The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1909-01-24

of the street Out in no case more than
fifty feet from the building iine) and IN
cilned toward the building. This regula-
ton would, OF course, limit the cube OF
the buildings or parts Of buildings to
which It applied
How Plan Works Out
Now, let US see how this plan would
work out. Suppose a person has a plot
100 feet square at the corner Of two
streets. one 100 feet wide and the other
SO feet wide. To determine upon what
area he could build high building he
would add TO the area Of the plot 00-0o0
square feet the sum OF the areas Of the
two streets opposite the building that Is.
le,000 square feet for the wider street ard
$500 square feet for the narrower one}-
total. 26.ooo square feet-and divide this
sum by four, giving an area Of $50 square
feet upon which he could build TO a
greater height than that equal TO the
width OF the street
Within a distance Of fifty feet from the
corner, or upon a plot fifty feet square, he
could build TO any desired height Upon
the rest Of the plot the height Of the high
part OF the building would be governed by
the provision that no part OF II should ex-
tend beyond line drawn at an angle OF %
degrees from the horizontal from the cen
ter of~the street, and inclined toward the
building. This would give a height OF about
III feet at the building line on the mar
rover street. and about Isl at the build
ing line on the wider street. II II was
desired TO exceed III feet in height on
the narrower street. or Isl feet on the
wider streets, then the high part OF
the building would have TO be set back
from the building line so as to come
within the governing line. The greatest
height 20 which Il could be carried on
the narrower street would be about 4S4
feet. and the greatest height TO which
It could be carried on the wider street
would be about $50 feet.
Inside Lot Building.
We viii take one other instance as an
illustration Suppose an owner wishes to
build on an inside lot-that Is 70 say. a
lot located al. more than fifty feet from
the corner Of a block on street sixty
feet wide. The dimensions Of the lot are
5ox100 To the area OF the plot $500
square feet) add the area Of the street
opposite the front Of the building 3.o00
square feet. Total. 5000 square feet. one
quarter OF which IS eco square feet
Therefore. 1880 square feet Of the plot
could be built on 70 a height Of sixty
feet. and 200 square feet could be built
on 10 Il height ranging from IL feet al the
building line 10 50 feet at the rear OF the
plot. II we take the mean between these
two heights as the probable height OF the
high part Of the building. and assume
that . per cent Of the area Of the lot
would be left vacant. then the cube would
be 1890 cubic feet. OF the equivalent
Of a building 200 feet high covering 70 Der
cent Of the plot. but in the one case the
building would be well lighted itself. and
would not too greatly obstruct the light
OF nelghboring buildings OF the light o.
the street. and IN the other case Il would
Re very imperfectly lighted when built
in by similar buildings and would itself
obstruct the light Of the neighb0ring
buildings and the light q the street
Would shut Out Light.
II an owner built a building on such q
plot 20 the height Of 90 feet, covering
g per cent OF its area after the present
fashion Of building. he would run the
similar buildings and the value OF his
rentable area greatly reduced. II he
built according 10 the regulations which
I propose. his light would be assured
Above the height q So feet three-ffths OF
the area Of his property would be vacant
and area sufficient 10 insure his OWn
Iight-In addition 10 which he would have
the assurance that an equal percentage
OF the neighb0-ing land would be vacant
This guarantee Of permanent light would
certainly be worth more than the add
tional cost OF building part Of a build
ing OF the same size 70 q greater height
than he otherwise would do.
Most people are forced now 70 admit
that the unrestricted building Of high
buildings has its Disadvantages. though
the evils Of the system are only Just be-
ginning 20 show themselves. The first
remedy 10 suggest itself IS naturally a
limitation Of height. for this IS the means
which has always been applied 10 insure
light FOR streets and buildings since the
time when Augustus limited the height OF
buildings in Rome 10 six stoTies-bui
building methods have changed since
then
And IN no country has there been such
a complete breaking away from former
methods and ancient traditions as here
\ far limitation Of height may be effec-
tive in securing air and light for a city
Of six-st0ry buildings. but a fat limita-
ton OF height cannot be effective in the
same way for buildings much higher than
six stories, unless accompanied by a re-
striction OF area propoTtiouate to the
added height