From David McAuley. Email him at david[AT]borderstan.com.

14th and U Moratorium Meeting at ABRA. (David McAuley)

How much significance can you put into questions and remarks by government officials at a public hearing?

That’s the big question as DC’s Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) Board held its public hearing about the proposed 14th and U Liquor License Moratorium yesterday afternoon, May 22, at the stifling and sweaty Reeves Center (14th and U Streets NW).

The familiar forces repeated their arguments for and against the proposal, with moratorium petitioner Shaw Dupont Citizens Alliance joined by its friends and supporters on one side, and representatives of the four Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) that had voted against the moratorium, and their supporters, on the other.

Members of the ABC Board posed questions and made statements to local residents testifying about the proposed moratorium. Like reporters observing Supreme Court Justices questioning lawyers about Obamacare, observers were left to wonder how much the Board members’ questions foreshadowed its future decision.

ABC Board chair Ruthanne Miller and Board member Mike Silverstein are representatives of Wards 3 and 2, respectively, on the seven-member board. Questions and statements made by these members indicated they were not immediately ready to approve a new moratorium. However, the two other attending members of the board — Donald Brooks (Ward 1) and Nick Alberti (Ward 6) — did not participate as actively in the discussions, giving no clue to their inclinations.

Skeptical on Non-liquor Business Crowd-Out

For example, several supporters of the moratorium said the proliferation of bars and restaurants in the U Street area was driving out other types of business. In reply, Miller said she knew the neighborhood had furniture stores, pharmacies, and many other types of businesses.

“Lots of your neighbors would love to have what you have,” Miller said.

Addressing the same point, Silverstein said, “There are going to be economic dislocations no matter what you do.”

ABC Board Improvements

During testimony, a moratorium advocate remarked ANC 2B/Dupont‘s anti-moratorium resolution had criticized the ABC Board’s administrative branch, the Alcoholic Beverage Regulatory Agency, and called for greater transparency. This seemed an attempt to place moratorium advocates and the ABC Board on the same sides of the argument, arrayed against ANC 2B and moratorium opponents.

Miller had the resolution found and the relevant portions read.

At the end, she said, “Is that all? I’d like to see ways in which the ABC can be improved.”

Silverstein: Popular on Twitter

At another time, according to Twitter, Silverstein said the U Street neighborhood had said the moratorium “seems to come out of the factory of bad ideas”.

Another Twitter post noted that Silverstein had called U Street “a place the US President can take the President of France” for a chili dog. In the same breath, however, Silverstein also characterized U Street as a place where someone can throw up on your shoes, according to another Twitter post.

Last Chance for Public Comment

There is still time to submit written comments according to an ABC Board announcement:

“If you are unable to testify and wish to comment, written statements are encouraged and will be made a part of the official record. Copies of written statements must be submitted to the Office of the General Counsel, Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, 2000 14th Street NW, Suite 400 South, Washington, D.C. 20009, no later than 4 pm on Friday, May 24, 2013.”

Get an RSS Feed for all Borderstan stories or subscribe to Borderstan’s daily email newsletter.

BIN 1301 is looking for community support. (Luis Gomez Photos)

BIN 1301 Wine Bar will be a new restaurant serving Mexican food at 1301 U Street NW. The owners have created an online petition looking for community support for obtaining a liquor license.

The new restaurant will occupy the location of U-Scream Ice Cream & Treatery. The new restaurant will have a seating capacity of 36 inside and 35 for the sidewalk patio.

If you would like to support Bin 1301 just head to the online petition. The petition invites you to sign if you think a place like this will enhance the neighborhood by providing a unique place to enjoy a glass of wine, learn more about various wines, and relax with friends.

Get an RSS Feed for all Borderstan stories or subscribe to Borderstan’s daily email newsletter.

From David McAuley. Email him at david[AT]borderstan.com.

Future site of the Fainting Goat at 1330 U Street NW. (Luis Gomez Photos)

The protest by Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B against the liquor license application of the aspiring proprietors of the Fainting Goat Tavern was rejected on March 21, according to public documents.

In a letter to ANC1B Commissioner Marc Morgan (ANC Secretary and commissioner for district 01), DC’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) said that the protest letter had been denied “because of failure to file a timely protest.”

No one from ANC1B appeared at the ABRA Roll Call hearing on March 25 to contest the denial. The purpose of Roll Call hearings is only to identify the parties that have standing as protestants. A separate hearing is scheduled for May 15 to discuss the substance of the protests.

ANC 1B Serves U Street Area

The Fainting Goat’s proposed location is 1330 U Street NW, the former location of Urban Essentials. A petition in support of the Fainting Goat’s liquor license application appeared on the web site Change.org on March 14. ANC1B voted to protest the application at a contentious March 7 meeting. Borderstan reported on March 18 that the ANC’s protest documents had apparently vanished on their way to ABRA.

1B-12 Commissioner Zahra Jilani in a March 22 email explained the circumstances which led to the impression that the documents had disappeared. She said, “I was told to send the letter on behalf of the commission, but that a text email was fine. I believe this was due to a miscommunication between our ANC and ABRA. I sent the letter the night before the deadline, but I was told the next day by ABRA that it was in the wrong format, which is why they told you they hadn’t received it. Once aware of this, I let the commission know and we sent it in the correct format to ABRA.”

Information on the ABRA website says that protests against liquor licenses can be faxed or emailed. All email protests must be sent as a PDF document and signed. These two methods are the only ways to officially file a protest with ABRA.

ANC1B may still appeal ABRA’s decision at the May 15 hearing. If they do, they must show “good cause” for missing the deadline to the ABC Board, according to ABRA records supervisor William Hager. He also said that, in the past, tardy petitioners had shown “good cause” in cases where inclement weather or government shutdown had occurred at petition deadlines. Hager would not speculate on whether ANC1B’s current circumstances might be considered “good cause”.

“Requests of this nature are entirely left to the discretion of the ABC Board,” Hager said in an email.

The Fainting Goat still must face two protesting groups at its May 15 hearing: the Shaw Dupont Citizens Alliance and a group of 14 residents, most of whom live on Wallach Place NW. However, if ANC 1B does not successfully appeal the rejection, the Fainting Goat may have a better chance at finally obtaining the liquor license. The law stipulates that ABRA must give “great weight” to an ANC opinion. Citizen group petitioners do not enjoy this level of influence.

Get an RSS Feed for all Borderstan stories or subscribe to Borderstan’s daily email newsletter.

From David McAuley. Email him at david[AT]borderstan.com.

Neighbors line up to testify at Wednesday night’s town hall meeting on the proposed liquor license moratorium for the 14th and U corridor. (David McAuley)

Sentiment ran almost 6 to 1 against the proposed 14th and U Streets liquor license moratorium at last night’s town hall style listening session.  Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) 1B (U Street),  2B/Dupont and 2F/Logan all sent members to attend the meeting at the basketball court of the Thurgood Marshall Center on 12th Street NW to hear what the public had to say.

About 160 people attended the event, filling every chair, then sitting and standing against the walls. My final count was 47 people testifying against, 8 for and 3 neutral. Of the 47 people testifying against, only two identified themselves as not living in or near the moratorium district. On Twitter, other witnesses put the count at 48 against, 8 for; 46 against, 9 for; and 41 against, 7 for.

ANC chairs in attendance were Tony Norman (1B-10) and Matt Raymond (2F-07). All three commissions sent the chairs of their respective alcohol licensing affairs committees: John Fanning (2F-04), Jeremy Leffler (1B-02) and Kevin O’Connor (2B-02). At least 10 other commissioners from across the three ANCs attended as well.

There are currently five liquor license moratorium zones in DC: Georgetown, Glover Park, Adams Morgan, Dupont West (21st and P NW) and Dupont East (17th Street NW). The 17th Street liquor license moratorium is due to expire in September 2013.

Opening Statements

Leffler called the meeting to order at 7 pm and Commissioner Noah Smith (2B-09) explained the meeting guidelines. The original plan was for each speaker to have two minutes to address the listening commissioners, but due to the overwhelming response, the time was cut back to 90 seconds. As a result, the meeting finished at planned 9 pm time.

Before citizen testimony period, the attendees heard remarks by Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Berman of the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA), Sgt. Iris Beistline of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and Joan Sterling, president of the Shaw Dupont Citizens Alliance (SDCA), the group petitioning for the liquor license moratorium. SDCA membership is limited to residents living between 12th and 15th Streets and S and U Streets NW.

• ABRA had found that SDCA satisfied the minimum requirement for filing the moratorium petition, Berman said. He also said that the other group who signed the petition, the Residential Action Coalition, had not qualified for standing before ABRA, and would no longer be considered a petitioner. However, the SDCA may continue the petitioning process before the ABC Board, which will next consider the matter on May 22.
• In answer to audience questions, Berman said that the normal term for moratoriums was five years, but could be renewed. He then said that, once enacted, no liquor license moratorium had ever been dissolved.
• Beistline said the MPD could not supply relevant crime statistics because there were none available. A new computer system was being put in place, she explained, and some statistics were still inaccurate.
• Sterling then pleaded the SDCA’s case for the moratorium. She noted the difficulty in getting the DC government to enforce the law concerning the percentage of street frontage that can be given to liquor licensees on any block. (The Uptown Arts District Overlay limits the square footage of ground-floor storefronts serving food/drink on each block to 50% of all square footage facing the street on that block. The percentage was increased to 50% from 25% in 2010.)
• Sterling also noted that there are now 16,000 combined seats in the establishments of the liquor licensees in the zone. She said that, since the zone had well over 18 liquor licensees, it met ABRA’s definition of an “overconcentration” of licensees. “Moratoriums are temporary,” Sterling added.

Testimony from Attendees

After Sterling’s statement, the floor was turned over to the public. “Let’s keep this civil,” Leffler reminded. People lined up in an orderly manner to speak. Nearly every person stated his or her name and address or ANC district. Here is a selection of comments:

• “I oppose the moratorium. I vote and I’ll remember.”
• “This process draws in thousands and thousands of man-hours. It’s a complete waste of resources. Six people made us come here. It’s time to reform the system.”
•  “I have been awakened at all hours of the night by music I can literally sing along to.”
• “I’m strongly opposed. I love the vibrancy. It’s just awesome.”
• “The moratorium is too blunt an instrument.”
• “There’s no actual evidence that the moratorium will lead to prosperity.”
• “A lot of people are saying that there are other solutions. What? Will someone pick up my trash?”
• “Why stall development in the neighborhood?”
• “Remember the Georgetown moratorium. It didn’t fix the noise, the parking, the litter.”
• “A moratorium is not right. Hold each bar and restaurant responsible.”
• “It’s anti-small business, anti-competition. I’m inalterably opposed.”
• “It’s good to see people getting involved.”
• “It’s kind of a joke that we’re here tonight.”
• “I like vibrancy.”
• “My fear is stagnation in the community,” said a man identified on Twitter as the owner of DC9 nightclub. He went on to say that retail space should be encouraged, ways should be found for rents to be lower, there should be tax relief, and ABRA should be convinced to work on “bad apple” liquor licensees.
• The only sign of incivility occurred toward the end when one man, a moratorium supporter, decided to take aim at the newly opened Matchox restaurant at 14th and T NW. He disparaged the restaurant and its food, much to the surprise of other attendees.

Next Steps

“That was fantastic,” Jeremy Leffler said after the final testimony. “I’m impressed by the turnout, passion and research.” To conclude the meeting, each ANC briefly outlined their next steps.

• Leffler said that ANC1B’s liquor license affairs committee would meet tonight, March 21, at the Thurgood Marshall Center. A vote on the proposed moratorium is on the agenda. The committee’s recommendation would then be considered when ANC1B has its regular monthly meeting on April 4 at the Reeves Center.
• Raymond said that ANC2F would have its regular monthly meeting on April 3 and a vote on the moratorium would be on the agenda.
• O’Connor said that ANC2B would consider the issue on its May 8 meeting, before which he hoped to have one or two more listening sessions.

Attendees lined up to speak at Wednesday night’s town hall. (David McAuley)

Get an RSS Feed for all Borderstan stories or subscribe to Borderstan’s daily email newsletter.

From Rachel Nania. Check out her blog, Sear, Simmer & Stir. Follow Nania on Twitter @rnania, email her at rachel[AT]borderstan.com.

ANC 2F covers the Logan Circle area. (DC Board of Elections)

On Wednesday, February 6, Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F will hold its regular monthly meeting. Only this meeting will include a topic that has received a lot of local attention: liquor license moratoriums.

Commissioner John Fanning, chair of ANC 2F’s ABRA Committee, will lead a discussion regarding the proposed liquor license moratorium for 14th and U streets NW. ANC 2F covers the Logan Circle area.

Additionally, the meeting will address the Sunday parking ban in some parts of ANC 2F. A representative from DDOT will be on hand to explain the proposal to consider Sunday parking restrictions and to take questions from the commission and the community.

The ANC meeting is open to the public and will take place Wednesday, February 6, at 7 pm at the Washington Plaza Hotel in Thomas Circle.

Get an RSS Feed for all Borderstan stories or subscribe to Borderstan’s daily email newsletter.

From Rachel Nania. Check out her blog, Sear, Simmer & Stir. Follow Nania on Twitter @rnania, email her at rachel[AT]borderstan.com. 

On December 4, the DC Council took its first vote on overhauling the city’s liquor licensing laws. (Luis Gomez Photos)

On Tuesday the DC Council met to to take the first vote on a controversial bill addressing liquor licensing for local businesses, and residents’ roles in the process. Many issues were on the table regarding liquor licensing, including how long it takes to obtain a license and who can squash it.

The legislation came before the Council following work done by a large task force headed by Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1). What did happen on Tuesday?

• The Council passed a provision to get rid of any “Gang of 5″ license protest if a venue applying for a license reaches agreement with Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) — essentially giving an ANC first standing in liquor license protests.
• According to Tim Craig, reporter for The Washington Post, the council defeated Councilmember Cheh’s amendment,which strengthened the ability of five or more residents to protest a neighborhood liquor license. Graham, Orange, Barry, Graham Brown, Evans and Wells voted against the amendment. Alexander, Bowser, Cheh, McDuffie and Mendelson voted for it.
• The requirement that “Gang of 5″ members protesting a liquor license application or renewal live within a 400-foot radius around an establishment was taken out of the bill. (See DC Liquor Board Reaffirms Hank’s Oyster Bar Decision and Poll: Most Readers Say 5 People Not Enough to Protest Liquor Licenses).
• D.C. Hospitality reports that the Council also approved a measure that requires the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board to act on licensing applications in a quicker time frame — of great importance to businesses that are essentially waiting to open pending approval of a liquor license.
• And as Dcist reports, sometime next year, liquor stores will be able to open for business on Sundays.

The final vote on the bill is scheduled for Tuesday, December 18.

Large Number of Licenses in Area

There are 1,586 liquor licenses of all types in DC, according to the DC Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA). The battles over liquor licenses in the Dupont, Logan and U Street neighborhoods are more easily put into perspective when you look at the numbers — what wards, ANCs and areas have the most liquor licenses. Statistics from ABRA show how dominant our locales are in the ranks of DC’s watering holes: Ward 2 (Dupont-Logan) is home to 40% of all the city’s liquor licenses, followed by Ward 1 (which includes most of the U Street corridor) with 16%. In third place is Ward 6 (Capitol Hill) with 15%. It’s important to point out that Ward 2 includes Georgetown, in addition to Dupont-Logan and areas south of Dupont Circle. Ward 1 also includes Adams Morgan and Columbia Heights. Other DC Wards: Ward 3 has about 11% of all licenses; Ward 5 has 7%; Ward 4 has 6%; Ward 7 about 3%; and Ward 8 about 2.5% of all the city’s liquor licenses.

Licenses in Local ANCs

A look at number of licenses by Advisory Neighborhood Commission level is more revealing. ANC 2B/Dupontis home to 14.44% of all liquor licenses in the city (229) — keep in mind that the boundaries of ANC 2B extend well south of Dupont Circle and reach Pennsylvania Avenue at some points. (See DC Liquor Licenses by the Numbers: Ward 2, 40% and Ward 1, 16%.)

ANC 2F (Logan Circle and a big chunk of 14th Street NW) has 111 liquor licenses, about 7% of the city’s total. ANC 1B has 91 licenses, about 6% of all licenses in DC — 1B includes the U Street corridor and large swath of territory to the north plus Howard University. Together, these three ANCs are home to 431 of 1,586 licenses, about 27% of the city’s total. Throw in ANC 2C/Shaw and you have another 7% of all liquor licenses in DC. How many are in ANC 1C, home to Adams Morgan? That ANC has 84 licenses, about 5% of all the DC liquor licenses.

The exact numbers are as follows:

Get an RSS Feed for all Borderstan stories or subscribe to Borderstan’s daily email newsletter.

Hank’s Oyster Bar was forced to close half of its patio seating, but with the ABC Board’d decision that will change tonight. (Luis Gomez Photos)

From Tom Hay. Questions for Tom? Send him an email at Tom[AT]borderstan.com. You can follow him on Twitter
@Tomonswann.

The Washington City Paper reported today that the District of Columbia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (ABC) has ruled that Hank’s Oyster Bar did meet all three criteria for termination of the Voluntary Agreement (VA), which the Dupont Circle restaurant had been operating under since opening in 2005.

The ABC Board had first issued an order in 2010 allowing termination of the VA. That decision was appealed to the DC Court of Appeals by several of the original signatories who protested Hank’s alcohol license. The appellate court ruled in May 2012 that the ABC Board erred in their decision which prompted the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration to shut down half of Hank’s outdoor patio, just as the busy outdoor dining season was getting underway.Hank’s has posted on their Facebook page that full patio seating will be available tonight at 1624 Q Street NW.

The most recent order by the ABC Board allows Jamie Leeds, Hank’s chef and owner, to seat the patio dining area to full capacity. The partial closure of the patio prompted an online petition in support of Leeds and came just weeks before hearings on revisions to the District’s alcohol laws. The proposed legislation limits what may be included in a VA and also further defines who has standing to protest a liquor license.

See the related posts below for more information on the Hank’s saga.

ANC 2B represents the Dupont Circle neighborhood. Both ANC 2B and ANC 2F (Logan and Thomas Circles) will host monthly meetings on Wednesday, July 11. (Borderstan)

From Rachel Nania. Check out her blog, Sear, Simmer & Stir. Follow Nania on Twitter @rnania, email her at rachel[AT]borderstan.com

Two local Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, ANC 2B (covering Dupont Circle) and ANC 2F (representing Logan and Thomas Circles), will hold monthly meetings this Wednesday, July 11. The ANC 2B meeting will take place from 7 to 9:50 pm in the Somers Room at the Brookings Institution, 1775 Massachusetts Avenue NW. TJihe ANC 2F meeting will  be from 7 until 9 pm at the Washington Plaza Hotel, 10 Thomas Circle NW.

On the 2B Agenda are topics such as progress on the Dupont South Metro entrance, public space applications (including a sidewalk café for G Street Food and a sidewalk café for the Bier Baron), historic preservation and zoning applications for Sylvia Kotz Realty Revocable Trust and Epiphania, LLC; and alcohol applications (including a license for Sala Thai, a sidewalk café endorsement for Fuel Pizza, a multi-purpose license for Merlots Art, LLC and a CR license for Ted’s Bulletin.

The ANC 2F agenda includes commissioner and community reports, the community development report and the treasurer’s report. Other items to be discussed are ABRA applications for El Sauce Restaurant, Ted’s Bulletin and Belga Café. Additionally, committee members will discuss the Omnibus Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Amendment Act of 2012 introduced by Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1).

Get an RSS Feed for all Borderstan stories.

All Souls entered into a Voluntary Agreement with neighbors for its 725 T Street NW location. (Tom Hay).

From Rachel Nania. Check out her blog, Sear, Simmer & Stir. Follow Nania on Twitter @rnania, email her at rachel[AT]borderstan.com

As the story goes in DC, obtaining the necessary licenses to open a restaurant business can be a long process.  — especially when dealing with a liquor license from DC’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA). And for local restaurant entrepreneur, David Batista, this battle seemed like an impossible win. (Also, check out Schools and taverns can coexist at Greater Greater Washington.)

This past spring, Batista made the evening news with his efforts to open a neighborhood bar near 8th and T Streets NW. However, these efforts were quickly halted when neighbors of the (currently abandoned) 725 T Street storefront opposed Batista’s business venture.

According to the ABC Board’s “Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order,” some of the opposing neighbors are worried about noise, increased drug activity and public drinking, while others are worried about decreased property values, parking and the proximity of the bar to Cleveland Elementary School.

Despite these grievances, the Board sided with Batista on June 20 and granted him a Retailer’s Class CT License for his bar, All Souls, as well as a Voluntary Agreement (VA) with area neighbors. Not green to the DC restaurant scene, Batista’s previous restaurant experience includes managing Jose Andres’ Jaleo and Zaytinya. All Souls is expected to open in the fall of 2012.

Get an RSS Feed for the P&G Section, or an RSS Feed for all Borderstan stories.

Until the ABC Board rules, Hank’s Oyster Bar at 1624 Q Street NW is only allowed to use half of its patio space to serve diners. (Luis Gomez Photos)

There is now an online petition supporting Hank’s Oyster Bar, and owner-chef Jamie Leeds, in its dispute with a hand full of protestants over its outdoor patio space and Voluntary Agreement (V.A.). The name of the petition is “Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration: Rule in Favor of Hank’s Oyster Bar Dupont Circle.” The peititon is to Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration Director Fred Moosally; Ward 2 Council Member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2); Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) and ABC Committee Chair; and DC Mayor Vincent Gray.

Hank’s V.A. was with six protesters who live in the general vicinity of the restaurant on Q Street just off 17th Street NW. Hank’s was allowed to terminate its V.A. in November 2010, but in May the District of Columbia Appeals Court remanded the ruling back to the Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) Board. The hearing on the case was June 13; the ABC Board has up to 90 days to rule. The Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) is the agency that oversees DC liquor laws. The ABC Board, composed of mayoral appointees, makes decisions on cases. Only two of the original six protesters were party to the appeal to the court.

The petition was created at change.org and organizers are aiming for 5,000 signatures. Late last week the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) called on supporters to back Hank’s. Last week, Leeds posted a letter on her restaurant door, website and Facebook page asking for community support.

Get an RSS Feed for the Business Section, or an RSS Feed for all Borderstan stories.