Heritage India/The Zanzibar: DC "Will Permanently Ban" Entertainment, Promoters

DC's Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board "will permanently ban" entertainment, including DJs, from the establishment known as the restaurant Heritage India during the day and at night as The Zanzibar or The New Zanizbar (1901 Pennsylvania Avenue NW), the Board said in an announcement on Friday, January 16. As part of the ban, the establishment will be forbidden from charging a cover, having live music, or engaging promoters.

The latest word from DC government

However, the establishment may still be able to re-gain its liquor license pending further deliberations by the ABC Board, the announcement said. This might allow the establishment to continue functioning as a conventional restaurant.

The decision to ban entertainment came in the wake of a January 3 incident where a patron was stabbed in a late-night melee.

At its regular monthly meeting on January 14, Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle voted unanimously to send a letter to the ABC Board which urged the establishment be permanently shuttered.

"ANC2B believes this event indicates an emerging pattern of violence at this establishment," the letter said.

The letter recalls that, in November 2011, the establishment, operating at a different location in Dupont Circle, was the sight of a gunfight in which one man was killed and five wounded. The next month, the ABC Board cancelled the entertainment endorsement on the establishment's liquor license, ordered the establishment to close by midnight, and ordered a security plan.

The letter continues:

In the Spring of 2014, Heritage India approached ANC2B and requested changes to their negotiated settlement agreement to allow for entertainment and other late-night activities at the Pennsylvania Ave location. The ANC was willing to negotiate a new agreement with the owners and one was reached in May to allow for entertainment and promotion activities.

At the January 14 meeting, ANC2B Commissioner Stephanie Maltz recalled: "I spent a lot of time on this. They brought a very detailed security plan and hired a firm with a proven record in DC."

However, according to information given at the ANC meeting (citing a police report on the January 3 incident), when push came to shove, the staff did not follow the security plan. A Washington Post article on the melee said there were only four staff members on duty for "250 to 275" patrons, in violation of the security plan which mandated one guard for every 50 patrons. The Post article also says security camera footage shows club employees mopping up blood before the police had a chance to investigate, in spite of efforts of one of the victim's friends to wrestle the mop away to preserve the crime scene.

"They clearly didn't care," said Commissioner Patrick Kennedy, visiting ANC2B from neighboring ANC 2A/Foggy Bottom. "There is no remedy short of revocation."

In its announcement, the ABC Board said it had referred the case to the DC Attorney General's office to bring formal charges against Heritage India. If charges are brought, it may generate the need for further ABC Board hearings. The Board promised to announce any future hearings on its web site.

Jackhammers on 19th Street: Let's Take This Outside

Bill Cate of Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (WRIT) came to the July 10 meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle to seek extended hours to jackhammer. Cate is the supervisor of a renovation project of an office building at 1220 19th Street NW. The building is located between M and N Streets, and is home of I Ricchi restaurant. The Palm Restaurant is across the street.

1220 19th Street (Google Street View)

WRIT sought ANC2B's endorsement on a request to the District Department of Transportation (DDOT). The waiver Cate sought included permission to work from 10am to 6pm on Sunday, and to do "quiet work" (i.e., staging, not jackhammering) starting at 5am. 

The project will beautify the front courtyard and install DC-standard pavers on the sidewalk. It is scheduled to take four months of daily work, seven days a week. The project has four phases, Cate said.

"Each phase has demolition activities," he told the ANC, meaning, many hours of jackhammering

The project is the ANC2B district 06. The Commissioner is Mike Silverstein.

"My concern is the Jefferson Row Condominium," Silverstein told Cate. Jefferson Row Condominium is located a stone's throw away at 1828 - 1834 Jefferson Place.

Silverstein told Cate he was against jackhammering at 7am on weekdays, which is the start time normally allowed under law.

At this point, Silverstein suggested that he and Cate negotiate outside, instead of in public in front of approximately 100 people who were attending the ANC meeting for other reasons. Silverstein and Cate left the room.

Silverstein's daytime job is Ward Two representative on DC's Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board. Since participation in liquor license related matters could present a conflict of interest, he routinely recuses from the portions of ANC meetings that deal with these matters.

ANC2B then made a virtue of a necessity by jumping ahead to the liquor license related portion of the agenda, since Silverstein was already gone. They dealt with several routine matters over the next half-hour or so until Silverstein returned.

Silverstein told the ANC he had hammered out a deal with Cate. The deal would allow "quiet work" starting at 5am weekdays, but no jackhammering until 7:30am. The ANC would also support work of all kinds between the hours of 9am and 5pm Saturday, and 11am and 7pm Sunday.

All commissioners in attendance voted to support the proposal as presented by Silverstein.

See the letter ANC2B sent in support of the agreement with WRIT here.

Carriage Houses to Return Behind 1617-1619 19th Street

The owners of 1617 and 1619 19th Street NW took another step forward on an ambitious plan to renovate the rears of their properties. A committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle heard Dennis Lee of Capital Design Group outline the planned renovation for the house, which will include restoration of long-demolished carriage houses on the rear of the property.

1617 and 1619 19th Street

ANC2B's Zoning, Preservation and Development Committee heard the presentation at its meeting on October 1. The presentation was necessary because the planned renovation will require five zoning variances from DC's Board of Zoning Adjustment. The renovation will require variances because (among other reasons) it will cause at least one of the completed houses to exceed the lot occupancy limit of 70 percent, and because it will create at least one interior courtyard smaller than the 350 square feet minimum.

The owners are a married couple who live in one of the buildings and rent out three units in the other.  They have appeared before ANC2B before, when they were seeking an endorsement for their petition before DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) to move forward on this same renovation. HPRB granted the go-ahead to the plan on July 25, 2013 (see .pdf document here).

At one time, the entire alley behind the houses were lined with carriage houses, stables, and garages. With the exception of 1617, 1619, and 1621 19th Streets, all of the structures are still in place today. The proposed new construction would restore the demolished carriage houses on the two properties and return it to its original footprint. The plan is to design and build the carriage houses so they blend in as much as possible with the nearby original rear structures.

The carriage houses will be used for parking and will have "green roofs". The upstairs may be used for storage or a "mother-in-law apartment".

The presenter said they had had good community support and no objections from the neighbors.

"We've got pretty much everybody involved there," he said.

A concern was that the increased lot occupany would set a precedent for similar requests by the neighbors. However, a study of lot occupancy in the surrounding area showed that most neighbors' lot occupancy was already higher than 77 percent. Seventy-seven percent is expected to be the lot occupancy on these properties when the renovation is finished.

Although no vote was taken, sentiment on the committee seemed to be favorable toward the renovation.

Commissioner Kevin O'Connor (district 02) said any letter of support from the ANC should articulate why it supports the renovation, considering that there is a need for five variances.

Commissioner Leo Dwyer (district 07) said he would try to develop the language for the letter and email it to members of the committee prior to the full ANC's next meeting.

Dwyer is the chair of ANC2B's Zoning, Preservation and Development Committee.

The matter will probably appear on the agenda of the next meeting of ANC2B, which is scheduled for Wednesday, October 9, at 7pm, at the Brookings Institution (1775 Massachusetts Avenue).