Opinion ID: 1990985
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Registration of student-owned automobiles.

Text: Revised Condition 14 reads as follows: The Applicant, through its Office of the Registrar, shall maintain an accurate record of the license plate numbers of motor vehicles kept by all University students. The Applicant shall direct its students to register their vehicles in the District of Columbia, or obtain a reciprocity sticker if eligible to do so, and shall consult with the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles to determine whether such registration is completed or such stickers are obtained. The Applicant shall withhold parking privileges to students who do not comply with D.C. registration requirements. Failure to abide by District law concerning registration of student vehicles shall constitute a violation of the Code of Student Conduct. The most controversial aspect of this Revised Condition has become moot, for the District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles has stated that it would not find a list of student-owned vehicles to be useful. See GWU II, 831 A.2d at 938 n. 14. [25] One might reasonably question whether the information-collection provisions and related disciplinary requirements of Revised Condition 14 promote in any major way the goal of avoiding objectionable conditions in neighborhoods adjoining Georgetown's campus. CAG defends Revised Condition 14 as follows: The Motor Vehicle Registration requirements of [Revised] Condition 14 ensure that the University's students comply fully with D.C. law; they also discourage students from obtaining illegally the right to park on the streets of neighborhoods surrounding the University. Indeed, by impeding illegal registration and parking practices, the condition discourages students from bringing vehicles to the University at all and limits the adverse traffic and parking impacts caused by those vehicles. Although this argument may be less than compellingthe connection between Revised Condition 14 and the problems of Burleith and other communities is, at best, indirectthe University has not, in our view, satisfied its formidable burden of showing that Revised Condition 14 is arbitrary or capricious. Accord, GWU II, 831 A.2d at 938 n. 14. On remand, however, the BZA may wish to take a fresh look at this provision to determine whether it is likely to accomplish what it was apparently designed to achieve.