ANC2B Officers Elected, Liquor License Moratorium Working Group Created

At its regular monthly meeting last night (January 14), Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle had its newly-elected membership sworn in by City Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward Two). The ANC then elected its leadership and created a working group for the West Dupont Moratorium Zone.

Evans speaks after swearing in the new ANC

Commissioner Noah Smith (district 09) was re-elected Chair of ANC2B. Smith was first elected Chair in September 2014 when former Commissioner Will Stephens stepped down.

The ANC also elected the following officers:

• Vice Chair: Stephanie Maltz (03)
• Treasurer: Michael Upright (04)
• Secretary: Nicole Mann (08)

The four officers were nominated as a slate and elected unanimously. Upright and Mann are newly-elected Commissioners.

ANC2B will select Chairs for its committees at its regular February meeting. As of this writing, ANC2B has the following standing committees: Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA), Community Involvement, Public Safety Liaison, Transportation and Public Infrastructure, and Zoning, Preservation and Development.

The ANC also set up a working group to deal with the upcoming expiration of the West Dupont Circle Moratorium Zone. The West Dupont Circle Moratorium Zone has been in effect since 1994, and has been renewed at least four times. The last renewal was in 2012. It extends approximately six hundred feet in all directions from the intersection of 21st and P Streets NW. In its current form, it forbids the issuance of nightclub licenses in the zone area and limits the number of possible license in some other categories (e.g, liquor stores, grocery stores, taverns, and "multi-purpose facilities"). At its last renewal, the limit on the number of liquor licenses for restaurants in the zone was dropped.

The West Dupont Circle Moratorium Zone will expire on May 17, 2015. The working group will hold public meetings and make a final recommendation to the full ANC at its regularly-scheduled April meeting.

There was some discussion about whether the ANC might have to request a 120-day extension of the zone in order to give the ANC and DC liquor-licensing authorities to make the decisions and generate the documents necessary, no matter what the decision is. Commissioner Mike Silverstein (06) suggested that an extension might be necessary. Newly-elected ANC Daniel Warwick (02) said he had been in contact with a staff member of the appropriate DC government department and had been assured that a decision in April would be timely.

Warwick was elected chair of the West Dupont Moratorium Zone Working Group. The moratorium zone falls completely with his ANC district. Warwick's election was unanimous.

There are five liquor license moratorium zones in DC (Adams Morgan, East Dupont, Georgetown, Glover Park, West Dupont). Once created, no liquor license moratorium zone in DC has ever been completely abolished.

See an explanation of DC liquor license categories here.

A .pdf copy of the official regulations concerning the West Dupont Circle Moratorium Zone is available here.

ANC1B Elects James Turner Chair, Solicits Applications for Committee Chairs

James Turner, Commissioner for district 08 of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street, was re-elected chair of the ANC at its first meeting of the year on January 8. Turner reported in an email that the following Commissioners were selected at the same meeting as officers of the ANC:

James Turner testifies at public hearing







• Vice-Chair: Robb Hudson (district 11)
• Treasurer: Nick Ferreyros (05)
• Secretary: Jessica Laura Smith (07)

Hudson, Ferreyros, and Smith are all first-term Commissioners.

Commissioners Hudson and Ferreyros tweeted yesterday (January 12) that ANC1B is accepting applications for the position of ANC committee chairs through January 26. People interested were invited to send Hudson or Ferreyros a message, or indicate their interest via the ANC's web site.

In 2014, ANC1B had five standing committees -- ABC (liquor licenses), Design Review, Grants, Public Safety, and Transportation. The committee chair positions are unpaid, just like the position of Commissioner itself.

(photo credit: screenshot of video of December 2014 hearing of DC's Board of Zoning Adjustment)

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.

New ANC1B Scores Perfect Attendance

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street started off the new year correctly by scoring perfect attendance on its first meeting. The meeting started at 7pm. By 7:10, all 12 Commissioners were in place.

In 2014, ANC1B often had difficulty gathering enough Commissioners to achieve a quorum -- see, most recently, SALM blog post of November 7. Some of the chronic no-shows have left office. Seven of ANC1B's 12 Commissioners are new.

The election of new officers was on the meeting's agenda, but I had to leave the meeting before the vote took place.

ANC2F Endorses $45,000 Benefits Package from Developer to Community Groups

At its regular monthly meeting last night (January 7), Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle endorsed a Planned Unit Development (PUD) package that would, if accepted by the DC government, allow a planned hotel-and-apartment complex at 9th and L Streets NW to go ahead. The package was passed by the ANC without audible objection.

The future site of the development

As part of the PUD package, the ANC implicitly endorses the design and zoning aspects of the project. In return for this, Quadrangle Development pledges to contribute $45,000 to three community groups, specifically:

• $5,000 to Thompson Elementary School (1200 L Street) to purchase "equipment"
• $20,000 to a community group dedicated to the maintenance of Samuel Gompers Park, located at intersection of 10th Street, L Street, and Massachusetts Avenue.
• $20,000 to a community group dedicated to the maintenance of 10th Street Park, located between L and M Streets.

Last November, ANC2F held a committee meeting in which community organizations asked for a total of $55,000 in benefits, and Quadrangle Development came back with a counter-offer of $15,000. The committee asked Quadrangle to come back to the committee's December meeting with a better offer (see SALM blog post of December 1, 2014, for more details). Quadrangle apparently did so, and the offer as presented to the full ANC was approved by the committee at its December meeting. The ANC's decision last night ratified the unanimous committee vote.

See explanations of the PUD process -- one by the U Street Neighborhood Association here and another by the blog Greater Greater Washington here.

John Fanning to Chair Logan Circle ANC

John Fanning was elected Chair of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle at the ANC's first meeting of the year last night (January 7). Fanning represents ANC2F district 04 and will serve as Chair until the end of 2015. The motion to elect Fanning chair passed without apparent objection.

ANC2F Chair Fanning (photo credit below)

See a description of Fanning's experience on ANC2F's web site here.

Fanning also announced at the meeting that he has recently started working for the administration of Mayor Muriel Bowser as Ward Two liaison.

The ANC also selected Commissioners to fill other offices. They are

• Commissioner Pepin Tuma (district 03) as Vice Chair, and also as Chair of the Education Committee
• Commissioner Karin Berry (02) as Treasurer
• Commissioner Kevin Deeley (08) as Chair of the Community Development Committee
• Commissioner Kate Gordon (01) as Chair of the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) Policy Committee
• Commissioner Charlie Bengel (06) as Chair of the Crime and Public Safety Committee

(photo credit: from the website of ANC2F)

1618 14th Street: "That Wall Could Collapse at Any Point Right Now"

A structural engineer testified to DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) on December 18, 2014, that the south wall of 1618 14th Street NW "represents a significant safety hazard" and "bracing should have been installed quite a while ago".

"That wall could collapse at any point right now," said Nathan Hicks of Robert Silman Associates, a Georgetown-based structural engineering firm, in testimony concerning the owner's application to knock the building down.

"I have severe concerns about the integrity of that wall and the potential for its collapse," said HPRB Chair Gretchen Pfaehler at the same meeting.

The building sits on the corner of 14th and Corcoran Streets. The unsafe wall under discussion was the wall that runs along the Corcoran Street side. As of three days ago, when I last saw the building, there was no visible exterior bracing, nor was there any indication to passing pedestrians that the building was potentially unsafe.

Stephen Jaffe, owner of 1618 14th Street

HPRB against raze of the building

After hearing testimony both for and against the raze, the HPRB voted 7-2 to reject the owner's application. Many board members made statements opposing the application.

"We've protected and preserved buildings in far worse condition," said Joseph Taylor.

"We need to preserve this building," said Robert Sonderman.

"I'm not convinced that the owner is not partially responsible for its condition and he hasn't been very aggressive about remediating it," said Maria Casarella.

Building owner testifies

Stephen Jaffe, the owner of the building, testified in favor of the demolition. He told the HPRB he had bought the building in the year 2000, but he had no idea it was structurally unsafe until the year 2012, when the interior dry wall was taken down and the extent of the damage to the building was made clear.

Jaffe also told the HPRB of his intentions concerning the size of a successor to the present two-story building -- should he ever get permission to knock it down.

"We're thinking that it's going to be the same or possibly a three-story building," Jaffe said. "But basically the same style to fit in with the neighborhood. We're not looking to make a big change in this building."

At another point in the hearing, Jaffe told the Board he owned two other buildings in DC historic districts -- one of which is the building which houses Le Diplomate restaurant, one block away on 14th Street.

Other testimony at the meeting detailed the building's history as the location of first an African-American-owned tailoring business, followed by a high end photo studio. A sex club took residency in part of the building in 1991, according to testimony, and eventually expanded to the entire building. The club allegedly made unauthorized changes to the building's interior walls and was the scene of a fire in 2005. The sex club was finally closed in 2009 after a man fell to his death there. 

The request to raze the building was conditionally endorsed in November, 2014, by a committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2F/Logan Circle (see SALM blog post of November 21, 2014). The committee's decision was ratified at the December 2014 meeting of the full ANC.

I did not attend this meeting. This report is based on viewing the archived video of the meeting, available here, starting a time 1:11:34.

(photo credit: screenshot of HPRB video of the meeting)