Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-10-18
D. c. CITIZENS SEEK
coming LAW VIEWS
Of Commissioners
Withhold Judgment Until New
City Heads Make
Statement.

The new coming regulations. which
went into effect September l, have
again come before the public eye with
appointment of the two new COM
missioners. Speculation is abroad
throughout the business district as to
the views of Miss Boardman and ].
Thilman Hendrick, who have auto
matically become members of the
coming commission. concerning some
of the rather radical changes made
in the building laws by the commits
sion. as it was formerly constituted.
with Col. kutZ. who was virtually
running affairs. at its head Plans
are under discussion for an appeal
to the new members looking to
further study of the changes with a
view to possible modification.
To be more exact. much interest is
being taken only by those who have
rubbed up against the new coming
laws. 1t has been another case of
the law does not affect me. why
should | bother about my neighbour"
The great majority of Washington
mans have not taken personal inter-
est enough to study the laws and be-
come familiar with them.
Every landowner in the District of
Columbia. however. is apt to be ruled
by one or another of the new regu-
lations; directly or indirectly. at some
time in the future. Let one of them
he thwarted in his plans and the
old cry will go up. "how did that law
slip by? It's an outrage" In all
probability that feature of the law
was wise and worked out to the
advantage of the majority.
Outline OF System.
With this in view it would not seem
out of the way to give brief outline
of the coming system as it now stands.
The commission regulates the height
building can cover on its lot and the
usage to which building can be put,
whether residential, commercial or
industrial. In each case these differ
according to the district a building is
in. That is, more leniency is allowed
in height. area and usage in the
business district of the city, and in
general this is leSSened as the city
extends to the suburb. The vital
point that seems to have been missed
to a great extent is the districts COW
ering the various allowed heights,
areas and usages are not the same.
They are all overlapping. Three
maps, one drawn for height, one for
area and one for usage, have been
printed. They now are obtainable at
study will clear up any misunder-
standing as to the general outline of
the laws. These maps are far more
illuminating than the booklet which
has been published on the subject
Throughout commercial circles there
10 sentiment to the effect that the
idea of the coming system is splendid
and vital to the growth of the city.
Great praise is being sung for the
result of the commissions task. Re
greet is expressed, however, that Con-
gress did not allow the COMM ssion a
longer period in which to complete
the plans 1t is believed that in gen.
eral the new laws have struck the
right note for the future progress and
development of the city, but that with
more time the commission might have
worked out the regulations to the adj
vantage of the greater ma jority and
taken up each question in greater de-
tail.
Commission Beats Record.
The act of Congress approved March
1, 1920, providing for the coming COM
mission. provided also that the coming
regulations be completed by Septem-
Der 1, 1920: The actual time spent in
compromising these regulations was
not more than four months. From all
obtainable data this beats all previous
American records of coming commits
sions in cities the size of Washington.
Harland Bartholomew. the expert on
the subject, who was called in by the
Commissioners. is said to have taken
a much longer time to work out the