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

Heading: The BZA's authority.

Text: The powers of the BZA are those defined by statute and regulation. Spring Valley Heights Citizens' Ass'n v. District of Columbia Bd. of Zoning Adjustment, 644 A.2d 434, 436 (D.C.1994). Specifically, the Board is authorized to make special exceptions to the provisions of the zoning regulations in harmony with their general purpose and intent. D.C.Code § 6-641.07(d) (2001). The Board also has appellate authority to hear and decide, in accordance with the provisions of the regulations adopted by the Zoning Commission, requests for[, inter alia, ] special exceptions. [9] D.C.Code § 6-641.07(g)(2) (2001). The Zoning Regulations vest the Board with original jurisdiction to grant variances. . . and special exceptions . . . and to exercise all other powers authorized by the Zoning Act of 1938, [as amended,] . . . D.C.Code §§ 6-641.01 to 6-641.15. 11 DCMR § 3100.1 (2003). So far as we can determine, the BZA's authority to exercise all other powers authorized by the Zoning Act has no bearing on this case, and no party has argued otherwise. The question in this case is whether the conditions that have been challenged by the University were properly imposed by the Board pursuant to its authority to grant special exceptions. An administrative agency is a creature of statute and may not act in excess of its statutory authority. Dist. Intown Props., Ltd. v. District of Columbia Dep't of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs, 680 A.2d 1373, 1379 (D.C.1996). When [the legislature] passes an Act empowering administrative agencies to carry on governmental activities, the power of those agencies is circumscribed by the authority granted. Stark v. Wickard, 321 U.S. 288, 309 & n. 22, 64 S.Ct. 559, 88 L.Ed. 733 (1944) (citing, inter alia, Marbury v. Madison , 5 U.S. (1 Cranch at 165)). In the Spring Valley case, which presented a question as to the extent of the BZA's authority, we stated that [t]his court, like other courts, has been reluctant to read into a statute powers for a regulatory agency which are not fairly implied from the statutory language, since the agency is statutorily created. 644 A.2d at 436 (citation omitted). Absent express statutory or regulatory authority, a regulatory agency may not impose remedial measures. Id. (quoting Davidson v. District of Columbia Bd. of Med., 562 A.2d 109, 112 (D.C.1989)). Implicit in the Board's power to grant special exceptions is the authority to place reasonable conditions upon such approval. GWU II, 831 A.2d at 928. Under our zoning regulations, a college has no right to locate in a residentially zoned district unless it conforms to all of the requirements of the [Zoning Regulations]. Marjorie Webster Junior Coll. v. District of Columbia Bd. of Zoning Adjustment, 309 A.2d 314, 318-19 (D.C.1973). Because these regulations require that use as a college or university shall be located so that it is not likely to become objectionable to neighboring property because of noise, traffic, number of students or other objectionable conditions, id. at 316 n. 3 (quoting predecessor of 11 DCMR § 210.2), the Board is authorized in approving a campus plan to ensure, by imposing appropriate requirements on the University, that so far as reasonably possible, objectionable conditions such as those enumerated in the regulation will be avoided. See GWU II, 831 A.2d at 932-38, 949-52 (approving several such conditions).