windows will be placed along the adjoining property.
6. The Inclusionary Zoning lower-income housing units were lost with the changes to the project, which has a smaller footprint than the one originally proposed that included 3 IZ units.

The Holbrook Terrace Alliance representative noted that special exception the developer is seeking is better for community than the by-right option that they could build. They had hired an attorney to work with the developer on the final negotiations and withdrew their party status to protest the project with concessions made by the developer.

DDOT had no objection and no one else attended the hearing in support or opposition of the project. There was some discussion on the status of the ANC and whether or not the Board could issue a final ruling without and official letter from the full 5D ANC. The Board decided to proceed with a vote for a summary order given the time to hear the case and lengths the developer has taken to work with the community to modify plans. The motion passed 4-0-1 (one member was not present).

All orders and documents on the cases can be found the BZA website.