A D.C. Court of Appeals panel vacated the District's approvals for the McMillan project, and sent it back to the D.C. Zoning Commission and Mayor's office with orders to address the ignored requirements. It turns out the D.C. government, like Montgomery County, failed to examine the environmental impact of the proposed development. In its ruling, the three-judge panel wrote, "FOMP contends that the Commission has a clear responsibility under the applicable statutes and regulations to assess environmental impacts when deciding whether to grant a PUD application. For the reasons already stated, we agree."
On that and several other points, the Court agreed with FOMP, and is requiring the ignored issues to be addressed. Does this mean the McMillan project is sunk? Of course not. But the ruling does suggest that the Westbard lawsuit is of equal merit, and is not likely to be simply dismissed in court. And that if the ruling is similar, the Westbard sector plan could be remanded to the County Council and Montgomery County Planning Board again, to complete the legally-required reviews they failed to execute.
5 comments:
DC has no precedent in MD. Pressing regulation red tape in a suit may work in Maryland, but thank goodness the new Federal Sheriff would just laugh at that.
5:37: The feds have nothing to do with, and no say at all in, this local planning debate. That's why we have a local planning authority and County court.
And Dyer completely ignores 5:37's comment that DC court decisions have no precedent for Maryland courts.
7:03: And you completely ignore that I never claimed the decision was "precedent." The whole article is about how it proves the merits of the Westbard case. Good judges in any jurisdiction are likely to find the same merits.
No, DC does not set Maryland precedent, but the decision in DC *does* add substantive weight to the arguments advanced in the Westbard suit. It is appropriate, in arguing the law, to set forth Maryland precedent (best), but *also* to cite other jurisdictions that have ruled favorably in similar circumstances.
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