Today: Vote Early, Vote Often

So, there's a little election going on today, and more is at stake then simply crowning Vince Gray leader of our constitutionally prescribed federal district. There are some contested ANC races (including several with potential ramifications in and around the 14th and U areas), City Council seats up for grabs, and an amendment that would grant the residents of DC the right, beginning in 2014, to elect DC's attorney general. A quick recap:

In area ANC races, several are worth watching. In ANC1B, Peter "The Commish" Raia is being challenged by not one but two residents for his seat on the ANC-- Tucker V.E. Gallagher and Aaron Spencer. Raia has been a controversial figure of sorts along U Street due to the ongoing debate about the volume of bars and restaurants along the corridor--although over here at 14th & You, we have to wonder if anyone could be non-controversial while heading up ANC1B's Liquor Licensing Committee.

A bit south and west, ANC2B is hope to another contested race involving a controversial figure. Ramon Estrada, who has served in the role for eight years and is seeking reelection, is being challenged by Sunit Talapatra. Estrada withstood a challenge to his seat in the 2008, so it will be interesting to see whether he survives another race, or whether those dissatisfied with his representation are successful in voting him out.

Finally, in ANC2F, in addition to a contest for a seat being vacated by current commissioner Andrew Werth, commissioner and Community Development Committee chair Mike Bernardo is being challenged for his seat by Kate McMahon. As individuals who are residents of ANC2F and thus very familiar with Mike's tenure on the ANC, we can personally vouch for his work as a Commissioner--and quite frankly, nothing in Kate's interview with Borderstan would sway us to her candidacy. So, I suppose this becomes our 14thandyou's first quasi-endorsement of a candidate.

Moving away from the ANCs, another issue on the ballot worth considering is the so-called "Attorney General amendment," which would allow the residents of DC to elect their attorney general, rather than have the AG appointed by the mayor. The Washington Post's editorial board and current AG Peter Nickles oppose this idea, which is reason enough for many to support it. Does it risk turning the AG into a political position? Of course it does. But having an AG independent of the mayor's own political agenda wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

Finally, there are a few City Council seats up for grabs--including Ward One's Jim Graham--but it's unlikely that any will change hands. We're still pretty much a one-party town, after all.

Oh yeah, and there's that pesky Fenty write-in campaign that continues to plod along...

If you're not sure of the location and hours of your nearest voting station, DC's Board of Elections website can help you with that. Now, get out there and exercise your civic duty.

Agencies Push to Loosen Restrictions on Bars/Restaurants

Last week, as reported here and elsewhere, DCRA Zoning Administrator Matt Le Grant issued a letter stating that his office would no longer approve occupancy permits for bars and restaurants along the 14th and U Street corridors, in what is known as the Arts Overlay District.


The announcement came at the conclusion of a study by DCRA that showed that the percentage of street-facing retail along 14th and U streets that is devoted to bars and restaurants was just under the 25% threshold permitted under the current Arts Ovelray restrictions. Enforcement of the rule had been advocated by a small group of neighborhood activists, including ANC1B commissioner Peter Raia and ANC2B commission Ramon Estrada, among others.

As expected, the announcement touched off the proverbial firestorm of controversy, both from within and outside of the area. Seeking to quell the anger, as well as to ensure that the decision posed as little threat as possible to the ongoing development and growth of the neighborhood, it was announced today that the DC Office of Planning would submit a set of recommendations to the Zoning Commission by April 26 to raise the allowable percentage of bars and restaurants to between 40-50%.

The 40-50% amount was the amount recommended by the Arts Overlay Committee in its report delivered last year. (Full disclosure: I served on the Committee.)

Once delivered, the Zoning Commission will vote on the measure at their next hearing, in either late May or early June. If adopted, the new rule would go into effect in late June or early July.

The move is clearly a response to the community outcry that arose after DCRA's statement last week. Although the statement merely indicated a willingness on the part of DCRA to enforce an existing law, the move was seen largely as a response to advocacy on the part of commissioners Raia and Estrada, along with other neighborhood activists, who had sought to have the so-called "25% rule" strictly enforced.

By moving so swiftly to change the law, and thus negate the potential effects of its enforcement, DC agencies seemed to be in agreement with nearly everyone throughout the 14th and U street area that the 25% rule was, in fact, outdated and needed to be revised.

Astute observers will note that, even with this action by the Office of Planning, there is still potentially a three month window during which occupancy permits could be denied to otherwise deserving businesses along the corridor. In response to this, local ANCs--including ANC2F--are moving to ensure that the move has minimal impact on the neighborhood.

"Our neighborhood is open for business," said ANC2F chairman Charles Reed in a press release issued today. "ANC-2F will do everything in its power to assist in speeding community acceptable license applications through the BZA process."

While nothing is certain--the Zoning Commission could, in fact, reject the recommendation--in a city where change seems to come at a glacial pace, it is refreshing to see agencies moving so quickly to address this concern.

DCRA Set to Enforce 25% Bar/Restaurant Restriction Along 14th and U Streets

EDIT (4/8/2010): The Mid-City Business Association has a good breakdown of the ruling and who it will affect on their website. Also, a nice review of the Arts Overlay District's purpose, which was something I didn't delve into my post from last night.

EDIT #2: DCist has now gotten into the act, and the commentariat are doing their thing.

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Earlier this week, Matthew Le Grant, the Zoning Administrator for the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, announced that the office would no longer be granting certificates of occupancy to bars and restaurants throughout the Arts Overlay District, without those businesses first seeking--and obtaining--an exception from the Board of Zoning Appeals.

ANC2B commissioner Ramon Estrada and ANC1B commissioner Peter Raia had approached DCRA and asked that the so-called "25% rule" pertaining to bars and restaurants throughout the Arts Overlay District be enforced.

The Arts Overlay District, which includes the commercial corridors of 14th Street, U Street, and 9th Street, along with stretches of 7th Street and Florida Ave, includes a provision forbidding bar and restaurant establishments from taking up more than 25% of the linear frontage of space along those streets. In Le Grant's communication, he noted that DCRA had recently completed its survey of the Arts Overlay District, and learned that the percentage of linear frontage consisting of bars and restaurants in the District was currently at 24.88%. "With this," he wrote "my office will not approve any new building permit or certificate of occupancy applications for additional eating and drinking establishments as a matter of right."

The decision will take affect immediately, and apply to any project that does not yet have its certificate of occupancy.

The net affect of this decision has yet to be seen, but in all likelihood it will be more symbolic than anything. BZA is notoriously supportive of bars and restaurants throughout the 14th and U Street corridors, and it is likely that any bar or restaurant with a solid business plan that would improve the neighborhood will obtain the exemption.

In the event that the decision begins to have a negative impact on development throughout the area, expect to see a strong push from those within the community for the adoption of the recommendations put forth last year by the Arts Overlay Committee, which included a recommendation for raising the allowable amount of bars and restaurants in the area to between 40-50% linear frontage.

As I wrote at the time, I feel that such a limit is both appropriate and sensible, considering the ongoing development and growth of the Arts Overlay District. It's peculiar that a push would be made at this time to enforce the existing 25% rule, but so long as neighborhood development is not adversely impacted, the decision merely represents the enforcement of a law that remains on the books.

Those wishing to learn more about the recommendations of the Arts Overlay Committee may do so at the ANC2F's website.

ANC Approves Voluntary Agreements for Estadio, Cork and Fork; Ghana Cafe Opens

Passing along a few notes from this evening's ANC2F meeting, before my head hits the pillow:

The ANC voted unanimously to approve the voluntary agreements for both Estadio and Cork and Fork, paving the way for liquor licenses for both. The approval of Cork & Fork's VA was pretty much a foregone conclusion--only an issue concerning an arcane ABRA regulation relating to the single sales ban caused any hiccups.

Estadio, on the other hand, had provoked a reasonable level of concern from residents of the condo building at 14th and Church streets that it is going to call home. Thanks to the savvy negotiating tactics of ANC2F chairman Charles Reed, all parties came away from the table satisfied. In addition to the VA covering the standard ANC fare (operating hours, parking, noise, etc.), the Estadio team also negotiated a "side agreement" with residents of the building covering issues such as odors and the location of vent fans. If all goes as planned, Estadio looks to be open by this summer.

In other ANC business, the Commission voted unanimously to endorse seven projects, totaling $350,000, that would be applying for funding as part of the Logan Circle Neighborhood Investment Fund through the DC government. Five of the projects were specific recommendations made by the Arts Overlay District Committee involving funding for economic projects for the 14th Street Arts Overlay District, such as a branding campaign for the neighborhood. The other two projects are for a "green team" for 14th Street south of U Street, and $50,000 for a "U Street Visitor's Center" to be awarded to Cultural Tourism DC.

In a later post, I'll delve into more detail on the recommendations made by the Arts Overlay Committee.

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One final note to pass along: following months of space build-out and contentious liquor license negotiations, the Ghana Cafe has opened at its new location at 1336 14th Street (although their website says 15th Street--woops).



In addition to a full bar and a menu full of West African goodies, the Cafe will feature live DJs on Thursdays through Sundays spinning Reggae, Afro-Pop and International tunes. More information--including a full menu--can be found at Ghana Cafe's website.

Tryptophan Withdrawal: ANC2F Meeting This Wednesday; Liquor for ACKC and Estadio

Welcome back from your long weekend of poultry consumption--I hope you enjoyed this chilly, dreary Monday in the nation's capital as much as I did.

To lighten your mood, we offer a preview of the December ANC2F meeting, to be held this Wednesday.  There are a number of items on the agenda (which most certainly promises to make it a lengthy meeting), but only a few items of particular note.

For those who are not aware, the folks from local chocolate peddler ACKC will be on hand to petition for their liquor license.  This is something that had been discussed for some time, but it was only recently that owners Rob Kingsbury and Eric Nelson elected to pursue a license for their establishment.  Could that mean that an order of amaretto-infused hot chocolate isn't far away?  We can only hope.

Also on the docket in the restaurant arena:  a license for the forthcoming "Estadio" (the new restaurant from the "Proof" team) and expanded sidewalk hours for Commissary so that they can serve breakfast.  (Outdoor breakfast in December?  Maybe someone is hedging their bets on the success of global warming.)

Other items of potential interest:  a discussion of the Franklin School RFP, and the potential revocation of the vacant property tax relief for a property held by the Vermont Ave. Baptist Church.  (Anything church-related always proves sufficiently entertaining.)  Finally, there will be a discussion of the Arts Overlay District Committee's Economic Development Recommendations report.  (More on that item in a later post.)

One final item I would like to point out, briefly.  And I point this out knowing what it says about me, that not only do I read the ANC agendas in advance, but I read them in enough detail to catch things like this.  Chairman Charles Reed is constantly griping about the fact that the meetings consistently run over their allotted time (which they do).  A step they could take towards rectifying that situation could be to put together a more realistic agenda, that doesn't include items like this:

7:25 PM:  DDOT Report
7:30 PM:  Community Announcements
10 Minute Break
7:40:  Business Meeting

So, reading this, there is exactly 0 minutes devoted to community announcements (of which there is one listed on the agenda itself, in addition to whatever might get raised at the meeting).  Why do I doubt that the "Business Meeting" will be commencing promptly at 7:40?

For those interested, more information--and the full agenda--can be found at ANC2f's website.

ANC2F Meeting Tonight: Cafes and Sex Clubs?

ANC2F has their monthly meeting scheduled for tonight, and all looks to be pretty much standard fare for ANC meetings: you have your church parking discussion, your ABRA discussion for a new cafe coming to 14th Street (Cafe Trebant), some assorted DC government reports, and so forth.

However, the most interesting part of the meeting may come from something that is not listed on the agenda. It seems that Washington CityPaper reporter Amanda Hess has been sniffing around the story of the death that occurred over the weekend at the sex club that operates at 1618 14th Street. City officials, it seems, have not exactly been forthcoming regarding the individual's identity, nor the circumstances under which the death occurred. Hess has indicated that she plans to attend this evening's meeting to raise the issue before the ANC--ostensibly, we can only assume, to urge the ANC to launch some sort of inquiry or investigation.

If you're thinking that this property has been in the news before, you would be correct. A few years ago, a fire broke out in an upstairs room of the building, leading to an investigation into the use of the property by the District. The club that runs the sex parties hosted at 1618 is the "DC Wrestling Club," which is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. However, the property is currently zoned residential, and nothing in the property records indicates that it is a staging area for functions conducted by a nonprofit entity.

There are many questions surrounding the property, and likely non of them will be answered tonight. But a good conversation could ensure nonetheless.

The full agenda for this evening's meeting can be found at the ANC2F website.

ANC2F, 1B Vote to Endorse ARTS Overlay Committee Recommendations

At Wednesday night's ANC2F meeting, the Commission voted unanimously to support the proposal put forth by the ARTS Overlay District Committee regarding zoning recommendations to guide the further development of the U Street and 14th Street arts corridors--despite objections put forth from ANC2B Commissioner Ramon Estrada on certain recommendations included in the proposal.

On Thursday night, ANC1B voted to endorse the proposal as well (voting 6-0 in favor, with one abstention).

The recommendations--which can be found here--detail a number of items that the Committee feels should be addressed in order to ensure that the arts corridor remains vibrant and a haven for artists and the arts. Some highlights of the Committee's recommendations include:

• allowing for greater density on developments including--in certain rare circumstances--an additional floor of height beyond the current 75 foot restriction;
• requiring that all developments above 15,000 square feet have a dedicated arts use, which can be lessened if the use is placed on the street level;
• increasing the allowable percentage of street frontage devoted to bars and restaurants from its current 25% level to 40-50%, and measuring the amount in smaller segments as opposed to throughout the entire district (for instance, on any given block, no more than 40-50% of the retail frontage could be bars or restaurants);
• splitting the U Street and 14th Street districts into two separate districts; and
• applying a single, unified zoning code to the entire district.

ANC2F Chairman Charles Reed praised the Committee's work, which included meetings throughout the summer with numerous business owners, city officials, developers and residents, prior to calling for a vote on a motion to endorse all 25 of the Committee's recommendations.

The vote was not without some degree of controversy. During the period where comments from the community were solicited, ANC2B Commissioner Ramon Estrada stood to voice objections to certain parts of the proposal.

Estrada indicated that while he generally supported the Committee's proposal, he took issue with two specific recommendations--to split the arts districts, and to apply a unified zoning code to the entire arts district. He then went on to announce that ANC2B "would not be supporting the Committee's recommendations in their entirety."

This is notable because ANC2B had not yet met to discuss the recommendations--leading to questions as to whether Estrada was speaking only for himself, or for the entire ANC.

Reached for comment regarding the matter, ANC2B Chairman Mike Silverstein indicated that "no single commissioner" can speak for the Commission. As to what ANC2B will do regarding the proposal, he said "I really don't have a clue. [T]here have been no deals. Most of us haven't fully read the ARTS Overlay Committee report yet." He went on to state "Personally, I think it's an impressive report, well researched and well reasoned."

Regardless, the strong endorsement of two area ANCs gets the proposal off on the right foot. Committee chairperson Andrea Doughty will appear before ANC2B next week to present the proposal, which will be presented to neighborhood associations as well before eventually being sent to various District of Columbia agencies for review. The ultimate goal is for the DC Office of Planning to implement the Committee's recommendations as part of the overall zoning code governing arts districts in DC.

Additional information about the Committee's work can be found by clicking here.

Shaping the Future of 14th Street, Part 2

Can we keep the "arts" in the ARTS Overlay?

That was the predominant question put before the ARTS Overlay Committee this summer. What follows is a brief preview of the Committee's report, to be unveiled at tomorrow evening's ANC2F meeting.

First, a little background. The Committee (which, in the interests of full disclosure, I was a member of) was created in order to provide a set of recommendations to the DC zoning regulations that govern the Overlay district. The Committee included a mix of new and longtime neighborhood residents, business owners--and one developer--and held a series of public meetings over the summer, where they discussed the current state of the District, and what could be done to help preserve (and attract) arts uses for years to come.

While the ARTS Overlay restrictions maintain some rather esoteric regulations governing things like bonus density and FAR allowances, their most notorious feature is the 25% restriction on the amount of bars and restaurants (as measured in linear feet). Our findings were that a) the restrictions are not working, as no DC agency is even tracking the amount of frontage currently taken by bars and restaurants (it's currently estimated to be around 29%), and b) 25% is too low a figure, as it doesn't properly reflect the changing nature of the neighborhood.

Also atop the Committee's lit of things to address was the reality that the neighborhood stands to lose some of its arts-related establishments. At several public meetings, we heard from proprietors of galleries, and landlords who had arts tenants, explain that economics were pushing them out of the neighborhood. It seems that while everyone claims to love the arts element in our neighborhood, and the city likes to promote their existence, very little is being done to ensure that they can remain here.

Thus the Committee's task was set: make recommendations to the city's zoning code that encourages arts uses in the neighborhood and helps ensure that once they are brought it they remain, while also seeking to ensure that the 14th and U Street corridors remain vibrant streets filled with a healthy mix of retail and entertainment options.

Though specifics for each of the recommendations in the Committee's final report won't be announced until tomorrow evening, I can tell you some generalities of what will be included, such as:

• providing additional developmental incentives to encourage arts uses in new developments;
• instituting arts use requirements for developments above a certain size;
• increasing the allowed percentage of street-level retail that can be bars or restaurants; and
• allowing for the use of vacant properties as temporary arts exhibit space.

In addition, we determined that one of the things we could do to economically aid artists, retail businesses and even restaurants would be to look for ways to encourage daytime traffic in the neighborhood, something that is covered under another set of the Committee's recommendations.





Ultimately, the Committee's report will need to go through several stages of review, before ending up in the DC Office of Planning, which will then need to determine whether or not to accept them.

Undoubtedly, the 14th/U Street areas have been transformed during the last several years. However, there is still a significant opportunity for change in the neighborhood, and the decisions that are made today may very well have an affect on the corridor 20-30 years from now. If you're interested to learn more, plan to attend tomorrow evening's ANC2F meeting. Or, you can visit the ARTS Overlay Committee's website, located at http://www.blogger.com/www.anc2f.org/arts.

Back to the Grind: ANC Meeting This Wednesday-ABRA Matters and ARTS Overlay Committee Report

We hope everyone has had a good summer, and while we can't believe that it's drawing to a close, the pace of neighborhood news right now tells us otherwise.

Back from vacation, we're proud to remind everyone that it's ANC meeting week. And since the ANC didn't meet this past month, this month's agenda is chock full of interesting tidbits. The full agenda can be found here, but I'll pull out some of the highlights below.

The ABRA matters are always fun, and this month we get no fewer than six of them. Some are rather innocuous--1409 Playbill is petitioning to add lunch hours, a good thing as far as we're concerned (the more businesses open during the daytime, the better), and the application for soon-to-arrive wine retailer Cork and Fork. But there are also a few that stand out.

The Ghana Cafe (pictured at left), set to relocate to 14th Street from Adams Morgan, will be before the ANC to begin work on a voluntary agreement for their operations. The sticking point? The 2 am weekday and 3 am weekend closing time. Yeah, we know Saint-Ex has those hours, but we can't all be Saint-Ex, can we? Also, rumors of live dancing abound. Be afraid...be very afraid.

Next up, the rather interestingly named American Sacrifice Foundation. You may not be familiar with them, but you are likely familiar with the club that previously occupied the location now held by the Foundation--The Space. The Space's problems with its neighbors were well-documented here and elsewhere, so there's no need to rehash them. Suffice to say, expect the ANC to tread quite carefully here, seeing as how some people point to the lack of a voluntary agreement with The Space as one of the reasons the problems persisted for as long as they did.

Finally, Wednesday night may very well bring a conclusion to the longstanding saga of the voluntary agreement for the Vegas Lounge on P Street. Seems negotiations for this one were quite tense, with the Lounge bringing in their counsel and ANC2F commissioner Charles Reed making accusations of negotiating in bad faith. No one wants to see the Vegas Lounge go anywhere, so hopefully things will get wrapped up tomorrow evening.

In non-ABRA related happenings, Wednesday night will also mark the public unveiling of the zoning plan recommendations as put forth by the Arts Overlay Zoning Review Commission. Committee chair Andrea Doughty will be on hand to present the Committee's recommendations, which seek to guide and shape the direction of development of 14th and U streets during the coming years.

There has been much discussion recently over the future of the corridor--what kind of businesses should be here, do the arts have a future on 14th street, and so on. The Committee took an in-depth look at many of these issues during the course of a number of public meetings throughout the summer, and present the initial phase of their recommendations on Wednesday. The recommendations deal largely with zoning-related issues, and specifically look at the mix of retail (bars and restaurants, arts-related businesses, etc. and the types of developmental incentives that can be offered to projects that incorporate arts uses.

I am aiming to have a sneak preview of the Committee's recommendations up sometime tomorrow, but unfortunately can make no guarantees.

For those who miss Ms. Doughty's report on Wednesday evening, there will be a repeat performance at Thursday evenings ANC1B meeting.

ANC Roundup: New Owners for "The Space"; Cafe Salsa Threatened with "Show Cause" Hearing; Veranda's patio

Several items of interest related to neighborhood restaurants to pass along from Wednesday evening's ANC2f meeting:

Many of you may be familiar with the ongoing saga of The Space, the trendy "private" nightclub operating in Shaw. The Space, it seems, was operating in violation to its liquor license and the voluntary agreement it had signed with its neighbors (more details can be found here). At February's ANC meeting, following a terse exchange with ANC2f chairman Charles Reed, the ANC voted to recommend that ABRA initiate a "show cause" hearing regarding the club, a step towards the revocation of the club's liquor license.

ABRA elected to proceed with a "show cause" hearing, and a date was set. However, while this was going on, some significant internal changes were occurring with the club's management that has left more questions than answers.

The Space owners, Mitchell Cox and his wife Heather Karen, put the club on the market--unbeknownst to The Space's neighbors. In April, a deal was struck by Cox to sell the club to Columbus, Ohio-based veteran's organization "American Sacrifice Foundation". In an apparent attempt to circumvent ABRA's pending hearing and the potential loss of the club's liquor license, according to comments from Chairman Reed, a deal was proposed to ABRA that would make the American Sacrifice Foundation a 10% owner of the club, with the Cox's retaining a 90% interest (and responsibility for day-to-day operations) in the club. ABRA rejected that deal completely.

Why a Columbus-based veteran's association would have an interest in owning a Washington, DC nightclub was not discussed, and the ABRA-rejected deal between the Foundation and the Cox's leads one to believe that something more is going on here than initially appears.

Whatever the relationship between the Foundation and the Cox's, at this point the ownership issue of the club remains murky. A representative of the Foundation was in attendance at the meeting and indicated that the club had been completely sold to the Foundation, and that the Cox's no longer had any interest in it. However, Mitchell Cox's name remains on the lease for the premises, and--according to the club's representative--many details remain "to be worked out."

In the meantime, ABRA has issued an order--which has been drafted but yet released--detailing how the matter will be handled. According to neighbors, The Space has been closed for the past several weeks. The Foundation representative indicated that when it reopened, it would be a completely different type of operation, something more akin to a "VFW hall". So while the future of The Space's operations is unclear, what IS clear is that whatever opens in its place will be operated under much closer scrutiny by the ANC.

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Also discussed at Wednesday's meeting was recently opened 14th Street restaurant Cafe Salsa. It seems that Cafe Salsa's rear vent fan, which many neighbors have complained about, is not only obnoxious--it is a violation of the voluntary agreement signed between the ANC and the establishment.

Unfortunately, no representative of the restaurant was in attendance at the meeting, which appeared to irk Reed. Noting that the owner had indicated that "approvals were in place" to move the fan, without being in possession of any documents proving that assertion, Reed moved to send a letter to Cafe Salsa threatening them with a "show cause" hearing unless the problem was addressed. The ANC will take up the matter again at the July meeting.

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One final note: during the early part of the meeting, Reed, in discussing problems with DDOT representative Chris Ziemann, cited a persistent problem of parking in the public space. To those unfamiliar with DC's arcane property ownership structure, many property owners do not in fact own the land immediately in front or to the side of their properties; this land actually resides within the public space, and parking here--or otherwise using the land--is illegal. As one particular example of this, Reed cited the existence of a parking pad and an illegally constructed concrete patio in front of Shaw restaurant Veranda.

Reed put forth a motion--passed unanimously by the ANC--to issue a letter to DDOT encouraging them to crack down on such public space violations, going so far as to say that the Veranda patio should be "shut down" if compliance is not gained.

It's worth noting that the matter is up to DDOT, not the ANC, and that while it is DDOT's responsibility to ensure that District laws are followed with regards to the use of the public space, it's unlikely that Veranda's patio would be "shut down" over this issue.

For more information about upcoming ANC2f meetings, and to view notes from past meetings, visit their website at http://www.anc2f.org/.

ANC Set to Tackle 'The Space' and 'Cafe Salsa' on Wednesday Night

There are a couple of interesting items for tomorrow evening's ANC2f meeting. In addition to the usual transportation and crime and safety reports, two ABRA matters might get the community's attention.

The ANC will hear complaints regarding newly opened 14th street restaurant La Cafe Salsa's vent fan, which according to nearby residents is exceptionally loud. Attempts to work with the restaurant to come an agreement without involving the NC were unsuccessful, so Chairman Reed et al will discuss the issue tomorrow evening.

The second matter deals with an issue that we have written about previously; that is, upscale Shaw nightclub The Space. When we last heard from The Space, owner Mitchell Cox was cursing at Chairman Charles Reed and angrily dismissing complaints from neighbors regarding noise, sanitation and violations of the voluntary agreement signed with the building next door. The tense meeting ended with Reed requesting a "show cause" hearing with ABRA, the first step towards a potential revocation of the club's license.

According to a neighbor of The Space familiar with the proceedings, Cox subsequently sold the club to a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, which now operates it. The sale of the club resulted in no findings against the club being presented at the "show cause" hearing before ABRA. Whether this is satisfactory to residents and neighbors remains to be seen, but the issue will be discussed tomorrow evening.

The full agenda for the meeting can be found at the ANC's website. The meeting will take place Wednesday at 7:00 PM in the Washington Plaza Hotel on Thomas Circle.

Local ANCs Get Their 'Meet On

Typically, the first full week in any month means one thing: it's ANC meeting time. There are a number of interesting items on the agendas of the various ANCs whose activities play a role in defining the Logan/Dupont/U Street corridor. Among them:

ANC2F (Logan Circle/western Shaw) will meet this Wednesday evening at the Washington Plaza Hotel at Thomas Circle. The full agenda is available on the ANC's website. Among some of the highlights:

• City council member Jack Evans will be in attendance to address citizen's concerns. If you attend, you might want to ask Jack about the status of his commercial property tax-lowering bill, which has been discussed--but not yet formally introduced.


• Two liquor license-related issues will be addressed, including extended operating hours for trendy wine bar Cork and the issue of noise complaints surrounding the recently opened Cafe Salsa.


• The ANC will also address a proposed vacant property tax increase, which is meant to spur the redevelopment of properties held by landlords who do not see the financial incentive to raise their property from a current state of disrepair.


• Finally, a somewhat odd item to have on an ANC agenda, the commission will discuss the proposed marriage equality law, which is being address by the DC Council today. I'm not certain what the discussion will entail.

ANC1B (U Street, Shaw, LeDroit Park) will meet on Thursday, May 7 at the Reeves Center. Pertinent items for discussion include:

• The "U Street Mural" project and an introduction to a new restaurant coming to U Street, the "U Street Cafe".


• The ANC1B design review and committee will take a look at the proposed U Street Hotel project, whose developer, JBG, is looking for community support for the project.


• There are also a slew of ABRA matters, including the conversion of Nellie's liquor license from a "restaurant" class to a "tavern" class (see our recent post about this issue as it relates to SaintEx here) as well as a petition for a new license for an establishment called "Dixon".

ANC2B (Dupont Circle) will meet next Wednesday, May 13, and do not yet have an agenda posted.

Additionally, the Cardozo-Shaw Neighborhood Association will hold its May meeting on Thursday, May 14, where--among other things--JBG Cos. will be in attendance seeking support for their U Street Hotel project.

More on The Space

Wow, The Space conflict has drawn a lot of comments. I do think, however, that we need to give some additional information and respond to some comments, so that all of those reading and commenting can better understand the hows and whys of this issue.

Voluntary Agreements
You have all seen businesses with their applications for alcoholic beverage licenses posted in front windows. Of course, the very reason that these applications must be posted publicly is to allow an opportunity for public comment. Any group meeting certain criteria can protest the license either before it is granted or before it is renewed. Also, a neighborhood group can elect to avoid a protest by requesting a voluntary agreement with the establishment. A voluntary agreement can include any terms that all involved parties agree to. If the members of a condominium association properly execute a legal agreement to not cook with garlic, it is enforceable regardless of how odd one may believe the provision to be. In the end, The Space is in violation of a legal document that it chose to sign. In the case of most contracts, a civil suit is the only way to force compliance. However, because of the way DC liquor licensing works, the voluntary agreement with The Space is on file with ABRA, and it has enforcement power as well.

Crackhouses and Other Woes
Yes, if there is a crackhouse down the street, it should shut it down. Yet, for all we know, residents have pursued action against the alleged crackhouse. It is quite possible that the police have been called and/or that complaints have been made to the appropriate DC agencies. It is also quite possible that the same people who have complained about The Space have taken action against the crackhouse. I and most of our commenters simply have no way of knowing. Also, a crackhouse down the road does not make what The Space is doing an more legal or ethical.

Residents, new to the neighborhood and well-established all care very much about crime. The new blog, Borderstan, which exists primarily to bring attention to crime issues, has been incredibly popular. As well, the ANC 2F Crime and Public Safety committee is quite active. If you attend meetings, you will find that as much time is given to crime as any other subject — even alcoholic beverage license requests. Being concerned about one topic does not make one any less able to be concerned about another topic. On this very blog, we often write about crime, but we also devote a lot of space to less serious topics like shopping and dining.

This Neighborhood vs. That Neighborhood
There have been liquor license protests launched by every type of group in every neighborhood in DC, even in areas known for nightlife. For example, the very well-known, quiet, high-end Georgetown restaurant 1789 could not build a deck because its neighbors objected to the potential noise from outdoor diners. On 17th Street in Dupont, you can not enjoy an alcoholic beverage outside after midnight due to voluntary agreements between the local ANC and area bars and restaurants. And though DC law does not require drinks to be off of the bar until 3 a.m., there are very few bars that can stay open that late due to restrictions placed on them by neighborhood groups. Love it or hate it, these restrictions are just a part of life in DC.

That said, these stipulations are not unique to DC. Alcoholic beverage control boards exist not just to extract licensing fees but to protect citizens from some of the negative impacts that bars, clubs, and restaurants can have. I would love to limit the potential for protests without merit to interfere with alcoholic beverage licensing. In this blog, we have written about voluntary agreement proceedings and protests that were excessively burdensome to local businesses (Black Cat, Stoney's, Queen of Sheba). But not all protests are created equal. It is unfair and illogical to equate the protest of a sleepless neighborhood resident to the protest of an ANC overly cautious about a small cafe adding seating.

Because of limited inspection resources, ABRA relies on citizen groups to provide information prior to and after licensing. It makes sense that Shaw, now more populous and active than it has been since the 1968 riots, is now home to more people who would protest an alcoholic-beverage license. Propensity to protest is probably correlated to factors like familiarity with the ANC, knowledge of DC regulations, comfort with writing complaint letters, and the amount of free time one has available to make a protest. There is nothing inherent in one's race that should increase ones likelihood of protesting, and I find it upsetting that one anonymous commenter feels the need to claim that there is.

Profit brings with it responsibility
The primary reason a business opens is for financial gain, therefore it behooves a potential business owner to do all that he can to mitigate loss. It is the business owner's responsibility to either learn all of DC's complicated codes in order to avoid fines and legal action or to hire attorneys to guide the process. If Mitchell Cox did not abide by applicable laws and regulations then he either failed to conduct his due diligence as a business owner or he hoped not to get caught. Either way, it is not the responsibility of his neighbors, the ANC, or the DC government to limit the damages to him from legal actions.

Also, when it comes to the inconveniences created by businesses — mostly noise, garbage, and crowds — the burden should fall on the business, not residents, to moderate those inconveniences. The party who receives the most benefit (profits) should bear the greatest costs. So, while The Space's neighbors could invest in white noise machines and sound proofing or plan to spend every weekend away from home, it does not make sense that for the limited benefit of one business on their block that they may or may not patronize that they bear those substantial costs and inconveniences. As well, in terms of overall economic burden, the net cost to the Space of modifying its building and operations is far less than the net cost to residents of home modification, sleeplessness, and loss in home value.

Most neighborhoods in DC have more homeowners than businesses. And many, if not most, of those homeowners regardless of their neighborhood prefer to be able to rely on some peace and quiet, particularly at night. Generally speaking, excessive noise lowers a property's values, even in dense urban areas. Just as we want to encourage business ownership in Shaw, we should also want to encourage potential homeowners to be comfortable enough to invest in the neighborhood. Even in Manhattan, I imagine there is limited demand for housing directly adjacent to un-soundproofed nightclubs.

If you like The Space . . .
and do not want to see it close, direct your anger at Mitchell Cox. There is nothing about our ANC or about DC laws and regulations that prevent him from operating an elegant club in Shaw. All he had to do was to operate legally and ethically. Personally, I'm not interested in patronizing The Space; it is just not to my tastes. That said, I would be more than happy if several such establishments opened up nearby provided they operated legally. Our immediate area would indeed benefit from more businesses.

Cox has become a bit of a lightening rod not only because of what he has done but because of how people feel he has treated them. He appeared at an ANC meeting swearing incessantly and violating the rules of order. It is hard to be sympathetic toward Cox or want to work with him when he has a record of such unpleasant public behavior.

Western Shaw will not only survive but thrive without The Space.
The Space is not the one critical pioneer business that will revive Shaw. Yes, Shaw has had a tough past and, no, it is not as safe, elegant, or commercialized as Georgetown. But within three blocks of The Space, Veranda, Azi's Cafe, Queen of Sheba, Vegetate, Old Dominion Brew House, and Corduroy are already well established. On the way is the new Giant/O Street Market complex and the Marriott convention center hotel. As for the allegation of one anonymous commenter that the young professionals living on and near 9th Street NW are anti-development, I have found that most people support development around the convention center. Surely anonymous has not been to the ANC meetings where residents are salivating to know when the ground will break for the hotel complex and the O Street Market. The thing is, a hotel with an underground ballroom and proper parking management is not going to keep nearby residents up all night.

Running Out of Space

February's ANC2f meeting promised not to be short on drama, what with the commission meeting to discuss, among other topics, the future of neighborhood members only public club The Space. We'll address the other issues discussed at the meeting in a later post, but for now we wanted to present a brief recap of the "Space issue" if for no other reason than the fact that this very blog was entered as evidence at the proceedings. An epic win for 14thandyou? Perhaps.

The Space, as you may recall, was the subject of much discussion at January's ANC meeting. Specifically, it was the target of much ire from a group of Shaw residents who live adjacent to or close to the club. Since no one from the club was present at the January meeting, the commission held off on making any decisions until Wednesday's meeting, where the club had an opportunity to present its side of the case.

In the eyes of this blogger, they would have probably been better off had they not appeared.

The ANC has no voluntary agreement with The Space, leaving it powerless to file a protest to suspend its liquor license directly. The Space does however have a voluntary agreement with the building next door, and with ABRA. The ANC can thus move to petition ABRA for a "show cause" hearing, which is essentially a hearing before the regulatory agency to determine whether or not the license holder is in violation of its voluntary agreement. If ABRA finds against the license holder, its license can be revoked--essentially shuttering the business.

The residents had several main complaints centered around the club's operations, namely that they run a club under false pretenses, that their operations were disruptive to the peace of the neighborhood, and that they were operating an illegal outdoor deck.

The evidence against the club--consisting of numerous photographs, voluntary agreements and contracts, and the testimony of numerous neighbors--was immense, and a spirited defense by the club would be needed in order to stave off ANC action.

Which is why it was so perplexing when the club's lawyer approached the commission and began reading from a printout of this blog. That's right, 14thandyou was introduced as evidence in support of the Space. Why was this blog brought up Wednesday night? Well, so that their lawyer could read a quote from an anonymous commenter who likened living in Shaw to living in Adams Morgan--in other words, don't complain about the noise from the club ya yuppies.

(Sidenote: Even *I* wouldn't use items from this blog for my own defense, and certainly not comments from anonymous commenters. It was truly theater of the bizarre. )

The rest of the Space's defense was anything but coherent. Their lawyer began by claiming that he had only learned of the meeting that afternoon; commissioner Charles Reed found this odd, seeing as how he had a phone conversation with owner Mitchell Cox over a week ago where the matter was discussed. Strike one.

The Space also maintained that they were a "members only" club in spite of the fact that their website advertises that it is "open to the public". Justin, the club's manager indicated that he believed that a "member" was merely someone who paid an entry fee of $5.

"That is a cover charge," Reed remarked "not a membership fee." One woman in attendance testified that she had entered the club for free and drank at the bar, leading Justin to remark "What, did you want us to charge you?"

Pretty strict membership criteria they have there, apparently.

The rest of the defense was no more believable: the music isn't too loud because Cox said it isn't. The deck may be illegal, but they don't allow drinking on it--in spite of multiple photos showing that they did. The club isn't responsible for the overflowing mountains of trash in back of their building, because for all Cox knows the neighbors have been sneaking over and putting their trash in his bins.

And on and on it went, with the commissioners growing increasingly skeptical of the Space's defense, and Cox growing increasingly agitated. At one point, Cox interrupted another speaker, leading Reed to slam down his gavel and declare Cox out of order. "Ah, fuck it" was Cox's response.

In the end, the ANC did the expected and voted unanimously to request a "show cause" hearing with ABRA, where the Space may very well be in danger of losing their license. Cox's indignant attitude at Wednesday's proceedings certainly did him no favors; if he hopes to avoid a license revocation before ABRA he might want to spend a bit more time polishing his defense.

As for the neighbors, a brief round of applause broke out after the ANC's decision. For them, Wednesday night was the first victory in what has turned into a protracted fight over a club whose owner just doesn't seem to get it.

Franklin School and The Space

The Space, which has angered its Shaw neighbors, is once again on the ANC 2F agenda. The club, controversial for its noisy late-night operations in a residential area, has been subject to ABRA investigation but not to any enforcement action. For a little history of the conflict, read Mr. 14th & You's description of last month's ANC meeting here. Though the meeting will start at 7 p.m., this matter is not scheduled to come up for discussion until 7:45. If you are one of the residents affected by this club, make your way over to the Washington Plaza Hotel in Thomas Circle by then.

Another important item up for discussion this month is a proposal for the use of the Franklin School. Since the closure of the emergency homeless shelter this past fall, the building has not been in use. What will be interesting to see is not only what the proposal is, but whether Jack Evans, who expressed strong interest in redeveloping the property during campaign season, shows up. This agenda item is scheduled to be addressed at 8:45.

The January ANC Meeting: Inauguration Madness!

It was a dark and stormy night, but that didn't stop a standing-room-only crowd from attending the first ANC2f meeting of 2009, and with good reason: with the inauguration now less than 2 weeks away, and a multitude of questions surrounding issues related to parking, business operating hours and security the community has a lot of interest in the discussion and decisions that will be coming down this evening.

We've already written about the decision by the ANC not to protest the applications of businesses in good standing with the ANC who wish to partake in the extra hours for the inauguration, so I'll cover some of the other issues that came up at Wednesday night's meeting.

People Who Live Near the Convention Center Are $%#@ed

Sorry to be Debbie Downer here, but that was really my only take-away from the information we were getting this evening. It seems that, due to the 400-or-so inaugural balls that will be held at the Convention Center, the Secret Service will be setting up security checkpoints around the Convention Center and areas where Obama will be showing up (such as Union Station); residents in these areas must provide proof that they live in area: a driver's license, utility bill, mail, etc. will suffice. If you have people from out of town staying with you, you will need to stay with them, otherwise they won't be allowed into the secure area. Mike Bernardo mentioned that during past inaugurations there have been problems with residents getting to their own homes without IDs. In other words, don't expect the Secret Service to follow you back to your house and watch you try your house key.

The official line from the city is that they are now anticipating 2 million people coming into District--better than the 4 million we had been hearing earlier, but about four times the number of people that typically show up for the 4th of July celebration. The District will be closing several bridges and making one all bridges pedestrian- and bicycle-only into and out of Virginia.

Also, if you live in Logan Circle--or pretty much any place in the central city--parking is likely going to be a nightmare for you. In case you've been living in your cave (or poorly lit English basement) for the last three months, you've probably heard that the parking restrictions in the central city will run north to P Street, which is bad news for the people who live south of P and will need to relocate their cars, and for those of us who live north of P who will likely be the recipient of said cars. Our suggestion: park your car by next Wednesday, and don't touch it. Otherwise, you may end up having to park in Deanwood or something. And nobody wants that.

Believe it nor not, there were other topics addressed other than inaugural/end-of-life-as-we-know-it issues, including

Dustin Cole's Vendetta Against Whole Foods

OK, we'll admit that "vendetta" might be a tad strong, but really--the oddest point in the night had to be when Commissioner Cole interrupted the otherwise-routine approval of the agenda to request that an item be added to discuss Whole Foods' "violation of the District's single-sales ban." Visibly perplexed, ANC Chairman Charles Reed inquired with Commissioner Cole how he knew tht Whole Foods was violating the single-sales ban.

"Because I've seen them." came the response.

At this point, two things were noted by Reed and Commissioner Matt Raymond: that the ANC and Whole Food were parties to an agreement that allowed Whole Foods an exemption to enforcement of the single-sales ban, and that ABRA was respecting that agreement.

It's unclear whether or not Cole was aware of the agreement before moving to have the item added to the agenda, but at this point it should have been obvious that a discussion on the matter that evening would serve no real purpose. Undeterred, Cole pressed on, asking for the item to remain because we wanted a "discussion" followed by "possible action" against Whole Foods. Reed inquired as to whether a representative from Whole Foods had been notified that Cole was planning on raising the issue this evening; Cole responded that he had spoken with the store manager, but had not specifically notified them that a potential for action against the store would arise at the ANC meeting.

More back-and-forth continued, with Raymond reminding the Commission of the importance of "due process" and of having a representative from Whole Foods at the meeting to answer any charges that may be leveled. Reed reiterated that he wasn't sure why there needed to be a discussion to begin with. Still, the discussion pressed on, eating up nearly 15 minutes of time at the meeting.

Ultimately, the issue was tabled until the February meeting. It was truly one of the odder events I've seen transpire at an ANC meeting--and I've seen a number of them. Maybe Cole had a similar experience at Whole Foods as we did, getting a "fresh" turkey for Thanksgiving that ended up being frozen?

"The Space" Is Not a Good Neighbor

"Imagine coming home on Thursday evening and knowing that you won't sleep again until Sunday."

That was testimony from one of the many neighbors of Shaw nightclub "The Space" who came to protest the club owner's behavior--and ABRA's lack of enforcement against it.

It seems that the "private" club operating at 9th and and N streets isn't quite so private. The club is over-capacity most evenings, ignores noise regulations and, perhaps most annoyingly, operates an illegal outdoor deck the resides mere feet from the bedroom windows of its neighbors. The owner of the club is an Australian with a bad temper (he has been arrested for assaulting one of the neighbors whom he thought called the police against him) who doesn't--or doesn't care to--have a good grasp of the protocol necessary for keeping his club operational. (For instance, he failed to show at an ABRA hearing on the aforementioned deck, leading to a dismissal of the application.)

Even more infuriating was the fact that an ABRA inspector visited the property over the summer, took pictures, admitted that there appeared to be violations, then...nothing.

Unfortunately, problems arose when the discussion turned to potential actions that the ANC could take against the club. The voluntary agreement that the residents brought with them was between their building's landlord and the club owner--the ANC was not party to it. It could not be determined whether or not the ANC had an agreement with the Space.

Everyone agreed that the current situation was untenable, and the ANC agreed to move forward to find out if they did have a VA with the club, and also to explore possibilities for filing an emergency protest to get the club's liquor license pulled immediately. Chairman Reed however was not optimistic about this line of action, and wanted the ANC first to determine the existence of a VA with the club and to follow all proper channels so that ABRA "wouldn't have a reason NOT to follow through on a protest."

This matter will certainly be raised again, likely at the February meeting. In the meantime, The Space's neighbors are looking at a minimum of several ore weeks of obnoxious and antagonistic behavior from the club. We'll be following up with a later post on this issue as things develop.

There were other matters addressed at the meeting, but by this point Mr. 14thandyou--who hadn't yet had dinner--needed to excuse himself from the proceedings. It was certainly a fun night for all involved...

Loco Politico: LCCA to Host Candidates Forum

Tomorrow evening at their October meeting, the Logan Circle Community Association will be hosting a candidates forum for the upcoming election. Ward 2 Council candidates, many of the at-large council candidates, and all ANC2f candidates will be in attendance. According to the LCCA's website:

Please join the Logan Circle Community Association for its October meeting and candidates forum on October 15, 2008 from 7-10 p.m. at the Washington Plaza Hotel. We will host candidates for At-Large and Ward council positions, as well as ANC2F candidates. Candidates who have already confirmed include Ward 2 Candidates Jack Evans and Christina Culver, At-Large Candidates Carol Schwartz, Patrick Mara, Kwame Brown, and David Schwartzman, and nearly all of the ANC2F candidates. We are very excited for this event and hopeful for a great turnout. The format will allow each candidate to provide an opening statement followed by a question and answer period. To ensure we are as efficient as possible, we are encouraging you to email us questions in advance.

This will be your last chance to learn about the at-large candidates in the race, and could feature some interesting discourse between Mara and Schwartz--who is running as a write-in candidate after losing the Republican primary election to Mara in September. It's nice of Evans to show up, even if his Republican challenger is as likely to beat him as I am. Perhaps Cary Silverman's hard fought campaign against Jack this summer has led to an increased attention by Jack on the Ward 2 neighborhoods east of 16th street?

Noticeably absent is independent at-large challenger Dee Hunter, although his prospects for winning one of the two at-large seats were dim to begin with. Brown likely has one of the seats locked up, and with the District's arcane law about one Council seat going to a non-Democrat, it's difficult to envision Hunter unseating Schwartz or knocking off Mara.

The event will take place at the Washington Plaza Hotel in Thomas Circle at 7:00 PM. Loads of political fun will no doubt ensue.

It's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

A beautiful day for a neighbor./Would you be mine?/Could you be mine?

If we started all ANC meetings like Mr. Rogers started his shows, wouldn't Logan Circle be a happier if more odd place? Maybe not. Moving on to local non partisan politics . . . the monthly ANC 2F meeting was on Wednesday.

A somewhat unusual twist to the meeting: a US State Department delegation of Latin American community leaders was in attendance for the first portion of the meeting. In honor of their visit we had some a few snacks set up in the Washington room. Perhaps it's my imagination, but it seems to me that all present were much perkier after munching — except for Commissioner Reed; his affect is pretty reliable.

Jungle Jack Evans was in attendance and took quite a number of questions from the audience. I'll get back to that after an abbreviated run-down of other Logan Circle events of late.

Important stuff: The DC government has a $10 million pool of money set aside for the Neighborhood Investment Fund (NIF). Any Logan non profit can apply for a chunk of this money as long as they use it toward meeting community-defined goals for our neighborhood such as rent stabilization or encouraging local business. If you are at all connected to a non profit that targets the area from U Street to Massachusetts Avenue between 9th and 15th Streets go to planning.dc.gov and click on the neighborhood planning link. The public comment period has been extended, but the Office of Planning intends to cut it off at a yet-to-be-defined date "soon."

Soon-to-retire Mike Smith shared that the number of robberies in our PSA has dropped quite a bit, particularly when compared to the neighboring PSAs.

Officer Smith's retirement party will be on November 8th, but we may see him deliver the crime report at our monthly meetings until he permanently relocates.

From the executive office of the Mayor: Not much news. However, there will be a temporary dog park on the grounds of Shaw Junior High School opening in the next few (6?) weeks.

DDOT submitted the final 14th Street Streetscape plan to the ANC. There's one copy floating around amongst the commissioners, so email your SMD rep. if you want to get your hands on it. If you were someone who got all fired up about the new plans for 14th Street, you will just have to hurry up and wait to see changes. After the very involved process of soliciting public input, the design phase will be delayed until 2011 and the streetscaping may not begin until 2012 because of DDOT budgeting priorities. In the mean time, private developers starting new projects on 14th will be required to implement some of the agreed-upon changes such as sidewalk improvements.

So, on to our visit from Jack Evans. I didn't happen to catch an email from ANC 2F or Evans about the meeting agenda, so I sauntered in late and was surprised to see him at the meeting. I haven't been to every ANC meeting in the past year, but I don't recall the Council member showing up at any time in the past 16 months. To his credit, Evans did say that he would be back to visit us in the coming months.

ANC 2Fers had a polite Q&A with Mr. Evans. He warned that DC budget cuts are coming, which may lead to hiring freezes and program limitations. He did say that our largest expenditures this year have been healthcare and education, both of which would be very unpopular to cut.

With regard to the Franklin School Shelter, Jack Evans reported that all of the former residents have indeed been housed elsewhere. The Mayor certified this claim on Wednesday as did Council Member Tommy Wells, Chair of the Committee on Human Services. The Park Service will now be cleaning the park regularly, something they had refused to do as long as the shelter was open. A request for quote will be sent to developers soon seeking proposals for redevelopment. As for Evans's preferences, he would like to see "something with life" fill the space rather than just a new office building.

Dustin Cole rocks. He takes very seriously his role as commissioner and his responsibility to his neighbors. As such, he is vigorously pursuing improvements to Horizon House. Upset about conditions in this housing complex that serves low income elderly and disabled residents, he has contacted the DC government, the new chair of the residents' board, and the contracted management company who runs the building for DC Housing Authority. Cole vows to keep contacting the management company and requesting enforcement action from DCHA until he receives a construction budget statement and detailed renovation plans. Of current concern is that residents are living with severe mold growth in public areas, bedbug infestations, and other damage and filth. I'm so excited to see a new commissioner pursuing this problem for the neighborhood good though it's not a normal monthly meeting agenda item.

I have one last thought on the meeting. Why must our ANC meetings cling unwaveringly to Robert's Rules of Order no matter how minor the point of discussion? For example, could we not just adjorn the meeting having reached the end of the agenda? It's really funny to me to see commissioner Reed move to adjorn, someone else second the motion, and the commission agree before the gavel comes down on our monthly gatherings.

ANC2f Votes for Single Sales Ban and Elimination of Zipcar Lot

In case you missed the scintillating ANC2f meeting on Wednesday night (and judging by the number in attendance, it's likely that you did) there were a couple of noteworthy items that came out of it. Chief among them is the controversial "single sales" ban for Ward 2, which is currently in effect under a temporary "emergency" arrangement.

At Wednesday's meeting, the ANC voted 3-1 to support the ban based on community testimony and the belief of ANC chairman Charles Reed that the issue is simply "a good law". In essence, the ban forbids the sale of any single container of beer, ale or liquor in containers smaller than (I believe) 72 oz. The purpose of the ban, as discussed by Reed, is to decrease the amount of public drunkenness and associated disorderly behavior. Though direct evidence linking single sales with the societal plagues that are said to accompany it is lacking, there was sufficient community testimony to support the ANC's vote on the ban. The lone dissenting vote came courtesy of commissioner Dustin Cole, who cited a concern that the ban disproportionately affected smaller, independent businesses. This concern stems from the fact that the P St. Whole Foods was able to successfully stave off enforcement of the ban in their store, claiming that the type of single sales that they engage in are, in effect, too pricey to be consumed in mass quantities in public. Its doubtful the local corner market could make a similar argument.

The 14thandYous are sympathetic to this argument. While we don't necessarily disagree with the Whole Foods waiver, we're curious as to what bureaucratic hoops the company had to go through in order to obtain an exemption from the ban, and question whether a small, independent establishment would have the time and financial resources to obtain an exemption. In addition, some public comments from the audience came alarmingly close to a racially tinged argument, with one citizen in attendance voicing approval for the ban by decrying the "Hispanic men who sit around all day drinking" along a particular stretch of road in the neighborhood. Certainly we can discuss an issue like this without calling out particular races for this behavior?

Done properly, and with proper oversight by ABRA, a single sales ban could have a net positive effect on community safety and aesthetics. However, its implementation needs to be undertaken carefully and with accommodations in place for local businesses in addition to the Whole Foods of the neighborhood.

The second (surprisingly) controversial issue of the evening came in the form of a complaint by the ANC against Zipcar. The complaint was twofold: One, that Zipcar was utilizing parking spaces in several locations throughout the neighborhood in violation of DC parking laws, and that Zipcar had failed to follow through on a promise to landscape and "beautify" their lot at the corner of 14th and Corcoran streets. The first issue is pretty black-and-white, and (based upon later testimony) seems to have been taken care of. the second issue however seemed to particularly irk Commissioner Reed, who was also bothered by the fact that the Zipcar rep happened not to be in attendance when the issue was addressed at the meeting. The representative, it turns out, would later appear, but Reed was set on moving forward against Zipcar, calling for a vote to have the ANC issue a letter to the DC government requesting the elimination of not only the illegal parking spaces, bu Zipcar's 14th St. lot as well. The motion passed, again by a 3-1 vote, with a dissenting vote again by Dustin Cole, who (appropriately, we might add) voiced concern over a seemingly rash action against a company whose services are used by a number in the neighborhood.

As I mentioned above the Zipcar representative later appeared, and the issue was raised again. Despite some back-and-forth with the representative, Reed was eventually satisfied with the efforts undertaken by Zipcar to landscape the lot (even offering a few suggestions of his own, including constructing a fence around the lot--is that particularly good idea?) and offered to table the earlier vote. So, rest easy Logan, cooler heads prevailed and Zipcar isn't going anywhere.

One final note from the meeting: it seems that the DC Parks Department has turned down a request from the neighborhood do construct a dog park in the (nearly vacant) school lawn at 11th and Q streets, citing an upcoming renovation of the project--a renovation, we should add, for which no timeline is available and no details have been forthcoming. Hmmm, sounds a bit odd. Regardless, Shaw resident George Kassouf, who has been leading the charge for the construction of the dog park, remains undeterred and expressed hopes that he could convince the Parks Department--who apparently did not even review the proposal--to reconsider their decision.

ANC2f September Meeting: Dog parks and single sales

Want an easy way to get involved with the local community and get up to speed on some of the issues going on in and around the Logan area? Then make plans to attend tomorrow evening's ANC2f meeting. Even though the agendas sometimes look a bit dry and uninteresting, we can personally vouch for the fact that lots of interesting business (and decisions) gets discussed and decided at these meetings. The agenda and location are included below.

Some particular points of interest are the proposed construction of a new dog park in Shaw, a discussion on the proposed single-sale ban on beer and liquor, and a discussion related to "hate crimes issues". Want to learn more? Stop by tomorrow night!

ANC 2F SEPTEMBER MEETING AGENDA

ADVISORY NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSION 2FREGULAR MONTHLY PUBLIC MEETING

Wednesday, September 3, 2008 - 7:00 PM
WASHINGTON PLAZA HOTEL - 10 THOMAS CIRCLE, NW

AGENDA

COMMUNITY FORUM
Call to Order - 7:00
Commissioner Announcements - 7:00
PSA 307 Report - Lt. Mike Smith, Metropolitan Police Department, 3D - 7:10
Report from Executive Office of the Mayor - Abby Petersen - 7:15
DDOT Report - Christopher Ziemann, Ward 2 Transportation Planner - 7:18
Community Announcements - 7:30

- 10 Minute Recess -

BUSINESS MEETING

Approval of Agenda - 7:45
Approval of Minutes of Meeting of July 2, 2008 - 7:45
Crime and Public Safety Committee Report (Helen Kramer, Chair) - 7:50
DCEMADHS/Street Closures - 8:00
Capital Criterion Bike Race, September 21, 2008 - Charles Brodsky
Capital Pride and AIDS Walk Washington, 2008 October 4, 2008 - Kevin Reynolds

ABRA Matters - 8:10

Community Development Committee Report (Michael Benardo, Chair) - 8:12
George Kassouf - Shaw dog park

New Business - 8:25
Zip Car
Dog Park Review
Hate crime issues (Commissioner Cole)
Permanent legislation, single sale ban on beer, ales, and half-pint liquors

Treasurer's Report (Dustin Cole, Treasurer) - 8:50

Approval of Expenditures3rd Quarter Report Approval

Adjournment - 9:00

NOTICE: The agenda attached to this notice of meeting is provided by ANC 2F in advance of its public meetings contains matters that are expected to come before the meeting. It is, however, subject to formal adoption by the ANC at the meeting, which may result in additions or deletions to the draft. Individuals who may have official business before the ANC or persons with interests in specific matters are advised to contact the Executive Director or a Commissioner in advance of the meeting. See www.ANC2F.org for contact information.