For much of the year the process of granting liquor licenses has been debated from
working class Ward 5 to
hipster Ward 2 to
tony Ward 2. The overwhelming opinion is that the District's liquor license process which is administered by the Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) is broken. The common thread in these license debates, however, has been on-premises liquor consumption at bars, restaurants, and taverns. Alcohol licensing for liquor stores is not, however, considered a part of the ABRA reform.
In too many neighborhoods in
Wards 7 and 8 there is a concentration of liquor stores--both beer and wine (Class B) and beer, wine, spirits (Class A). Generally, there is an automatic expectation that a voluntary agreement and/or monetary donation can be made and the ANC will acquiese to the inevitable, ABRA granting the license. This underlying tone favors the business instead of favoring the community and lets the business off the hook for actually having a business plan that doesn't leech off predominantly low-income neighborhoods. In many cases in Wards 7 and 8 a VA
will not be sufficient because the concentration of liquor stores is too high; we're saturated.
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| Google Maps. Uncle Lee's left, Jock's Liquor right |
I am contending with this very issue right now with Uncle Lee's Seafood. There is a new owner who is "just trying to survive." The owner has a background in operating a deli with a speciality in breakfast. She has changed the menu to include breakfast and lunch. Unfortunately, survival is based on the lottery and liquor sales and not using her talent and skill on meeting an unmet market--an eatery with quality food and not typical carryout.
No liquor license issuance is the only option for Uncle Lee's Seafood. Vibrancy and sanity of the neighborhood will not be enhanced with six liquor stores within a half mile radius!
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| Google Maps. Liquor Store Landscape |
While I appreciate my neighbors west of the River writing about making the liquor license process less contentious, it is important to note the impact of concentrating licensees, specifically liquor stores. Maybe there's room in ABRA reform to separate liquor stores from the licensing for restaurants, taverns, and nightclubs to take these matters into consideration. Maybe even 7C should pursue a moratorium like Georgetown. Otherwise, we'll continue to pick at the contention of "who is in the catbird seat--the licensee business owner or the Advisory Neighborhood Commission/community?"
That is exactly across the street from where I live. I've observed for 3 years now, the activity around those two areas-people hanging out in front of the liquor stores as early as 7-8am every morning. I do agree that something must be done to either change or remove that element from the area. With improvement coming to this Ward, this is something that is not needed. It is the cause of loitering, littering and who knows what else. I've also viewed the dc planning webpage and found information from a study and a proposed plan for this section of the corridor. However, with half of it being on the Maryland side, would this be a successful plan, because it will mean that the state of Maryland would have to get involved to address this issue concerning that business. Also, with that being said, is there a grant that would allow or assist in the upgrade in infrastructure to the Uncle Lee's Seafood? I guess for some reason, I thought that that was a liquor store business as well. Please give me your feedback. I'd really appreciate it. Also, concerning your blog, there need to be a category in which people can post comments on your blog without having to subscribe to an account.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Charmaine. I hope you will write a letter about what you've seen at Uncle Lee's and the impact of it becoming a liquor will have; you can say exactly what you said. You can email it to me.
ReplyDeleteI had a conversation with the owner of Jock's and he seemed interested in redeveloping his land to its best use. I hope to meet with him and his attorney in January to discuss the Deanwood Small Area Plan and how he can work with the Prince George's Councilmember and planning department. I have reached out to DC Office of Planning (OP) to have this discussion as well. The key for DC, though, will be residents visibly, and if need be aggressively, pushing for the "legislative" land use changes because OP is quick to say they cannot do anything more than "plan and suggest" land use changes.
I'll check the Blogger "how-to" to see if the anonymous or no log-in function can be enabled.
I'm not really sure how to email you. However, what I can do is give a brief observation as to the areas surrounding these establishments. I will do this later on this afternoon/evening of (12/23/10).
ReplyDeleteCharmaine, send the letter/email to the address in the linked flyer.
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