FEAT implored the Secretary of Agriculture to investigate the situation and to assist the employee organizations in providing permanent parking facilities. The Secretary responded that unilateral action by Agriculture would have no chance of success but that efforts were continuing in meetings with representatives of other agencies. To date we have had no encouragement of progress on the parking situation. Meanwhile new Federal building construction is moving along, and an influx of thousands of additional employees without the provision of adequate parking is imminent. Other transit arrangements and plans will not be adequate in time to alleviate the crisis ahead. Therefore, FEAT implores the Congress through committees such as yours to investigate the current situation and the outlook for parking in the District of Columbia, including the Independence Avenue sector, and to take such legislative action as may be necessary to correct the existing and impending problems. On behalf of the Federal employees and their organizations that we represent, we add our support to S. 2769. Please let us know if we can provide any additional details or assistance. FRANCIS J. SPEH, FEAT Chairman. FEDERAL EMPLOYEES FOR ACTION ON TRANSPORTATION, Hon. JOSEPH D. TYDINGS, Washington, D.C., February 18, 1966. Chairman, Senate District Subcommittee on Business and Commerce, DEAR MR. TYDINGS: This will supplement our letter of February 3, 1966, concerning S. 2769. FEAT represents the following organizations with a membership of nearly 100,000: American Federation of Government Employees, 14th District Depart ment. Federal Professional Association. National Federation of Federal Employees. Organization of Professional Employees of the Department of Agriculture. Welfare and athletic associations of various Government departments. Our experience has shown that the 265,000 Federal employees employed in the District of Columbia are looking to us for leadership to promote improvement in parking facilities for Federal employees. Representatives of FEAT have the following recommendations to S. 2769 which would include parking facilities specifically for Federal and District of Columbia employees. A. On page 2, in line 3, after the word "employees" insert the phrase, "including Government employees.' B. On page 9, line 23, after the word "wherever" insert the word, "in." C. On page 10, line 2, add the sentence, "There is hereby authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this act any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated." D. On page 11, line 17, add the sentence, "The General Services Administration is authorized and directed to make studies and furnish to the Parking Board such information as may be necessary to enable the Parking Board to provide adequate parking facilities for employees of the Federal Government and the District of Columbia." E. On page 35, line 4, add to the end of the sentence the phrase, "including all funds previously collected under the District of Columbia Parking Facilities Act of 1942 and transferred to the general funds of the District of Columbia." We appreciate the opportunity to make these recommendations on S. 2769. FRANCIS J. SPEH, Chairman. Sincerely yours, FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION, Hon. JOSEPH D. TYDINGS, DEAR SENATOR TYDINGS: I am writing this letter to applaud and encourage your work in behalf of realistic and adequate parking for motor vehicles in the District of Columbia. May I say that I am certain there are hundreds of thousands of thinking citizens who support you in your efforts against the entrenched interests whose only goal is to profit from the parking inconveniences which now face every motorist who visits the Nation's Capital. I am certain that the present motor vehicle laws, especially those related to parking, were promulgated by people who hate the automobile. Your approach, seeking parking facilities to best serve the general welfare is a breath of fresh air in a situation which has been dank with prejudice. The situation which we face at the Federal Maritime Commission is a perfect example. Let me tell you of the difficulty which has befallen our 260 employees. This agency was moved to 1321 H Street NW., without any provision being made for parking. The Chairman of our agency does not have a parking space. None of the five Commissioners has a parking space. We inquired of all parking lots in the neighborhood and have been offered parking at rates ranging from $1.85 to $2 per day. During the Christmas holidays regular patrons of the lots in our agency were turned away because a policy of 1-hour parking was arbitrarily instituted during this period to maximize return to the lot owners. Should your inquiry require testimony to these facts, I am able to supply such testimony since I personally was a victim of the "1 hour" practice. We support your fight for adequate, sensible parking for automobiles in Washington, D.C., because we feel you are championing a cause which affects thousands upon thousands of people and the welfare and future of the Nation's Capital. Keep up the good work and let us know if there is any way we can help. Sincerely yours, MYER TRUPP, Director of Information. GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, COMMISSIONERS' PLANNING AND Hon. JOSEPH D. TYDINGS, DEAR SENATOR TYDINGS: In 1962 I made the following study for the Citizens Traffic Board. At the same time the Commissioner's Planning Advisory Council, of which I am chairman, advocated the establishment of an autonomous parking authority similar to the one requested on page 4 of the special study. This report was made by people definitely interested in parking in the District of Columbia. Mr. Edward Blatz, chairman of the Motor Vehicle Parking Agency, at that time, Mr. P. Y. K. Howat, past chairman of the Motor Vehicle Parking Agency, and Mr. Paul Claffey, professor of Civil engineering, Catholic University, and member of the Engineering, Transportation and Parking Committee, Citizens' Traffic Board collabrated in the informations arrived at by this committee. We thought that a powerful autonomous authority must be established in the District of Columbia to provide the needed parking which is not provided at competitive rates by private parking lot operators. We strongly recommend that Congress establish this authority and wish to state that it is as needed today as it was in 1962. Your efforts in aiding the problem of parking will be appreciated by the citizens of the District of Columbia. Very truly yours, FRANK WOLFSHEIMER, CITIZENS' TRAFFIC BOARD, SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO STUDY WASHINGTON'S Memorandum to: Arnold J. Fine, chairman, Special Committee on Parking, Citizens' Traffic Board. From: Frank Wolfsheimer, Chairman. Subject: Report of subcommittee on future role of the motor vehicle parking agency. The chairman, Frank Wolfsheimer (executive vice president and chief engineer of the Hechinger Co.; vice chairman, Civic Committee, District of Columbia Society of Professional Engineers; chairman of the District Commissioners' Planning Advisory Council) consulted with and obtained the general approval of the following people for this report: Edward Baltz, president, Perpetual Building Association and chairman of the Motor Vehicle Parking Agency; P. Y. K. Howat, owner and president of Howat Concrete Co., and past chairman of the Motor Vehicle Parking Agency; Paul Claffey, professor of civil engineering, Catholic University, and member of the Engineering, Transportation and Parking Committee, Citizens' Traffic Board. Other interested officials were contacted and their views are also reflected in this report. The basic conclusions are that the Motor Vehicle Parking Agency, as such, should be abandoned and replaced with a new autonomous "District of Columbia Parking Authority". Public Law 454 of the 77th Congress approved February 16, 1942, created a Motor Vehicle Parking Agency and endowed the Agency and Commissioners with the specific responsibility with respect to the parking of motor vehicles within the District of Columbia. The preamble of this act stated that in order to provide free circulation on the highways of the District; and for the health, safety, and general welfare of the public; and due to the increased use of motor vehicles of all kinds, and since adequate off-street parking facilities have not been provided by private enterprise that it may be necessary to supplement private parking spaces by off-street parking facilities provided by public undertaking; the enactment of this act, as well as the use of the land for the purposes set forth was declared to be a public necessity. Among the authorities given to the Commissioners and the Agency at this time were: 1. The acquisition, creation, and operation, under public regulation, of public off street parking facilities. 2. The power to acquire any property for the purposes of the act by purchase, lease, or by condemnation. 3. The power to clear and improve any such property as well as to construct, reconstruct, repair, and maintain such parking facilities. 4. To lease such parking facilities on the basis of competitive bidding. 5. The power to sell, exchange, or transfer any property in accordance with the general laws covering disposal of property by the District of Columbia. 6. The power to install parking meters within the District of Columbia. 7. To establish a schedule of rates for parking meters and any offstreet parking under their control. 8. To collect all moneys from meters and MVPA-controlled parking facilities and to supplement these funds by necessary funds from the highway fund for the carrying out of the purposes of the act. 9. To establish an agency consisting of seven members; four private citizens, a member of GSA, a member of NCP, and a representative of the District of Columbia Highway Department. The act was amended in 1944 to provide that property acquired by the District of Columbia could be used for purposes of this act. In 1948 it was amended to further state that any of these facilities could be rented on a competitive bid basis to private parking lot owners for offstreet parking; but none had, as yet, been built. By the "Reorganization Orders for 1952," the Agency membership was increased to nine private citizens. At this time any possible usefulness of the Agency was hampered by conflict of interest of the new membership. At the time that the Agency was enlarged, the Board of Commissioners appointed three parking lot operators, a transit official, and a founder of "Downtown Park and Shop" to the Agency. This, in effect, gave the parking interests control of the Agency that had been given an obligation and duty by Congress of the United States but which it was unable to fulfill because of the composition of the membership. In 1958 the act creating the Agency was further amended to allow moneys collected from parking meters to be used for widening and channelizing streets. In March 1962 the Congress further crippled the Agency by removing the funds directly collected by the Agency from parking meters and putting these funds in a special account within the highway fund. This amendment further allowed these funds to be used for repairs and for the removal of snow and ice from these highways, and for the purchase of equipment to accomplish this. It also prevented the Agency from building any new facilities or enlarging any existing facilities from this time forth. This amendment sounded the "death knell" of the Agency. It took the funds in excess of $3 million, which had been collected and accumulated by the Agency, and put it into the highway general fund. The Agency now collects between $750,000 and $1 million annually from parking meters in the District of Columbia. The original express purpose of this collection was to increase the offstreet parking facilities for the benefit of the taxpayers. The present makeup of the Agency is such that money is frittered away. The same members, who voted for appropriation of public funds for engineering studies for a garage under Farragut Square, voted against its construction when the report showed it was a necessity. These reports have been used by private interests for their individual benefit, and not for the good of the average citizen of the District of Columbia. The Agency has utterly failed in its 20 years of existence to accomplish the stated purpose of the act. In the meantime, the latest engineering studies show the parking problem is becoming more and more critical. The Edwards-Kelcey report released July 1962 repeatedly points out that "Government must assume the task of developing and guiding a program to meet the predictable future parking needs of Washington." Construction in C-4 zoning areas, which allows the most dense type of construction, requires no offstreet parking according to our present zoning laws. At this same time GSA is embarked on a tremendous building program. None of the new GSA buildings provide more than a token parking requirement. Offstreet parking needs are increasing rapidly; all of our committee reports bear this out. Many parking facilities are being eliminated in the revitalization and expansion of downtown Washington, especially in C-4 areas which, as noted, and do not require any parking. The problem of providing offstreet parking in 1962 is not being adequately met by private enterprise. Congress said it was not being provided in 1942. Our subcommittees on "offstreet parking availablity" show it is not sufficient in 1962. The present Motor Vehicle Parking Agency, as such, has reached the end of the road. There is no further need for a crippled and decrepit agency. A new vital force to solve the parking problems is needed. Most cities of the size of Washington today, have autonomous "Parking Authorities." This new force must have the authority to buy or lease land to build or rent structures, to condemn property where necessary, to conduct research studies, to float bonds, to finance any proposed programs through the issuance of securities, and to collect all moneys from meters and all offstreet parking facilities under their ownership. This "Authority" would be an independent corporation and would be responsible directly to the District of Columbia Commissioners. If necessary, this corporation would be authorized to borrow from the Federal Treasury. This Authority should have the power to operate any facilities it deems necessary, but should make every effort to lease the operation of its facilities to private operators on a competitive bid basis in order not to be in direct competition with private operators. It should set rates which are comparable to prevailing rates of private operators. The "Parking Authority" should be composed of a board of three citizen members with the following interests represented: One banker, one realtor, and one engineer. Each member should be appointed by the Board of Commissioners for a period of 5 years. The original appointment should be for 3, 4, and 5 years so as to stagger the expiration of the appointments. None of the members of the "Authority" could have any interest or stock in any commercial parking facility within the metropolitan area. The board should have as a technical advisory staff a representative of the General Services Administration, a representative of the National Capital Parks, a representative of NCPC, a representative of the District of Columbia Department of Highways and Traffic, and a representative of the parking industry. Its permanent staff should include an executive director, an accountant, a lawyer, a professional engineer, and such other persons as are deemed necessary by the director. The "Authority" would secure approval for all of its proposed projects from the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commissioners of the District of Columbia. We strongly recommend that steps be taken in the new Congress to establish this "Authority" and that its establishment be given full support by interested parties. Respectfully submitted. (Signed) FRANK WOLFSHEIMER, Chairman, Subcommittee on Future Role of the Motor Vehicle Parking Agency. MOUNT RAINIER, MD., January 7, 1966. Hon. JOSEPH D. TYDINGS, Chairman, Business and Commerce Subcommittee, Senate District of Columbia Committee, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I would like to have this made a part of your subcommittee's record of the hearings held on January 6, concerning optimum parking facilities for the District of Columbia. When Parking as I understand it is a necessary part of the traffic system. there were few cars it was possible for the city to provide free roadside parking in the outside lanes of the public streets. With expansion of the city there was rapid growth in the car population. To a large extent the city has expropriated the parking lanes on the most important streets for use as additional lanes for moving traffic and abdicated its power to provide low-cost public parking to private parking lot operators who use their downtown parking monopoly to rob the general public. Although there is no proof that public officials have been bribed by the private downtown parking industry and operate or misoperate the downtown traffic system for the primary benefit of the said industry at the expense of the general public, this is the opinion of the average driver who must find a parking space in the downtown area. Parking is a vital part of the transportation system and should no more be delegated to private industry than the primary streets and bridges should be delegated to the highest bidder. It is a necessary service just like water and sewage service which must be provided in the downtown area in a way that best serves an expanding downtown. Obviously, the primary problem in Washington is for the housing experts or politicians to determine how the downtown housing should expand. Should the city grow as one huge pyramid or as a collection of evenly spaced city clusters? How high should the tallest buildings be at this time? Once these main questions have been answered, the city is in a good position to provide the best service systems. I have long proposed that the city adopt a many-cluster growth pattern with a cluster located at the intersection of each Grand Avenue crossed by another Grand Avenue. North Capitol Street and 16th Street NW. will be suitable for the north-south Grand Avenues and K Street and the Mall could provide the location for two east-west Grand Avenues. Parking, primarily low-cost public parking, as well as subway and expressway services could be located to best serve the needs of people occupying the highdensity buildings along the Grand Avenues. Although it is still in the talking stage some thought should be given to the removal of the Washington Monument and replacing it with a high-rise cultural center and a new underground subway at Union Station. This is an ideal site for collecting passengers from the metropolitan area for an express 5-minute jet subway connection with Charles Center in Baltimore. It may be possible to solve much of Washington's future parking problems by letting the cars park in Baltimore and congest the Baltimore streets getting to the parking lots while the passengers are easily transferred to Washington by instant subway service. At this time metropolitan parking in Washington should be under the direct control of elected metropolitan executive leaders. Parking, bus service, taxi service, and other vital elements of the traffic systems should be publicly owned and operated. Sincerely, WILLIAM A. ALBAUGH. |