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I think MLD and Charlie get pretty close to what is really going on.

A few thoughts:

1) The great advantage that the preservationist advocates / HPRB have over the applicant is that they are not incurring any meaningful costs in what has become a war of attrition. So, the HPRB staff (Steve Calcott et al) can send you back for another round of designs from your architect, another site visit w/ your engineer, another presentation to the ANC, etc. They just blithely keep forcing you to incur costs until you exhaust your resources and are forced to either go along with them or quit the project.

The only ones that can fight all the way through are deep pocketed organizations like the Heritage Foundation. They were fought tooth and nail by the Capitol Hill Restoration Society and the HPRB all the way to the DC Court of Appeals!

Do you think your average bear could absorb that cost? Or do you think a developer could afford to have his project tied up while interest rates change, costs of capital are paid, etc.? Me neither.

2) Clarity about the rules and standards creates an objective standard to which both the applicant AND the HPRB / preservationist community can be held. Having such an external standard would, of course, reduce the "war of attrition" negotiating leverage that I described above. With clear standards, the applicant could immediately go to the Mayor's Agent and argue that they are, in fact, in compliance with the rules, cutting out multiple cost-incurring cycles of design, presentation, etc.

3) With clear standards, the job would also be a lot less fun for the HPO and HPRB. Who wants to go from controlling a project and having wide latitude in imposing one's personal preference for project to just enforcing rules. At core, that means that the values to be enforced are somebody else's, in this case a City Council, elected by the citizens of DC. It's much more fun to feel important and have people come to you as a supplicant.

Do you think I'm exaggerating? A friend of DCPW was in negotiations with the HPO when Steve Calcott said, "Mmm...no. This just doesn't do anything for me." Apparently a key criterion for success in dealing with the HPO is that your design "does something" for Steve Calcott.

Yes, by all means bring some clarity. And perhaps do something about Steve Calcott and the rest of the high-handed HPO staff, too.

by DC Preservation Watch on Jul 30, 2012 10:41 pm • link • report