All telephone poles and wires attached thereto not the property of the United States or the District of Columbia existing June 20, 1902, upon the streets and avenues within the section of the District of Columbia bounded by a line beginning at 2nd and B Streets Southeast and running thence along B Street south, 3rd Street west, Missouri Avenue, 6th Street west, B Street north, 23rd Street west, Rock Creek, Cincinnati Street, Columbia Road, 16th Street west (extended), Park Street, Whitney Avenue, 11th Street west, R Street north, New Jersey Avenue, C Street north, and 2nd Street east to the point of beginning, except as hereinafter provided, shall from time to time, as may be prescribed by the Mayor of said District, be taken down and removed. The work of taking down and removing said poles and wires shall be done under the direction of said Mayor, and it is hereby made the duty of said Mayor to enforce compliance with the provisions of this subchapter as expeditiously as may be consistent with the public interests; and the said Mayor is hereby empowered from time to time to authorize any individual, company, or corporation operating on June 20, 1902, and maintaining a telephone plant or system, partly overhead and partly underground, in the District of Columbia, to extend and enlarge its system of underground conduits, subsidiaries, and manholes in or under any or all of the streets, avenues, alleys, lanes, or other public highways in said city and District as may be requisite and necessary for the purposes of this subchapter and for the reception of such other cables and wires as may be reasonably required in the future by the growth of such individual, company, or corporation or to adequately meet the requirements of the public for telephone service.

(June 20, 1902, 32 Stat. 393, ch. 1136, § 1.)

1981 Ed., § 43-1402.

1973 Ed., § 43-1402.

This section is referenced in § 34-1911.02, § 34-1911.03, § 34-1911.04, and § 34-1911.06.

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.