Evening star., 1936-03-06
CAPITAL SKYLINE
IN WALKING REACH
11O-Fcot Limit Leaves Lit.
tie Worry About Ele-
vator Strikes.

Washington's 110-foot skyline limit
probab never looked so alluring as it
does today.
1t is the citizens assurance that,
come what may, his legs, lungs and
heart never will be called upon to per-
form the pEodigious feats of endurance
that have been an everyday story In
New York during the elevator strike.
Should Washington have to walk,
from street level to its place of resi-
dence or work, 100 feet would repre-
sent practically the outside limit of its
Journey. To the New Yorker that
would seem no more than across the
street.
That Washington society matrons,
and possibly Senators, are unlikely to
get their pictures in the paper as ele-
vator operators, is due entirely to the
presence here of SO much Federal
architecture. The basic consideration
behind the limit on height of COM
mercial structures is that the latter
shall never dwarf the former. Unless
something radical happens to the
present building restrictions. it is i'm
possible that the Federal triangle ever
should be buried at the bottom of a
canyon of commercial edif1ces.
130 Feet Very Tallest.
The very tallest building that may
be erected in Washington, for resi-
dental or business use, is l30 feet.
That involves compromises, too. which
make 10 feet the practical limit. For
those who desire to pile bricks or
stone to greater elevations, the law
specifies that there must be a 6-inch
setback from the building line for
every foot above ITO. For 1870 feet,
that would mean 15-foot setback.
Moreover, this outside limit applies
only to Pennsylvania avenue.
One exception to this rule is the Ma
tional Press Building, which climbs
130 feet above F street. 1t has no
setback That concession was OBJ
tanned, however, by special act OF
Congress.
Tallest Federal structure in
Washington. and that because of its
special character, is the National
Cathedral, which rises to maximum
height of 28o feet above Mount St.
Alban. That is IS feet less than the
height of the Capitol dome, which
climbs to the 3S5-foot mark.
There is another reason why 110.
foot buildings are more attractive from
the builders standpoint than those
which soar to the permissible 130-
yjy nrlinonpoS xIhich
govern the matter permit the use OF
13 floors in the 110-foot buildings but
only II stories in those which are 20
feet higher.
1t looks odd but that is the way the
law reads. The building inspectors
Office did not know why. Said it
seemed to be just one of those things.
Therefore, allowing 8-foot ceilings
which not all builders do-the maxi
mum of stair climbing likely in the
National Capital should its elevators
stop Is about 102 feet.
Zoning Ordinance of 1910.
If you are trying to calculate your
climbing future in terms of New York S
present, you can get a pretty accu-
rate lQtd Ol IL ny luedSUlIllS ClIS W4QGII
Of the street on which you live.
1t was back in 1910 that this factor
achieved weight in the calculation
OF building heights on zone basis.
There was passed at that time zon-
ing ordinance which specified that on
a street IS feet wide, the builder could
exceed the width of the street by 20
feet. The same law specified that on
streets from 60 to IS feet wide, bisect-
ing residential areas, the maximum
building height should be 60 feet; on
50-foot streets, so feet, and, in gen.
eral, the width of the street on all
thoroughfares having smaller dimen-
sions, As feet on 45-foot streets, etc.
These specifications prevail, of
course, only when the structure is
erected on the street. Setbacks per-
NIT builders to transcend the limits
given.
The Zoning ordinance was modified
In 1920. but with few changes in the
original specifications as to building
heights.