Part 3 of WAMU coverage on DCRA & permitting issues in Petworth
/Part 3 of WAMU's series on property flipping and issues with regulations written by Martin Austermuhle is now available.
As Development Spreads Across D.C.’s Neighborhoods, Can Regulators Keep Up?
This third and final part focuses on the recent Petworth walk-through that Councilmember Vincent Orange conducted, along with residents and ANC 4C Commissioners Joe Martin and Kathleen Crowley.
Pam Lloyd walks with Councilmember Vincent Orange. (Martin Austermuhle is in the back.) Photo: Joe Martin.
From the piece:
"Most of my time is spent addressing complaints from residents about developers who do not follow the proper rules and regulations and the lack of oversight on the part of DCRA,” wrote Kathleen Crowley, the head of an Advisory Neighborhood Commission in the area, in a letter to legislators in March. “Let me be clear, I am not talking about simple matters of permit creep but rather egregious examples of developers going well beyond what the permits allow."
The lack of oversight and enforcement by DCRA has been a recurring theme during the city’s real estate booms. As more construction happens — whether homes being flipped, expanded or converted into condo units — the agency is strained with issuing permits in a timely way and then policing the builders to ensure they are doing only the permitted work."
You can read my earlier post and pictures from the walk-through.
Source: WAMU
