Please note updated location of the April 27th special meeting
After three months of discussion, the West Dupont Liquor License Moratorium Zone Working Group has recommended a course of action for the ANC. The working group recommends further loosening the moratorium, eliminating the moratorium on all license types. The working group’s report is located here and will inform discussion at the April 27th special meeting of the ANC.
A copy of the working group’s questionnaire is located here.
Problems with settlement agreements, related enforcement issues and public safety need to be addressed before letting the West Dupont Moratorium expire. The Moratorium zone has a high concentration of alcohol-selling establishments — at least two dozen — in a small area, and ongoing problems with existing bars will be exacerbated with the addition of more. Just last night, Sunday, there was a group of neighboring bar patrons gathered outside beneath my kitchen window — screaming, urinating, and openly using hard drugs (not pot, though bar patrons frequently do that in public in the neighborhood, too). This happens regularly; the police do nothing effective in response. There was a violent altercation in the street recently involving Fireplace patrons that led to at least two arrests. There was a huge police response not long before that, centered at the Fireplace, in response to a sighting of people carrying weapons. The situation as it stands is unmanageable and burdensome to residents. Letting the Moratorium expire at this juncture will make the situation worse. Why would commissioners want to do that to residents?