Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-20


to overlook the fact that the highway
act makes no provision for the opening of
single street. After the passage of the
act, as before, the question as to what
streets should be actually opened and inn
| proved from time to time is left to the
action of Congress upon the recommended
ton of the District Commissioners in
their annual reports. The purpose of the
act of 1893 was simply to provide a plan
by which streets should thereafter be
opened, whether by the voluntary dedica-
ton or by the exercise of the right of
eminent domain 1t was anticiDated that
after the passage of the act as BEFORE in
the vast majority of instances the owners
of land wou1S make subdivisions of their
own accord. Many millions of square feet
of land in the county were given to the
public in this way before 1893, and the
main purpose of that law was to provide
general system by which the various
voluntary dedicaticns thus to be made
would so agree with one another as in the
end to produce a harmonious whole. AS
n matter of fact. We are advised by the
Commissioners that in very many in
stances owners of land are only waiting
the final perfection of the maps to dedicate
| their lands. and that these dedications in
clude many of the broadcast thoroughfarcs
Many such subdivisions were made under
the act of 1855. and the act of 1888 re.
CURES that subdivisions so made shall
| not be changed in making the maps
THE highway act might have stopped
with authorizing the preparation ana III
| ing of the maps and forbidding future sub
/ divisions except in accordance Herewith.
! 1t would then have required an incon-
| siderable expenditure of money. one
| thing only prevented this from being done,
and that was that there were around the
northern part of the city a number of
| subdivisions made prior to the act of 1SSS.
| rome of which conformed to the plan OF
the city and no two of which coniormeu
| to each other. On all hands it was ad-
| mitted to be necessary to make some
changes in these subdivisions. For in
stance. nobody would have thought OF
extending 10th street north until 1t struck
| the DeTison and Leighton subdivision ana
| then continuing it beyond that SUBDIVISION
without changing the latter There would
| then have been no thoroughfare at all, and
| either a part of the Denison and Leighton
subdivision had to be wiped out or the
| idea of extending 18th street in straight
| line abandoned. This is but one instance
| of many Manifestly the owner OF land
in subdivision over which a new nigh
way was thus projected was IN very
| different situation from the owner OF a
farm or other large undivided tract IN
| the same vicinity. The land in the sub
| division was held in many parcels by dlr-
fercnt owners, each having his own par
! ticular building lot. Some of these par
| cells were covered by the projected streets
| and of others portions were taken. III was
out of the question in these instances TO
| expect a dedication of the land by the
| owner Therefore it was necessary to be-
gin condemnation proceedings at once, OF
| to allow the owners to go on with their
improvements and to await the day Wheh
the public convenience would require ths
| actual opening of the street. This would
be manifest injury to the owners OF
| such parcels, and the cost of condemnins
| the land in these subdivisions would De
| greatly increased every few years. ~
| was the part of wisdom, therefore, as 10
| the land in these subdivisions covered
| by the new highways (as well as to lana
in the subdivisions affected by the apan,
donment of existing streets to proceed
without delay.
| THE COMBINATIONS in these subdlVislote
| have gone so far as to show that the tota
| cost of carrying out the plan as 1nulcdteu
| by the map of section l VIII amour. 10
! about eight or ten million dollars. ms az
| the present time. ard under existing cir
| curpstances would entail too heavy eX-
| pense. Without waiting. therefore, for the
| termination of all condemnation proceed
| ings in the subdivisions affected by the
| map of section l. we advise the board to
| recommend the making of such changes
! in the map, by leaving out new streets and
| restoring those which are proposed to be
| abandoned, as will reduce the expense to
| a sum not exceeding four million dollars.
| 1t is anticipated that not more than three
| hundred thousand dollars of this sum will
| be required in the parts of the District not
| included in section /, as the subdivisions in
| them are comparatively few ard the
| changes to be made in them are slight.
| It's Extent.
| 80 1t is said that the scheme of the bill
| is too extensive for the present and pros
! pective needs of the District: that in the
| remoter parts of the District there will be
no necessity for the opening of the high
| ways for perhaps fifty years, and that the
| maps to be made now should be confined to
| the requirements of the present time or the
| immediate future
at may be said that this is not so much
l fl,tA
| has been done under it. The act required
| Inc commissioners to prepare the. plans
| from time TO time in sections and made if
| the duty OF the Commissioners in prepar-
! ing such plans by sections, so far as might
| be practicable, to select. first such areas
| as are covered by existing suburban sub
| DIVISIONS not In conformity with the gen.
eral plan OF the city of Washington The
| rurnber of sections and the extent of ter
| ritory to be included in each were ncces-
| sarily left TO The discretion of those who
We're to prepare the maps. and it was en-
| tirely competent for the Commissioners IN
| have confined the earlier maps to tho
| territory imn ediately adjacent to the
| city, and then to have added sections from
time to time as required. AS to the ter
! r1tory not embraced in the map on file IL
| is still within the power of the Commits
| sioners. II 1t should be thought desirable
| to do SO, to reduce the size of the Sec
| lions, and to address themselves in the
| nrSt instance to the lands lying near the
| border of the city. glance, however a t
| any recent map of the District of Columbia
| will show that Subdivisions OF land have
already been made in all sections of the
| District clear to the District line We
| are advised by the Commissioners that
owners Of tracts of land lying along or
| near the boundaries of the District, and
| which are as yet unsubdivided are only
| waiting for the completion of the mans
| to make subdivisions. There is not a tract
| of land lying within The borders of the
| District of Columbia not now subdivided
! which the owners thereof are not likely
| within few years to subdivide
| Besides it is impossible to properly
| lay out d system OF streets and avenues
| reaching part OF the way to the District
line anu stopping there. What the plan
shall be within that line depends largely
| upon what it is to be beyond it, No engi-
| neer would undertake to project, for in
| stance, MaSss chusettS avenue or 10th
| street Rhode Island avenue without re-
| gard to the conformation of the ground
| clear to the District line. The same thing
| is true as to the less important streets
And it was because the Commissioners
| found it impracticable to deal with the
plan except whole that they have
| made the sections so large.
| 'lf the law should be amended so as to
| ccnf1ne the maps to a certain restricted
area around the city, then we would be