Evening star., 1923-02-17
LACK Of z0N|NG
COSTING MILLIONS
Deprecated Values and
| Scrapped Buildings Di-.
rect Result. e.
POINTED OUT BY DR.. CRIES.
Department of Commerce Official
Recommends Adequate
Laws.
POINTED OUT BY DR.. CRIES

As the result Of the lack Of proper
zoning laws in the majority Of cities
and towns throughout the country,
many hundreds Of millions OF dol
lars are lost every year by the prop
erty owners, in the opinion Of DR..
John NJ. Cries, chief Of the division
of building and housing Of the De-
partment of Commerce.
In talk before officials Of the bu-
reau of standards, Dr. Cries stated
= that this huge sum Is lost in the
form of scrapped buildings and de-
preciated real estate values, result
ing from the intrusion of undesirable
commerce into residential districts.
The present situation in many cities
Dr. Cries compared to house In
which the bookcase is in the bath
room and the kitchen stove in the
parlor. He explained that in some of
the better residential districts the
value of each house may be reduced a
thousand dollars or more through the
construction in that district of a fac
tory or other structure not properly
belonging there
Explains CO-Operation.
DR.. Cries recommended adequate
zoning laws as a preventive, and ex-
planned how the division is co-operat-
ing with communities all over the
country that are preparing coming
regulations. A zoning primer and a
standard state coming enabling act"
authorizing cities to zone have been
widely distributed. He also stressed
the necessity for city planning in mu-
uicipalitfes expecting to grow, and
stated that the division was prepar-
ing data on this subject which VIII
be made available.
Figures were given showing the
relative Importance of the different
items of construction costs for GER
tain house. OF these, labor charges
accounted for only 26 per cent; mate
rials cost, 29.3 per cent; land, 1s per
cent; contractor, 1876 per cent; hnanc-
ing. 6.T per cent; architect ana rear
estate fees. ga per cent. These flgures
show that IL is not generally possible
TO blame one single factor, such as
high labor or material costs. for mgr
prices of houses. He said that whlle
rhe daily wages of building tradesmen
might seem high to man employed
all the year. they were not necessarily
high when the seasonal character or
the employment was conSiuereu. lie
said substantial saving in laoor
costs could be realized If arrange
ments could be made for employment
during larger part of the year. lie
also said similar savings in costs OF
equipment and contractors overhead
could be effected by more eAtenueo
building season.
Report Is Cited.
1t was pointed out that the build
Ing code committee of the Department
of Commerce. appointed BY Secretary
Hoover, has recently published re-
port entitled, Recommended Mini
mum Requirements for Small Dwell
ing Constructions" 1t covers one and
two family dwellings, with an extern
sive discussion of the reasons for the
requirements and the best types or
construction for various purposes. DR.,
Cries said that this pamphlet should
prove useful to architects and pros
pective home owners. In this con-
nection many tests were performed at
the bureau of standards to determine
the strength, fireproofness and other
qualities of types Of building con-
struction, the bureau having made
available for that purpose a huge
testing machine, in which full size
sections of walls can be crushed to