Opinion ID: 2208658
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Extraordinary Conditions Justify This Particular Variance

Text: Petitioners argue that the BZA should not have approved a variance that increased what was already a non-conforming FAR. In support of their argument, they note that the 1970 campus plan designated a site for medical facility expansion (Square 40) and that the principal reason for adding to the Burns Building instead of building on Square 40 was financial. For an additional $12,000,000, they maintain, GWU could have used Square 40 to build a structure comparable to the Addition. Petitioners contend that [t]he BZA is not authorized to grant an area variance merely to avoid the added expense or inconvenience inherent in alternative methods of construction or merely to allow the most profitable use of the land. Their argument, in essence, is that financial considerations do not give rise to extraordinary or exceptional circumstances justifying a variance. Even assuming the correctness of this argument, we reject itas did the BZAbecause it does not apply to this case, which involves much more than added expense or inconvenience or an attempt to make the most profitable use of the land. The BZA stated in its order: [T]he Board concludes that the irregular shape of the lot, the narrowness of its southern portion, and the pre-existing Burns Building constitute an extraordinary or exceptional situation or condition of the subject site, and that strict application of Subsections 506.1 and 2001.3(c) would result in peculiar and exceptional difficulties to or exceptional and undue hardship upon the owner. BZA CL ¶ 17. The first factor considered by the BZA was the irregularity of the site upon which the Addition is built. Although petitioners dismiss this factor without comment, it was specifically addressed in the testimony before the BZA. [16] Thus there is support in the record for the conclusion that the nature of the site itself serves to justify the variance. Even more important is the proximity of the Burns Building, as the BZA recognized: The Board concludes that it is an institutional necessity for GWU to expand its ambulatory health care facilities and that such expansion requires that the Addition be physically linked to and interconnected with the Burns Building. This, in turn, requires that a portion of the Addition be constructed on the C-3-C portion of the site, thereby requiring the granting of this variance. BZA CL ¶ 20. This conclusion logically follows from paragraph 35 of the BZA's factual findings: GWU was required to use this particular site for an addition to the Burns Building for a variety of reasons. First, this site allows GWU to continue to use the valuable asset of the pre-existing Burns Building, which is already devoted to ambulatory care. Second, a successful ambulatory care center requires proximity to the hospital, due to the extensive interaction between the medical staff and the hospital. Third, any new addition must comply with the George Washington University Campus Plan. Fourth, the expansion of the Burns Building on the subject site is the only economically feasible location for the required consolidated ambulatory care facility. Granted, Square 40 is also in reasonable proximity to the Hospital and is identified for that reason as the site for further medical facilities. However, it would be unreasonable to require GWU to convert a valuable resource, that is, the existing Burns Building, to other medical, or to other than medical, use at this time, in order to locate a comparable ambulatory care facility on Square 40. BZA FF ¶ 35. Again, these findings are supported by the evidence of record. Through the testimony of Charles Diehl, its Vice President and Treasurer, GWU demonstrated that it could not expand and consolidate its inadequate outpatient facilities unless it could build an Addition to the Burns Building. Furthermore, Mr. Diehl explained that the use of Square 40 for the Addition had in fact been considered; it was rejected, however, not only for fiscal reasons, but because it was reserved for a future hospital as a possible site. [17] In Clerics of Saint Viator, Inc. v. District of Columbia Board of Zoning Adjustment, 320 A.2d 291 (D.C.1974), we considered whether the reasons for granting a variance must be related to the characteristics of the land itself. We declined to establish such a requirement, stating that the BZA is in error when it takes the position that a variance may only be issued when the required hardship inheres in `land' as opposed to `property.' Id. at 294. In the case at bar, the existence and purpose of the Burns Building qualifies as an extraordinary or exceptional situation or condition justifying the variance. While we reject any suggestion that added expense alone would entitle a property owner to a variance, see Barbour v. District of Columbia Board of Zoning Adjustment, 358 A.2d 326, 327 (D.C.1976), other significant factors are present in this case. The shape of the property, the proximity of the Burns Building, and the inadequacy of Square 40, taken together, support the BZA's conclusion that a variance is warranted. Furthermore, GWU presented evidence indicating that unless the Addition was built as an extension to the Burns Building, it could not undertake the project at all. In this particular context, the added expense may properly be deemed a factor, to be weighed along with all the other factors, in deciding whether to grant a variance. [18] Finally, as we said in Monaco v. District of Columbia Board of Zoning Adjustment: [W]hen a public service has inadequate facilities and applies for a variance to expand into an adjacent area in common ownership which has long been regarded as part of the same site, then the Board of Zoning Adjustment does not err in considering the needs of the organization as possible other extraordinary and exceptional situation or condition of a particular piece of property. 407 A.2d 1091, 1099 (D.C.1979). For all of these reasons, we affirm the BZA's decision to grant this particular variance as justified on the ground of exceptional circumstances.