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BZA approves variance for 1332 Harvard St NW after lengthy debate on "self-creation" doctrine
Summary
The BZA approved a variance permitting a fourth dwelling unit at 1332 Harvard St NW, after protracted deliberations over whether an unpermitted basement unit constituted a hardship created by owners. Vice Chair Blake proposed a de novo, property-based analysis and concluded the variance prongs were met; board recorded a 3–0–2 vote.
The Board of Zoning Adjustment voted to approve application 21319, an area-variance request from the minimum lot-area requirement to permit a fourth dwelling unit in a purpose-built 1903 apartment house at 1332 Harvard Street NW. The lot is 2,543 square feet, which equates to roughly 632 square feet per unit, about a 30% deviation from the 900-square-foot-per-unit guideline.
Deliberations focused on the District of Columbia's "self-creation" doctrine, which bars applicants from relying on hardships they themselves created. Vice Chair Carl Blake delivered an extended statement reviewing case law and the record: while the board found elements of self-creation in the property's transactional history, he recommended a de novo, property-based approach that examines the building's inherent physical constraints (age, stacked floor plates and small lot size) rather than solely the history of how the fourth unit came into being.
Blake concluded those inherent site characteristics support a finding of practical difficulty under the variance test and that the requested relief would not cause substantial detriment to the public good or impair the zoning plan; other board members agreed. Chairman Hill and Chair Hood praised the careful analysis and said the case raised policy questions better addressed at the Zoning Commission level, but they ultimately voted to approve the variance.
The board made a motion to approve application 21319 (moved by Chairman Hill, seconded by Vice Chair Blake) and staff recorded the vote as 3–0–2 to approve. The board noted the decision does not alter the need for the Zoning Commission to reconcile broader policy issues such as the 900-square-foot rule; those policy changes remain in the purview of the Zoning Commission.
