The Ascension House Will Come Down...For Now

Ascension House will come down, unless, as almost everyone involved in the case suspects, the ruling is appealed.

The Historic District Commission tonight voted 6-1 in favor of upholding its January decision to grant a demolition permit for the historic building at 202 S. Summit Ave.

The church, which owns the building, says it will need the space for additional parking once construction of the new Gaithersburg High School begins and it loses overflow parking capacity.

But Montgomery Preservation Inc., an advocacy group that fights for the preservation of historic properties and buildings in Montgomery County, says that Ascension House, recently designated as historic, should not be torn down.

In February the asked the HDC to reconsider its ruling, and the HDC agreed.

Jody Kline, an attorney for the church, and City Attorney Lynn Board, advised the HDC that the Federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, or RLUIPA, applies.

That means that not having the additional parking would be a "substantial burden" on the church performing religious functions, they argued.

Michele Rosenfeld, the attorney representing MPI, was disappointed with the ruling, but did not say immediately if the group would appeal the decision to the Board of Appeals.

"We certainly had hoped presenting this new information might change the mind of at least one commissioner," Rosenfeld said.

In January the HDC voted 4-3 in favor of granting the demolition permit. But MPI filed a complaint, and the HDC voted to reconsider.

Board and Kline both said during the hearing that they expected the decision to be appealed, regardless of how the HDC voted.

Alternate Commissioner Dean Ventola made the dissenting vote because Commissioner Richard Arkin recused himself from the proceedings.