Dear Friends of the Field,
THANK YOU for your generous financial support! Your unstinting help has allowed us to exercise our legal rights, first at the BZA and now in two separate court cases. With your contributions, we were able to meet our immediate fundraising goal … THANK YOU!
Here's an update on our active legal cases.
ONE: In the D.C. Court of Appeals,Friends sued to have the BZA’s approval of Maret’s special exception application overturned. We argue that their proposed development should require a use variance. That case appears to be moving quickly toward a date for oral arguments. Please stay tuned.
TWO: In D.C. Superior Court, Friends has sued to have the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between our Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC 3/4G) and Maret declared void. Our legal team’s latest brief asserts our right to a day in court. Defendant (the ANC, represented by the Office of the AttorneyGeneral) has tried to prevent that by challenging our standing. So far, they have not been successful.
You may recall that on February 17, 2023, in response to questions posed by our ANC, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb wrote about the very limited authority of ANCs to enter into contracts. In defending its complaint, Friends has stated:
The simple fact is that the Office of the Attorney General concluded that ANC 3/4G exceeded its statutory authority by executing the MOU with Maret. But the OAG did not address whether the MOU could be considered a litigation settlement agreement. That question is central to Friends’ claim that the ANC indeed overstepped its legal authority.
As Friends further stated: The awkward fact is that attorneys in the Office of the Attorney General now represent ANC 3/4G and are trapped by the [AG’s] February 17, 2023, letter. So, they attack Friends’ standing to challenge the ANC’s conduct.
There will be an initial conference in this case on Friday, January 19th. As always, please use the FoF website as a resource, and contact us for more details or information.
FoF email: friendsofthefield20015@gmail.com
FoF website: https://friends-of-the-field.webflow.io
