Shaw Restaurant Wants Public Space, ANC Wants Security Cameras

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6E/Shaw endorsed a request for 50 seats of sidewalk seating for the Shaw branch of Beau Thai restaurant (550 7th Street NW, at the corner of P Street) at its regular monthly meeting on March 2. However, it included the stipulation that Beau Thai should install outdoor security cameras -- apparently not part of Beau Thai's plan or request.

Interior of Beau Thai Shaw (photo credit below)

Andrew Klein of Veritas Law Firm represented Beau Thai. He told ANC6E the request was for 750 square feet of unfenced sidewalk space with umbrellas. It is located on the P Street side of the mixed-use building where Beau Thai is located, between 7th Street and an alley. The space will close at 11am Sunday to Thursday evenings and midnight Fridays and Saturdays. Tables will be brought inside or secured once outdoor seating hours have passed.

The normal DC requirement for urban sidewalks is a ten-foot gap for pedestrians to pass between the edge of sidewalk space and the nearest obstruction -- in this case, a sidewalk tree box. The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) has the discretion to reduce it to as much as six feet.

In this case, Klein said: "We'll be asking them to reduce it to nine."

Klein told the ANC they had already received the necessary separate permission from DC's liquor licensing authorities to serve alcohol outdoors.

A Commissioner brought up the possibility of installing outdoor security camera, sighting the May 2013 case of a man to robbed two people sitting at the sidewalk patio of Pizzoli's Pizzeria (1418 12th Street NW) in Logan Circle. The establishments outdoor security camera caught the robbery, which led to the arrest and convicting of the hold-up man -- see SALM blog post of September 23, 2013.

"I'm sure [the owner] will consider it," Klein said.

The Commissioner said such camera were not expensive.

"Yes, they're only like about $200 apiece," said ANC6E chair Marge Maceda (Commissioner for district 05).

Commissioner Alexander Padro (district 01) made the motion to endorse the outdoor space request with the provision that security cameras be installed. The motion was approved unanimously, with two abstentions.

Beau Thai Shaw is in Padro's ANC district.

The initial liquor license for the Shaw branch of Beau Thai was the subject of an SALM blog post of September 18, 2014.

(Photo credit: the blog BadWolfDC. Used by permission.)

ANC2F to Weigh Statement against Youtube Stickup Man

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan will consider filing a community impact statement at the sentencing of James E. Wade in November. Wade pleaded guilty on September 6 to the May 17 robbery of two diners seated on a patio outside Pizzoli's Pizzeria (1418 12th Street NW). The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) released a video of the robbery (below) taken by a security camera. The video went viral and got more than 25,000 views.

The sentencing is scheduled for November 7, according to the Washington Post.

At the meeting of ANC2F's Crime and Public Safety Committee on September 18, Commissioner Chris Linn (district 03) said the subject would be addressed at the next full meeting of the ANC, scheduled for 7pm on Wednesday, October 9, at the Washington Plaza Hotel (10 Thomas Circle).  

What is a community impact statement?

ANCs sometimes file community impact statements at the time of sentencing of criminals who have been active in their communities. They are entitled to do so under section 23-190 of the DC Code, which states

a representative of a community affected by the crime of which the defendant has been convicted shall have the right to submit, prior to imposition of sentence, a community impact statement and the court shall consider the community impact statement in determining the appropriate sentence to be imposed on the defendant.

Community impact statements often detail the specific negative effects that a criminal's activity has had on the community, and urge stringent sentencing.

See examples of community impact statements filed by two neighboring ANCs --  ANC6E/Shaw here and ANC2B/Dupont here -- in 2012.  

MPD Detective's comment
  
Detective Scott Guthrie of the Third District commented that "cameras closed that case."

After the video, the department received many calls.

Guthrie said: "They all called and said 'I know that guy and his name is'."