The General Services Administration is proposing to prohibit street parking around all major federal office buildings in downtown Washington to protect them from truck bombs.
The GSA plan, a response to the bombing of the federal office building in Oklahoma City last year, has alarmed District political and business leaders, who have limited means to stop the restrictions under federal law.
The leaders fear that elimination of premium parking spaces, coming after the closing of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House, could further disrupt traffic and commerce, as well as deprive the city of as much as $2.5 million a year in parking meter and ticket revenue. More than 360 parking spaces at 19 buildings would be removed, the GSA said.
"It starts with Pennsylvania Avenue, and it goes heaven knows where," said D.C. Council member Frank Smith Jr. (D-Ward 1). "The whole city could be barricaded if this keeps up."
GSA officials said they are reluctant to identify the 19 buildings publicly because that could tip off would-be bombers. But officials have said the buildings include most agency headquarters that house more than 450 employees, such as many of the buildings along the Mall.
Gary Wells, a GSA spokesman, said: "It's not GSA's intention to barricade the city. It's to provide the appropriate level of security for our buildings" consistent with guidelines adopted by the Justice Department after the Oklahoma City bombing.
Under those guidelines, any building housing 450 or more employees -- most of the major federal buildings downtown -- would be required to remove adjacent parking spaces on the street. But GSA officials say they haven't made a final decision on the buildings where parking will be controlled and when restrictions would occur.
Gwen Mitchell, the city's parking chief, said that the Barry administration is sensitive to the need to protect federal employees but that removing metered and non-metered spaces in areas where parking is at a premium causes drivers to roam around looking for a place to park, slowing the flow of traffic.
"This results in increased traffic congestion, has an impact on deliveries and reduces the attractiveness of retail activity in general," Mitchell said. The city estimates losses of $1.8 million in meter revenue and $620,000 in ticket revenue.
Business leaders say that if the parking restrictions occur, people will be discouraged from going downtown, which, in turn, will encourage businesses to leave. "It's driving people out of the city. It's one more thing," said Christopher Reutershan, a D.C. Chamber of Commerce leader and a real estate developer.
Parking spaces already have been stripped from the perimeters of the headquarters of the FBI, Ninth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW; the Justice Department, 10th Street and Constitution Avenue NW; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, 650 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Counting those spaces and the spaces at the 19 buildings, Mitchell said, the District government estimates the total loss at 403 metered spaces and 236 others, such as spaces in loading zones.
Under a new federal anti-terrorism law, parking in front of most federal buildings may be taken for security reasons with the permission of the attorney general and the secretary of the treasury. The D.C. Council cannot prevent such plans.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), who has been negotiating with the federal government, vowed that the GSA would not succeed in limiting parking around all 19 buildings. She said she will seek to ensure that the city will be fully reimbursed by the federal agencies that limit parking around their buildings. "We don't intend to let this become another Pennsylvania Avenue," Norton said.
Among the buildings that could come under the restrictions are those of the Agriculture Department, 14th Street and Independence Avenue NW; Commerce Department, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW; Health and Human Services Department, 200 Independence Ave. NW; Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh St. SW; Interior Department, 18th and C streets NW; Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Ave. NW; Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave. NW; State Department, 2201 C St. NW; and Transportation Department, 400 Seventh St. SW.
President Clinton ordered the closing of the two-block section of Pennsylvania in front of the White House last year because of the Secret Service's concern that a terrorist could blow up the executive mansion with a truck bomb. The full financial impact of that closing has not been determined, and a plan to reimburse the city has not been announced by federal officials.
William R. Lawson, assistant GSA regional administrator for the Washington area, told Congress at a recent hearing that internal building security committees had concluded that parking must be limited at 19 facilities housing 450 or more employees, including law enforcement and intelligence agencies, courts and judicial offices. The GSA provides office space for federal agencies.
"Where feasible, parking areas adjacent to federal space should also be controlled to reduce the potential for threats against federal facilities and employee exposure to criminal activity," Lawson said, quoting a directive from a Justice Department report about the vulnerability of federal buildings after the bombing in Oklahoma City last year killed 168 people and injured hundreds more.
Wells, a special assistant to Lawson, said "it would be premature" to conclude that all 360 spaces would be taken from 19 buildings. He said the GSA is reviewing the security needs at each building and may modify its proposal, which could result in keeping parking at buildings not considered to be potential targets, such as the federal Office of Personnel Management. It would be up to each agency to decide whether the parking lane would be used as a traffic lane or for limited parking such as for government vehicles, a GSA spokeswoman said.
On Wednesday, the D.C. Council is to consider a request from the GSA to remove five metered parking spaces and close an alley so the Secret Service can build a 10-story headquarters bounded by 9th, 10th, H and G streets NW. Council permission is needed because an alley would be closed.
Kathy
Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) and Norton are working to ensure that federal agencies reimburse the city if their actions deprive it of parking revenue or other funds. Two federal studies are underway to determine the cost of the closing of Pennsylvania Avenue to the city.