Ten days after he was served a cease and desist order from the DCRA, Brian O’Neill Jr. (COL ‘08) and his eight fellow “apostles” decided to comply with city laws and move the extra residents out of their over-capacity townhouse by the end of the semester.
O’Neill announced at the ANC meeting on Tuesday night that he would comply with the cease and desist order.
Currently nine students, including O’Neill, live together in a townhouse on 35th St. owned by O’Neill’s father. They received national attention, including a front page article in the Washington Post, for labeling themselves as a religious organization in order to circumvent the District’s zoning laws.
The cease and desist order requires that O’Neill and his housemates reduce the number of residents in his house to no more than six unrelated residents.
O’Neill met with Zoning Administrator Bill Crews yesterday to “make a settlement agreement [and] discuss … the impact this has had on this community,” according to Ed Solomon, Chairman of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E.
“We have found housing for three house mates [for] senior year,” O’Neill said. Because three of the Apostles will be studying abroad next semester, “we will go down to six residents permanently,” O’Neill assured the room. “We will not be attempting to move in anyone else.”
O’Neill could not be reached for comment regarding his meeting with Crews. ANC Commissioner John Lever said later that he was glad that O’Neill seemed to be “sympathetic to the issues going on.”
“I think that he [O’Neill] is taking a course of action that’s responsible,” Lever said.
“There’s a lot we [the ANC] are trying to fight for to make sure that student housing is in compliance with building and zoning laws.”
Despite O’Neill’s statement, those who attended the meeting had plenty to say.
Many expressed ambivalence over the wording Solomon used, demanding some term less ambiguous than “settlement,” to ensure that the Apostles would, under no uncertain terms, comply with the order.
Residents also raised questions and concerns pertaining to the expediency and permanence of the move-out, and whether or not O’Neill plans to host any parties before the final move-out.O’Neill replied that he does not plan to host any parties before the end of the semester.
