Neighborhood thoughts...

Just a few short, disconnected thoughts that I've had rattling around my head for a while.  Take 'em for what they're worth...

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It makes me happy to hear jazz pouring out of HR-57's front door on Wednesday evenings, because it means the week is more than half over.  Conversely, I am less than thrilled when the Sunday Night Football crowd gathers at Stoney's.

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Events like last weekend's Mid-City Arts Festival and August's "Dog Days" event are great for the neighborhood--they bring a lot of people into the area and provide critical support to local businesses and artists.  It would be great of organizations like the Mid-City Business Association could organize more events like it--a monthly artist/gallery hop, for instance?

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ChurchKey's beer selection is awesome.  Really.  If you love beer, you must set aside time to visit this establishment.  That being said, it appears that weekends there are going to be quite busy.  Mr. and Mrs. 14thandyou stopped in on Saturday evening and, after standing around and bumping elbows with the bartenders for about the 1000th time, decided to cash out after one pint.  We can't wait to go back when it's slightly less crowded--but good for them for attracting such a crowd.

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I'm concerned about the safety and general well-to-do of the gentleman who has been living near the mailbox at the corner of 14th and R streets, particularly as the weather turns colder.  I would hope that when the temps begin dipping down to near freezing, he'll have the sense to check into the shelter across the street.

On a similar note, I wonder if the panhandler who has been singing in front of the P Street CVS has been having success with his approach?

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Speaking of the P Street CVS, I wish an employee there would have the decency to turn down the piped-in music, or perhaps turn it off completely.  Peter Cetera, Christopher Cross and Taylor Dayne played at an unreasonable volume does not improve my shopping experience.

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Is it just me, or has the house at the corner of 12th and S streets been undergoing a renovation since the dawn of time?  Ditto the mansion at the corner of 13th and S.

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The Post Office near 14th and T streets gets a bad rap because the building is ugly and poorly maintained, and the staff is surly.  But, credit where credit is due:  I must say, the last few times I have been in there I have received wonderful service from the women working behind the counter.  Which is more than I can say for many of the restaurants in this city.

Rights, Priveleges, and Competition

One of the few things that are under the direct control of the ANCs is the ability to monitor and protest liquor licenses. Technically, any citizen group can do so, but the ANCs are particularly well organized about it. Functioning ANCs also have clout; though volunteer bodies with only an advisory governing authority, they are still political entities vital to the functioning of DC government.

The up-side is that whenever a restaurant, bar, or liquor store moves into a Logan Circle residential area (and what isn't residential anymore?), our ANC uses voluntary agreements to protect us from noise, garbage, and safety problems. We don't have to rely on future police action or complaints filed with ABRA to maintain our neighborhood, because our commissioners establish relationships with business owners and they get enforceable written agreements with them. The same process applies to alcohol-serving establishments who seek substantial changes in their operations. Voluntary agreements have helped us to keep rolling papers out of liquor stores, limit sales of single beverages, and act against noisy bars and clubs — all good and important stuff. Recently ANC 2F launched a protest against the renewal of El Sauce's license, which is an important action considering that the restaurant is the alleged center of some gang activity. Renegotiation of a voluntary agreement was also used effectively to respond to noise and safety problems created by Be Bar patrons.

All the same, I think that some ANCs have started over-reaching. The voluntary agreement isn't so voluntary. A business owner will either come to the ANC in advance of their application in order to negotiate an agreement, or they will face a protest until they choose to negotiate. Good luck to the business owner who goes up against a neighborhood group at an ABRA protest hearing.

Here are some neighborhood ABRA issues from the past year that I don't understand:

• Queen of Sheba had to fight for about two years for their liquor license because a handful of Shiloh Baptist Church congregants protested. At first the protest group did not contain the minimum number of DC residents to meet ABRA's requirements. Rather than dismissing the protest, ABRA granted additional time for the protest group to organize.
  
  
• Stoney's rubbed Commissioner Reed the wrong way during their VA negotiation and waited from May until October for resolution to the dispute. On the other hand Stoney's neighbor, Logan Tavern, who has a good relationship with Reed, had no problems gaining approval for their expanded dining area.
  
  In speaking informally with an owner of Stoney's, Mr. 14th & You and I heard him complain that the standard VA in the Ward 6 ANC where Tunicliff's is located is much simpler than the standard VA for ANC 2F. If ABRA views protests from all ANCs equally (and I don't know for certain that they do), and the VAs aren't so voluntary, some establishments are effectively held to different liquor "laws" than others.
  
  
• Our ANC and others seek to prevent the sale of single alcoholic beverages, which I support. On the surface, this makes sense; who wants to promote anyone drinking a cold one out of a paper bag on the street? However, ANC 2F granted an exception to Whole Foods so that they could sell their mixed six packs of gourmet beers. Across the city in Ward 6 Harris Teeter faces significant barriers to a similar request for exemption. I could go either way on arguing the fairness of the differing ANC standards especially as single sales are completely legal under District law.
  
  
• There are no time limits for negotiations of voluntary agreements or protest hearings. In ANC 2F I have seen Stoney's and the Playbill Cafe come to ANC meetings for months in a row as provisions of the agreement are hammered out. Within reason, our busy volunteer commissioners could meet with a license applicant as infrequently as once per month to negotiate the agreement. For an existing business, this process is not likely to consume too much time. A new or expanding business could, however, find their opening delayed, a situation that really strains start-up capital. As well, ABRA meets infrequently to review license applications. Any protest that goes to an ABRA hearing can also take months to resolve. Dante of the Black Cat estimates that his potential plans to build a rooftop deck could be tied up in protest hearings for well over a year.
  

These events lead me to consider myriad questions about alcohol policy. Is the VA and protest process anti-competitive? Given the economic realities of restaurant ownership, should a liquor license be treated as a right or a privilege? How do we balance the concerns of business owners against the concerns of residents? After all, some business owners are also part of the ANC 2F electorate. How do we protect any business from community associations or ANCs that act capriciously against certain businesses? In other words, can we prevent overwrought protests and unfairly restrictive VAs from being used in a prejudicial manner? As I mentioned before, the license application process exist for a reason and does bring about some positive actions. I sometimes worry, perhaps unnecessarily, that the ANC's alcohol policy and ABRA protest process are too subjective to be truly fair.

Commissioner Reed, chairman of ANC 2F, has formed a committee to review and revise our alcohol policies. He may just be representing the views of the commissioners, but I feel like he is particularly vigorous in his protests against Logan Circle bars and restaurants. He also made a comment in the last meeting that concerned me. In the context of the Be Bar VA negotiation, Commissioner Dyer asked if there was a provision in ANC 2F's alcohol policy that prevents the commission from limiting one establishment's hours more than limitations place on another establishment within 1000 feet. The implication being that treating one differently from another in the immediate area could be anti competitive. Reed made a statement, which though I can not remember verbatim, I tool to mean that he intends to reverse such a policy if indeed it is in place. If you have any thoughts on the matter, share them with Reed at creed{at}kgrmlaw{dot}com.

ANC Meeting Notes

I'm just now getting around to reviewing my notes from the October 3rd ANC 2F meeting. So here they are:

2F-05 Election
The election for 2F-05 commissioner was held during the meeting. Jerome Sikorski won receiving 17 votes to Dustin Cole's 16. Sikorski, a DC resident for over 25 years, has been living at 13th Street and Massachusetts Avenue for four years. He is recently retired after working for 10 years on the Hill, and his volunteer activities include extensive involvement with the Whitman Walker Clinic and serving as an usher at the Washington National Cathedral. Sikorski's main platform issues were combating nighttime crime, particularly prostitution, pedestrian safety in his SMD, and road improvements. He also pledged to bring a level of city services to the neighborhood commensurate with taxes paid.

PSA 307 Report

• After what Lt. Mike Smith called a significant burglary arrest, property crime and burglaries are down 47 percent.
• Police have three teenagers in custody who have confessed to six robberies. The M.O. also fits the Be Bar assault.
  
• There was a robbery at the 10th Street CVS, but police do have a good quality security video of the suspect and believe that they also have several good fingerprints.
• A representative of the US Attorney's office has agreed to attend ANC meetings. The ANC hopes to address mishandling of evidence, outstanding warrants that are not entered into computerized systems/shared with DCPD, and felony charges that are reduced to misdemeanors.

Report from the Mayor's Office

• Mark Biorgi is new to the Office of Community Service
• DCRA has taken over trash management at 1107 11th Street and has levied fines.
• Helen Kramer, on behalf of the Iowa building condo association, complained of cars parked too close to the curb cut at the O Street garage exit. She requested new pavement markings to mitigate this problem.
• There have bee problems with folks driving the wrong way on N Street because of confusing traffic signals
• One resident reports that poor sidewalk conditions in SMD 2F-05 hamper those with mobility impairments.

Crime and Public Safety Committee Report

• Council member Graham introduced a "hot spot" no loitering act, which would allow the chief of police to declare a no loitering provision, permitting no more than two people to congregate in certain areas. A hot spot would be defined as an area with a high number of arrests for homicide, robbery, and/or assault. There are no such qualifying areas in Ward 2, the closest would be Sursum Corda.
• The recent burglary incidents have been focussed in new condo buildings during workday hours. The committee recommended that condo presidents meet with Lt. Mike Smith to conduct a security assessment.
• The committee recommends calling 311 if residents witness excessive vehicle idling, defined as three or more minutes. The concern is that a long-idling vehicle could potentially be used as a means of fleeing a crime scene.
• The committee is pursuing the issue of vacant properties where higher taxes are not being collected.
• A resident complained of frequent prostitution in the alley behind the 13th Street Mr. Wash. Residents and the ANC will work with Mr. Wash to add an additional light illuminate a now-dark corner. More details can be found on the front page of the Wednesday, October 10 Dupont Current.
  

DDOT Matters
No DDOT representative was present so Commissioners Dyer and Reed shared what they knew of current DDOT matters.

• Resident advice with regards to the 11th Street streetscape project has been heard and implemented.
• There is a proposal to make 15th Street two ways.
• The Q Street improvements between 14th and 13th Streets are in the sixth month of work. The estimated completion date for the work is two months from now.
• Reed believes that the water main and electrical improvements will minimize the risk of another manhole cover blow-out. (Apparently there was one this year that blew out windows on the block but didn't cause personal injury.)

ABRA Matters

• Logan Tavern seeks to add seating to the restaurant -- 46 new seats in the expanded dining room and 14 new outdoor patio seats. They will, however, be reducing the seating in the existing dining area by 18. The ANC has successfully negotiated a VA and will not protest the license modification.
• Stoney's finally negotiated a VA with the ANC for the proposed opening of a second floor on top of their existing space. As no representative from Stoney's was present, Reed went on a long ramble about how he believes the process to have been unnecessarily difficult. You can seen some of the history of the dispute here. Stoney's has been granted an extra hour of late-night operation. Though this is one more hour than the other restaurants on the block will remain open, it is in line with the operating hours of Halo and Vegas Lounge. After one year, the condo residents and the ANC reserve the right to revisit the VA and evaluate any noise issues. The VA negotiation process dragged five months from May until October.
• Mar del Plata wants to add 10 seats to its outdoor patio. The ANC will not protest this addition.
• El Sauce restaurant wants to change their license from a class CR to a class DR. As no one present knew the difference between the classes, and no representative from El Sauce was available, Dyer moved to protest so that the ANC has standing at the ABRA hearing.
  
• Nema's and the ANC have successfully negotiated a VA, and the ANC will withdraw its protest.
  

Other
The Fannie Mae Walk for the Homeless will be held on Saturday, November 11th. Rolling street closures are planned from 7th Street to Independence Avenue. However, no street should be closed for more than an hour at a time.

ANC Stands in the Way of You Getting a Beer

A lot of us were thrilled when Stoney's opened on the 14oo block of P Street. So you should then also be excited to hear that Stoney's is expanding to the the second floor of the building they occupy. When I last heard an update in July, construction work was almost complete. However, such an expansion requires the approval of the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA). ANC 2F is trying to get in the way of this approval.

In May ANC 2Fdecided to file a protest with ABRA on the basis that the expansion would "disturb the peace, order and quiet, of residential tenancies and lower property values." Apparently, the one story Stoney's does not cause any peace, order, or quiet issues. Nor do Halo's large open window or the outdoor seating at Logan Tavern and Merkado disturb the peace. In reality, the protest appears to be about the terms of the voluntary agreement (VA).

My understanding is that Stoney's found the VA, as drafted by the ANC, to be unacceptable and, therefore, declined to sign it. The Stoney's ownership, protecting its interests, then showed up to the monthly ANC meeting with an attorney. The rejection of the VA and presence of an attorney caused Commissioner Charles Reed to accuse Stoney's of not negotiating in good faith. At the last ANC meeting, there was no hope of progress at that time, and, the matter will be settled during the September meeting at the earliest (the August meeting was canceled). I'll try to provide updates as I find out more.