Nov. 6, 2001

BZA Alters Campus Plan Ruling

University Expects Final BZA Order Nov. 27

By Jane Lingo

A final order about GW’s housing requirements under the Campus Plan is scheduled to be issued Nov. 27 by DC’s Board of Zoning Adjustment after a ruling last month announced potential new rules to be imposed on the University.

In a 5–0 vote last month, the BZA replaced Condition 9 of the GW Campus Plan, which it had approved earlier this year. The vote requires GW, by Aug. 31, 2002, to house 70 percent of the full-time undergraduate population, or 7,881, plus one additional bed for each full-time undergraduate over that number. Only facilities in three categories will count toward the housing requirement: those located within the campus boundaries; those on the new Elliott School site, provided the Zoning Commission approves the site as part of the campus (a request now pending); and those outside of the Foggy Bottom/West End area.

By Aug. 31, 2006, all undergraduate students are to be housed on campus by the University. The proposed condition does not allow GW to count beds in off-campus residence halls after 2006, such as the Hall on Virginia Avenue, City Hall, and Pennsylvania House. These facilities hold approximately 1,387 beds, enough to meet the housing requirement based on the University’s current enrollment. The University already is addressing the need for more on-campus housing as it prepares to build two new residence facilities to be completed in a few years: one on the Smith Center parking lot and the other across the street at 23rd and G streets. These facilities would provide a combined total of approximately 900 beds.

GW also argued for certain students not to be included in housing requirements, specifically students who already reside outside of the Foggy Bottom/West End area in private housing, married students, students with children, and students with disabilities or religious beliefs incompatible with residence hall life. The BZA denied this argument and these students must be counted in calculating the housing requirement.

In the event GW does not comply with the housing requirement, no applications for zoning approval may be filed for any buildings on campus that are not at least 50 percent residential.

The board removed the enrollment cap on undergraduates which it had imposed on March 29, but the strict housing requirements still may have a limiting effect.

In addition, there is a requirement that, starting on Feb. 28 and thereafter, the University must report twice a year to the Zoning Commission, the BZA, the Office of Planning, and ANC-2A the number of full-time undergraduates, the number of beds on campus, the number and location of GW buildings outside the campus, and the number of beds within the Foggy Bottom/West End area.

All parties will have until Nov. 13 to comment on the new conditions, with the BZA’s ruling scheduled for one week later. The University and its counsel will closely examine the final order and will determine whether to seek relief from the courts. Federal District Court Judge Louis Oberdorfer has stayed GW’s pending lawsuit until the BZA issues its final ruling and GW reports back to the court.

 

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