Wash Post: BZA Approves Mass Ave Buddhist center

Per the Washington Post:

The D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustment agreed yesterday that a two-story building being constructed by a U.S. Buddhist association on Massachusetts Avenue NW is a place of worship.

A group of residents who live near the Naval Observatory asked the city to appeal a decision this year by the zoning administrator that Soka Gakkai International-USA could build there as a "matter of right." The residents argued that the meetings held by the Buddhists were community meetings, not religious gatherings.

Under District zoning laws, a religious organization can build a place of worship in a residential area without asking for an exemption, which would be needed for a community center. Neighbors had contended that the building would create traffic and noise in the neighborhood several days a week.

Soka Gakkai Continues to Draw Ire

Michael Neibauer reports on the continuing zoning battle between Embassy Row residents and the Buddist Temple slated to come in to the predominantly residential neighborhood.