PROHIBITING USE OF BUILDINGS OR PREMISES IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FOR THE CARRYING ON OF CERTAIN UNDESIRABLE INDUSTRIES MAY 20, 1937.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed Mrs. NORTON, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 6834] The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 6834) to prohibit the use of buildings or premises in the District of Columbia for the carrying on of certain undesirable industries, having considered the same, report favorably thereon and recommend that the bill do pass. This bill makes it unlawful to erect, alter, or use any building or premises in the District of Columbia for any one or more of the following purposes: 1. Acetylene gas manufacturing. 2. Distillation of bones or wood. 3. Manufacture of pyroxylin, celluloid, explosives, fireworks, or gunpowder. 4. Gasoline, naphtha, or petroleum refining, except such refining as shall be merely incidental to other permitted uses and for the purpose of recovering for use by the person refining the same, of such products rendered impure through such other permitted uses. 5. Ammonia, bleaching powder, or chlorine manufacturing. 6. Gelatine, glue or sizing manufacturing. 7. Rendering of fat or other animal products. 8. Incineration, for others, or reduction or rendering, of dead animals, garbage, offal, or refuse, except in a municipal plant. 9. Manufacture of fertilizer from animals or animal refuse. 10. Slaughtering of animals. 11. Stockyards. 12. Smelting of ores. 13. Sulphuric-, nitric-, or hydrochloric-acid manufacturing. 14. Tetra-ethyl lead precipitate or liquid manufacture. 15. Tanning, curing, cleaning, or other processing, or storage of raw skins or raw hides, other than taxidermy. Within 90 days after the effective date of the bill, any person or persons using a building or premises in the District of Columbia for any of the prescribed uses, may apply for a permit to the Zoning Commission to continue such use or uses of the building or premises. The Zoning Commission, with the approval of the health officer, is authorized to grant such a permit, good for a period of 1 year from the date of its issuance, upon being satisfied that the applicant has established these three facts: (1) That the building was used by the applicant when the act was passed for one of the purposes specified above; (2) That the use has not been, and if continued will not be unduly injurious, obnoxious, or offensive by reason of noise, smoke, gas, dust, or other objectionable feature; and (3) That the use will be solely for the purpose of supplying the needs of the inhabitants of the District of Columbia and outlying territory within a 5-mile radius of the District of Columbia. The bill sets forth what a permit must contain, including a statement as to the extent to which the building or premises described in the permit may be used for the approved purpose. Such extent is to be determined by the Zoning Commission on a basis of time which appears to the Commission will reflect most accurately the operation of the applicant. The bill provides a method of computing the maximum extent of such use, as follows: Either (1) If the building has been used for the purpose for which approval is requested during the 5 years preceding the date of the enactment of the bill, the extent of the use may not be more than 125 percent of the average extent of the use of the building for such purpose during this 5-year period; if the use shall not have been commenced before 5 years prior to the date of the enactment of the bill, the extent of such use shall not be more than 125 percent of the average extent of the use for such purpose during the period from the time the use commenced to the date of the enactment of the bill; or (2) The average extent of the use of such building for such purpose during any 12 consecutive calendar months during such 5 years, whichever is the greater. Under the bill permits may be renewed annually. Such renewal may be granted only if a permit holder, within 60 days before the expiration of his permit, has established to the satisfaction of the Zoning Commission and the health officer that in the period which had elapsed between the permit holder's last previous application. for the permit or its renewal, such use has not been, and if continued will not be, unduly injurious, obnoxious, or offensive because of noise, smoke, odor, gas, dust, or other objectionable feature. Furthermore, the applicant for a renewal must establish that it has complied with all the terms and provisions of the permit then held by such applicant. Subject to the provisions intended to insure that the most modern methods of carrving on a permitted use will be employed and subject to the provision that the capacity of the building will not be thereby increased, the bill authorizes any holder of a valid permit to alter any building or premises covered by his permit. Provision is made in the bill for the Zoning Commission, with the approval of the health officer, in the event that an application for an original permit shall have been received within 90 days from the effective date of the bill, to grant a temporary permit which will authorize the applicant to continue the use described in the temporary permit for not longer than 30 days from the date of such temporary permit. The bill authorizes renewals of such temporary permits, each renewal not to exceed 30 days, but provides that no temporary permit shall be effective after 6 months from the effective date of the bill. A building which is erected, altered, or used in violation of the provisions of the bill is declared to be a common nuisance, and any person violating any provision of the bill shall be adjudged guilty of maintaining a common nuisance and shall be punished by a fine of not more than $200 a day for every day the violation continues and shall be required by the court to abate such nuisance. Actions against alleged violators are to be filed in the police court of the District of Columbia by the corporation counsel in the name of the District and actions to abate and perpetually enjoin the nuisance may be maintained by the corporation counsel in the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia. The bill gives the Commissioners of the District of Columbia the duty to enforce the provisions of the bill and provides that nothing in the bill shall be construed so as to limit the power heretofore enjoyed by the Commissioners to make municipal regulations. This bill, aimed not at a single industry, but at all nuisance industries, is intended to make it possible for the District of Columbia to become the ideal capital. It must be remembered that the territorial limits of the District are fixed, and in view of the growing population in the District, steps must be taken as soon as possible to prevent the construction of buildings which will be used for a purpose not consistent with the accepted principles along which the Nation's Capital should be developed. Essentially a residential area, the District of Columbia is no place for heavy industries or for industries whose operation will result in obnoxious, injurious, or offensive noises, smokes, odors, gases, or dust. The investment of the Federal Government in its planning activities, parks, roadways, and housing projects must not be jeopardized any longer, nor should Congress permit the construction of any building in the District which could conceivably render the District less suitable as the seat of the Government and as a place of residence for the employees of the Government. Attached hereto and made a part of this report is a letter from the president of the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia approving and urging the enactment of this legislation, together with a legal opinion on the bill referred to in said letter. It should be noted that this legal opinion refers to S. 2286, a companion bill to H. R. 6834, but its conclusion as to the constitutionality of S. 2286 is equally applicable to H. R. 6834. GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Hon. MARY T. NORTON, EXECUTIVE OFFICE, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MRS. NORTON: The Commissioners of the District of Columbia have the honor to submit the following report on H. R. 8634 (75th Cong., 1st sess.), entitled "a bill to prohibit the use of buildings or premises in the District of Columbia for the carrying on of certain undesirable industries", which you referred to them for report as to the merits of the bill, and the propriety of its passage. The bill has been carefully considered, and the Commissioners approve of this proposed legislation and urge its enactment, but feel that certain minor changes should be made in the bill. These changes are as follows: 1. Page 2, line 9, delete the words "Acetylene gas manufacturing" and insert the words "Manufacture of calcium carbide, and acetylene gas except for use by the person manufacturing the same." 2. Page 4, line 12, change the word "solely" to "primarily”. 3. Page 4, line 14, after the word "a" and before the word "distance" insert the word "reasonable". 4. Page 4, line 15, delete the words "or not more than 5 miles from the nearest boundary." 5. Page 4, line 16, delete the semicolon and insert a comma, and add "as shall be determined by the Zoning Commission." 6. Page 4, line 18, after the word "may" and before the word "grant" insert "after adequate notice and hearing to the parties affected". 7. Page 4, line 20, delete the words "one year" and insert the words "three years". 8. Page 5, line 1, after the word "Commission" insert a comma, and the words "after hearing,". 9. Page 5, line 18, delete the word "solely" and insert the word "primarily". 10. Page 5, line 20, after the word "a" and before the word "distance" insert the word "reasonable". 11. Page 5, line 20, delete beginning with the word "of" down through and including the word "boundary" on page 5, line 21. 12. Page 5, line 22, delete the period after the word "Columbia" and insert a comma and the following "as shall be determined by the Zoning Commission." 13. Page 5, line 23, delete the words "one year" and insert the words "three years". 14. Page 5, line 24, delete the words "one year" and insert the words "three years each:". 15. Page 6, line 10, after the word "may" and before the word "in" insert "after adequate notice and hearing to the parties affected." 16. Page 6, between lines 23 and 24 insert two new paragraphs, the first to read as follows: "The Zoning Commission may, after notice and hearing, revoke any permit for cause." and the second to read: "The findings of fact of the Zoning Commission shall be final and conclusive if supported by substantial evidence." Although it is expected that the Zoning Commission will not be arbitrary and that important steps which it may take under the bill will be taken only after adequate notice and hearing to the parties affected, we suggest that suitable language, as contained in suggested changes nos. 6, 8, and 15 be added to provide for this notice and hearing. As H. R. 8634 was introduced, one of the findings which the Zoning Commission must make before issuing a permit is that the use will be solely for the purpose of supplying the needs of the inhabitants of the District and the surrounding territory within a distance of not more than 5 miles from the nearest boundary of the District. It occurs to us that this may be unduly restrictive, particularly in cases where a plant has been operating in the District for a period of years, and where its products are sold not only in the District but in surrounding areas extending beyond that within a 5-mile radius of the District. It seems to us that the purposes of the bill in restricting the use to that which is necessary to supplying the needs of the District's inhabitants will not be defeated if a little flexibility is added to the extent that the use should be primarily, instead of solely, for the purposes of supplying the needs of the inhabitants of the District. Similarly, instead of restricting the use to that necessary for the needs of the surrounding territory within a distance of not more than 5 miles from the nearest boundary, the Zoning Commission should be empowered to determine whether the use is primarily for the purpose of supplying not only the inhabitants of the District, but a surrounding territory within a reasonable distance of the District. This suggestion is taken care of by suggested changes 2 to 5, inclusive, and 9 to 12, inclusive. As a practical matter, it would appear that requiring renewal of permits every year may work a hardship in cases where the owners of the affected industries, however anxious to comply with the law and with the provisions of a permit, |