Evening star., 1946-04-14
Grant Would CurtaiI
f1O-Foot zoning in
Northwest Section

A halt to- extension of 110-foot
zoning in the Northwest section and
reduction of the 110-foot area which
now exists north and west of Nine
teenth and N streets NV. was
called for Yesterday by Maj. Gen.
U. s. Grant III, chairman Of the
National Capital Park and Plan
ming Commission. -
Gen. Grant said he was requesting
the ban to prevent future blight of
the present downtown business area
and lowered District tax values and
revenue.
He made it clear he was speaking
as an individual and said his views
did not necessarily coincide with
those of other commission members.
He also said that increased land
and improvement values which
might be set up by extension north
westward of top commercial develop
ment would never make up for
losses in value and revenue which
would result in the present down.
town section.
Pays % Per Cent of Tax.
The present downtown area
that bounded by N street, Fifth
street, Pennsylvania avenue and
Nineteenth street - comprises IL
per cent of the entire taxable area
of the city. The assessed value of
this area comprises IS per cent of
that for the entire city and the as
sessed value of improvements Is
per cent Hence, he said, this area
pays % per cent of the whole real
estate tax.
A survey of the area bounded, he
said, shows there is plenty of room
for building up to coming limits.
For instance, he explained, the
average height of the 110-foot area
east of Sixteenth street NV. is
only At stories and only 1913 per
cent is built up to the height per-
mitted.
Harland Bartholomew, st. Louis
zoning expert who assisted in max
ing the District zoning map in 1921,
Gen. Grant recalled, stressed that
high property valuese built up in
the downtown area east of Fifteenth
street NV. should be conserved
and extended if possible. This
trend Coward the northwest) is
such that it may soon have serious
consequences"
Now. Is years later, Gen. Grant
said, the same holds true to an
even greater extent.
Unlike Other Cities.
washington is unlike other cities
in that its business district, while
growing outward, must remain an
chored to the chief employment
centers of the Federal Government.
1t cannot be allowed to float about
with the breezes of land specula-
tion," he emphasized.
Decentralizing influences, he in
dicated, If allowed to go unchecked,
might someday be the direct cause
of a decrease in District revenues
which could i'll be afforded If the
present fiscal conditin of the city
is to be taken as preview of the
future.
BY decentralization, he made it
clear, he did not mean develop
ment of branch and suburban shop
ping and amusement centers. These,
he said, are part of the healthy
growth of any city. He said his
remarks were aimed at decentral-
ization of the city's main business
buildings.
Lists Other Needed Measures.
Reduction of 110-foot coming out
side the central area, he said, must
be accompanied by other preventive
measures If the threat of decreased
values and revenues is to be averted.
These he listed as:
l. Additional and more uniformly
spread construction of maximum
height buildings in the downtown
area. A more even spread of such
buildings along streets where con-
struction is nowhere near the
limits permitted would reduce
present congestion, he said.
2. A death blow to short time
parking congestion in the down.
town area. He said the progress 30
far of the Motor Vehicle Parking