Evening star., 1954-12-12
Aides
|ToStudyCodes
In Other Cities
Task Force of Four
To Visit Baltimore
And Philadelphia

A four-man task force Of Dis.
trict officials will go to Baltimore
and Philadelphia tomorrow to
find out how those cities operate
their housing codes.
They are hoping what they
learn viii help them in q re-
drafting of the housing Gods
proposed for the Nations Capital
Making the trip are E. Milton
Dulin. superintendent of the
Districts Housing Division: Will
liam H. Cary, jr., chief of the
Public Health Engineering Divi-
sion:. Herbert S. Fuhrman, chief
Of the Management Survey Sec.
ton, and Robert F. Kneipp, as.
sistant corporation counsel.
15-Year Baltimore Program.
In Baltimore. they will find q
l5-year-old program run by the
Health Department which Is
cleaning up some of the city's
worst slums.
Operating in cooperation with
a special police detail-and with
inspectors lent by the building,
fire and electrical departments
the Health Departments Hous.
ing Bureau is:
Making property owners rip
down slatternly alley fences and
the rear yard shacks which
have grown up alongside them.
Ordering rear yard flush toilets
removed and making owners In
stall indoor bathrooms, with
toilet and lavatory. Bathtubs or
showers will be required after
January l. 1855.
Defects Repaired.
Making owners rebuild bulging
walls and repair any other struc-
tural defects. r
Requiring cementing of some
small rear yards and cellars to
make them rat proof.
Forcing installation of electric
lights in halls and stairways.-
All told, consolidated "hous.
ing inspection record" used BY
the inspectors covers 81 items.
The bureaus work is backed
up by a special municipal
Housing Court" which sits three
days a week. 1t was established
in 1947 and last year heard 644
cases. OF these. 226 were dis.
missed, 388 persons were found
guilty and fined $10,620, accord.
ing to Housing Bureau officials.
However, they say. most Of
their work is done without ref
erence to the court, for the bulk
of landlords and tenants obey
orders.
Pilot Area Set Up.
The most concentrated work
by the bureau was on an effort
to "rehabilitate" the Biddle area
which has been set UP as Q
pilot area.
There. the bureau stringently
enforced the city's housing code
and made a major effort to edu-
cate the poyerty-stricken Negro
occupants, of the areas century,
old row houses In health, sani-
tation and hygiene.
Six other slum zones have been
designated as law enforcement
areas" where the bureau is maxi
ing periodic block -by-block in
spections and ordering repairs
to bring the houses into con-
formity with the housing code,
but is not using the all-out CAM
paign technique employed in the
pilot area.
In the Mount Royal area, o
fine residential neighborhood on
the downgrade, the Housing Bu-
reau has started a new 'conser-
vation program" to stop the
process Of decay by inspection
and enforcement of the housing
code.
Owners Persuaded.
Combined with the official ac-
ton Is a strong publicity program
designed to persuade property
owners they would be smart to
keep their houses in good condi-
ton by repair, modernization
and maintenance.
Joining In the campaign-es-
pecially directed at more than
300 absentee owners Of property
in the Mount Royal areas the
Baltimore Real Estate Board.
All this effort is wrapped up
under the name of the "Balti-
more Plan"
Co-operates With Agencies.
The Housing Bureaus pro-
gram is run in close co-opera-
ton with redeyelopment and
public housing programs oper-
ated by two, other agencies.
Under "redevelopment," slun1s
are ripped out by the roots and
the earth laid bare. Then the
land is resold to private develop
ers who agree to rebuild ttie
areas according to a set plan.
Baltimore is ahead of Wash.
ington in this field. Here the
first such program is getting
under way in the southwest seq
| ton of the Nations CAPITAL.