and published in the District of Columbia; and such public hearing may be adjourned from time to time: Provided, That if the time and place of the adjourned meeting is publicly announced when the adjournment is had, no further notice of such adjourned meeting need be published.

SEC. 4. That after the public hearings herein provided for shall have been concluded, said commission shall definitely determine the number and boundaries of the districts which it is hereby authorized and directed to establish, and shall specify the height and area of the buildings which may thereafter be erected therein, and shall prescribe the purposes for which such buildings thereafter erected may or may not be used. Said districts so established shall not be changed except on order of said commission after public hearing. Said commission may initiate such changes, or they may be initiated upon the petition of the owners affected. Where the proposed change is to add a contiguous area to a use, height, or area district, the owners of at least 50 per centum of the street frontage proposed to be changed must join in the petition: Provided, That if the frontage proposed to be changed is not a contiguous area, the owners of at least 50 per centum of a frontage within the area not less than three blocks in length must join in such petition before it may be considered by said commission. No such change shall be made, either by said commission on its own motion or upon such petition, except with the unanimous vote of said commission, if the owners of at least 20 per centum of the frontage proposed to be changed protest against such change.

SEO. 5. That said commission is authorized and empowered to make such orders and adopt such regulations not inconsistent with law as may be necessary to accomplish the purposes and carry into effect the provisions of this Act: Provided, That no order or regulation so adopted shall require any change in the plans, construction, or designated use of (a) a building for which a permit shall have been issued, or plans for which shall be on file with the inspector of buildings of the District of Columbia at the time the orders or regulations authorized under this Act are promulgated; or (b) a permit for the erection of which shall be issued within thirty days after promulgation of the orders or regulations authorized or adopted under this Act and the construction of which is either of the above cases shall have been diligently prosecuted within a year from the date of such permit and the ground story framework of which, including the second tier of beams, shall have been completed within said year, and which entire building shall be completed according to such plans within two years of the date of the promulgation of such orders or regulations; or (c) prevent the restoration of a building partially destroyed by fire, explosion, act of God or the public enemy, or prevent the continuance of the use of such building or part thereof as such use existed at the time of such partial destruction, or prevent a change of such existing use except under the limitations provided herein in relation to existing buildings and premises: Provided further, That no frame building that has been damaged by fire or otherwise more than one-half of its original value shall be restored within the fire limits as provided by the building regulations of the District of Columbia; or (d) prevent the restoration of a wall declared unsafe by the inspector of buildings of the District or by a board of survey appointed in accordance with any existing law or regulation.

SEC. 6. That any lawful use of a building or premises existing at the time of the adoption of orders and regulations made under the authority of this Act may be continued, although such use does not conform with the provisions hereof or with the provisions of such orders and regulations; and such use may be extended throughout the building, provided no structural alteration, except those required by law or regulation, is made therein and no new building is erected. Where the boundary line of any use district divides a lot in a single ownership at the time of the adoption of orders and regulations under the authority of this Act, the commission may permit a use authorized on either portion of such lot to extend to the entire lot, but not more than twenty-five feet beyond the boundary line of the use district.

SEC. 7. That maps of the districts established by said commission and copies of all orders and regulations as to the height and area of buildings to be erected therein and as to the uses to which such buildings may be lawfully devoted, and copies of all other official orders and regulations of the commission shall be filed in the office of the Engineer Commissioner of the District of Columbia. Copies of all orders and regulations shall be published in one or more newspapers printed in the District of Columbia for the information of all concerned.

SEO. 8. That it shall be unlawful to use or permit the use of any building or premises or part thereof hereafter created, erected, changed, or converted wholly or partly in its use or structure until a certificate of occupancy shall have been issued by authority of said zoning commission.

SEC. 9. That buildings erected, altered, or raised, or converted in violation of any of the provisions of this Act or the orders and regulations made under the authority thereof are hereby declared to be common nuisances; and the owner or person in charge of or maintaining any such buildings, upon conviction on information filed in the police court of the District of Columbia by the corporation counsel or any of his assistants in the name of said District, and which court is hereby authorized to hear and determine such cases, shall be adjudged guilty of maintaining a common nuisance, and shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100 per day for each and every day such nuisance shall be permitted to continue, and shall be required by said court to abate such nuisance. The corporation counsel of the District of Columbia may maintain an action in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia in the name of the District of Columbia to abate and perpetually enjoin such nuisance.

SEO. 10. That the Commissioners of the District of Columbia shall enforce the provisions of this Act and the orders and regulations adopted by said Zoning Commission under the authority thereof, and nothing herein contained shall be construed to limit the authority of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia to make municipal regulations as heretofore: Provided, That such regulations, are not inconsistent with the provisions of this law and the orders and regulations made thereunder. In interpreting and applying the provisions of this Act and of the orders and regulations made thereunder they shall be held to be the minimum requirements for the promotion of the public health, safety, comfort, convenience, and general welfare. This Act shall not abrogate or annul any easements, covenants, or other agreements between parties: Provided, however, That as to all future building construction or use of premises

where this Act or any orders or regulations adopted under the authority thereof impose a greater restriction upon the use of buildings or premises or upon height of building, or requires larger open spaces than are imposed or required by existing law, regulations, or permits, or by such easements, covenants, or agreements, the provisions of this Act and of the orders and regulations made thereunder shall control. SEC. 11. That all laws or parts of laws and regulations in conflict. with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

Approved, March 1, 1920.

[PUBLIC RESOLUTION-No. 56-67TH CONGRESS.]
(S. J. Res. 186.]

Joint Resolution Authorizing the transfer to the jurisdiction of the Joint Committee on the Library certain reservations in the District of Columbia for use in connection with the Botanic Garden.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, is hereby authorized and directed to transfer to the jurisdiction of the Joint Committee on the Library the following United States reservations for use in connection with the Botanic Garden: Numbered 6-A, 6-B, 6-C, 6-D, 6-E, 6-F, 6-G, 6-H, 6-I, 6-K, 6-L, 6-M, 6-N, 6-0, 6-P, 6-2, 6-R, 292, and 293, all of which lie along the site of the old James Creek Canal, from Maryland Avenue to P Street southwest, Washington, in the District of Columbia. Approved, May 11, 1922.

[8. 112.]

An Act Providing for a comprehensive development of the park and playground system of the National Capital.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That to preserve the flow of water in Rock Creek, to prevent pollution of Rock Creek and the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers, to preserve forests and natural scenery in and about Washington, and to provide for the comprehensive systematic, and continuous development of the park, parkway, and playground system of the National Capital, there is hereby constituted a commission, to be known as the National Capital Park Commission, composed of the Chief of Engineers of the Army, the Engineer Commissioner of the District of Columbia, the Director of the National Park Service, the Chief of the Forest Service, the officer in charge of public buildings and grounds and the chairmen of the Committees on the District of Columbia of the Senate and House of Representatives. At the close of each Congress the Presiding Officer of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint, respectively, a Senator elect and a Representative elect to the succeeding Congress to serve as members of this commission until the chairmen of committees of the succeeding Congress shall be chosen. The officer in charge of public buildings and grounds shall be the executive and disbursing officer of said commission.

SEC. 2. Said commission or a majority thereof is hereby authorized and directed to acquire such lands as in its judgment shall be necessary and desirable in the District of Columbia and adjacent areas in Maryland and Virginia, within the limits of the appropriations made for such purposes, for suitable development of the National Capital park, parkway, and playground system. That said commission is hereby authorized to acquire such lands by purchase when they can be acquired at prices reasonable in the judgment of said commission, otherwise by condemnation proceedings, such proceedings to acquire lands within the District of Columbia to be in accordance with the provisions of the Act of Congress approved August 30, 1890, providing a site for the Government Printing Office (United States Statutes at Large, volume 26, chapter 837), the Chief of Engineers of the Army being, for the purposes of this Act, hereby clothed with all the power vested by the said Act of August 30, 1890, in the board created by that Act. Said commission is hereby authorized to acquire such lands, located in Maryland or Virginia, either by purchase or condemnation proceedings, by such arrangements as to acquisition and payment for the lands as it shall determine upon by agreement with the proper officials of the States of Maryland and Virginia. In the selection of lands to be acquired the advice of the Commission of Fine Arts shall be requested. The designation of all lands to be acquired by condemnation, all contracts for purchase of

lands, and all agreements between said commission and the officials of the States of Maryland and Virginia shall be subject to the approval of the President of the United States.

SEC. 3. That there is authorized to be appropriated, each year hereafter, in the annual District of Columbia Appropriation Act, a sum not exceeding one cent for each inhabitant of the continental United States as determined by the last preceding decennial census, said sum to be used by said commission for the payment of its expenses and for the acquisition of the lands herein authorized to be acquired by said commission for the purposes named, the compensation for the land, the expense of surveys, ascertainment of title, condemnation proceedings, if any, and necessary conveyancing to be paid from said appropriations. The funds so appropriated shall be paid from the revenues of the District of Columbia and the general funds of the Treasury in the same proportion as other expenses of the District of Columbia. The land so acquired within the District of Columbia shall be a part of the park system of the District of Columbia and be under control of the Chief of Engineers of the United States Army; that areas suitable for playground purposes may, in the discretion of said Commission, be assigned to the control of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia for playground purposes. That the land so acquired outside the District of Columbia shall be controlled as determined by agreement between said commission and the proper officers of the States of Maryland and Virginia, such agreements to be subject to the approval of the President.

SFC. 4. Said commission shall report to Congress annually on the first Monday of December the lands acquired during the preceding fiscal year, the method of acquisition, and the cost of each tract. It shall also submit to the Bureau of the Budget on or before September 15 of each year its estimate of the total sum to be appropriated for expenditure under the provisions of this Act during the succeeding fiscal year.

Approved, June 6, 1924.