and your fears and your desires and your hopes could be expressed to the corporation during the planning process. Just one more question, now: Has the Washington Board of Trade taken any position on this legislation? Mr. FERTIG. They are not among our constituents. Mr. TAYLOR. As far as you know, the answer is no? Mr. FERTIG. I do not know. Mr. TAYLOR. Thank you very much for the enlightment that you have given us on this subject. Thank you. Mr. FERTIG. Thank you. Mr. TAYLOR. Our next witness is Robert N. Gray, planning director, downtown progress. STATEMENT OF ROBERT N. GRAY, PLANNING DIRECTOR, DOWNTOWN PROGRESS Mr. GRAY. Mr. Chairman, I would like to submit my statement and the attachments to my statement into the record. Mr. TAYLOR. Without objection, a copy of your statement will be placed in the record and the attachments will be placed in the file. You may proceed, but I would hope that you can confine your testimony to other testimony which we have not had. Mr. GRAY. I can. Mr. TAYLOR. We will appreciate any suggestions on anything that we have not been over before. Mr. GRAY. In anticipation of your time shortage, I will restrict my comments. Mr. TAYLOR. That is the unfortunate hazard of being down near the end of the list. Mr. GRAY. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, thank you for offering us this opportunity to appear before you in support of H.R. 10751, a bill to establish the Pennsylvania Avenue Bicentennial Development Corp. My name is Robert N. Gray. I am the planning director of the National Capital Downtown Committee, Inc., better known as "Downtown Progress," a nonprofit corporation formed and supported by Washington business and civic leaders to develop and to help carry out a program for the revitalization of downtown Washington, the square mile between the White House and the Capitol. Downtown Progress began activities in 1960, on the recommendation of the Joint Policy Committee on Downtown of the Federal City Council and of the National Capital Planning Commission-private, citizens and public officials concerned about the problems of commercial and residential blight in the heart of the Nation's Capital. Downtown Progress published the action plan for downtown Washington in 1962, indicating the development potential to be achieved primarily by private enterprise within a framework of public action to improve transportation facilities and environmental conditions. Downtown Progress concurred with other private organizations and with public agencies that urban renewal action would be necessary for the elimination of blighting conditions in downtown Washington in order to encourage substantial private development. An urban renewal plan for downtown Washington that reflects the concepts of the action plan was adopted by the National Capital Planning Commission and approyed by the District of Columbia City Council and by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in January 1969. Four areas within downtown have since been authorized for specific urban renewal action, and approved property acquisition is underway. These properties comprise about 12 acres out of the 616 acres in the Downtown Urban Renewal Area, and none of these are in the 15-block area covered by the legislation under consideration today. Downtown Progress now is devoting its energies to continuing research and educational activities, and to the provision of information about employment, business opportunities and development potential in downtown Washington, in the context of the approved general downtown urban renewal plan, which as objectives: 1. To expand employment opportunities in downtown Washington, particularly for residents of the inner city; 2. To stimulate business activities and opportunities for the establishment of new businesses in downtown; 3. To increase the supply of housing in the District of Columbia for households at all income levels; 4. To assist the development of new educational and cultural facilities; and 5. To encourage design excellence in private and public construction. Our support for H.R. 10751 and the redevelopment of Pennsylvania Avenue called for in the bill is based on our commitment to total downtown revitalization. We firmly believe that these objectives just cited are in the essential interest of the District of Columbia, the Washington Metropolitan Area, and the Nation. H.R. 10751 would create a corporation capable of preparing and carrying out a redevelopment plan and program for a 15-block area between Sixth and 15th Streets, Northwest, north of Pennsylvania Avenue and wholly within the downtown urban renewal area boundaries established in January 1969 by the National Capital Planning Commission and approved by the District of Columbia City Council. Such a development corporation could do much to accelerate and advance our objectives set forth in the downtown urban renewal plan. However, now, as then, we wish to identify several points of concern with respect to our support of Pennsylvania Avenue redevelopment. These points of concern are: 1. The need for close cooperation and coordination with other public and private redevelopment activities taking place in downtown; 2. The necessity for full residential and business relocation. payments and for special business relocation assistance for those affected by the redevelopment effort; and 3. The importance of developing a feasible plan and program for accomplishing redevelopment in recognition of local needs and desires, predominantly through private enterprise. With respect to the first of these points, it is essential that close cooperation and coordination be achieved between the planning, programing, and redevelopment activities which would be undertaken by the development corporation and the public and private redevelopment activities now taking place in downtown. Among the significant public revitalization activities in downtown are annual neighborhood development program actions, Metro construction, and construction of public buildings and facilities, including, for example, restoration of Ford's Theatre. Private revitalization activities include construction of new office buildings and modernization of and additions to existing commercial and office structures. A copy of our current annual report identifying these public and private activities is offered here for the record. The Development Corporation which would be created by this legislation could be a valuable additional and positive mechanism for overcoming widely known and well-documented obstacles to downtown revitalization. These obstacles include: 1. Continuing poor image in spite of the marked decrease in crime rate and in spite of more than $380 million in public and private development in the White House and downtown; 2. Continuing lack of responsible, constructive public action on parking; and 3. Continuing problems of land assembly. Redevelopment of the appropriate portions of the 15-block area covered by this legislation could be accomplished more rapidly as these obstacles are overcome. In our judgment, the provisions of H.R. 10751 which call for local representation on the board of directors of the development corporation, which establish a non-voting advisory board from among affected tenants and owners, and which call for local review of the development plan and any substantial modification to it, help to assure coordinated and cooperative effort. We support the intent of these provisions. To further reinforce them, we suggest that the bill be amended to state that public and private actions which conform to established downtown urban renewal area planning objectives and to other public development policies are to be encouraged within the Pennsylvania Avenue Bicentennial development area. With reference to our second point of concern, full residential and business relocation payments should be provided for those to be displaced in the course of redevelopment. The Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1971, referenced in the bill, assures substantial and improved relocation payments. We encourage you to consider amending H.R. 10751 to achieve still greater equity in the treatment of businesses displaced for this public purpose. Downtown progress proposed and has been working with responsible public bodies to advance a positive program of special business relocation assistance which would improve the priority of opportunity to return available to those displaced. A copy of our special business relocation assistance proposal is offered here for the record. Thank you for inserting it. Special business relocation assistance is needed to help assure that business involuntarily displaced by appropriate public action such as this are able to relocate elsewhere in downtown or will be able to return to the redeveloped Pennsylvania Avenue area in accordance with the plan. We also encourage you to amend section 8(d) to include, for reasons of equity, business tenants as well as owner-occupants who are affected. By providing this special assistance, it is more likely that the redevelopment effort will create new jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities with a minimum of harm to those already in existence. With respect to our third point of concern, it is vital to accomplish Pennsylvania Avenue redevelopment to the fullest practicable extent through private effort. Downtown progress supports the provisions in the bill which authorize the development corporation to borrow money by issuing marketable obligations or from the U.S. Treasury as the basis for carrying out the development plan to be prepared. In this way, such appropriate Federal grant funds as might be available to the District of Columbia during the next few years will remain available for use in the neighborhoods and on other priority items of the city. In addition, maximum reliance on private redevelopment effort is likely to result in a highly desirable diversity within the types of land uses, design and appearance criteria, and other elements to be set forth in the development plan prepared by the corporation. We also endorse the provision in the bill-section 10(b)—which requires that the development corporation make payment to the District of Columbia government in lieu of real property taxes. In summary, downtown progress urges your consideration of the points we have raised and offers its support for the creation of the Pennsylvania Avenue Bicentennial Development Corp. in the belief that it will further the total social, economic, and physical revitalization of downtown Washington between the White House and the Capitol, by helping to: 1. Expand employment opportunities; 2. Increase the housing supply; 3. Enhance economic activity; 5. Encourage design excellence to the benefit of the District of Columbia, the Washington region, and the Nation. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I shall be glad to try to answer any questions that you or other members of the committee may have. Mr. TAYLOR. Thank you very much for a very constructive statement. You say, "We suggest that the bill be amended to state that public and private actions which conform to established downtown urban renewal area planning objectives and to other public development policies are to be encouraged within the Pennsylvania Avenue bicentennial development area." Now, could you be more specific? What do you mean by that? Mr. GRAY. The 15-block area, sir, is wholly within the downtown area of renewal. The downtown urban renewal area is a narrow landgrant program, and it is the work of the District of Columbia, and there have been a series of public meetings and a number of the annual actions under the processes involving citizen participation, involving the citizens of the city. If there should be reason to take public action in this 15-block area, through renewal and restoration with Metro development or other public policies, now, we would like to have this proceed. Mr. TAYLOR. Well, thank you very much for your statement. (The complete prepared statement of Mr. Gray, above-referred to, follows:) STATEMENT OF ROBERT N. GRAY, PLANNING DIRECTOR, NATIONAL CAPITAL DOWNTOWN COMMITTEE, INC., DOWNTOWN PROGRESS Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, thank you for offering us this opportunity to appear before you in support of H.R. 10751, a bill to establish the Pennsylvania Avenue Bicentennial Development Corporation. My name is Robert N. Gray. I am the Planning Director of the National Capital Downtown Committee, Inc., better known as Downtown Progress, a non-profit corporation formed and supported by Washington business and civic leaders to develop and to help carry out a program for the revitalization of Downtown Washington, the square mile between The White House and the Capitol. Knox Banner, our Executive Director, wished to appear on behalf of Downtown Progress. However, he is out of the city and was unable to return for this hearing. Downtown Progress began activities in 1960, on the recommendation of the Joint Policy Committee on Downtown of the Federal City Council and of the National Capital Planning Commission-private citizens and public officials concerned about the problems of commercial and residential blight in the heart of the Nation's Capital. Downtown Progress published the Action Plan for Downtown Washington in 1962, indicating the development potential to be achieved primarily by private enterprise within a framework of public action to improve transportation facilities and environmental conditions. Downtown Progress concurred with other private organizations and with public agencies that urban renewal action would be necessary for the elimination of blighting conditions in Downtown Washington in order to encourage substantial private development. An urban renewal plan for Downtown Washington that reflects the concepts of the Action Plan was adopted by the National Capital Planning Commission and approved by the District of Columbia City Council and by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in January 1969. Four areas within Downtown have since been authorized for specific urban renewal action, and approved property acquistion is underway. These properties comprise about 12 acres out of the 616 acres in the Downtown Urban Renewal Area, and none of these are in the fifteen-block area covered by the legislation under consideration today. Downtown Progress now is devoting its energies to continuing research and educational activities, and to the provision of information about employment, business opportunities and development potential in Downtown Washington, in the context of the approved general Downtown Urban Renewal Plan. The specific objectives of the Downtown Urban Renewal Plan are: To expand employment opportunities in Downtown Washington, particularly for residents of the inner-city; To stimulate business activities and opportunities for the establishment of new businesses in Downtown; To increase the supply of housing in the District of Columbia for households at all income levels; To assist the development of new educational and cultural facilities; and To encourage design excellence in private and public construction. Our support for H.R. 10751 and the redevelopment of Pennsylvania Avenue called for in the bill is based on our commitment to total Downtown revitalization. We firmly believe that these objectives just cited are in the essential interest of the District of Columbia, the Washington Metropolitan Area, and the nation. H.R. 10751 would create a corporation capable of preparing and carrying out a redevelopment plan and program for a fifteen-block area between 6th and 15th Streets, N.W., north of Pennsylvania Avenue and wholly within the Downtown Urban Renewal Area boundaries established in January 1969 by the National Capital Planning Commission and approved by the District of Columbia City Council. Such a development corporation could do much to accelerate and advance the objectives set forth in the Downtown Urban Renewal Plan. Our support for Pennsylvania Avenue redevelopment dates generally from 1962, and specificially from July 1964, when the Executive Committee of Downtown Progress ". . . endorse[d] with enthusiasm the concept for the 'grand axis of the Nation' as embodied in the Report to the President's Commission on Pennsylvania Avenue." Our support for this legislation is consistent with this |