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Articles
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| City demands AppleTree’s permit back |
VOICE writes, "BY BEN WEINSTEIN
The Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs ignited a minor commotion recently when it approved AppleTree’s plans for a Northeast charter school.
Shortly after the school received approval, the department asked that the AppleTree Institute for Education and Innovation surrender its permit.
“DCRA notified the attorney for AppleTree that if the permit was not surrendered voluntarily, DCRA would begin proceedings to revoke the permit,” agency director Linda Argo said in a statement, adding that “any construction work at the property address would be at his client’s own risk.”
A spokesperson said the agency planned to send AppleTree a revocation notice on Nov. 19.
“I am confident director Argo means to correct this problem,” said Joe Fengler, chair of the Northeast Capitol Hill advisory neighborhood commission. But, he added, the error underscores the agency’s underlying systemic problems."
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“We want an explanation of the errors,” AppleTree managing director Russ Williams said, adding that the agency approved all building aspects of the school’s application. “So what’s the problem? What’s the error?”
At issue is AppleTree’s planned preschool at 138 12th St. NE. Some residents have fought the plans since the school bought the building in 2005, taking the case to the D.C. Superior Court and the city’s Board of Zoning Adjustment.
The residents, organized under the nonprofit Northeast Neighbors for Responsible Growth, call the proposed school too big for the residential block and say they worry it would bring unmanageable traffic, noise, safety and parking problems.
Northeast Neighbors for Responsible Growth member Margaret Holwill asked the agency to post stop-work orders at the site. “Any illegal demolition, even if halted, could leave the building open to the elements, to rodents, other animals, and vandals,” Holwill wrote in an e-mail to the agency.
The Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs did not say it would post stop-work orders, but Argo’s statement makes clear that the school could be forced to undo any construction work before the issue is resolved.
Williams said AppleTree followed city procedures and has been validated by the courts and the zoning board. “What good is the administrative process if you follow it to the letter and you’re still denied?”
Williams pointed out that the D.C. Superior Court dismissed the Northeast Neighbor’s lawsuit against the city -- to prevent construction -- and the Board of Zoning Adjustment sided with AppleTree in its appeal against the regulatory agency. In that case, the board said the agency incorrectly denied AppleTree’s application.
But the Zoning Commission adopted new restrictions for public schools, including charter schools, in residential areas. Residents thought that when those amendments were finalized earlier this fall, that AppleTree would not be able to get building permits without applying for zoning relief, which would trigger community input.
So residents and the neighborhood commissioners were surprised by the agency’s initial approval. But the agency said the permit never should have been issued because there is still a hold pending an environmental review.
“Despite stellar leadership at the top, the internal procedures at DCRA allowed the permits to be wrongly issued,” Fengler said.
The agency did not comment on those procedures.
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Posted on Dec 02, 2007 14:12pm.
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