An unincorporated group of West End locals late last week withdrew their lawsuit and zoning appeal attempting to thwart The Aston unhoused shelter’s operations, wrapping up a yearslong legal battle that had left the future of its operations in limbo.
The West End D.C. Community Association — an unnamed group of locals within “close proximity” to The Aston — withdrew its lawsuit and appeal to the Board of Zoning Adjustment on Thursday, both of which argued that the shelter’s operations violated city zoning laws. WEDCCA’s withdrawals canceled a Jan. 29 BZA hearing and a Feb. 7 D.C. Superior Court hearing, both of which would’ve decided if The Aston could continue operations and signals an end to the local group’s protests against the shelter over the last year and a half.
WEDCCA filed the lawsuit in November 2023, alleging that D.C. officials could not open The Aston as an unhoused shelter due to zoning constraints associated with providing medical services and temporary housing at the shelter. The zoning appeal, which the group filed in October, mirrored the lawsuit and states that the Department of Buildings violated the same zoning rules by issuing a building permit in August, which allowed for the building’s conversion.
In each complaint, WEDCCA contended that The Aston should be identified as an “emergency shelter” under D.C. zoning regulations because it provides services to medically vulnerable individuals and temporarily houses people experiencing homelessness, which would have required the District to obtain a special exception from the BZA. The zoning appeal also alleged that District officials required approval from the D.C. Zoning Commission to change The Aston’s use from student housing to an unhoused shelter because the building falls under a pre-existing Planned Unit Development, which grants property zoning rights for mixed uses.
Before WEDCCA withdrew the lawsuit, a District judge twice rejected D.C. officials’ requests to dismiss the case and in August scheduled a now-canceled hearing for Feb. 7. The BZA in November rejected the group’s emergency request to postpone the shelter’s opening that month and to expedite the Jan. 29 BZA hearing.
WEDCCA filed its first lawsuit in July 2023, which it withdrew a month later, in an attempt to stop The Aston’s sale from GW to the District, alleging D.C. officials failed to provide community members with adequate time to comment on The Aston’s purchase prior to the sale. But Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission held public meetings on the District’s plan to convert the building into a shelter on June 21 and June 28 of that year, and the panel expressed its support for the plan in the second meeting. The lawsuit came weeks after D.C. officials announced they purchased the building in a $27.5 million contract.
The Aston opened its doors to 50 unhoused residents in November as the city’s first noncongregate shelter, offering private living spaces to medically vulnerable people, mixed-gender couples, families with adult children and people waiting to move into permanent housing. The shelter opened a year after officials’ initial prediction of November 2023, as complications like challenges securing a provider, repairs and building code violations and WEDCCA’s lawsuits delayed its opening five times.
