§ 9–103.02. Preparation by Mayor; maps.

The said plans shall be prepared from time to time in sections, each of which shall cover such an area as the Mayor of the District of Columbia may deem advisable to include therein, and it shall be the duty of the Mayor in preparing such plan by sections, as far as may be practicable, to select first such areas as are covered by existing suburban subdivisions not in conformity with the general plan of the City of Washington. The Mayor in making such plans shall adopt and conform to any then existing subdivisions which shall have been made in compliance with the provisions of the Act of Congress approved August 27, 1888, entitled “An act to regulate the subdivision of land within the District of Columbia” (25 Stat. 451), or which shall, in the opinion of the Mayor, conform to the general plan of the City of Washington; provided, however, that no place or street extending no farther than from 1 principal street to another, which has been opened under the direction of the Mayor, or in conformity with any subdivision approved by them prior to August 27, 1888, and recorded, and which was on March 2, 1893, paved with asphalt or other sheet pavement, shall be altered, affected, or interfered with by any plan adopted or anything done under or by virtue of §§ 9-103.01 to 9-103.05. Whenever the plan of any such section shall have been adopted by the Mayor, he shall cause a map of the same to be made showing the boundaries and dimensions of and number of square feet in the streets, avenues, and roads established by him therein; the boundaries and dimensions of and number of square feet in each, if any, of the then existing highway in the area covered by such map, and the boundaries and dimensions of and number of square feet in each lot of any then existing subdivision owned by private persons; and containing such explanations as shall be necessary to a complete understanding of such map. In making such maps the Mayor is further authorized to lay out at the intersections of the principal avenues and streets thereof circles or other reservations corresponding in number and dimensions with those existing on March 2, 1893, at such intersections in the City of Washington. A copy of such map, duly certified by the Mayor, shall be delivered to the National Capital Planning Commission, which shall make such alterations, if any, therein, as it shall deem advisable, keeping in view the intention and provisions of §§ 9-103.01 to 9-103.05, and the necessity of harmonizing as far as possible the public convenience with economy of expenditure; and if such Commission shall see fit, it may cause to be made a new map in place of the one submitted to them. When such Commission, or a majority thereof, shall have come to a final determination in the matter, it shall approve in writing the map which it shall adopt, and shall deliver it to said Mayor of the District of Columbia, and the same shall at once be filed and recorded in the Office of the Surveyor of the District of Columbia, and after any such map shall have been so recorded no further subdivision of any land included therein shall be admitted to record in the Office of the Surveyor of said District, or in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds thereof, unless the same be first approved by the Mayor and be in conformity to such map. Nor shall it be lawful when any such map shall have been so recorded for the Mayor of the District of Columbia, or any other officer or person representing the United States or the District of Columbia, to thereafter improve, repair, or assume any responsibility in regard to any abandoned highway within the area covered by such map, or to accept, improve, repair, or assume any responsibility in regard to any highway that any owner of land in such area shall thereafter attempt to lay out or establish, unless such landowner shall first have submitted to the Mayor a plat of such proposed highway and the Mayor shall have found the same to be in conformity to such map, and shall have approved such plat and caused it to be recorded in the Office of said Surveyor.

(Mar. 2, 1893, 27 Stat. 532, ch. 197, § 2.)

Prior Codifications

1981 Ed., § 7-108.

1973 Ed., § 7-109.

Cross References

Recordkeeping, maps, charts, and surveys of streets and highways, see § 1-1306.

Transfer of Functions

The functions, powers, and duties of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission were transferred to the National Capital Planning Commission by the Act of June 6, 1924, ch. 270, § 9, as added by the Act of July 19, 1952, 66 Stat. 790, ch. 949, § 1.

References in Text

“ Section 9-103.05”, referred to in the second and fifth sentences, was repealed by § 711 of D.C. Law 4-201, effective March 10, 1983.

Delegation of Authority

Delegation of Authority-Office of the Surveyor, see Mayor’s Order 2005-180, November 28, 2005 ( 53 DCR 462).

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 401 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 a single Commissioner. 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.