HEIGHT OF BUILDINGS RESTRICTED BY THE CAPITOL DOME
The preeminence of the Dome of the Capitol has dominated the height of both public and private buildings. The 110-foot-height limit is found in a small section of the center of the downtown business district. On streets 110 feet wide in the 110-foot-height district, 130 feet is allowed under set-back provisions, and this maximum height cannot be exceeded by buildings (except spires, penthouses, or other excrescences) erected under the zoning regulations. Before 1929 but few buildings exceeded this height. The act of 1910 limited the height of buildings to front or abut Union Station Plaza to 80 feet.
REGIONAL PLAN OF WASHINGTON AND ENVIRONS
Chapter XVII
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL PARK AND PLANNING COMMISSION
A new period in the development of the city may be said to date from 1901 with the filing of the report of the McMillan Park Commission, for since that time there has been a constant increase in the interest taken by the public. The outstanding dates recording the progress of this increased interest are 1910, 1912, 1920, and 1924. The Fine Arts Commission was established in 1910. A new beginning of control of private property was made in 1910 after many years’ lapse of the original restrictions imposed by President Washington. This new beginning consisted in control of the height of buildings, the passage of a height law, and was followed in 1920 by a comprehensive zoning law.
In 1924 the lack of provision of public parks and the failure to carry out the proposals of the plan of 1901, in so far as park areas were concerned, led to the formation of the National Capital Park Commission, with authority to purchase lands for park purposes. The organization of the Commission was the result of combined efforts of many nation-wide organizations.
The new Commission soon found that an intelligent choice of park lands could not be made without knowledge of the interrelation of parks, highways, zoning, public buildings, and other elements of city and regional planning. The authority of the Commission was therefore increased in 1926, and its membership enlarged. The new National Capital Park and Planning Commission was charged—
with the duty of preparing, developing, and maintaining a comprehensive, consistent, and coordinated plan for the National Capital and environs (an area of some 1,539 square miles, lying roughly within 20 miles of the White House, and involving the cooperation of 2 States, 4 counties, 2 cities, and numerous incorporated places), which plan shall include recommendations to the proper executive authorities as to traffic and transportation; plats and subdivisions; highways, parks, and parkways; school and library sites; playgrounds, drainage, sewerage, and water supply; housing, building, and zoning regulations; public and private buildings; bridges and water fronts; commerce and industry; and other proper elements of city and regional planning.
The largest single factor in determining the extent and character of the development of the National Capital will be the extent, character, and wisdom of the permanent investments by the public in public areas and improvements. This Commission has, therefore, considered as of primary importance the proper location and extent of public lands, whether used for streets, parks, public buildings, or other public services; and the timely acquisition and development of these areas for their particular purposes.
VIEW FROM THE DOME OF THE CAPITOL, LOOKING EAST
VIEW OF THE DOME OF THE CAPITOL, LOOKING SOUTH
Since the areas needed for public use can not be chosen without regard to the use and extent of private developments, it follows that some control over the use of private property—as by zoning—is an essential part of city or regional planning.
When city planning is mentioned most people think first of streets. In this field the commission has been active in three ways—first, in an effort to make the streets fit the land and to follow along the hills and valleys instead of across them; second, in establishing a major thoroughfare system guiding the development of the main highways within the District of Columbia and extending the principles of the original L’Enfant plan to the limits of the District; and third, in securing public support of a regional highway system which will provide more adequately for traffic both into the city and between suburban areas.
With the first of these aims in view many changes in the highway plan of the District have been made in cooperation with the District officials. These changes were advantageous to preserve natural topography, to fit the streets to property lines, to save trees, to provide drainage, or for like reasons. Several important street openings and widenings have been undertaken in accordance with the commission’s major thoroughfare plan, such as New York Avenue beyond the limits of the L’Enfant plan, the opening of a new Louisiana Avenue from the Union Station to Pennsylvania Avenue at Union Square, straightening of Michigan Avenue, and extension of Sixteenth Street to the District line. The plan which follows the recommendations of the commission has been recognized by the District officials in the adoption of a 5-year highway program.
Several new regional highway projects are now complete or going forward in accordance with the regional plan. The Mount Vernon Memorial Highway and the Lee Boulevard establish new standards in highway design. The extension of Rhode Island and Massachusetts Avenues fits the plan. The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission has adopted practically all of the suggestions made by the Commission for the Maryland area as part of the Maryland master plan.
Where parks are concerned the Commission has a special responsibility. The plans for parks both in the District of Columbia and out of it have received the indorsement of Congress in the Capper-Cramton Act.
For the District the Commission is now acquiring parks of three types: (1) A parkway (the Fort Drive) around the city, 28 miles long and connecting the sites of the Civil War forts on the second row of hills; (2) a system of recreation centers and playgrounds distributed throughout the area in association with the schools and so far as possible providing a play area within a quarter of a mile of every child; (3) preservation of stream valleys and correction of the boundaries of Rock Creek Park.
The principal physical feature of the region is the Potomac River, so it is natural that the corresponding feature of the park system is along the river banks. Below Washington, where the broad lakelike scenery exists, parkways are under construction or contemplated on the Virginia side to Mount Vernon and on the Maryland shore to Fort Washington. Above Washington a park is projected to preserve the natural scenery of the Palisades, rapids, woodlands, and Great Falls of the Potomac, together with the Patowmack Canal, built by George Washington, and the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal on the Maryland side of the river.
The Commission has taken an active part in the effort to have the public buildings of Washington grouped and arranged not only for the convenience and beauty of the result but also that they may fit into the future plans for streets, highways, and parks, and thus promote the orderly development of the city and region. When the first important step in the public-buildings program was taken in 1926 the Commission urged the purchase of all of the land necessary for a plan of the group as a whole instead of undertaking individual building projects as separate units in the scheme. The problems of parking and transit facilities in relation to the public-buildings groups have caused the Commission great concern, and efforts have been made to secure the cooperation of the architects in charge of the building program in order to solve these problems. In all of its activities concerning the public-buildings program the Commission has been guided by the principles announced by the plan of 1901, under which Federal buildings will be concentrated along the axis of the Mall and about the White House. The Commission has given favorable consideration to an enlargement of this program by which semipublic buildings and possibly State buildings might be located along East Capitol Street in order to help the balance between the northwest and the eastern portions of the city of Washington.
In the same way the Commission advises the appropriate authorities on matters of zoning and control of use of private property. Zoning has now been adopted not only in the District but also in the Maryland suburban area and in Arlington County and Fairfax County, Va. Also Alexandria has prepared a zoning plan. It is hoped that in the not distant future other portions of the Maryland and Virginia areas may be added to this list. In matters relating to zoning in the District, the Commission has contributed statistical data and expert opinion, and was particularly active in the segregation of single-family houses from 2-family and community groups.
In brief, it is the function of the Commission to revive, review, and revise the efforts of past generations toward a “great and effective city for the seat of our Government” and to keep that ideal constantly before the public, to the end that each separate undertaking by the countless public and private agencies concerned may be coordinated and related to produce a result in which future generations may take pride.
FORT DRIVE CONNECTING THE CIVIL WAR FORTS ENCIRCLING WASHINGTON