Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-14
BEAUTY OF CAPITAL
MENACED BY PARKING
CONTINUED FROM Fifth page.)

Continued From Fifth page)
dentally. the dust, on the park benches
of the Traffic Court is disillusioning.
Although Washington's traffic code
prohibits the parking of commercial We
hicleS In front of private dwellings or
apartments. at the entrance Of thea
tiers, churches and other public build
ings, and parking over 10 consecutive
hours, these regulations are seldom en-
forced, and the authorities appear pow
erless to afford relief to the residents
who complain Of such nuisances. These
sections Of the code apparently were in
tended to prevent residential thorough
fares becoming parking refuge for
trucks and wagons, but recent ruling
of the Traffic Court, Is disillusioning.
The case of truck owner who night
ly and over Sunday stood his vehicle at
the curb alongside of a corner apart
ment house was dismissed on the ground
that the truck was not standing in
front of the house, but at the side of 1t.
AS corner houses face or front on two
streets, the trainers of the regulations
do not appear to have fully safeguarded
residential areas against unlimited park
ing of commercial vehicles, If that was
their purpose. II truckman decided
to camp each night and Sunday along
side of any of the city's pretentious cor
ner mansions the occupants could OBJ
tain no relief from the unsightly nui-
sance.
The courts decision stands, however,
and so does the obnoxious truck-be-
tween one Of Washington's finest apart
ment buildings and a prominent church
fronting one of the city's small parks.
Efforts of residents and church members
ton of the trafic code prohibiting park
ing for more than 10 hours have failed.
In front of the Sunday school entrance
of this church another commercial We
hicle frequently is parked for hours at
a time, sometimes on Sundays when the
school Is assembling and leaving the
edif1ce.
Disagreement Of Parks.
The small parks that grace the city
also are diSfgured by commercial We.
hicles parking along the ctlrbs Of these
open spaces Coming uptown one Sat-
urday about dusk one could have seen
a truckman attaching primitive look
ing oil lamp to the rear OF his flimsy
moving van, which was left for the
week end on Connecticut avenue at the
curb of the triangular park q block be-
yond Dupont Circle. Such cases are
not within the jurisdiction of the traf-
fic code. AS result truckmen park in
such favored spots with inpunity.
Commercial vehicles may be parked
also alongside of churches and at the
curb Of vacant lots opposite houses of
worship and homes of residents. The
vac lof IN HAt f1r1AfA 81
vehicles standing in such places for less
than 18 hours, however unwelcome the
trucks may be to the residents.
Adopting choice space In residential
side streets for parking each night and
over Sunday Is a practice OF mer-
chants and tradesmen whose stores
and shops are located on "boulevards"
where parked vehicles must be moved
with the regularity of the tide from one
side of the arterial highway to the
other, so that the morning and eve
ming flow of traffic downtown and back
may not be INSTRUCTED. This nuisance
obtains Notwithstanding there may be
ample garage space in the neighbor-
hood for keeping commercial vehicles
overnight. A large public garage in a
neighborhood infested with trucks has
discontinued business because Of lack
of patronage.
The streets are not the only places
that have suffered Disagreement.
Courtyards or areas between building
line and sidewalk are used by some
public garages as storage space for au-
tomobiles. Vacant lots in residential
sections in the heart Of the city are
bodies and other parts which salvage
operators throw In such places, and
these unsightly dumps are augmented
by accumulations of other rubbish
thrown there. It appears hypocritical
policy to compel street railway compa-
MES to expend $125,000 mile in order
to eliminate unsightly trolley poles and
overhead wires when highways, court
yards and vacant lots are allowed to be
used in this manner.
Decency and Order.
In few other communities would such
conditions be countenanced. Other
cities may not be favored with the
wealth of classic architecture and
splendid thoroughfareS that character
lie the National Capital, but the aver
age American city would indicate a
civic pride that finds expression in de-
cency and order. Perhaps In no other
community would one see, as may be
seen here, within block or two Of such
o prominent thoroughfare as Sixteenth
street and within the shadow OF impos-
ing mansions, some Of which are occu-
pied as embassies, warehouse sur
rounded by numerous piano and other
large packing boxes and huge wheelless
shipping vans, resembling freight cars,
bordering the sidewalk.
And $l25,000 mile is a pretty tune
to pay for civic beauty when 1t Is sacri-
feed so ruthleSsly by the conversion OF
the Mall into an open-air garage. In
the eyes of the Fine Arts Commission
the use of this splendid park for such
purposes is little short of Sacrilege
and has been denounced in no uncer-
tain terms. A community which viii
exact that sum per mile from traction
companies for the esthetic might be ex-
pected to rise up and Illustrate such a
grab. Attempts to appropriate park
lands for selfish purposes in other cities,
notably New York, when the National
Academy of Fine Arts sought some years
ago to obtain site In Central Park for
q new art gallery. have been effectively
blocked.
The popularity of the automobile has
not yet attained that stage where New
Workers, Philadelphians or Baltimoreans
would consent to the conversion Of Gen.
trail, Fairnaount or Druid Hill Parks into
garages. Obviously there Is q
limit to parking space In any city, and
throwing open the parks to accom-
modate the automobiles of business peo-
pie who ride to work In their cars does
not arneliorate the traffic situation.
Congestion Is increased and street car
patronage decreased to an extent that
patrons OF such conveyances must pay
. higher fare to maintain the service.
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