A Thursday court ruling will give GW an additional four years to comply with a city order that requires the University to house 70 percent of undergraduates on campus. The order also prevented GW from constructing nonresidential facilities such as a new business school building.
The order initially required GW to house 70 percent of its undergraduate students - including all freshmen and sophomores - within city-defined campus boundaries by August 2002. The order also mandates that GW provide an on-campus bed for every student after enrollment reaches 8,000. However, the University now has until 2006 to meet the requirements, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled.
The three-judge panel unanimously affirmed the D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustment's right to enact the housing requirement but said the order's initial deadline was "arbitrary and capricious and constitutes an impermissible exercise of the Board's authority." The court said giving GW until fall 2006 to comply with the order would afford it adequate time to build on-campus housing.
University officials said the ruling could allow GW to break ground on nonresidential facilities such as the new business school building, which has languished in legal purgatory since the order's enactment. In October 2002, GW held a ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony for the $56 million facility, Ric and Dawn Duques Hall, which is slated to be erected between Funger and Madison halls.
University officials said they were pleased with the ruling even though it did not rescind the housing order.
"It gives us time to come into compliance and to build additional on-campus housing," said a senior administration official who asked to remain anonymous. "The (original) time frame was onerous and we're pleased the D.C. Court of Appeals has agreed with us."
GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg said GW has yet to make a decision on whether to proceed with construction of the business school building because it is still studying the ruling.
The order initially required GW to house 70 percent of its undergraduate students - including all freshmen and sophomores - within city-defined campus boundaries by August 2002. The order also mandates that GW provide an on-campus bed for every student after enrollment reaches 8,000. However, the University now has until 2006 to meet the requirements, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled.
The three-judge panel unanimously affirmed the D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustment's right to enact the housing requirement but said the order's initial deadline was "arbitrary and capricious and constitutes an impermissible exercise of the Board's authority." The court said giving GW until fall 2006 to comply with the order would afford it adequate time to build on-campus housing.
University officials said the ruling could allow GW to break ground on nonresidential facilities such as the new business school building, which has languished in legal purgatory since the order's enactment. In October 2002, GW held a ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony for the $56 million facility, Ric and Dawn Duques Hall, which is slated to be erected between Funger and Madison halls.
University officials said they were pleased with the ruling even though it did not rescind the housing order.
"It gives us time to come into compliance and to build additional on-campus housing," said a senior administration official who asked to remain anonymous. "The (original) time frame was onerous and we're pleased the D.C. Court of Appeals has agreed with us."
GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg said GW has yet to make a decision on whether to proceed with construction of the business school building because it is still studying the ruling.
