Opinion ID: 2317167
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Wardman Tower

Text: The Zoning Regulations require, in general, that one parking space be provided for every two units at a hotel. 11 DCMR § 7202.1 (1977). [28] With several exceptions not relevant here, the regulations exempt buildings built before May 12, 1958  the effective date of the parking regulations  from this requirement. 11 DCMR § 7201.1 (1977); see Page Associates v. District of Columbia, 463 A.2d 649, 651 (D.C.1983). In applying for certificates of occupancy for the hotel, WSC represented to the Zoning Administrator that the completed structure would contain 1366 units. WSC claimed that no parking spaces were required for the 209-unit Wardman Tower because that structure had been built prior to May 1958. In issuing the certificate of occupancy, the Zoning Administrator accepted this contention, and calculated the parking required based on a total of 1157 units. In its appeal to the BZA, the WPCA claimed that as of May 1958, the Wardman Tower contained only 60 units. WPCA argued, therefore, that in calculating parking requirements, only 60 units should be excluded from the hotel's total of 1366. Thus, the factual question before the BZA was the number of units contained in the Wardman Tower as of May 12, 1958. In reviewing the BZA's findings on this question, we apply the substantial evidence test. District of Columbia Administrative Procedure Act (DCAPA), D.C.Code § 1-1509(e) (1981). [29] That test requires that in each agency decision (1) there must be findings on each contested issue of fact; (2) the decision must rationally follow from the facts; and (3) there must be sufficient evidence supporting each finding. Citizens Association of Georgetown, Inc. v. District of Columbia Zoning Commission, 402 A.2d 36, 41 (D.C. 1979) (citations omitted). To be sufficient to support a finding, evidence must be more than a mere scintilla [and must be] such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. Consolidated Edison Co. v. NLRB, 305 U.S. 197, 229, 59 S.Ct. 206, 217, 83 L.Ed. 126 (1938); see also Vestry of Grace Parish v. District of Columbia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, 366 A.2d 1110, 1112 (D.C.1976). The evidence presented to the BZA on both sides of this issue was meager. WPCA offered the testimony of Mr. Lindsley Williams, an area resident and former Area Neighborhood Commissioner, who had prepared an application in 1978 to designate the Wardman Tower a historical landmark. Mr. Williams testified that according to his information and belief the Wardman Tower was used entirely as a residential hotel with approximately 60 permanent residential suites until early in the 1960's. [30] The Zoning Administrator testified that he had no idea how many rooms were in the Wardman Tower in 1958. He explained that his determination that the Wardman Tower contained 209 units in 1958 was based on plans showing 209 to be the current number, coupled with an inability to locate any evidence that a different number existed in 1958. [31] WSC, owner of the Wardman Tower in 1958, presented no evidence on the issue to the BZA. The BZA's conclusion that the most reliable information seems to be that the Wardman Towers had sixty permanent residential units in 1958 based on Mr. Williams' testimony, is bolstered by the fact that the testimony was essentially unrebutted. Given the absence of contrary evidence, the record before the BZA was sparse. Nonetheless, we find the BZA's conclusion that the Wardman Tower contained 60 units in 1958 to be based on substantial evidence. See Lynchburg Gas Co. v. Federal Power Commission, 119 U.S.App.D.C. 23, 29, 336 F.2d 942, 948 (1964) (where proof of certain facts is unavailable or such proof as is available is highly speculative, courts give greater deference to agency expertise); see also Federal Power Commission v. Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corp., 365 U.S. 1, 28-29, 81 S.Ct. 435, 450, 5 L.Ed.2d 377 (1961); Federal Communications Commission v. RCA Communications, 346 U.S. 86, 96-97, 73 S.Ct. 998, 1005, 97 L.Ed. 1470 (1953).