Once again, it took 3 hours to plow through the ANC6B monthly agenda.
The most heated, lengthy debate? Ugly Mug’s (723 8th Street SE) request to almost double its capacity by building an addition to the second floor with retractable roof in the rear. This one ended up with the ANC voting 6-0 (with 2 abstentions) to protest the “substantial change” in its ABC license. Major points of contention: hours that the roof can remain open, total number of added capacity, and lousy trashing handling compounded by former promises not kept and general impacts on the community.
Protesting means that the ANC will have to negotiate terms under the auspices of the Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration and appear before the ABC Board. This puts a delay in Ugly Mug’s ability to go forward and a lot of work for the ANC. Hopefully, the nearby neighbors–who sent Commissioners copious emails in opposition–will provide some assistance. And, still to be settled: whether or not the building addition will be approved since Ugly Mug is located within the Capitol Hill Historic District.
Another case took up some time: 429 12th Street SE Rear. This one is a historic preservation/zoning review case. I ultimately voted against one element of the zoning relief requested because I do not think that the applicant offered the appropriate argument (didn’t “meet the test of the variance”) to gain approval for adding 2 dwelling units in an alley. My view did not prevail, however, as the ANC voted 5-3 in favor of granting the relief. I did vote in favor of the other zoning relief requested and voted with the majority on supporting the separate historic preservation case.
Other matters.
- The ANC voted in favor of the renewals of 3 ABC licenses (7th & L Market, Capitol Supreme Market, and Roland’s); the last case (Yes! market) needs a bit more negotiation on the Settlement Agreement so the ANC voted in favor of a protest in order to provide the time needed for that discussion with the applicant. (ANCs only have three ways to vote on liquor licenses of all kinds. We can vote in favor of the application, vote to take no position (virtually the same as the former), or vote to protest.) In Yes! case, our protest vote is a technicality quite unlike the protest vote on Ugly Mug.
- 8 Historic Preservation cases received ANC support
- 2 Transportation Committee letters (Red light camera request for 7th & Pennsylvania Ave SE and Comments on the DC Circulator Transit Development Plan) got unanimous votes in favor. Both draft letters are included in the Oct 8 Committee report.
- 3 votes taken by the Executive Committee on September 30th were ratified. Two involved our pending office move from the Hill Center to Eastern Market. (Note: The ANC like all ANCs gets a stipend from DC but it is not sufficient to pay office rent at the Hill Center or elsewhere any more. As a government building, rent at Eastern Market is free. For a while, however, we will have to put up with the fact that the space is only valid as storage. CM Wells office got us this far and is still working on getting the space approved for human occupation. In good weather, you may find us outside under the shed with our laptops.)
That about covers the major votes. If you see something on the agenda that you want more information about, let me know.
Note: This article is a slightly edited version of the one I sent out to all subscribers of my Beat26 Newsletter.
