What's Hot: Amazon Abandons Plans For HQ2 in New York | Long-Term Mortgage Rates Fall to Lowest Level in a Year
A PUD Appeal (of Sorts) in Forest Hills

The threat of appeal has delayed and deterred many planned-unit developments (PUD) in the District in recent years, although typically these appeals are associated with projects proposing hundreds of housing units in a construction-heavy corridor. However, a new appeal may derail a much smaller project proposed in an area of the city where many would say development is far too rare.
A year ago, Soapstone Valley Ventures applied for a PUD for the site of the former Polish ambassador's residence at 3101 Albemarle Street NW (map) in Forest Hills. The proposal followed the developer successfully seeking historic landmark status for the ambassador's residence and called for restoring the landmarked building as a residence and constructing an additional single-family home and five rowhouses around a shared courtyard on the surrounding acre.
Instead, the developer nixed the above plans and opted to proceed with a by-right development in the face of neighborhood opposition, a tactic which has become more popular when PUDs will likely or are actually being appealed. The developer filed a motion to withdraw the PUD application at the end of October and sought subdivision of the site into three lots behind the ambassador's residence, enabling them to potentially construct three detached houses fronting 32nd and Appleton Streets. Now, those plans face appeal.
A group of neighbors who live within 200 feet of the property has filed an application with the Board of Zoning Adjustment to appeal the underlying premise behind the site being subdivided and a building permit for a detached house on one of the lots being approved.
The Zoning Administrator (ZA) approved subdivision in June, an action which required no public hearing. The appellants argue that not only were they not informed of these plans, but that the subdivision approval itself was based on faulty calculations of the required setbacks and lot line restrictions.
"The ZA improperly approved a gerrymandered lot that does not comply with zoning requirements, resulting in increased density," the application asserts. "The increased density on Appleton Street will likely reduce light to nearby residences, increase traffic, exacerbate parking issues, and adversely affect the privacy some of the Appellants. Moreover, views of the landmarked property will be blocked or diminished, as will the general character of the neighborhood."
A hearing for the appeal has not yet been scheduled.
See other articles related to: zoning, pud, polish ambassador's residence, planned unit development, forest hills
This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/a-pud-appeal-of-sorts-in-forest-hills/14769
Most Popular... This Week • Last 30 Days • Ever

While the development pipeline is slowing considerably in some neighborhoods, there r... read »

In addition to a potential water-transit pilot program, Woodbridge could be getting a... read »

The DC metro area has the tenth-highest share of married couples with roommates natio... read »

A new Zillow analysis asserts that Carver Langston's homes are the most popular in th... read »

The online behemoth announced its change of plans following mounting political pressu... read »
- From Whole Foods to Town: The 1,440 Units Slated for Shaw and U Street
- What Wharf? A 1,000-Unit Mixed-Use "Waterfront" Community Planned for Woodbridge
- Married Couples in the DC Area Are Taking on Roommates
- Is This The DC Neighborhood That Homebuyers Love the Most?
- Amazon Abandons Plans For HQ2 in New York
DC Real Estate Guides
Short guides to navigating the DC-area real estate market
We've collected all our helpful guides for buying, selling and renting in and around Washington, DC in one place. Visit guides.urbanturf.com or start browsing below!
First-Timer Primers
Intro guides for first-time home buyers
Northern Virginia
Profiles of 14 neighborhoods across Northern Virginia
Ballston
Looking to Give People A Reason to Stay Past 6pm
|
Clarendon
Happily Straddling the Line Between City and Suburb
|
Columbia Pike
Arlington’s Neglected Stepchild is Getting a Makeover
|
Crystal City
Turning Lemons into Lemonade
|
Lyon Village
Developing An Air of Exclusivity?
|
Rosslyn
Hitting Its Growth Spurt
|
Shirlington
An Urban Village Hitting Its Stride
|
Del Ray
Virginia’s Small Town Near the Big City
|
Eisenhower Avenue
The Vibrancy Might Take a Few Years
|
Huntington
The Quiet Neighborhood By the Beltway
|
Old Town
Mayberry By The Potomac
|
Parkfairfax
132 Commerical-Free Acres
|
Downtown Falls Church
Staying the Same in the Midst of Change
|
Tysons Corner
Radical Change Could Be On The Way
|
Maryland
Profiles of 14 neighborhoods in suburban Maryland
Annapolis
Small-Town Living in the State Capital
|
Bethesda
Bedroom Community Gets Buzzing Cache
|
Cabin John
In With The New While Maintaining the Old
|
Chevy Chase
Affluence, Green Lawns and Pricey Homes
|
Downtown Silver Spring
Experiencing a Resurgence After a Bumpy History
|
Potomac
A Suburb on Steroids
|
Rockville Town Square
Despite the Dynamism, Still Somewhat Generic
|
Takoma Park
More Than a Little Bit Quirky
|
Wheaton
A Foodie Magnet on the Verge of Change
|
Capitol Heights
Kudzu, Front Porches and Crime
|
Hyattsville
Glass Half Full or Half Empty?
|
Mount Rainier
Artists, Affordable Homes and A Silo Full of Corn
|
National Harbor
A Development Rises Next to the Potomac
|
Riverdale Park
A Town Looking For Its Identity
|
Northwest DC
30+ neighborhood profiles for the city's biggest quadrant
16th Street Heights
DC's Sleeper Neighborhood
|
Bloomingdale
Where (Almost) Everyone Knows Your Name
|
AU Park
One of DC’s Last Frontiers Before the Suburbs
|
Brightwood
DC’s Northern Neighborhood on the Cusp
|
Burleith
DC’s 535 House Neighborhood
|
Cathedral Heights
Do You Know Where That Is?
|
Chevy Chase DC
Not to Be Confused With the Other Chevy Chase
|
Cleveland Park
Coming Back After A Rough Year
|
Columbia Heights
DC’s Most Diverse Neighborhood, But For How Long?
|
Crestwood
An Island of Serenity East of the Park
|
Dupont Circle
The Best of DC (For a Price)
|
Foggy Bottom & West End
Where the Institutional Meets the International
|
Forest Hills
Ambassadors and Adventurous Architecture
|
Foxhall Village
350 Homes Just West of Georgetown
|
Friendship Heights
A Shopping Mecca With a Few Places to Live
|
Georgetown
History, Hoyas and H&M
|
Glover Park
One of DC’s Preppier and More Family-Friendly Neighborhoods
|
Kalorama
A Posh View From Embassy Row
|
LeDroit Park
A Quiet Enclave in the Middle of the City
|
Logan Circle
Trendy Now, But Not By Accident
|
Mount Pleasant
Sought-After Homes Surround Main Street in Transition
|
Mount Vernon Triangle
From Seedy to Sought-After
|
Palisades
The Long, Skinny Neighborhood at the City’s Northwest Edge
|
Park View
It’s Not Petworth
|
Penn Quarter/Chinatown
DC’s Go-Go-Go Neighborhood
|
Petworth
Getting a Vibrancy of Its Own
|
Shaw
The Duke’s Former Stomping Ground
|
Shepherd Park
DC’s Garden of Diversity
|
Spring Valley
A Suburb With a DC Zip Code
|
Takoma
Not To Be Confused With Takoma Park
|
Tenleytown
Not Quite Like Its Neighbors
|
U Street Corridor
The Difference a Decade Makes
|
Woodley Park
Deceptively Residential
|
Adams Morgan
No Longer DC’s Hippest Neighborhood, But Still Loved by Residents
|
Southwest DC
The little quadrant that could
Southwest Waterfront
A Neighborhood Where A Change Is Gonna Come
|
Northeast DC
Profiles of 10 neighborhoods in NE
Brookland
New Development Could Shake Up Pastoral Peace
|
Deanwood
A Little Bit of Country Just Inside the District’s Borders
|
Eckington
Not to Be Confused With Bloomingdale
|
Fort Totten
Five Years Could Make a Big Difference
|
H Street
A Place To Party, and To Settle Down
|
Langdon
The Northeast Neighborhood That Few Know About
|
Michigan Park
A Newsletter-On-Your-Doorstep Community
|
NoMa
Evolving from a Brand to a Neighborhood
|
Rosedale
Ripe for Investment Right About Now
|
Trinidad
The Difference 5 Years Makes
|
Woodridge
Big Houses, A Dusty Commercial Strip and Potential
|
Southeast DC
6 neighborhoods from Capitol Hill to East of the River
Capitol Riverfront
Still Growing
|
Hill East
Capitol Hill’s Lesser Known Neighbor
|
Congress Heights
Gradually Rising
|
Hillcrest
Notable for Its Neighborliness
|
Historic Anacostia
Future Promise Breeds Cautious Optimism
|
Eastern Market
A More European Way of Living
|
Off the Beaten Turf
Overlooked parks, shops, cafes, and miscellany throughout DC
Unique Spaces
Awesome and unusual real estate from across the DC Metro