ANC2B Officers Elected, Liquor License Moratorium Working Group Created

At its regular monthly meeting last night (January 14), Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle had its newly-elected membership sworn in by City Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward Two). The ANC then elected its leadership and created a working group for the West Dupont Moratorium Zone.

Evans speaks after swearing in the new ANC

Commissioner Noah Smith (district 09) was re-elected Chair of ANC2B. Smith was first elected Chair in September 2014 when former Commissioner Will Stephens stepped down.

The ANC also elected the following officers:

• Vice Chair: Stephanie Maltz (03)
• Treasurer: Michael Upright (04)
• Secretary: Nicole Mann (08)

The four officers were nominated as a slate and elected unanimously. Upright and Mann are newly-elected Commissioners.

ANC2B will select Chairs for its committees at its regular February meeting. As of this writing, ANC2B has the following standing committees: Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA), Community Involvement, Public Safety Liaison, Transportation and Public Infrastructure, and Zoning, Preservation and Development.

The ANC also set up a working group to deal with the upcoming expiration of the West Dupont Circle Moratorium Zone. The West Dupont Circle Moratorium Zone has been in effect since 1994, and has been renewed at least four times. The last renewal was in 2012. It extends approximately six hundred feet in all directions from the intersection of 21st and P Streets NW. In its current form, it forbids the issuance of nightclub licenses in the zone area and limits the number of possible license in some other categories (e.g, liquor stores, grocery stores, taverns, and "multi-purpose facilities"). At its last renewal, the limit on the number of liquor licenses for restaurants in the zone was dropped.

The West Dupont Circle Moratorium Zone will expire on May 17, 2015. The working group will hold public meetings and make a final recommendation to the full ANC at its regularly-scheduled April meeting.

There was some discussion about whether the ANC might have to request a 120-day extension of the zone in order to give the ANC and DC liquor-licensing authorities to make the decisions and generate the documents necessary, no matter what the decision is. Commissioner Mike Silverstein (06) suggested that an extension might be necessary. Newly-elected ANC Daniel Warwick (02) said he had been in contact with a staff member of the appropriate DC government department and had been assured that a decision in April would be timely.

Warwick was elected chair of the West Dupont Moratorium Zone Working Group. The moratorium zone falls completely with his ANC district. Warwick's election was unanimous.

There are five liquor license moratorium zones in DC (Adams Morgan, East Dupont, Georgetown, Glover Park, West Dupont). Once created, no liquor license moratorium zone in DC has ever been completely abolished.

See an explanation of DC liquor license categories here.

A .pdf copy of the official regulations concerning the West Dupont Circle Moratorium Zone is available here.