Evening star., 1931-12-01
An Important Zoning Test.

1t might be premature TO assume
that the whole vexing question OF
Eoning on lower Sixteenth street Will
be opened by the action Of the Court
Of Appeals yesterday in ordering that a
suit Instituted by property owners on K
street just west of Sixteenth be
brought to trial on its merits. But
that this suit will prove of fundamental
Importance in testing the power OF the
zoning Commission, in relation to its
actions that are based on esthetic
values, is beyond question.
The issue. in this K street zoning
case is unique. Sixteenth street Is
xoned residential for space that ex-
tends 100 feet back from the curb.
Much property on adjoining sections
Of K street is commercial. The 100
foot line from, the Sixteenth street
curb, however, serves to cut piece OF
property west of Sixteenth on K into
two sections, one section Of which must
be preserved as residential, because Of
the Sixteenth street zone, but the
other part Of which is commercial, be-
cause Of the prevailing K street zone.
1t Is dificult to conceive any such con-
dition as consistent with what would
appear to be the normal protection Of
his rights expected by the property
owner. When half Of ones property Is
1oned residential and the other half
commercial, the property itself is
neither fish nor fowl nor good red her
ring and the owner thereof holds the
bag.
That there should be an instance of
the sort means that there has been
poor soning. The Zoning Commission
should have been able to rectify q
palpable wrong without forcing litiga-
ton. Some exception could have been
made that would have relieved an indi-
vidual property owner without endan-
gering the rest Of the zoning structure
as applied to the surrounding area.
But now the case must 60 to trial
and the Zoning Commission must be
able to show that its action in preserv-
ing the residential sanctity Of the 100
foot depth on Sixteenth street IS based
on 90 substantial relation" to the
public health, safety, morals or general
welfare. It's action is based, specifically,
upon the zoning Commissions deter
mination to preserve Sixteenth street
as residential That Is an admirable
determination, and public sentiment
favors 1t. But there are other cases in
which the determination is held in the
face Of what appears to be the infiiction
Of unnecessary hardship on the part Of
individual property owners. These have
found that the Zoning Commission and
the tax assessor do not see eye to eye.
Property on portions Of Sixteenth street
Il. zoned ss residential, but Is assessed
on . par with adjacent commercial
property. Yet, taxed as commercial, 1t
must continue as residential, when, as
O matter Of fact, its uses as residential
are severely restricted. Many properties
on lower Sixteenth have to all intentS
and purposes lost their value as homes.
And while the owners pay relatively
high taxes. they must await the slow
development Of the sort Of demand that
the Zoning Commission and the city
planners have visualized as ideal-the
demand for institutional structures,
high-class hotels or apartments.
The x street case, If won by the
plaintiff, may serve to provoke other
attacks on the Sixteenth street zoning
that viii test the commissions authority
IN Q matter of utmost Importance to
the development of the Federal City.