Evening star., 1945-01-26

SHuuSSS III ZUHIIy
Ordinances Proposed
To Advisory Group
BY MARION CLARK.
Four new proposals, three of
which involve zoning ordinance
amendments, will be presented soon
for action of the Montgomery Coun-
ty Advisory Committee on Postwar
and County Planning, 1t. Col. E.
Brooke Lee, chairman, said today.
One of the proposals would give
greater elasticity to apartment house
regulations, providing for large
apartments similar to those along
Connecticut avenue in the District
and also for the garden-type apart
ment house. The second proposal
would require larger lot area for
outlying or undeveloped areas in
the suburban district, while another
recommends that at least two types
Of commercial zoning be set up.
The fourth would extend the
boundaries of the Washington sub
urban sanitary district through en-
actment of legislation at this session
of the Maryland Legislature.
Committee Meets Monday.
These proposals, Col. Lee said, will
be brought before the committee at
its meeting at pm. Monday at the
Woodside Elementary School, Silver
Spring, if time permits. Otherwise
they will be referred to standing
committee and be considered at
meetings of the Advisory Committee
scheduled for February and 20 at
the Bethesda Elementary School and
for February IA at the Woodside
Elementary School.
One of the most important items
to be considered at Mondays meet
ing will be a resolution offered by
the Committee on Highways calling
for establishment of free parking
areas in the business districts OF
Silver Spring and Bethesda. The
measure will be submitted by Wash
ington l. Cleveland and George E.
Keneipp, co-chairmen.
Several amendments to the orig
lnal proposal are included in the
resolution. The principal one is the
of the annual tax in the
business districts involved to 10 per
cent of the annual real estate tax.
This would produce approximately
81 900 a year each in the Bethesda
and the Silver Spring business dis
trict areas, it is estimated.
Another amendment asks that the
Maryland National Capital Park and
Planning Commission conduct a
traffic survey in the central business
areas of Bethesda and Silver Spring
to recommend the location of park
ing meters needed to expedite turn
over the curb-parked vehicles. The
results of the survey would be SUBJ
mitted to the Montgomery County
commissioners.
Parking Meters Urged.
1t further recommends that the
commissioners be authorized to in
stall parking meters in the two busi-
ness districts The revenue from
such meters should be added to the
public parking fund, the measure
adds.
In his apartments proposal, Col.
Lee recommends that the Park and
Planning Commission be requested
to prepare an ordinance covering
apartment house occupancy. The
land-use regulations permit
approximately 55-family dwelling
units per acre in apartment con-
he stated.
This figure, he contends, is too
large for garden apartments de-
sirable in certain suburban areas,
and, at the same time is too strictly
limited to allow construction of the
type of large apartment buildings
that may reasonably be expected in
the metropolitan business districts.
He proposes to decrease the S.
family density when such zoning is
not Immediately adjacent to busi-
ness districts and to increase it in
other areas.
Safeguard for Home Owners.
Drafting of a zoning amendment
by the Park and Planning Com
which would increase the
lot size requirements for
sites in undeveloped areas, is sug-
gested by Col. Lee as a safeguard
for home owners. The present min
imum lot size requirement in all
suburban Montgomery County, he
stated, calls for 5,000-square foot
area and a 50-foot lot frontage.
While this is reasonable for the
more densely populated subdivisions,
he considers it too small to serve as
an appropriate site for detached
home some distance from
the center of population. The pro-
posal recommends that the Park
and Planning Commission present
an amendment setting up two or
more series of lot area requirements
appropriate for various zones OF
development.
In his resolution recommending
the setting up of additional types
of commercial zoning, Chairman
Lee points out that the present
commercial D zoning is all of one
classification as to the commercial
uses permitted.
Many cities, he said, have placed
in operation two types of CONNER
cial zoning, one of which includes
general merchandising and busi-
ness structures and the other com
mercial activities, such as gasoline
stations and used car lots.
DR.. B. H. Jarman Succeeds
NesseI as GWU Reuisfrdr