Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-05-18

ufacturing and three special
transition" areas.
, 2. Existing rules contain no
/ provision for the elimination OF
/ mon conforming uses" as the
, new ones do.
: 3. The new rules, for the first
time, impose direct control on
"density"-the number of people
who can work or live in large
buildings-by limiting the build
ings' total floor area.
4. Of-street parking spaces
; land off street loading lanes in
} commercial buildings) are re-
quired for all types of new con-
struction, instead of just resi-
Dental.
S. While the existing 1926
, regulations were thrown to-
, gether" in six months and have
been amended to DEATH" the
new ones reflect detailed plan
ming studies.
6. Compact shopping centerS'
,, are proposed in place of long
strips of shops and stores per-
mitted on many major streets
at present. Much of this "strir
coming" for commercial use is
/ wiped out.
: 7. New provisions encourage
: designed developments which
contain number of mixed type.
of new housing on tracts of II
acres or more within the city.
8. Special areas are provided
for light industrial or warehous-
, ing activities, which require at
, tractive landScaping, large
amounts of open space and nc
offensive noises, odors or smoke
: 9. The new transition district.
S add a brand-new kind of zonine
: area.
Mr.. Lewis said the Transition
districts are a new concept il
. city planning which serve a large
number of purposes. The mos
, important is to form such 6
, district to act as a buffer be.
, tween adjoining areas which
conflict with one another-sucf
!, as residential and industrial OF
business areas.
The transition areas woulC
) permit a wide variety of use.
more than so types and pro.
! vide a specific place for many
structures whcih now have nc
place to go under zoning," Mr.
Lewis said. Institutions and big
, parking areas, for example
! would be encouraged in the
transition zones.
The consultants estimate pres
ent streets and proposed i'm
provements will permit a maxi
! mum of 100000 people a day to
enter the central area without
becoming strangled in rush.
hour traffic. But they contend
that the growth of downtown
employment centers must be held
down or the maximum number
,, of commuters the central area
can handle will be exceeded.
The new regulations are MOI
!. directly comparable to thu
existing ones in many respects
because of the new kinds of con.
trolls proposed.
The most important is the new
control on total floor space. Ii
nearly all new buildings except
: single-family homes, this contro
; would limit the amount of flool
! space in relation to the square
footage of the buildings lots.
In no case could the largest
, Office building or apartment fiool
/ space be more than seven time.
, the square footage of its lot
, proposal which business interest.
) contend fails to recognize the
realistic economics of commercial
buildings.
Floor Area Ratio
!, This new control on popula.
ton density. called a floor area
t ratio" does not apply to any
residential coming districts except
apartments. Density controls fol
! the other residences include lot
size, building height and restric.
: tons on yard sizes.
! The new off street parking re.
quirementS vary for each type Of
! structure.
) Single-family homes mus
have one space, with another re-
served on lots of more than $500
square feet. Apartments mus
have one and one-fourth spaces
per dwelling unit, with otheI
! spaces reserved for future needs
Commercial buildings general!
! require one space for each twt
employees. In smaller retail anC
5 service establishment areas. off
: street parking is geared to the
: amount of commercial foo
space involved.