Opinion ID: 1947634
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: License or Permit

Text: Appellees argue that the exclusive right agreements are not licenses or permits because they do not allow the developers to engage in conduct that would otherwise be unlawful, as is true, for example, of liquor licenses. I disagree. A permit or license empowers the grantee to perform some act that would not be allowed in the absence of such authority. The DCAPA itself defines the term license to include any permit, . . . approval,. . . or other form of permission granted by . . . any agency. D.C.Code 1981, § 1-1502(12). There is nothing in the statute restricting such approval or permission to conduct that would otherwise be unlawful. Appellees point out that, theoretically, a developer would not be prevented from preparing a plan at its own expense, even without an exclusive right. But because these rights are exclusive, the agency is precluded by its own agreement from accepting or considering any other proposal. The valuable privilege at issue here, the right granted by the agency, is not the right to prepare a proposal, but rather the right to submit that proposal to the agency without competition from other developers. Accordingly, the exclusive rights bestowed by the agency here are properly characterized as licenses or permits within the meaning of § 1-261(c)(1).