Evening star., 1947-01-23
Young Urges District
To Scrap Fort Drive
And Recapture Land
Compoign to Recover
Big Tox-Exempt Acreoees
From Government Seen
By John w. THOMPSON. Jr.

Commissioner John Russell
Young today called for a scrap
ping Of the proposed Fort drive
to connect the chain of CiviliWar
forts surrounding washington
and for a return of the land ac-
quired for the drive for use as
taxable home sites.
His action was based on a report
prepared by Budget Officer Walter
T.. Fowler and Assessor Edward A
Dent, which described the proposed
drive as "cf1imerical and useless"
Informed of Commissioner Young
action, the National Capital Parl
and Planning Commission refused
official comment.
Speaking as an individual, how.
ever, its chairman, Maj. Gen. U. S
Grant III, said:
"It is inconceivable to me that
a project which has been generally
agreed to for a long period of years
and right Of way for such a valu-
able and necessary freeway around
the city should be abandoned when
over 80 per cent of the right OF
way Is already in public ownership
land acquired at prices less than
those which would have to be paid
for substitute traffic facilities in
the future"
Awaits Official Information.
Gen. Grant said he had learned
of Commissioner Young's proposal
so far only from newsmen and that
the commission itself could not take
any action or make any statement
in regard to such a matter before
it learned of it officially"
The Fort drive project has been
approved by Congress, starting In
1880, Gen. Grant said. He added
that it had cost $2,922, ,503 to date
and comprised 1883 acres.
Only today, the Planning COM
missions land purchasing officer
Norman G. Brown, announced that
the commission had purchased 1000
square feet more for the right OF
way of the Fort drive on Perry
street NE. just off Eastern avenue.
Mr.. Young asked his colleagues
to seek legislation which would re-
turn the acreage already purchased
at a cost of some $4,000, 1000 to Dis
trict taxpayers to use "for more
practical purposes"
RecaEure of Land Sought.
The attack on the Fort drive-a
project OF the Planning Commission
was seen as the first step in
campaign by District officials to re-
capture large areas of land from the
Federal Government which are
serving no public purpose that justi-
fies their retention in the heart o1
great metropolis"
The Dent Fowler report pointed
to the large amount of publicly
owned land in the District which Il
tax exempt.
The steadily increasing amount o1
nontaxable land, the report said, vii!
increase the tax load on the remain
ing land in the city and drive home
owners and business to the sur
rounding counties. This would
cause a decay of the large business
districts which now provide SC
much OF the city's tax income, the
report continued.
The two officials estimated that
by 1865 the population in the sur
rounding counties will be 10 per
cent of the entire Metropolitan
Area.
Unless radical remedial action Is
taken," the report said, "the Dis
trict will some G. - converted into
a suburb of the .-.etropolitan area
housing its poorest inhabitants, with
core of magnificent public build
ings and national monuments IN
the midst of it."
The final solution, the report said
is not only recapture OF land from
the Federal Government but also