Chapter 230.
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/statutes-at-large/vol-27/chapter-230-1052849·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 230.— An act to provide for the opening of Alleys in the District 01 Columbia.July 22, 1892. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Alleys, District of Columbia. Commissioners may open, etc. That the Commissioners of the District of Columbia be, and they are hereby, authorized to condemn, open, extend, widen, or straighten alleys in the District of Columbia upon the presentation to them of the plat of the alley to be condemned, opened, widened, extended, or straightened, accompanied by a petitionUpon petition of adjoining owners. of the owners of more than one-half of the real estate in the square in which such alley is sought to be opened, widened, extended, or straightened, or when the Commissioners of the District of Columbia shallTo preserve peace, etc. certify that the preservation of peace, good order, and public morals require that any such alley should be opened, extended, widened, or straightened; or when the health officer of said District shall certifyFor public health. that such opening, extension, widening, or straightening of an alley is necessary for the public, health: *Provided*, That in the opening, extension,*Proviso*.
Closing alleys or parts. widening, or straightening of an alley it shall be lawful to close any original alley, or part of an original alley, the fee of which is in the United States, which may thereby become useless or unnecessary; and that it shall also, in like manner, be lawful to close any other alleys or parts of alleys, the title thereto to revert to the person or persons who dedicated the same for alley purposes, or to their assigns. Sec. 2. That it shall be the duty of the surveyor of said District, asSurveyor to prepare plats. soon as may be thereafter, to distinctly mark off such alley in the manner in which it may be designated in the petition therefor and make out triplicate plats of such alley showing its courses and boundaries and the quantity in square feet which may be taken from the lots or parts of lots in the square by the opening, extending, widening, or straightening thereof, and showing also the alley or part of alley to beDisposal. closed, if any, and the lots or parts of lots to which the land contained in such closed alley is to be annexed; one of which plats shall be deposited with the recorder of deeds of said District to be filed amongst the records of his office, another kept in the office of the surveyor of said District, and one filed in the office of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia. 256 Sec. 3.
That in the opening, extension, widening, or straightening ofHale of land reverting to United States. an alley as herein provided for it shall be lawful for the Commissioners of the District of Columbia to close any alley or part of an alley thereby rendered useless or unnecessary, the fee to which is in the United States, by entering into an agreement with the owners of the lots or parts of lots contiguous thereto for the purchase by them of the land contained in said alley sought to be closed, at a price to be agreed upon by the said Commissioners and said owners, which price shall not be less per square foot than the assessed value per square foot of the contiguous lots; said agreements to be in duplicate, one of which shall be filed in the office of the recorder of deeds and the other in the office of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, and the sums so agreed to Payment.be paid shall be assessed severally against the lots or parts of lots to which the land so purchased shall be annexed, such assessments to bear interest at the rate of ten per centum per annum until paid, and shall *Proviso*.be collected as other taxes are collected: *Provided, however*, That the Sale to others than abutting owner.Commissioners of the District of Columbia may, in their discretion, sell and convey the land contained in the alley to be closed for cash to any person or persons.
That the Commissioners of the District of Closing alley where fee is in private person.Columbia may, in the opening, extension, widening, or straightening of an alley, close an alley, or part of an alley, the fee to which is not in the United States, prodded the owners of all the lots or parts of lots abutting thereon and the party or parties holding the fee title to the land contained in the alley to be closed shall first sign and file a petition therefor, in duplicate, together with a plat thereof, in duplicate, as provided by the first section of this act, one copy of which shall be filed with the recorder of deeds and the other in the office of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia.
Sec. 4. That upon the filing of such plat by the surveyor in the officeJury to assess damages. of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia as aforesaid, the said Commissioners shall make an application in writing to the marshal of the District of Columbia to summon and impanel a jury of twelve citizens who have no interest in the real estate mentioned in the said petition (and it is hereby made his duty to summon and impanel the same in all such eases upon application to him in writing by said Commissioners), and who, having first taken and subscribed an oath in writing to discharge the duty imposed upon them by the provisions of this act justly and impartially, shall proceed to ascertain and appraise the damages which may accrue to the real estate of any person or persons by the opening, extending, widening, or straightening of such alley, which shall be the value of the land at the time of the taking, and they Statement.shall make and file a statement in writing, signed by them, of the damages so ascertained and appraised, in the office of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, and a duplicate of said statement in the office of the recorder of deeds for the said district, and the amount thereof shall be paid to the persons respectively entitled thereto by said District of Columbia, out of any funds available therefor; and all such alleys or extensions, widenings, or straightenings shall thereafter be kept open and free for public use.
Sec. 5. That the said jury shall apportion an amount equal to theExpenses to be assessed on lots benefited. amount of said damages so ascertained and appraised as aforesaid, including six dollars for the services of said marshal and sixty dollars for the services of said jury, according as each lot or part of a lot of land in such square may be benefited by the opening, widening, extending, *Proviso*.or straightening such alley: *Provided, however*, That Deduction for sales.in cases provided for in section two of this act the sums paid or agreed to be paid for the land contained in any alley or part of alley to be closed, shall first be deducted from the amount of benefits so to be assessed; and they shall make due return of such apportionment to the recorder of deeds and to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, in which they shall designate each lot or part of a lot of land in such square so benefited, Collection of assessment.and the amount so apportioned to each, respectively; and, in ease of 257 failure to pay the amount so apportioned, it shall be the duty of the collector of taxes to levy a tax upon each said lot or part of a lot of land, in accordance with such apportionment, and to collect the same as other taxes upon real estate are collected; and said assessment shall bear interest at the rate of ten per centum per annum until paid.
Sec. 6. That the said marshal shall give or cause to be given at leastNotice to owners of land in the square. ten days’ writtin or printed notice of the time and place of the meeting of such jurors for the purposes aforesaid to each proprietor of land in the square designated as the location of such alley. If the proprietor be a resident of the District of Columbia the notice shall be served by delivering a copy thereof to him or her personally, or leaving it at the usual residence with some person over ten years of age.
If the proprietor be a nonresident the notice shall be served by delivering a copy thereof to his or their tenant or agent, or depositing it in the post-office at Washington City, inclosed in a postpaid envelope, which shall be addressed to the proprietor at his or her post-office address. If the proprietor or proprietors be under twenty-one years of age the notice shall be served as hereinbefore provided upon the guardian or parent of such minor or minors. A return of such service and the mannerReturn. thereof shall be made by the marshal to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, and shall be filed among the records of said District.
Sec. 7. That all alleys opened or extended in the City of WashingtonExisting alleys legalized. since June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, under an ordinance of the late corporation of Washington approved November fourth, eighteen hundred and forty-two, are hereby made valid: *Provided*,*Proviso*. That nothing in this act shall affect the rights of parties to suitsPending suits. now pending in such eases. Sec. 8. That all alleys or parts of alleys heretofore closed by subdivision,Alleys closed. with the approval of the Commissioners, shall remain unaffected by this bill.
Sec. 9. If any moneys from the sale of land in which the UnitedDisposal of proceeds. States is interested shall remain after carrying out the provisions of the preceding sections of this act, such moneys shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States, by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia. Sec. 10. That all acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisionsRepeal. hereof are hereby repealed Approved, July 22, 1892.