Tuesday, April 5, 2011

ANC2f Meeting Tomorrow: Focus on 9th Street Establishments

ANC2f will hold their monthly meeting tomorrow at the usual place and time: 7:00 PM at the Washington Plaza Hotel at Thomas Circle.

All in all, the agenda (found below) looks to be your typical ANC agenda, filled with community reports, street closure votes and other assorted items of business. As is usually the case, the most contentious/interesting portion of the evening will likely occur during the discussion of ABRA-related (read: liquor-serving establishments) matters. This week, in addition to consideration for a new license for Bar Rouge, the ANC will be looking at a couple of 9th Street restaurants/lounges: Mood Lounge and Cafe Eagle.

Specifically, the ANC will be discussing an alleged breach by Mood Lounge of their voluntary agreement, which has the potential to create some rather significant problems for the establishment. After all, the reason why voluntary agreements are negotiated in the first place is to provide recourse to the ANC to address problems with an establishment that, for whatever reason, the establishment is loathe to address. I'm not certain what issues have led to this particular move on the part of the ANC, but a breach of a VA is unlikely to be overlooked.

Speaking of 9th Street, another new establishment will be on the ANC's agenda when the ANC votes on approval of a revised VA with Cafe Eagle. You may recall that Cafe Eagle, which serves up a mix of Italian, Eritrean and seemingly straightforward fare, will be replacing Vegetate, the former vegetarian cuisine-serving restaurant on 9th Street that closed last year.

The full agenda for tomorrow's meeting can be found below. More information about ANC2f can be found on their website.

ADVISORY NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSION 2F REGULAR MONTHLY PUBLIC
MEETING Wednesday, April 6, 2011 – 7:00 PM
WASHINGTON PLAZA HOTEL—10 THOMAS CIRCLE, NW

AGENDA

COMMUNITY FORUM

Call to Order
Commissioner Announcements
Report from Executive Office of the Mayor
Report from Office of Jack Evans, City Council Member, Ward 2-0
PSA 307 Report - Metropolitan Police Department, 3D
DDOT Report - Ward 2 Transportation Planner
Community Announcements

-10 Minute Recess-

BUSINESS MEETING

Approval of Agenda
Approval of Minutes of Meeting of March 2, 2011

DCHSEMA/Street Closures:
Lupus Walk
Capital Pride Parade
Stop the Silence Race

ABRA
Mood Lounge 318 9th Street, NW –Breach of Voluntary Agreement
Rouge 24 922-924 N Street, NW –New License
Eagle CafĂ© voluntary agreement—revisions demanded by ABC Board.

Education Committee
Options Charter School NW Campus, 1501 11 th Street, NW

DDOT

Crime and Public Safety Committee (Bryan Goodman)

Community Development Committee (Mike Benardo, Chair):
1211 10th Street, NW – Application for Lot Variances

Arts Overlay Committee

Treasurer’s Report (Matt Raymond, Treasurer):
Approval of Expenditures

Adjournment

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you meant Rogue 24, which is a new restaurant on Blagden Alley. Cafe Eagle? Do we have to wear leather chaps to dine there?

Mr. Other Upper NW said...

No, Rogue 24 is a different establishment. I don't believe they've come before the ANC yet to negotiate their license (although I could be mistaken).

Anonymous said...

Mood Lounge has caused some pretty significant problems since they opened in January in the space formerly occupied by EFN Lounge/Motley Bar. They pull out the red carpet and velvet rope every weekend and crank the heavy bass until the neighbors' furniture is shaking. Then the patrons leave late at night and cause a massive ruckus, peeing in the alley, yelling and screaming, driving drunk. Really quite a mess, and not an establishment that is focused on catering to local residents. Importantly, they have failed to abide by their VA, which prohibits a lot of these activities. Ultimately this comes down to ABC regulations that allow an establishment to apply for a "tavern" license but use loopholes in the regs to operate as a de facto nightclub, i.e. charge a cover, bring in DJs and provide bottle service. Hope this sheds a little light on things.