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.

SEC. 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. SEC. 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-No. 262-68TH CONGRESS.]
[S. 3269.]

An Act To amend an Act regulating the height or buildings

in the District of Columbia, approved June 1, 1910

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That an Act entitled "An Act to regulate the height of buildings in the District of Columbia," approved June 1, 1910, be, and it is hereby, amended by adding at the end of paragraph 5 of said Act the following proviso: And provided further, That a building be permitted to be erected to a height not to exceed one hundred and thirty feet on lots 15, 804, and 805, square 322, located on the southeast corner of Twelfth and E Streets northwest, said building to conform in height and to be used as an addition to the hotel building located to the east thereof on lot 18, square 322."

Approved, June 7, 1924.

[H. R. 11214]

An Act To amend an Act regulating the height of buildings in the District of Columbia, approved June 1, 1910, as amended by the Act of December 30, 1910

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That paragraph 3 of section 5 of an Act entitled "An Act to regulate the height of buildings in the District of Columbia," approved June 1, 1910, as amended by the Act of December 30, 1910, be; and it is hereby, further amended to read as follows: "On a residence street, avenue, or highway no building shall be erected, altered, or raised in any manner so as to be over eight stories in height or over ninety feet in height at the highest part of the roof or parapet, nor shall the highest part of the roof or parapet exceed in height the width of the street, avenue, or highway upon which it abuts, diminished by ten feet, except on a street, avenue, or highway sixty to sixty-five feet wide, where a height of sixty feet may be allowed; and on a street, avenue, or highway sixty feet wide or less, where a height equal to the width of the street may be allowed: Provided, That any church, the construction of which had been undertaken but not completed prior to the passage of this Act, shall be exempted from the limitations of this paragraph, and the Commissioners of the District of Columbia shall cause to be issued a permit for the construction of any such church to a height of ninety-five feet above the level of the adjacent curb."

Approved, February 21, 1925.

[PUBLIC-No. 127-69TH CONGRESS]

[H. R. 9398]

An Act To amend an Act regulating the height of buildings

In the District of Columbia, approved June 1, 1910.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That an Act entitled "An Act to regulate the height of buildings in the District of Columbia," approved June 1, 1910, be, and it is hereby, amended by adding at the end of paragraph 5 of said Act the following proviso:

And further provided, That the building to be erected on lots 813, 814, and 820, in square 254, located on the southeast corner of Fourteenth and F Streets northwest, be permitted to be erected to a height not to exceed one hundred and forty feet above the F Street curb.

Approved, April 16, 1926.

[S. 686]

An Act To amend an Act regulating the height of buildings in

the District of Columbia, approved June 1, 1910.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That an Act entitled "An Act to regulate the height of buildings in the District of Columbia," approved June 1, 1910, be, and it is hereby, amended by adding at the end of paragraph 5 of said Act the following provisos :

"And provided further, That the building to be erected on property known as the Dean tract, comprising nine and one-fourth acres, bounded on the west by Connecticut Avenue and Columbia Road, on the south by Florida Avenue, on the east by Nineteenth Street, and on the north by a property line running east and west five hundred and sixty-four feet in length, said building to cover an area not exceeding fourteen thousand square feet and to be located on said property not less than forty feet distant from the north property line, not less than three hundred and twenty feet distant from the Connecticut Avenue property line, not less than one hundred and sixty feet distant from the Nineteenth Street property line, and not less than three hundred and sixty feet distant from the Florida Avenue line, measured at the point on the Florida Avenue boundary where the center line of Twentieth Street meets said boundary, be permitted to be erected to a height not to exceed one hundred and eighty feet above the level of the existing grade at the center of the location above described: And provided further, That the design of said building and the layout of said ground be subject to approval by the Fine Arts Commission and the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, both of the District of Columbia."

Approved, April 29, 1930.