Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-31
CITIZENS AROUSED
OBJECT TO APARTMENT HOUSE
BUILDINGS.
Appeal to District Commissioners to
Make Amendment to the Build
ing Regulations.

The rapid building OF apartment houses
in Washington has aroused number of
prominent property owners of the city to
appeal to the District Commissioners for the
adoption of additional regulations which
Will restrict the erection Of the large apart
ment house structures on narrow streets
Two numerously signed petitions urging the
commissioners to action along the lines sug-
gested, were presented to Commissioner
Maefarand today by Mr.. Samuel T. Fisher
The petitioners argue that large apart
ment houses In the midst OF a residence
block shut of light and air from private
residences In the neighborhood and, besides
IL Is declared they make an unsightly APP
pearance owing to their towering above the
private dwellings,. The petitioners suggest
mat on streets not more than eighty feet
Wide between building lines the height OF
apartnlent houses excepting those erected
on corner lots be limited to four stories
commissioner Macfarland said he will ar
range with the other members of the hoard
OF commissioners for hearing relative to
the subject to be held at an early date
when all sides of the question may no ais
cussed at length. 1t is understood that
the commissioners have been lately copsi6-
er,ng the adoption of additional regulations
reiatlng TO apartment house building the
matter having been brought sharply to
their attention by the recent controversy
over the erection of the proposed apart
AiSiil HOuse on the triangle at 18th
ana kenesaw avenue. This matter is still
unsettled, having been carried into the
courts by the parties directly Interested
The petitions filed with the Commission
ers To-Day are similarly worded as follows:
The Petition.
The building of apartment houses is po-
ing on with great rapidly at the present
time in this city, and we beg to suggest
that the present regulations are Inadequate.
"A large apartment house built in the
midst of residence block oftentimes
proves a great detriment to the adjoining
holdings. If, as sometimes happeas the
building covers practically the entire lot II
acts to shut off in quite large degree the
supply of light and air. This is especially
true when apartment houses of many
stories IN height are built in the middle
or a residence. block. The apartment house
towers high above single residences MAX
ing an unsightly appearance and injuring
the neighboring property. The disadvan-
tages are all the more apparent when the
street is narrow.
apartment houses are perhaps a neces-
sary incident to city life but the disad-
rantages incident to their erection can be
mlnimlzed, we think, by proper regulations
In case of a building like the Highland for
example, which is on the corner of two
streets and faces the intersection of two
streets, and Is located on the slope of a
hill, or building like the Ontario. which
we understand is to be entirely surrounded
by considerable open space, the disad-
vantageS to the surrounding property
holders are reduced to a minimum
ITO permit, however, the erection of high
apartment houses on a narrow street, in
the middle of residence block. and taking
up practically the entire depth Of the lot,
causes evils which, we submit ought to be
prevented.
1--WE. therefore respectfully petition that
there be added to the building regulation a
provision that in case of narrow streets
not wider than eighty feet from building
line to building line, the erection of apart
ment houses or any other houses for resi-
dence purposes at any place except on
the corners of said streets, should be limit
ed in height so not to exceed three sto-
ries and a basement or four stories in all.
I'VE think that such a regulation would
| be eminently wise and proper and would
meet with the approval of the large ma
| jority of property holders in this city,
The citizens whose names appear on the
petitions are property owners in various
sections of Northwest Washington, and in
cluded in the list of signatures are those of
III. Rozier Dulany. Robert ]. Fisher, A. III.
Bowman, Rear Admiral Thos. o. Selfridge
Sidney A. Hilliard, Charles NJ. Irelan, Susie
Richardson Oswell, Henry w. Seymour,
Buchanan Beall Marie NJ. Fisher, Louise
NJ. Emmert, Henry L. Davis, Arthur
Browne, John II. Holt, II. p. Doolittle. Jas.
H. Blackwood, ]. w. Babson, Daniel L.
Hazard, Rufus H. Thayer, VIM II. Ash
mead and others.