Evening star., 1960-10-12
BY GEORGE WILSON
Star Stan Writer

Star Stan Writer
When you ask Architect
Charles M. Goodman what is
delaying urban renewal in
Washington, he slaps down a
document with the air of a
prosecutor who has just broken
the case.
His Exhibit A" is the 40
page Urban Renewal Plan set
ting forth guidelines for design
ing the Reynolds Metals Co.
cooperative housing project on
the 1112 acres on Southwest
q. bounded by Fourth, P and M
streets and Delaware avenue.
Mr.. Goodman said the plan
was his bible when he sat down
to his drawing board to design
the apartment house and town
houses for the slum- cleared
land.
Now" he complained, they
tell me I've got to change my
design because Of the Districts
building code. But I followed
this plan which the District
Commissioners approved long
ago. Does this plan mean what
it says or doesn't it?"
In the Middle
His discomfort stemmed from
being caught in the middle be-
tween the Redevelopment Land
Agency and the Districts urban
renewal .co-ordinator, Col.
Thomas K. Fullerton. The RIA
thought Mr.. Goodman's de-
sign obeyed District rules. But
Col. Fullerton last week said
it broke several of them and
that the District therefore |
could not issue Reynolds a !
building permit.
So now the Goodman design |
is back on the drawing board. |
He has to change 1t to provide
more access to the houses for
emergency vehicles, convert
some Of the private streets to
public ones, and put each of
the town houses on separate
lot with at least 30-foot 'front.'
age.
Mr.. Goodman Is unhappy
about it all. He feels the
changes will reduce the tran
guilty Of the project by giving
more access to ''the damn cars"
And, taking the long view, he
thinks the District must recog-
nize that urban renewal is a
new program requiring new
rules.
THE RIA needs new regula-
tions to stand on" he said. In
voking the old ones "discour-
ages architects and delays
sponsors. He called for a re-
write job so the building and
zoning regulations would not !
hobble the architects trying to !
design a city pleasant to live
in.
Building Code Verbosity
The architect attributed
some Of the delay in the be-
ginning of the urban renewal
program to RLA's unfamiliarity
with the verbosity of the Dis
trict building code"
Mrs. Chloethiel Smith, an
architect who is designing
much of the new Southwest,
agreed that this unfamiliarity
sometimes results in RIA set
ting down design specifications
that are hard to carry out.
She, too, would like to see more
flexible regulations for urban
renewal.
Col. Fullerton said he was
wide open for suggestions and
already has a committee of
technicians studying the rules
with an eye to revisions. '"I
hold no brief for the regula-
tions as they exist" he said.
But since they do exist, they
have to be followed"
These cries of anguish about
the building code, though they
sound painful. are actually
symptomatic of a deeper fear
that many esthetes like Mr..
Goodman have about urban
renewal.
They fear the bold new
ideas for tomorrow's cities may
be shot down or distorted
beyond recognition by public
officials before they can be
proved in brick and mortar.
Esthetic Drive
THE big problem" said Will
liam l.. Slayton, the Webb a.
Knapp vice president in charge
Of the firms Washington re-
development projects, includ-
ing the Town Center, sis get
ting people to think in new
terms, to break the mould.
It's conceptional more than
anything else.
Urban renewal" he added
needs an eSthetic drive to