§ 10–104. Control of park system; composition thereof.

(a) The park system of the District of Columbia is placed under the exclusive charge and control of the Director of the National Park Service, under such regulations as may be prescribed by the President of the United States.

(b) The said park system shall be held to comprise; (1) all public spaces laid down as reservations on the map of 1894 accompanying the annual report for 1894 of the officer in charge of public buildings and grounds; (2) all portions of the space in the streets and avenues of the said District, after the same shall have been set aside by the Council of the District of Columbia for park purposes; provided, that no areas less than 250 square feet between sidewalk lines shall be included within the said park system, and no improvements shall be made in unimproved public spaces in streets between building lines or building lines prolonged until the outlines of such portions as are to be improved as parks shall have been laid out by the Council of the District of Columbia; and provided further, that the said Director is authorized temporarily to turn over the care of any of the parking spaces included in clauses (1) and (2) of this subsection, to private owners of adjoining lands under such regulations as he may prescribe and with the condition that the said private owners shall pay special assessments for improvements contiguous to such parking, under the same regulations as are or may be prescribed for private lands; and provided further, that the Council of the District of Columbia is authorized and directed to denominate portions of streets in the District of Columbia as business streets and to authorize the use, on such portions of streets, for business purposes by abutting property owners, under such general regulations as said Council may prescribe, of so much of the sidewalk and parking as may not be needed, in the judgment of said Council, by the general public, under the following conditions, namely:

(1) Wherein a portion of a street not already denominated a business street a majority of a frontage not less than 3 blocks in length is occupied and used for business purposes; and

(2) Where a portion of a street has already been denominated a business street, and there exists adjoining such portion a block or more whose frontage is occupied and used for business purposes.

(July 1, 1898, 30 Stat. 570, ch. 543, § 2; Feb. 2, 1904, 33 Stat. 10, ch. 89; Apr. 14, 1906, 34 Stat. 112, ch. 1622; Feb. 26, 1925, 43 Stat. 983, ch. 339, § 3.)

Prior Codifications

1981 Ed., § 8-104.

1973 Ed., § 8-108.

Section References

This section is referenced in § 10-129, § 10-137, § 10-138, § 10-142, § 10-146, § 10-154, and § 10-1404.

Cross References

Driving on footways, penalty, see § 22-1318.

Public roads and bridges, jurisdiction, see § 9-101.02.

Transfer of National Children’s Island, see § 10-1404.

Transfer of Functions

The functions of the Director of the National Park Service relating to public buildings were transferred to the Federal Works Administrator by § 303 (b) of Reorganization Plan No. I, July 1, 1939, 4 F.R. 2729, 53 Stat. 1427. All functions of all officers of the Department of the Interior (including the Director of the National Park Service) and all functions of all agencies and employees of such Department were, with 2 exceptions, transferred to the Secretary of the Interior, with power vested in him to authorize their performance or the performance of any of his functions by any of such officers, agencies, and employees, by 1950 Reorganization Plan No. 3, §§ 1, 2, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262. All functions of the Federal Works Agency and of all agencies thereof, together with all functions of the Federal Works Administrator, and all functions of the Commissioner of Public Buildings and the Public Buildings Administration, were transferred to the Administrator of General Services by § 103(a) of the Act of June 30, 1949, 63 Stat. 380, ch. 288. The Federal Works Agency, the Office of Federal Works Administrator, the Office of Commissioner of Public Buildings, and the Public Buildings Administration, were abolished by § 103(b) of said Act. All functions with respect to acquiring space in buildings by lease and all functions with respect to assigning and reassigning space in buildings for use by agencies (including both space acquired by lease and space in government-owned buildings), were, with certain exceptions, transferred from the respective agencies in which theretofore vested to the Administrator of General Services by § 1 of 1950 Reorganization Plan No. 18, 15 F.R. 3177, 64 Stat. 1270.

Change in Government

This section originated at a time when local government powers were delegated to a Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia (see Acts Relating to the Establishment of the District of Columbia and its Various Forms of Governmental Organization in Volume 1). Section 402(179) of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 (see Reorganization Plans in Volume 1) transferred all of the functions of the Board of Commissioners under this section to the District of Columbia Council, subject to the right of the Commissioner as provided in § 406 of the Plan. The District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 87 Stat. 818, § 711 ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.11), abolished the District of Columbia Council and the Office of Commissioner of the District of Columbia. These branches of government were replaced by the Council of the District of Columbia and the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia, respectively. Accordingly, and also pursuant to § 714(a) of such Act ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.14(a)), appropriate changes in terminology were made in this section.