Shaw ANC Protest for Joe Englert Bar near Dacha Beer Garden

Long-time DC restauranteur Joe Englert got a frosty reception for his proposed new tavern, Trinity, on Tuesday, April 7. Englert appeared before Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6E/Shaw to ask for endorsement of a new tavern license for the proposed operation at 1606 7th Street NW, two doors up from Dacha Beer Garden at 7th and Q Streets.

Blue building center right is 1606 7th Street

Englert told the ANC the tavern would be a "barbeque concept", serving from a food truck parked on the patio behind the main building. There will be DJs inside the establishment, so Englert is seeking an entertainment endorsement on his liquor license.

According a Notice of Public Hearing by DC's Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA), available here, Trinity will have a "[f]ull menu with ribs, pulled pork, turkey, and salads". It will have an inside capacity of 199 and outdoor space with capacity of 68. Trinity seeks to keep the interior portion of its operation open until 1:45am Sunday - Thursday, and 2:45am Friday and Saturday. The exterior portion would be allowed to stay open until 2am seven days a week, according to the application, but liquor service outside would end before midnight Sunday to Thursday, and just before 2am weekends.  Live entertainment would be permitted until 10pm, seven days a week.

Back-to-back with people's homes

1606 7th Street is back-to-back with a series of row houses that face 8th Street. They would be separated from Trinity's outside service by a narrow alley. ANC6E Commissioner Alex Padro (district 01) noted "significant concern" from these neighbors. The proposed tavern would be in Padro's district.

"We have families that live 10 feet from the back" of the proposed establishment, Padro said.

"The inside part, I welcome. It's the outside part that bothers me," one neighbor said.

"You need to make choices about what this is going to be," the same neighbor said.

"For us, it's a quality of life issue," said a representative of the Central Shaw Neighborhood Association. "Outdoor residential drinking space is a non-starter for some neighbors."

"We do largely welcome development in the neighborhood," she added.

Slightly odd ANC conversation

The conversation took some strange turns. Commissioner Rachelle Nigro (district 04) asked, if this application failed, and the next applicant wanted to open a "titty bar", would the neighbors object to that also? Nigro said that the neighbors could not "pick and choose" what type of businesses they liked in the neighborhood.

Other Commissioners openly disagreed.

Commissioner Kevin Chapple (district 02) said: "I can completely sympathize. You have a right to pick and choose."

Commissioner Frank Wiggins (district 03) also expressed solidarity: "I hear the cry of the neighbors."

Padro said he had served on ANCs for 15 years, and had never protested a liquor license. In this case, however, Padro (also chair of ANC6E's liquor-licensing affairs committee) said talks with Englert about the establishment and "what were the deal breakers" yielded no satisfactory conclusion.

The 800-pound gorilla in the room was the nearby Dacha Beer Garden (1600 7th Street). This establishment was mentioned in connection with the noise issue several times. When a speaker did so, the speaker usually felt it necessary to acknowledge the present applicant was not the Dacha Beer Garden, and any complaints about the behavior of the patrons of the Dacha Beer had no bearing on this application. Yet Dacha Beer Garden still seemed to be on everybody's mind.

Padro said when Dacha applied for a liquor license, they claimed their capacity was 129, but often "in reality" there were 400 people there.

"The noise is unbearable," Padro said.

Nigro noted some neighbors who had been before the ANC in support of Dacha a few years ago were now emailing and appearing against this bar's liquor license application.

Englert was present during the discussion but did not speak very often. He mentioned there was "many ways to attack noise", but he did not make any specific suggestions or promises.

Vote and next steps

The ANC voted to protest the liquor license application. The vote to protest was five to one -- the dissenting vote was from ANC6E Chair Marge Maceda (Commissioner for district 05).

The petition of protest by the ANC (and the neighbors, if they choose to act separately) have to be filed by April 27. Trinity's next scheduled ABRA hearing is scheduled for Monday, May 11, at ABRA's offices on the 4th floor of the Reeves Center (14th and U Streets).

Englert has opened over a dozen bars in the District. He is perhaps best known for many establishments on H Street NE, including The Rock and Roll Hotel and H Street Country Club. Englert operations in the Shaw/U Street area include DC9 and the now-closed State of the Union.

Read a 2012 Washingtonian magazine portrait of Englert here, which includes (near the end) some information about Englert's relations with ANCs on H Street NE.

(Photo credit: Google Street View)

DCRA Director on Noise, Row House Crowding, Illegal Construction

Melinda Bolling, interim director of DC's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA), answered some questions before the start of the the regular monthly meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street on April 2. The questions addressed various topics which are under DCRA's purview.

Bolling (center) answers questions

Bolling explained some details about about DC sound regulations. Noise was a constant complaint, she said, but DC was "hesitant" to impose new soundproofing requirements on existing buildings. Instead, DCRA concentrated on assuring that new constructions and buildings getting renovations were up to code in this regard.

"If you make renovations, you have to meet the code," Bolling said.

ANC1B Chair James Turner (Commissioner for district 09) brought up a specific place which he predicted would be a future headache for Commissioners.

"We're going to have a problem with Nellie's," Turner said.

Nellie's Sports Bar is a popular establishment located at 900 U Street NW. It is next to a parcel of land likely someday to hold a multi-story mixed use building. This neighboring parcel is one of two parcels which are being considered (together as a single unit) for redevelopment by the Bowser administration. The other package in the deal is the nearby Grimke School (1923 Vermont Avenue).

A proposal to redevelop these two pieces of land was approved in the last moments of the administration of former Mayor Vincent Grey in December 2014. The award was "put on hold" shortly after Mayor Bowser was sworn in, and is now being reevaluted.

In response to a question on illegal construction, Bolling gave the name of the city official responsible -- Jill Byrd -- and a telephone number to call -- 202-442-STOP. (Byrd's email is Jill.Byrd@dc.gov.) However, Bolling says, "no one works on weekends", so complaints about any illegal construction happening after Friday evening will have wait until the next business day for action.

In response to a question about illegal rooming houses, Bolling said it was legal for six unrelated people to live together in one house.

ANC1B Commissioner Nick Ferreyros (district 05) said he had been told the actual legal limit is five or less.

No, Bolling said, six was permitted.

DCRA has the responsibility to enforce rules against illegal rooming houses but "we have to build a case", and it was often difficult to do so, she said.

Bolling also briefly addressed the DCRA"s "Third Party Inspection Program", meaning, practice of having private businesses to do inspections to ensure buildings are up to code, in lieu of inspectors on the city payroll. Bolling said many inspectors were hired by developers. There was a profit motive for inspectors not to scrutinize too closely the properties they were being paid to inspect, she admitted.

There was only one person in the audience who had a question, and the matter turned out to be one handled by another DC government agency.

The ANC thanked Bolling for coming. She departed and the ANC moved on to its regular agenda.

Bolling became DCRA interim director at the beginning of 2015. She was DCRA's General Counsel for several years prior.

Read here a February 27 post from the blog Park View DC about a recent Ward One town hall meeting where DCRA's chronic "unresponsiveness and failure to address issues" was the focus of many citizen complaints.

ANC1B Approves Settlement Agreement with Darnell's

At its regular monthly meeting January 8, Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street voted to enter into a settlement agreement with Darnell's Bar (944 Florida Avenue NW). The vote was unanimous.

Darnell's via Google Street View

The agreement says Darnell's will close at 1am on weekends and midnight on weekdays. It also says there will be no outdoor music and all windows and doors will be shut except when patrons are entering or leaving the establishment. Darnell's will also guarantee that there are noise-dampening curtains in the windows at all times. 

This was the second meeting in a row where ANC1B voted on a settlement agreement with Darnell's. At the last meeting of the ANC, the outgoing commissioners voted to reject a draft settlement agreement -- see SALM blog post of December 10. After that rejection, there were additional negotiations with neighbors who have been involved in a lengthy dispute with the bar, and the new version of the settlement agreement was more to their liking.

It was reported that, although the neighbors were "satisfied" with the settlement agreement, they would continue to protest the liquor license renewal application before DC's Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA).

There are two parties protesting the liquor license renewal. One party is a group of five or more neighbors. Under Section 25-609 of DC Code, ABRA will automatically dismiss this group's protest once it approves the ANC's settlement agreement.

"The group of five is OK with that," said Nick Baumann, chair of ANC1B's liquor-licensing affairs committee, in his report to the ANC.

The other party is a single individual who is an abutting neighbor to Darnell's. Specifically, the neighbor lives upstairs. As an abutting neighbor, this protest falls into a different category and will not be automatically dismissed as a result of the settlement agreement. It seems like likely that more hearings and attempts at arbitration will result. However, it has been reported that the upstairs neighbor is interested in no other outcome than the complete closure of the bar.

Darnell's is known alternately as Manchester Bar and Darnell's Manchester Bar. During the daytime, The Blind Dog Cafe, a coffee house, operates in the same space.

944 Florida Avenue: "The Neighbor Upstairs Wants the Place Closed"

At a meeting October 15, a committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street voted to recommend the ANC attempt to broker peace between the operators of Darnell's Bar (944 Florida Avenue NW) and a group of neighbors. But Nick Baumann, chair of ANC1B's liquor-licensing affairs committee, wasn't very optimistic of the chances of smoothing over the contending parties.

944 Florida Avenue (Google Street View)

"The neighbor upstairs wants the place closed and won't compromise," Baumann told the committee, reporting about an attempted mediation between the bar and its neighbors.

"The complaint about Darnell's is the music," a committee member said. Neighbors angry about the noise from the establishment have been protesting the renewal of Darnell's liquor license since at least 2013, according to documents available at the web site of DC's Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA).

A neighbor who lives upstairs in the same building from Darnell's gave the following testimony (see page 17 of a 24-page .pdf here) about the establishment at a February 26, 2014, ABRA hearing:

... [W]e tried to get along with the party and we need a sound proof because we can hear everything that's going on downstairs. Got my window shaking, my picture dropping off the wall. And we tell him to cut the music down, he don't. We done called the police. I bet a couple, over a hundred-some times, they go and they tell him, the manager, cut the music down.

In addition to the upstairs neighbor, residents of the Floridian, a nearby apartment building, and other neighbors have joined the protest against Darnell's.

There has been an attempt to settle the dispute by getting the liquor licensee to sign a settlement agreement, which could make clear, for example, the hours of operation, permitted noise levels, and mechanisms for resolving disputes. However, the settlement agreement recently drafted by the lawyer for Darnell's said, in summary, that Darnell's agreed to abide by the letter of the law -- not really a document worth signing.

"There's stuff to be negotiated but who will negotiate?" Baumann asked at the meeting. Baumann is committee chair but has said previously that contentious negotiations with liquor licensees often require the authority of an elected official.

Darnell's is in district 11 of ANC1B. The Commissioner is E. Gail Anderson Holness. Holness is running for election as Ward One representative on the DC State Board of Education. She will give up her ANC seat at the end of the year.

ANC1B Chair James Turner (Commissioner for district 09) attended the meeting, although he is not on the alcohol-licensing committee. Turner advised the committee that Holness could negotiate on this matter, but she would need clear guidance from the committee on what were the desired outcomes of the negotiations.

"If you ask Gail to make it better, make it specific," Turner said.

The committee came up with some clear goals for the negotiations, such as explicit promises to close all windows and doors while music was playing, no amplified music outside, no noisy disposal of glass bottles and other trash between 10pm and 7am.

The committee then passed a resolution to recommend a settlement agreement be negotiated by Commissioner Holness with the owner.

The resolution will probably come up at the next meeting of the full ANC, scheduled for Thursday, November 6, at 7pm, at the Reeves Center (14th and U Streets).

During the daytime, The Blind Dog Cafe, a coffee house, also operates at 944 Florida Avenue. The Blind Dog Cafe was not discussed at the meeting. 

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.

ANC6E Tries to Referee Noise Dispute Between Church, Neighbor

A noise complaint against a church was heard at the regular monthly meeting of ANC 6E/Shaw on April 1. A neighbor told a long but undocumented story of repeated late-night noise. The church answered with a different version of events.

Shaw resident James Brush presented a case against the Church of the Living God (1206 4th Street NW, see photo). Brush lives in a building near the church. He said there is a 15-unit apartment building next to the church, and a 13-unit building backing the church, both of which can clearly hear music. Brush said he cannot watch TV or listen to the radio while the church has services because of the noise.

Brush said the church has amplified music five nights a week, from 7:30 to 11. One night recently, Brush said, the music went on until 11:30.

Brush told the commission he had complained repeatedly to the church about the noise without effect. He says he had called the police (most recently, on March 25) but "the police will not go to the door."

"Everything stops because of the church issue," Brush said. "It's what people directly state: 'We won't deal with the church'."

Brush said he went to the door of the church one evening when the music was playing loudly.

"I opened that door and was tackled by five of their men," Brush said.

The men tackled Brush, he claimed, and then threw him on the sidewalk.

When a group from the Church of the Living God, lead by Elder Kiki Young, had a chance to speak, they told a different story. She said the church had been operating in that location for several decades. Two years ago, there had been noise complaints. As a result, the church had installed extra insulation -- a fact which ANC6E Commissioner Rachelle Nigro (district 04) confirmed.

The church is in Nigro's ANC district.

As for Brush's entry into the church, Young said: "He came into the church to shut the church down."

Young said Brush had come into the church, tried to disrupt the service, and announced he would not leave until the music was turned down. When church members tried to take Brush away, he grabbed a door handle, and refused to let it go while church members tried to force him to leave. The door handle finally broke off in his hand, a member of the church said.

Commissioner Nigro said she had tried to get D.C.'s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) to investigate the case, but they wouldn't. As reported in the SALM blog post of March 11, noise ordinance enforcement involves a complicated patchwork of jurisdictions and DC agencies. In an attempt to bring some amount of order to this contentious issue, DC has established a task force of relevant agencies, as well as a single telephone number -- 202-329-6347 -- that people can call with after-hours noise complaints. The task force is nominally city-wide but seemed, at least initially, to be targeting nightclub noise in Dupont Circle.

Several members of the committee repeatedly asked Brush if he had attempted to substantiate his claims with evidence like, for example, readings from decibel meters. The first few times he was asked, Brush did not answer the question directly. Brush finally said he felt the law should be enforced without having to resort to "all sorts of fancy instrumentation".

There was no vote or resolution on the matter. After both sides had stated their cases, it was agreed Nigro would try to work with the police and the parties involved to reach a solution everyone could live with.

ANC6E videos their meetings in their entirety and posts them on its Youtube channel in 30- to 35-minute chunks. The discussion of the case of James Brush and the Church of the Living God can be viewed by following this link and starting at about 30:00. The discussion continues for about 30 minutes. It is spread over two separate Youtube videos -- Parts 3 and 4 of the complete record of the April 1 meeting.

Increased Nightclub Noise Enforcement to Start Thursday

A task force from a variety of D.C. agencies will begin more aggressive enforcement of noise control laws starting this Thursday evening, March 13.

ABC Board Chair Ruthanne Miller speaks about the plan

The Crime and Public Safety Commission of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle held an information session about the initiative last night (March 10) at the Embassy Row Hotel (1775 Massachusetts Avenue NW).

"There will be increased noise checks starting this Thursday in many areas, including this neighborhood [i.e., Dupont Circle]", said Fred Moosally, Director of D.C.'s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA). "Business will not be informed beforehand."

The task force

The task force will respond to complaints the same night, Moosally said. Those found in violation of D.C. noise ordinances will receive a written warning for a first offense. A second violation would be result in a $1000 fine. A third violation would result in a $2000 fine. After that, violators who are holders of liquor licenses may be in danger of losing that license.

The task force will operate from Thursday to Sunday evenings only, from 10pm until 3am. Moosally said liquor licensees will receive a letter reminding them of the increased enforcement. The letter will also be posted on the ABRA web site.

ABRA is also working on a fact sheet to explain D.C.'s noise laws in plain English.

Moosally also announced a hotline for noise complaints. The number is 202-329-6347. This hotline will work outside of normal business hours only, starting Thursday.

Enforcement problems 

ANC2B Commissioner Mike Silverstein (district 06) said there was a problem of "one hand of the government not knowing what the other is doing."

Silverstein is also a member of D.C.'s Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board.

The enforcement of noise ordinances is hampered by a confusing patchwork of jurisdictions. For example, if noise from a nightclub comes from amplified music from a nightclub, it is an enforcement problem for ABRA. However, if the noise comes from heating, ventilating, and air conditioning equipment, it is an enforcement problem for the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA). People yelling and screaming on the streets, or excessive noise from private homes, is a matter for the police. This is why a multi-agency task force is necessary.

The target of the task force will be liquor licensees and other businesses that are open late, not private individuals or homes, Moosally said.

A member of the audience asked: "How long will this go on?"

"We'll have to see how it goes," Moosally replied.

A group of nightclub owners came out to make sure their case was heard. They were reassured they would not be victimized by the process.

"The hospitality industry generates $400 million in taxes," Silverstein said. "It is the second biggest industry in D.C. after the government.... Maybe the third biggest, after corruption."

"We respect the residents but we also respect the business people," said Sherry Kimball Sherri Kimbel, Constituent Services Director for D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward Two).

Correction: The director of ABRA is Fred Moosally, not Mousally. Apologies for the error.