Dear PoPville

photo by Fritz Myer

“Dear PoPville,

I wanted to get the take of readers on their experience with the Board of Zoning Adjustment to seek an area variance for a rear yard setback. We are in a zone that requires a 20′ setback from the alley behind our house in a row of houses all with 16′ setbacks that were grandfathered in. Our house is further back than the rest of the houses in our row because it was rebuilt back in 1986 after it was destroyed sometime in 60s. Now all we want is to make our house flush with the rest by bumping out the back. However, the zoning ordinance says we can’t bump it out to be flush with the rest of the houses so we are seeking a variance. Furthermore, we may need to seek additional variance because according to the zoning ordinance our lot width is 17′ and is less than the requirement for a compact parking space which is 20′.

Basically, a lot of this zoning is about fitting a car on our back lot. (more…)

“Dear PoPville,

The DC Paid Family Leave payment portal is down (supposedly due to ransomware attack on the vendor). I’m on maternity leave now and have been awaiting a payment for over a week now. My husband is going to take time off soon and is unable to apply for benefits with the portal down as well. (more…)