Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-19
MEETING TAKES UP
INCREASE IN STAFF
OF PLANNING BOARD
Members Consider Purchase
of Land to Enlarge Park
System of Capital.
GUARANTEES REQUIRED
FROM STATES DISCUSSED
Design for Proposed Pantheon and
Zone Change Suggestions Are
Given Commission.

Reorganization of the staff of the Ma
tional Capital Park and Planning Com
mission as result of the enactment of
the Cramton act. which will greatly
speed up the purchase of land for the
park system of Washington and nearby
sections of Maryland and Virginia was
considered at second executive meet
ing of the commission this morning in
the conference room at the Navy De-
partment Building.
1T is necessary" explained Lieut.. Col.
U. S. Grant, 3rd, executive officer of
the commission, that when the COM
mission undertakes to purchase land
to enlarge Washington's park system
III quantities two or three times as great
each year as heretofore, some increase
in the organization of the commission s
staff must be made The details of this
question were considered by the COM
mission at its meeting this morning and
will be announced later"
Another subject which was before
the commission is the proper interpre-
tation of the guarantees required by
the Cramton act from the States of
Maryland and Virginia or subdivisions
thereof, and from private individuals
and the division of cost of the land to
be purchased and added to the park
DTOVlSlOIlS
OF the new law. AS for the States, it
was agreed that appropriations by the
Legislatures would be adequate guaran-
tees, but the question of guarantees
from political subdivisions and from
individuals was taken under considera-
ton for later determination.
Purchases Considered.
The commission spent a great part
of today as well as yesterday afternoon
considering purchases of land for parks,
Fairgrounds, recreation centers, etc.
but as usual this part of the procedure
will be kept secret for the present.
Horace Peaslee, local architect, laid
before the commission a design for a
proposed pantheon to be erected some
where in Washington, was prepared by
students at Cornell University. The
commission took it under consideration
and authorized Mr.. Peaslee to thank the
students for their work. Charles w.
Eliot, I'd, who was recently promoted to
the position of director of planning,
presented to the commission suggestions
for changes in the coming regulations.
He called attention to the fact that
the Fine Arts Commission recently sug-
gested regulations to guide builders and
architects in the erection Of structures
in Washington under the control of the
with the Shipstead act, which controls
the appearance of private buildings on
the north side of Pennsylvania avenue
along the Mall and along Rock Greek
Park. Mr.. Eliot proposed that regu-
lations be issued in a convenient form
for the use of architects and so as to
make clear the different requirements
for different areas. He went into some
detail of technical nature on this
subject
Zone Suggestions Taken Up.
Certain suggestions regarding pro-
posed limitations of the commercial
zone and changes in the application of
height regulations to various buildings,
also made by Mr.. Eliot, were taken
under advisement by the commission
for study and later report.
Col. Grant, Capt. E. N Chisolm, en-
gineer of the commission, and Mr.. Eliot
presented at the meeting various phases
of the annual report of the commission
for the fiscal year that ended June
80 last.
Conrad L. Worth of the staff of the
commission, who recently spent some
time visiting different cities throughout
the country and studying their recrea-
ton systems, presented the result of his
studies with special attention to their
application in the improvement to con-
ditions in Washington.