Practice Areas Administrative Law; Land Use, Planning, Zoning, Historic Preservation and Municipal Affairs; Legislative Lobbying; D.C. Real Estate Tax Assessment Appeals; Restaurants/Hospitality
Education University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School (Certificate in Advanced Investments Management; Certificate in International Investing and Emerging Markets, Certificate in Money Management Fundamentals); The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law (J.D.); Harvard University, Harvard School of Law (Certificate in Advanced Negotiation); Antioch School of Law (M.A.), Marlboro College (B.A.)
Bar & Court Admissions Maryland; District of Columbia; U.S. Supreme Court
Memberships Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington (AOBA); District of Columbia Building Industry Association (DCBIA); Hotel Association of Washington, D.C., Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington; District of Columbia Bar (Sections on Real Estate, Housing and Land Use and District of Columbia Affairs); Maryland State Bar Association (Section on Real Property, Planning and Zoning); American Bar Association (Sections on Real Property and on State and Local Government); George Washington American Inn of Court; Japan Commerce Association
Lyle M. Blanchard
Lyle Blanchard advises commercial and residential developers on a wide variety of zoning relief matters before the District of Columbia's Board of Zoning Adjustment and Zoning Commission on variance, special exception, planned unit development (PUD), text and map amendment cases. He counsels clients on historic preservation issues before the Historic Preservation Review Board and on permit issues before the Public Space Committee. Mr. Blanchard advises hotel, restaurant and tavern owners on a full range of alcoholic beverage control licensing issues before the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (ABC). He represents building owners and other clients before the Office of Administrative Hearings on diverse housing and building code, zoning, and business and professional license appeal issues. Mr. Blanchard represents property owners before the District of Columbia's Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR), Board of Real Property Assessments and Appeals (BRPAA) and D.C. Superior Court on sophisticated commercial real property tax assessment and classification issues. He also advises property owners on complex street and alley closings and property tax relief legislative matters before the D.C. Council.
Representative Matters
Mr. Blanchard, with GDL shareholder Jacques DePuy, successfully prosecuted the first PUD case before the District of Columbia's Zoning Commission using Inclusionary Zoning requirements to provide 62 affordable housing units in a 130 unit mixed-use development. Mr. Blanchard and Mr. DePuy won a total $21,900,000 reduction in real property assessments for a combined property in appeals before OTR and BRPAA. Mr. Blanchard and GDL shareholder Pat Brown recently won a substantial reduction in real property taxes as the result of real property tax reclassification appeals of vacant property before OTR and BRPAA.
Noteworthy
Mr. Blanchard is credentialed as a LEED Green Associate. Mr. Blanchard served on D.C. Bar Association panels on both ABC and business licensing issues. Mr. Blanchard and GDL shareholder Jacques DePuy co-authored articles for the Greater Washington Commercial Association of REALTORS® on zoning issues and for DCBIA on business licensing issues. Mr. Blanchard is a trustee on the D.C. Retirement Board and was legislative director for several D.C. Council committees (Finance and Revenue, Judiciary, Public Services and Government Operations) for D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans and former D.C. Councilmember James Nathanson. Mr. Blanchard was also legislative advisor for DCRA where he advised the ABC and the Building Code Advisory Committee. Mr. Blanchard is the 2010 recipient of the John Philip Sousa Distinguished Service Award from The Association for the Preservation of Historic Congressional Cemetery and is the recipient of a 2011 Volunteer Award from AOBA. He was elected in 2011 to the Steering Committee of the D.C. Bar D.C. Affair Section and serves as its D.C. Practice Manual Coordinator and as a member of its Litigation Committee.