Evening star., 1949-02-10
Friendship Site
Weighed
After Hearing
Change to Allow
Multiple Housing
Strongly Protested

To-Day mas unQer aQVlSement a pro-
posal. hotly contested by a large
number of Georgetown residents.
for rezoning the site of the lats
Mrs. Evalyn Walsh McLean's es-
tate, Friendship. to permit con-
struction of multiple housing
units.
Strong opposition by George
town property owners to the pro-
posed change on the zoning map
developed yesterday at a hearing
in the District Building board
room. Spokesman for the trus-
tees of Mrs McLean's estate de-
clared they have been unable to
get a fair price for the land as
it is now zoned-residential B re-
stricted.
In her will Mrs Mclean left the
property to her son -in-law, former
Senator Robert Reynolds of North
Carolina. Mr.. Reynolds, accord
ing to attorneys for the trustees.
has decided not to occupy the
home and grounds.
Thurman Arnold. former justice
of the United States Court of Ap-
pealS and a trustee of the Mclean
estate, told the commission and
the host of opponents that apart
ments would be preferable to some
types of construction that might
go up on the Friendship site.
Older Apartments Tolerated"
Exhibiting 480 signatures Of
persons he said were opposed to
rezoning, Attorney Robert T.
Lynch, representing some of the
opponents. charged the trustees
want to undo everything the COM
mission has done to keep George
town an exclusive residential area.
Any apartments now standing
near Friendship, Mr.. Lynch DE-
clared, were there before 1924
and are merely tolerated."
The property involved is the
block bounded by Reservoir road,
R street, Wisconsin avenue and
Thirty y-fourth street NV. 1t was
acquired by Mrs. Mclean after
the first Friendship was sold to
become the site of Mclean Gar
dens, apartment project.
The property-owners surround
ing Friendship, Mr.. Lynch con-
cluded. are 100 per cent opposed
to the zoning change.
Individual Homes Proposed.
John Gill, chairman of the
Zoning Committee Of the George
town Citizens Association. said his
group is opposed unanimously to
the change. Ee recommended
that the property be split up into
lots and be sold as sites for in
dividual homes.
The commission also took under
advisement proposal by the
Zoning Advisory Council to rezone
a large area east of Dupont Circle
to permit apartment construction.
The proposal. which was not op-
posed at the hearing, involves
property located on the northeast
side of Dupont Circle from P street
to New Hampshire avenue NV;
the east side of New Hampshire
avenue from Dupont Circle to I'LL
New Hampshire avenue; the west
side of New Hampshire avenue
from @ to Corcoran streets NV;
the north side of r street between
Eighteenth street and New Hamp-
shire avenue.
Also the west side of New
Hampshire avenue between R and
is streets. The change also would
apply to premises at 1740 R street
NV.
Other Proposals Weighed.
Other proposals taken under
advisement by the zoning COM
mission include:
l. A proposal to change from
Residential. First Commercial,
Second Commercial and Indus
trial zoning to Residential c all
property located within the area
bounded by K, Twenty-fourth,
and E streets and Rock Creek
Parkway NV: or, in the alterna-
tive, change all the properties to
Residential c except one tract.
This tract, which would be
changed to First Commercial,
would contain all property with
frontage on Virginia avenue, H
and G streets, south of Virginia
avenue.
2. A proposal to extend the
First Commercial C area abutting
the east side of Minnesota ave-
nue. NE. southwark from Dix
street NE. to permit proposed
construction of a G. c. Murphy
Co. 10-cent store.
Several cases which had not
been heard by Sis pm. were
carried over until 2 pm. Febru-
ary IS by order of the commits.