Plans for three Kent single-family homes may be thwarted by tree, neighbors

There are plans to build three single-family homes in the Kent neighborhood’s University Terrace NW, but before any construction can happen, the developer will have to deal with an appeal filed by The Chain Bridge Road Preservation Committee to the District's Board of Zoning Adjustment.

According to the appeal to stop construction, the construction of the homes will kill a particular tree. The Washington Business Journal reported:

“The group also argues any tree removal on the property's subdivided lots is prohibited, and that tree preservation rules created in the 1990s via the Chain Bridge Road/University Terrace Overlay zone bans large scale tree transplanting. The appeal asks that Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs revoke the building permits it issued in January.”

Each of the single-family homes will range from 3,886 square feet to 5,623 square feet with driveways and swimming pools. Because of the proximity to the tree, an arborist named Ed Milhous of Haymarket-based Trees Please wrote in a letter that the tree does not have a reasonable chance at survival.

From 2005 through 2009, The Chain Bridge Road Preservation Committee successfully blocked the construction of 13 houses in the 2800 block of Chain Bridge Road.

• An investor wants to build three homes in Kent. A tree and some angry neighbors stand in the way. [Washington Business Journal]