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.

Reaction to Yesterday's Story on Liquor License Moratorium

CORRECTED: Jack Evans on 14th Street Liquor Licenses: "Do You Need a Moratorium?"

CORRECTION: I originally reported (including in the headline) that Evans had said "You need a moratorium on 14th Street". After seeing the comment left by "sherri" below, I listened to the original video more closely. Sherri is correct -- Evans said "Do you need a moratorium on 14th Street?" Apologies to Councilmember Evans for the error.

DC City Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward Two), speaking at a June 4 meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle, recommended suggested consideration of a moratorium on liquor licenses on 14th Street.

After reporting on the outcome of this year's City Council deliberations on the DC budget, Evans noted the 14th Street corridor had improved since he joined the Council in 1991. This was the result of the hard work of many people, Evans said, and criminal activity was no longer a major problem. Then Evans said:

Your challenge is -- how do you limit the growth? And it's something that the ANC over time is going to have to take a look at.

Do you need a moratorium on 14th Street?

You have 71 restaurants there. You know, how many restaurants is too many?

You know, we ran into that when I was chairman of the ANC over in Dupont Circle back in '89 when 17th Street took off. And there were 40 storefronts on 17th Street and when we got 20 liquor licenses, we said, "That's enough", because we were starting to lose the dry cleaner and the shoeshine place and everything. So we put a moratorium and it's still there 24 years later.

And we believe it was successful because it kept the retail mixed and that's something -- on 14th Street -- we'll have to deal with going forward.

At the same meeting, Evans also spoke to ANC2F on the status of granting Zone Two residential parking permits to 1,100 Shaw car owners now resident in Ward Six -- see SALM blog post of June 6.

In 2013, Evans opposed a proposed U Street liquor license moratorium after all the ANCs in the proposed moratorium zone passed resolutions against the it -- see page 6 (bottom) of a 32-page .pdf file here. DC's liquor licensing authorities officially rejected the proposal in October 2013.

See below a YouTube video of the remarks by Evans about a liquor license moratorium. If it will not play, view it on YouTube here. Apologies for the quality of the audio.

Comment on Adams Morgan Liquor License Moratorium Solicited

D.C. liquor-licensing authorities are soliciting public comment on the proposals to renew the Adams Morgan liquor license moratorium zone (see map). In-person testimony will be taken on May 7. The authorities also encourage written comment from people who cannot attend the hearing.

(from abra.dc.gov)

On March 28, the D.C. Register published an official announcement of the upcoming hearing. Below is the text of the announcement (links added by me):

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (Board) will conduct a hearing to receive public comment on two proposals regarding the renewal of the Adams Morgan Moratorium Zone. One proposal, submitted by Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1C proposes to renew the existing Adams Morgan Moratorium Zone for a five year period with certain modifications. A second proposal submitted by the Kalorama Citizens Association seeks to have the existing Moratorium Zone renewed with no changes to current restrictions. The Board believes both of these proposals merit further evaluation, and thus adopted emergency rules on March 12, 2014, to extend the existing Moratorium for another 120 days to receive public comment.

The public comment hearing will be held on Wednesday, May 7, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. at 2000 14th Street, N.W., Board Hearing Room, Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20009. Individuals and representatives of organizations who wish to testify should contact Martha Jenkins, General Counsel, at (202) 442-4456, or by e-mail at martha.jenkins@dc.gov by May 1, 2014.

E-mail contacts should include the full name, title, and affiliation, if applicable, of the person(s) testifying. Testimony may be limited to five (5) minutes in order to permit everybody an opportunity to be heard. Witnesses should bring nine (9) copies of their written testimony to the hearing.

If you are unable to testify and wish to comment, written statements are encouraged and will be made a part of the Board’s official record. Copies of written statements should be submitted to Ruthanne Miller, Chairperson, Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, at 2000 14th Street, NW, Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20009, no later than 4:00 p.m., Friday, May 9, 2014.

A version of the same announcement on the web site of D.C.'s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (ABRA) makes it clear that e-mail comments will also be accepted. They may be sent to Martha Jenkins at the email address above through 4 pm on May 9.

View the original announcement here.

Graham, Nadeau, Weaver at Ward One Candidates Forum

The three candidates for D.C. City Councilmember from Ward One -- incumbent Jim Graham, Brianne Nadeau, and Bryan Weaver -- spoke to prospective voters at a forum on Thursday evening, January 30. It was held in the Good Will Baptist Church (1862 Kalorama Road NW) and sponsored by the Kalorama Citizens Association (KCA).

Topics included education, the future of D.C. United's stadium, and liquor license moratoriums.

Graham late so Weaver speaks

Bryan Weaver at the January 30 forum

The forum sponsors were reluctant to start without Graham, who was 30
minutes late. After some attendees agitated to start without Graham, moderator Dennis James, head of the KCA, announced that Bryan Weaver would be given five minutes to speak before the scheduled main event between Graham and Nadeau.

Weaver had announced the previous evening that he was dropping out of the Democratic primary scheduled for April 1. Instead, Weaver will run as an independent in the November general election.

"D.C. is a broken system," Weaver said. "We have a warlord problem. I know what you’re thinking. Warlord -- you're thinking of Joseph Kony. You're thinking Taliban. You're thinking right-wing death squads."

Weaver then went on to compare "political brokers" in D.C. to these warlords, in that each was close-minded and change-averse, and each exploit the existing political system.

"Our system is completely broken," Weaver said.

In response to an audience question, Weaver said he would make his candidacy official in June.

"We think we're well within the guidelines," he said.

After Graham arrived, Weaver concluded: "I'd like to thank Jim Graham for giving me the time to speak."

Education, charter schools, neighborhood schools

Weaver also got a question about education. He said there needed to be more resources and better quality education.

"I don't exactly agree with [D.C. City Councilmember] David Catania's plan," he said.

Later, the two Democratic candidates fielded a question about the state of childhood education.

Nadeau noted that, in Ward One, there were more children in public charter schools than neighborhood schools.

"What I'm afraid is happening in some cases is that parents are choosing [charter] schools simply because neighborhood schools aren't good enough," Nadeau said.

Nadeau said she wanted to make it easier for parents to choose a school.

"We want them to be choosing it because it's good for their kids -- not because the other option is bad for them," she said.

In reply, Graham noted his long history of support for bilingual and charter schools in D.C.

"I think that charter schools bring us great richness," Graham said.

Graham went on to say he thought D.C. could have an active charter school movement and good neighborhood schools at the same time.

Various stadium deals

The candidates talked about the competing plans for a new home for D.C. United: a plan by City Councilmember Vincent Orange renovating RFK Stadium vs. a new stadium at Buzzard's Buzzard Point. The latter deal would involve swapping Ward One's Reeves Center (14th and U Streets) for a parcel of land at Buzzard's Point in Southwest Washington.

"The deal for Buzzard's Buzzard Point cannot proceed until we've analyzed RFK," Graham said. Graham noted he had co-sponsored a proposed law by Councilmember Orange about the RFK renovation.

Graham listens, Nadeau speaks

Nadeau was more positive about the Reeves Center/Buzzard's Buzzard Point option, but also wanted to make sure that the successor to the Reeves Center included community space, not just high-end housing.

"I'd like to see that deal move forward," she said. Then she said: "We need to see more transparency."

Adams Morgan and liquor license moratoriums

KCA head and forum moderator Dennis James got into a quarrel with Graham about certain actions Graham may or may not have taken five or more years ago in connections with attempts to renew the liquor license moratorium in Adams Morgan. James eventually yielded to audience members who shouted: "Let the candidates speak!"

"I think one of the biggest issues we're having here is really not about whether there's a moratorium of not," Nadeau said. "It's about whether or not you've got enforcement of the laws on the books. You know, it's whether or not a nightclub -- which is prohibited under the moratorium but is effectively operating under a restaurant license -- is allowed to do that."

Graham said that, when he started on the council, city alcohol inspectors refused to work at nights, but during Graham's period of oversight they began to work at night. Graham also said he found money in the city budget for extra auditors. These auditors worked to ensure liquor licensees complied with city rules so de facto nightclubs could not masquerade as restaurants for licensing purposes.

"The enforcement is so much better," Graham said.

About the effects of moratoriums in general, Graham said: "I think by and large they have been positive." Graham said that, without moratoriums, the pressure of increasing rents would drive all non-alcohol-dependent businesses out of an area. This was why, Graham said, there were no hardware stores or antique shops in the area anymore.

Punch line

At the evening's end, the candidates were given a final opportunity to speak. Graham ended his speech by saying: "In the immortal words of FDR, 'Just one more term'."

"That's a joke," he added.

Read coverage of the same forum in Washington City Paper here.

ANC1B Liquor License Town Hall Sparsely Attended

Three of twelve Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street members attended a town hall meeting on draft liquor license standards, held at Reeves Center (14th and U Streets) last night, Tuesday, September 3.

The Commissioners in attendance were Jeremy Leffler (district 02), Ricardo Reinoso (05), and Tony Norman (10). Leffler is the chair of ANC1B's liquor licensing affairs committee. Norman is the chair of ANC1B as a whole.

"We don't need a quorum," Norman said at the beginning of the meeting.

At its high point, there were 12 people in the audience for the meeting. Of those, four were introduced as members of the liquor licensing affairs committee that had already discussed the draft.

Leffler on the draft agreement

After Norman brought the meeting to order, Leffler noted the problems caused by excessive drinking at licensees. "We have people throwing up on our buildings, peeing on our buildings, having sex behind our buildings," he said.

Nevertheless, Leffler said, "[w]e are a pro-business and pro-liquor community."

Leffler talked about the community response at the March town meeting on the proposed U Street liquor license moratorium. "Ninety percent of the people told us they want more establishments in the community."

The standards are an attempt to preempt any charges of bias against certain categories of licensees, by demonstrating that all licensees must meet the same standards, he also said. The committee had been working on the draft for 3 or 4 months, and it had been publicly available on the site.

Leffler also talked about the areas of the draft standards that had caused greatest debate. One question: How close do you have to be to a liquor-serving establishment in order to protest it? The draft standards said 400 feet. It isn't clear how this number was arrived at.

Another point of contention was how many complaining neighbors are enough to trigger an ANC protest. The committee had settled on the term "multiple", which seemed to mean two or more. Leffler said that it wasn't fair for a single individual to be able to hold up a liquor licensee.

Norman on the process

In his remarks on liquor licensing problems, Norman said that "80 to 90 percent of the controversial stuff can be solved" by Commissioners who are "astute" and doing their jobs correctly.

Norman said he was especially concerned with the effect on the liquor licensing process on small businesses, many of whom cannot afford to hire lawyers and other representatives for a drawn-out series of hearings and meetings.

"I want to be fair to some Mom-and-Pop stores. They can't afford a long process," Norman said. "We don't want to use it as a weapon."

The public contributes

A woman testified about her new establishment near 14th Street, which recently received a liquor license after a series of objections by local residents.

"We had to pay a lot for lawyers," she said.

She thanked the committee for the work on the draft standards, and also for its role in negotiating with the unhappy neighbors.

She commented on the document's stand on converting restaurant (category CR) licenses to tavern (category CT) licenses. The draft document says these will be considered on a case-by-case basis. This is important, she said.

"We are a Mom-and-Pop that couldn't survive on a CR license," she said. "Without a large kitchen, you can't meet the goals for the CR license."

A pair of residents who have lived near the corner of 15th and Belmont Streets since 2000 also testified. They supported Norman's remarks about not creating barriers for small businesses.

"I think you're moving to a balanced document," one said.

The resident remarked that two being enough to trigger a protest seemed too small. He also asked if two people who are living together might be considered one or two protestors for purposes of this process. After some discussion, it was agreed that two people living together might better be considered as one single protestor.

The resident also said the 400-foot rule in the draft standards seemed excessive, and suggested 200 feet instead.

Leffler concluded the meeting by noting that the aim of the process was to adopt the draft standards into the ANC's bylaws, preferably before a new crop of liquor license renewal applications are presented to the ANC in the fall.

ANC2B Supports New Liquor Licensee in 17th Street Moratorium Area

Duke's Grocery, a new coffee shop/market/pub/café to open at 1513 17th Street NW, got a pair of important approvals from Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont at its regular monthly meeting on August 14.

Duke's Grocery is located within the boundaries of the Dupont East (a.k.a. “17th Street”) Liquor License Moratorium district. The extension of the moratorium was the subject of a long separate debate at the same meeting.

1513 17th Street NW, future site of Duke's Grocery

First, ANC2B approved a stipulated license for the establishment by a vote of 8-0. A stipulated license is a temporary license for a liquor-serving establishment, good for as long as it takes for the DC government to reach a final decision.

The granting of a stipulated license is one of the few decisions an ANC can take which is binding, not advisory, in nature. It does not need approval from another government body.

Second, ANC2B voted to support the application for a permanent liquor license before DC's Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board. This marked a departure from frequent ANC practice of automatically protesting all new liquor license applications to maintain leverage with prospective entrepreneurs.

Abigail Nichols, Commissioner for district 05, made a motion to protest the application. She then seemed surprised when other Commissioners asked her to explain why the ANC should protest. Nichols said she had documents to support her case for a protest, but she had not brought them with her to prepare. She asked for an hour postponement to prepare, but no motion was made so the debate continued. Nichols said she was concerned that Duke's would have a sidewalk café. The aspiring proprietors and other commissioners pointed out a sidewalk café would require a separate license, and the ANC could discuss this problem when Duke's came back for ANC endorsement of a sidewalk café license. Then Nichols said she was concerned about the possibility the license might some day change hands. ANC2B Chair Will Stephens (district 08) said protesting a licensee for this reason was not looked on favorably by the DC authorities.

Several members of the community told the ANC they supported Duke's Grocery.

The motion to protest was voted down 1-7. Nichols was the only vote for, and Stephens abstained.

Then Nichols put forward a motion to endorse the liquor license application for Duke's Grocery. ANC2B voted in favor without dissent. Three Commissioners did not vote: Stephanie Maltz (district 03), Kishan Putta (04), and Mike Silverstein (06). Maltz and Putta had stepped outside at the moment of the vote. Silverstein does not participate in debates or votes about liquor licenses due to possible conflicts of interest.

Daniel Kramer and Alex McCoy are the future co-proprietors of Duke's Grocery and presented before the ANC prior to the discussion.

Further reporting on other activity at this meeting will follow.

ANC2B Endorses Reduced 17th Street Liquor License Moratorium in 4-4 Tie Vote

An obscure quirk in local regulations may prolong the life the 17th Street liquor license moratorium.

The vote by Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont was a 4-4 tie on a resolution to recommend the continuation of a reduced version of the current moratorium. Under normal parliamentary procedure, such a tie would mean that a motion (in this case, a motion to continue a reduced version of the moratorium) would fail. However, the ANC2B city-wide bylaws for ANCs state that, in the case of a tie, the chair of commission will have, in effect, an extra vote to break a tie. In this case, ANC 2B chair Will Stephens (district 08) cast the deciding vote.

The vote on the resolution recommending continuation of the moratorium was:

For: Stephens, Abigail Nichols (05), Kishan Putta (04), and Kevin O'Connor (02).

Against: Leo Dwyer (07), Mike Feldstein (01), Stephanie Maltz (03), and Noah Smith (09).

Not voting was Commissioner Mike Silverstein (06). Silverstein works for is a member of the ABC Board and recuses himself from all votes on liquor licensing matters. In this case, Silverstein was attending an ABC Board meeting and was not at the ANC meeting.

The resolution now goes to DC's Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) Board, which will make the final decision on the moratorium.

The resolution as passed has two significant points that mark the continued slow decline of the power and use of liquor license moratoriums. First, the resolution recommends that the liquor license moratorium be lifted completely for restaurants, legally defined as establishments that make more than half their revenues from food. Second, the moratorium will run for three years, instead of the possible maximum of five. See a draft of the resolution (.pdf) here.

Debate over the moratorium was long and took up most of the meeting. Before the debate on the resolution described above, Abigail Nichols put up a rival resolution requesting a 90-day emergency extension of the moratorium while the ANC looked into the matter further. The motion went down to defeat by a vote of 7-1, with Nichols as the only vote in favor. Similarly, a separate motion by Nichols to make the moratorium that passed five years, instead of three, died when there was no second.

The ANC meeting was held last night (August 14) at the Brookings Institution, 1775 Massachusetts Avenue NW.

Some background on this story is available here.

Further reporting on activity from this meeting will follow.