Evening star., 1952-09-19
Commercials
0fCheYChase
Area Fought
Residents to Seek Fund
To Buy Troct on
Connecticut Avenue

~ Ouy tIVSt Vu
Connecticut Avenue
A group Of Chevy Chase resi-
ents last night banded together
o buy a strip of property in the
TOO block Of Connecticut avenue
wv, just north Of the E. ".
srown School tract, to prevent its
se for commercial purposes.
Alarmed by the construction Of
J store on the west side Of the
venue in the same block, the new
,roup is making its aim known to
he neighborhood and the District
commissioners in a circular.
The organization. called the
>hevy Chase Neighborhood Com
voiced fear that the new
construction is part of a program
~ commercial developers to
;hange the character of the i'm
Mediate vicinity so that a resi-
1ential covenant protecting the
East side Of the avenue may ulti-
nately be cracked.
Stanley I. Posner, an attorney
of $3.50 Oliver street NV, and
leading light in the committee,
said today that the group hopes
to canvass the entire neighbor-
hood for funds. The property, lo-
Gated between Northampton and
Oliver streets, is now valued at
about $4,000.
Ultimate Use Cited.
Mr.. Posner said the ultimate
goal Of the groups would be to
turn over the land for playground
or community center use.
The property now is owned by
the Saint Lo Construction Co.. Of
which the local realtor, Morris
Cafritz, has been president. The
firm paid $1,000 cash for it, and
the National Metropolitan Bank
holds a $67, 900 note for the bal
ance.
Saint Lo tried in 1947 to build
an apartment house with ground
level stores on the tract. But
aroused residents took the, matter
to court and won an injunction
against it. Backbone of the ruling
was nearly half-century-old COW
enant specifying that only private
homes could be built in the sub.
division bounded by Connecticut
avenue. Morrison street and Chevy
Chase parkway.
A similar injunction obtained in
1917 applied to the west side Of
Connecticut avenue in the 570O
block But, according to the COM
mittee circular, the Chevy Chase
Land Co., owners of that tract,
got the injunction modified by
District Court last June to permit
commercial use of that block.
Only Partly Informed.
The residents complained that
when the land company filed its
court action. Saint Lo was the
only interested party" informed.
mo notice of any kind was given
to the residents Of the area who
would have opposed the request"
the committee stated.
The court modification order
was based in part on a statement
by Saint Lo officials that they did
not oppose modifying the injunc-
ton, since the character of the
neighborhood had changed"
The COMMITTEE declared that,
from this legal background, there
arose from the ground this week.
almost overnight, the store whose
rapid construction was accompa-
MED by an absence Of the usual
Identification of owner, or builder.
or contractor"
Construction of the store.
startling" and extraordinary" in
its speed and anonymity, marks
a new phase in the 10-year war
between certain real estate inter-
ests, who are trying to destroy a
covenant against commercial use.
and the property owners who
don't want the east side of Con.
necticut avenue below Chevy
Chase Circle turned into a shop
ping area" the committee de.
clared.
Linked to Brown Struggle.
At a Wednesday meeting, the
group noted, one lawyer-member
familiar with the controversy
warned that recent efforts to "in-
|duce" District officials to sell the
partly covenanted E. v. Brown
tract are part of the same strug-
gle"
The committee regards it's duty
as organizing all interested groups
to preserve the residential char.
acter of the area.
I'VE believe that in other areas
OF Washington home owners may.
like ourselves. find that the 10y
Iof living in a pleasant. quiet
neighborhood is rudely shattered
as result of a cold-blooded cam.
paign to capture the profits which
accompany the first phases of
conversion of residential land to
commercial use," the circular de-
clared.
Michael J. Keane. attorney and
official Of the Saint Lo firm, has
said that If the District sells the
valuable Brown School property.
now used as library branch and
community center, the value OF
the adjoining block which the
residents want to buy will soar to
100000.
AS a first step in the citizens
program to resist this invasion"
a committee spokesman said that
members will confer with officials
Of the Metropolitan Bank to de-
termine what can be done toward
purchasing the land in question.