ELR Citation: ELR 20477
No(s). 6802 (D.C. May 16, 1973)

The District of Columbia Board of Zoning Adjustment erred in granting a special exception allowing the construction of a private tennis club on open space in a district zoned for single-family detached dwellings, and is reversed. The scope of judicial review of zoning adjustments is limited to whether the decision follows as a matter of law from the facts stated, and whether those facts have substantial support in the evidence. Where a tennis and recreational facility is not open to the community at large due to membership requirements and limitations, and is not established as a purely local facility, there is no basis for a determination by the zoning board that it is a community facility entitled to a special exception under the ordinance.

Counsel for Plaintiff
Helen B. Sheehan
2019 Q Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009

Counsel for Defendant
E. Calvin Golumbic Corporation Counsel
14th & E Sts., NW
Washington, DC 20004

Counsel for Intervenors
Courts Oulahan
Citizens Association of Georgetown/Georgetown Racquet Club
839 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006

Christopher W. Keller
Citizens Association of Georgetown/Georgetown Racquet Club
3108 Dumbarton Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20007

Norman Glasgow
Whayne Quin
Boys Club of Greater Washington
700 Tower Building
1401 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005