Temporary Liquor License for New Dupont Custom Fuel Pizza

At its regular monthly meeting on June 11, Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle approved a stipulated liquor license for a new branch of Custom Fuel Pizza. Custom Fuel Pizza advertises that it makes individual pizzas to order in a few minutes.

The store will be located at 1635 Connecticut Avenue NW, near the corner of R Street, the former site of a Potbelly Sandwich Shop. The owners could not tell the ANC when they expected the new store to be open.

Not quite ready to open as of last week

Granting a stipulated liquor license is one of the few actions an ANC can take that is not only advisory in nature. If an ANC votes to grant a stipulated license and there are no other protesting parties, a liquor licensee can start to serve alcohol while the permanent liquor license application is processed through the DC bureaucracy.

DC shadow senator Paul Strauss, in his paying job as an attorney, represented Custom Fuel Pizza before the ANC.

"They are seeking a full [liquor] license although they probably won't use it," Strauss said.

Strauss told the ANC Custom Fuel was seeking a restaurant liquor license, but they planned to serve "mostly beer and wine". They also planned to serve frozen margaritas and a drink that sounded something like an iced rum punch, but no other forms of hard liquor.

The license will allow Custom Fuel to stay open until 2am weekdays and 3am weekends. It will have no outdoor space.

Commissioner Leo Dwyer (district 07) asked about trash pickup. It will be daily. Dwyer noted the restaurant has several neighbors that are also restaurants. He urged Custom Fuel to join together with its neighbors to obtain a trash compactor, which might help with vermin control.

Another commissioner said, "A close neighbor of yours is the dirtiest restaurant and never shovels their sidewalks when it snows."

"I hope you will set a good example," he said.

The commissioner received some prodding, but refused to name the restaurant outright. He said, however, that it was "to the left of yours" and "on the corner".

Custom Fuel will have to appear again before the ANC with its permanent liquor license application.

"See you again in July or August," ANC2B Chair Will Stephens (Commissioner for district 08) said.

The motion to approve was unanimous except for Commissioner Mike Silverstein (district 06). Silverstein recuses himself from all liquor license matters because of potential conflict of interest with his day job. His day job is as a member of DC's Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board.

Custom Fuel has four other DC locations as well as seven locations in or near Charlotte, NC, and one in New York City.

See the letter ANC2B wrote in support of Custom Fuel's stipulated liquor license here.

1309-1311 13th Street: Car Wash to 67-unit Luxury Condo

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle revisited familiar territory on February 5 when yet another plan to develop a luxury apartment building brought neighbors out to make sure their interests were protected.

The Iowa apartment building is on the left

In this case, the property in question is 1309-1313 13th Street NW. These adjacent lots are currently occupied by a just-closed car wash and a Chinese carry-out. The Holladay Corporation plans a 67-unit, six-story apartment building on the site. According to the Holloday Corporation, the construction is "matter of right" -- meaning, the developers do not have to ask for any zoning variances or special exceptions, nor do they have to submit to review by D.C.'s Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB).

"This is why most people are here," ANC2F Chair Matt Raymond (district 07) told the standing-room-only audience at the Washington Plaza Hotel (10 Thomas Circle). Before the presentation by the Holladay Corporation, I counted 77 people. After the presentation and subsequent Q-and-A were finished, 35 people remained. Many had adjourned to the corridor just outside the meeting room to continue to pepper the presenters with questions and comments.

The Presentation

Senior Vice President Rita J. Bamberger and Vice President of Construction Stephen H. Weatherby led the presentation for the Holloday Corporation.

Bamberger said Holloday Corporation is a third-generation family-owned company. It has developed two other local residential buildings: The Matrix (1529 14th Street) and The Rutherford (1211 15th Street).

The building will have 27 parking spaces. This is within DC zoning regulations of one space for every three dwelling units for this category of property. 14 of these spaces would be underground, according to the presenters.

It will be entirely residential -- no retail on the first floor. The average size of the apartments will be 760 square feet. One bedroom apartments will be about 600 square feet. Two bedroom apartments will be between 900-1000 square feet. Of the 67 apartments, five will be "inclusionary", meaning, they will be built in order to meet D.C. rules about affordable housing. This is the minimum amount required by law, the presenters said. The rest of the units will be "market rate", i.e., more expensive.

The developers hope to break ground this summer and finish construction in 15-18 months. Construction will start at 7am and end by 5pm. There would be construction activity some Saturdays, but not on Sundays.

Q-and-A session

Many of the audience members were from the Iowa Condominium (1325 13th Street), which borders the planned new construction on the north. When construction is finished, many Iowa residents will look into their neighbors' windows over a narrow alley.

"The project will impact my semi-panoramic view," admitted one Iowa resident.

"How would you feel if you lived in The Iowa?" another asked.

The presenters explained the building would be 60 feet tall to the main roof line, topped by setback penthouses of 15 feet in height. Again, the developers are allowed this "by right", so there was not much the Iowa residents could do but complain, which they did. A few individuals presented themselves as local residents who were in favor of the proposed development, citing it as an improvement over a car wash and Chinese take-out. Public arguing between audience members resulted.

The presenters promised an email address and daytime phone numbers which residents could call in case of need. But Holloday Corporation pushed back against repeated Iowa resident demands for Weatherby's personal cell phone number or another number which would be answered by a live human 24/7.

Weatherby promised that Holloday Corporation would follow DC policy concerning rat abatement. They would place new bait boxes out weekly, he said.

Some residents were concerned their own properties would be damaged by vibrations and other side effects of construction. Weatherby promised an independently-conducted pre-construction site survey of adjoining properties, with photo documentation, to aid in possible later claims.

Another resident asked for an additional meeting or two with Iowa residents, but Holloday Corporation did not publicly commit themselves to further meetings.

See coverage of the same meeting by real estate blog Urban Turf here.

(Photo credit: Google Street View)

ANC2F to Protest Ghana Cafe Entertainment Endorsement

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle voted unanimously on October 2 to protest the application by the Ghana Cafe (1336 14th Street NW) for an entertainment endorsement to its liquor license.

(Luis Gomez Photos, used by permission)

The move came after neighbors from an abutting property on the 1400 block of Rhode Island Avenue told the ANC the Ghana Cafe had not been following the terms of its existing settlement agreement in the areas of vermin control and parking in the rear of the property.

"Don't endorse the new agreement until they comply with the first agreement," a neighbor said.

The neighbor said they had filed a formal complaint about the Ghana Cafe to DC's Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (ABRA).

The proprietor of the Ghana Cafe said he had been complying with the settlement agreement. He said the ANC had no reason to protest the entertainment endorsement and was just protesting for the sake of doing so.

Prior to the neighbor's complaint, it was indicated, ANC2F had had a amicable negotiation, with the Ghana Cafe agreeing to certain limitations on hours of entertainment operation, types of entertainment, and hours of loading and unloading.

What sort of entertainment Ghana Cafe might provide was not discussed.

The ANC authorized its liquor licensing affairs committee to negotiate with the Ghana Cafe about the issues of pest control, parking, and noise from the property's ventilator. If the problems are resolved, the ANC will withdraw its protest.

ANCs often officially protest attempts to renew or modify liquor licenses as a way to maintain leverage in negotiations, but eventually withdraw their protests if an agreement is reached.

The Ghana Cafe is in the middle of the block of 14th Street that will be the prime target of ANC2F's planned rat summit, which will take place on October 17 at 7pm at the Washington Plaza Hotel (10 Thomas Circle).

Rat Summit for 14th Street in October

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan will host a summit in October to address the rat problem on the 1300 block of 14th Street NW. This block is the home of Birch and Barley, B Too, and The Pig, among other restaurants.

(Wikipedia)

The initiative was announced last night (Monday, September 9) at the ANC's regular monthly meeting at the Washington Plaza Hotel (10 Thomas Circle).

Commissioner John Fanning (district 04) said that the rat problem on this block deserved special attention. He hoped to get restaurant owners on the block "in the same room" with the relevant parts of the DC government, including the Department of Public Works, the sanitation department, the District Department of the Environment, DC Water, and the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, among others. ANC2F is working on coordinating with these agencies.

One of the reported problems was cooking grease overflowing from the disposal area of a popular upscale restaurant to storm drains on Rhode Island Avenue. Fanning noted that this was, in effect, dumping oil into a waterway, which is an environmental crime.

Fanning said the restaurant B Too (1324 14th Street) has already offered to be part of the presentation, showing its state-of-the-art waste disposal techniques.

Fanning is the chair of ANC2F alcoholic beverage licensing committee. Liquor licenses often provide crucial leverage for ANCs when they wish restaurants to pay greater attention to public sanitation issues.

Commissioner Chris Linn is a co-sponsor of the initiative. This area of 14th Street falls into his district, which is number 03.

The "Sanitation, Education, & Enforcement" Summit will take place on Thursday, October 17, at 7pm, at the Washington Plaza Hotel.