Heurich House Museum Needs Help Filing a Liquor License Application

The management of the Heurich House Museum (1307 New Hampshire Avenue NW) appeared before Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle last night (August 13) to ask for help applying for a liquor license.

See Sunderland Place in the lower right

Many places that wish to sell alcohol have difficulty getting a liquor license. But Heurich House Museum (also known at "The Brewmaster's Castle") has not yet even reached this step. It is having trouble getting a liquor license application from DC's Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA). The reason is that the authorities believe that the Heurich House Museum is in the West Dupont liquor license moratorium zone.

It is not in the moratorium zone -- see map, taken from ABRA's web site. The Heurich House Museum is on the southeast side of New Hampshire Avenue, at the corner of 20th Street and Sunderland Place. The border of the moratorium zone runs down the center of New Hampshire Avenue, in front of the museum.

So, the management was in front of the ANC, asking for a resolution supporting Heurich House's request for a liquor license application, on the basis that it was not, in fact, located inside a liquor license moratorium zone.

Heurich House Museum is seeking a C/X class license, which "[p]ermits multipurpose facilities to sell and serve beer, wine and spirits", according to ABRA's web site. This will allow Heurich House Museum to hold regular beer-tasting events in partnership with local breweries. Until now, they have had to rely on the liquor licenses of the companies which cater the events, which is often inconvenient.

Assuming ANC2B's resolution successfully convinces ABRA to allow Heurich House Museum to have an application form for a liquor license, the Museum will have to return again in the near future to the ANC for a separate endorsement of the actual application.

The vote was unanimous, with all the commissioners present voting to support Heurich House Museum.

Section 23-307 of DC Municipal Regulations concerns the West Dupont liquor license moratorium zone. Find a link to the text of Section 23-307 here.