Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-25
Tobriner Says
Heads of CITY
Had Old Dutu
By ROBERT ]. LEWIS
Star staff Writer

PlaZa urban renewal project
two years ago may have been
a mistake, Walter N. Tobriner,
president of the Board Of Com
missioners. indicated today to
a House District subcommittee.
Testifying at a hearing re-
garding extensive raZing of
properties prior to the projects
approval on May IL, 1861, Mr..
Tobriner said the Commits
sioners were not aware that 20
condemned buildings had al
ready been removed at that
time.
Eligibility Of a project for
renewal depends on the num-
Der and percentage of existing
Substandard dwellings in the
project area.
In testimony several weeks
ago. District officials said they
were now satisfied that 20
condemned buildings, of a total
of 81 in the area, had been
demolished prior to approval
of the project.
Purchase Ponds
The eight-acre Foggy Bottom
site is designated for rede-
velopment by the Columbia
Plaza Corp. This corporation
has agreed to purchase the land
for $5,48l 1853, but has not so
far done so.
The Redevelopment Land
Agency last week announced
the corporation was in default
Of its contract and would have
so days-until about December
l6-to make good the purchase.
At today'S hearing, Repre-
sentative Dowdy, Democrat of
Texas, the subcommittee
chairman, told Mr.. Tobriner:
Our records show only three
OF the condemned buildings in
the Columbia Plaza area were
standing when the public hear
ing on the project was held
March 81, 1861, and that all
but one had been removed by
the time the Commissioners
approval was given" Mr..
Dowdy then asked Mr.. To-
briner:
Were any of these facts
called to your attention."
| Cites Hearing
Neither officially nor I'M
officially, to my knowledge"
Mr.. Tobriner replied. "The
only knowledge had was in
the record Of the public hear
ing March 81, 1851"
This was the public hearing
required of the Commissioners
prior to approval of a renewal
project.
In his testimony, Mr.. To-
briner pointed out that at the
time Of the public hearing on
the project-which is bounded
by Twenty third. Twenty-fifth.
and E streets and by Virginia
avenue N.W.-he had been in
office only three weeks and
had little knowledge of the
mtricacies of the urban re-
newal law" But he added:
eff our Judgment is wrong,
that is our responsibility"
At this point, Chairman
Dowdy interjected:
Just being in office three
weeks, / might very we'll have
done the same thing"
Sees Possible Error
The indication from Mr.. To-
briner that he believed approval
of the project may have been
in error came a few moments
later, when Representative
Roudebush, Republican of In
diana, asked him whether, In
the light of later information
regarding razing of properties,
he believed a mistake" had
been made.
Mr.. Tobriner replied:
II would say that if the
statutory facts required to exist
did not exist, then a mistake
was made"
Chairman Dowdy asked:
If you had known at the
time Of the public hearing. and
at the time of approval, that
the reports were not current,
would you have approved the
project?"
To this, Mr.. Tobriner said:
IF those reports indicated
as they apparently do-that
they were not current, then, of
course, we would have taken
a different position.
In other testimony, Commits
sioner Tobriner said he be-
lieved, at the time, it was not
necessary for the Commits
sionerS to make their own check
of the condition Of dwellings
in the area in connection with
the projects eligibility.
II felt we had a perfect
justification to reply on the in
formation provided to us by a
collateral agency on a matter
over which they had jurisdic-
ton"