What is Public Property?
Public property is land, buildings and assets that are owned by a community and maintained on its behalf by its government. Unlike private property, public property or public space is a place where anyone has a right to come without being excluded or discriminated against.
Most public property, such as libraries, schools and parks, are accessible to all and benefit the general public.
Public property is often used to meet community needs like schools, health care clinics and recreation centers. Public property also includes the land that connects us, such as roads, sidewalks, alleys and parks.
According to the laws of the District of Columbia, public property is:
Land titled in the name of the District of Columbia ("District") or in which the District has a controlling interest and includes all structures of a permanent character erected thereon or affixed thereto, any natural resources located thereon or thereunder, all riparian rights attached thereto, or any air space located above or below the property or any street or alley under the jurisdiction of the Mayor.
What are the differences between Public Property and Private Property?
Public property:
Provide a forum for free speech
Free to Enter
Access cannot be restricted
Private Property:
Forum for freedom of speech much more limited
Often requires payment to enter
Access can be restricted
What is Public Use?
DC law does not define public use. DC law allows the city to dispose of public property “which the Council finds to be no longer required for public purposes,” but the term “public purposes” is not defined.
Without a definition of public use or public purposes, DC often moves to dispose of valuable public assets which could otherwise be rededicated to serve any number of long standing community needs.
By our definition, a public use is:
* any use or function which serves the community at large;
* contributes to the general welfare of the whole community; and
* serves existing community needs.
Some examples include:
* Senior Centers
* Recreation Centers
* Affordable Housing
* Job Training
* Green Space
* Promoting Community Development, like:
* Space for small, local businesses
* Bringing in Needed Services (grocery store, child care center)
* Space for nonprofit organizations that serve the community
What is “Surplus Property” and Property Disposition?
Currently, DC law allows the mayor to dispose of (sell, transfer, lease, give away) public property that is “no longer required for public purposes.” Yet, there is no definition of “public purposes” or public use and a great deal of confusion within the city government about how public property decisions are made.
Currently, there is NO process for a public property to be rededicated to another public use with community input.
Because of this, DC’s public property dispositions overwhelmingly benefit corporate interests, developers and those who have close access to elected officials.
Current law does not explicitly require the city to consider using public property for other public or community uses. The only requirement is that the City Council must declare the property “surplus.”Pursuant to to DC law, once a property has been declared surplus it can be disposed of by any means.
The result is that the residents of DC have been deprived of dozens of valuable public properties over many years.
