July 3, 2007
Single Alcohol Sales Ban on H Street Clears Committee
The D.C. Council's Committee on Public Works and the Environment voted unanimously Tuesday to move forward on legislation that would place a 3-year moratorium on single sales of alcohol at stores located between 700 to 1400 block of H Street, NE -- the same area that developers have dubbed "The Atlas District," which is now home to a number of new bars and restaurants. The proposal still requires approval by the Council, but the committee’s vote will allow the legislation to be placed on the agenda on July 10. Should the Council approve the measure, the moratorium could go into effect as early as August.
“For too long, we’ve had individuals using our curbsides and sidewalks as open-air bars. We’ve seen the effect a singles ban can have in other neighborhoods. I’m proud to support the ANC and residents to put the moratorium in effect and begin calming the chaos on H Street, NE,” said Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) in a statement.
Council member Wells' office also released crime numbers from the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, where a similar ban was put into effect four years ago, that the MPD says show the effectiveness of this type of legislation. Mount Pleasant has seen a 41 percent reduction in total calls for MPD service and a 51 percent reduction in calls complaining of disorderly conduct since the ban was put in place.
Photo by erin m
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If it really were about curbing violence, that would be one thing. But add this to
the war on granting liquor licences to shops who cater to the citizens who've lived there for 40+ years,
the calls to stop people from fixing their cars in the parking lot of the AutoZone (because what, it's suddenly safe to fix your car on the curb?),
the sudden development at H and 3, and D and 13,
the renaming of the Lincoln Park neighborhood (not that I have anything against Atlas but hey, there's a name for the area already),
and it starts to smell like the same gentrification that took over U Street and booted out long-term residents who can no longer afford the property taxes, mortgages, or rents. And our last ANC head said we'd try not to grow this way. Oh well.
I have definitely bought 40s in Mount Pleasant. Do those not count as single sales?
So it's okay for fratty hipsters to get drunk and stumble around the streets, just not "those other types"?
Everett --
Who is calling for people to stop fixing their cars in the AutoZone parking lot? That is way past fucked up. Got a link or something that I can be horrified by?
I read about it maybe 6-8 months ago, on the ANC6A email list. Here's the list URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/anc-6a/
I get the digest version because in any given day there could be more than 6 messages posted, on everything from making Constitution Avenue two-way, all the time, to questions about good maid service, to noise ordinance violations from the condo developers.
Having worked on my truck on the street/sidewalk right outside of where I live (Q Street, Logan Circle), it kind off irritates me that somebody would take issue with cars being worked on in an AutoZone parking lot.
But it is another indicator that some people just gotta have everything THEIR way.
Regarding the ban having cleared the committee - oh well, we all know whose idea it was. Screw him and his stupid theme bars.
The Autozone parking lot ia an illegal open-air repair shop. nobody is repairing their own car there, just suckers who fall for the "hey, buddy, lemme fix that smokin muffler for ya" line.
Having personally fixed my car in that very same AutoZone parking lot, I call BS on you monkeyrotica.
excuse me if i dont spend any time feeling sorry for people because they can't buy a single serving of alcohol along an eight block strip of road.
also "fratty" and "hipster", by definition, are mutually exclusive
well, I recall replacing my own wiper blades there once, before I drove down the street to where I live. I've certainly talked to neighbors who have made repairs on the lot, though I don't doubt there are people there who offer to fix others' cars. anyway, since I wasn't dreaming it up, I can affirmatively say that people do fix their own cars there after buying supplies at the shop, but thanks for your opinion, monkey.
What Everett said, and it applies to stores other than the H Street AutoZone, east and west of the river.
gee, I thought "fratty"s grew up to be "hipsters." someone should write a song about that: Momma, don't let your frattys grow up to be hipsters . . .
and you're right, people should be forced to buy an entire 6-pack of beer when all they want is one. because we can't have anyone buzzed on our city streets! they have to be fully intoxicated!
pardon me if I don't waste time waiting for that to make sense.
Hey - actually live in the "Atlas" district and my neighbors, whether rent paying or mortgage paying do not drink themselves into stuppors on the sidewalks. In fact, a lot of my neighbors who have lived there for 40+ years don't drink at all. Kind of weird how that whole Baptist, working hard, trying to maintain a neighborhood thing works. Anyhow . . . if you really don't have a problem with the hooch, in other words you're not a drunk, the ban should not negatively effect you. Yes, it's big-brotherly to the nth degree and yes it's an example of gov't regulation of small business owners. But sometimes regulations are good. Finally, Lincoln Park and the "Atlas" district are in two very different neighborhoods. If you're realtor told you that H is Lincoln Park, then "ha, ha, ha, ha" on you. Ha. Still laughing.
Have you seen the hipsters on H Street?
They’re frat boys with flat ironed hair and tight jeans. What’s the difference?
Well, I lived on 13th and F NE for three years, and all the folks called it Lincoln Park, as it is scarcely three blocks north of . . . Lincoln Park. Now I live one block down and one block over, and the folks call it . . . Lincoln Park. I've gone to a few shows at Atlas, so I know the theater, but I haven't heard anyone call the neighborhood by that name until like, the last month.
And I don't have a realtor, thank you.
And for the 97th time, it's not about a drinking ordinance. It's about what the drinking ordinance presumes, and what it leads to.
Hipsters are the people who come up with the fashion that is co-opted by frat boys and sorostitutes four years later. See: trucker hats, white belts, giant sunglasses, etc.
It's all fugly though.
Can someone really get drunk off of one beer? Why do people buy just one?
I love all this talk about catering to people that lived in DC for 40+ years.
Guess what, THEY HAD THEIR CHANCE AND THEY RUINED THE CITY.
I didn't elect Marion Barry. I didn't elect Sharon Pratt-Kelly (the worst mayor in American history?).
I didn't burn down part of the city then do nothing to rebuild it.
I didn't raise several generations of criminal kids.
This city is broken and it was broken by the long term residents who failed at running the city. They need to step aside, move to PG County or Southern Maryland, and let a new young professional class take over.
Now, get out of MY city. I worked hard in school, I got the degrees, I got the good job, I made all the right choices, so now I get to live close to my job and you can sit on a bus for 2 hours each morning and turn St. Mary's county in a rural version of DC (its getting there) for all I care.
"I love all this talk about catering to people that lived in DC for 40+ years... in a rural version of DC (its getting there) for all I care."
I find such a level of self-absorption and "revisionist ignorance" shocking.
Ignorant scum. No doubt.
LOL on 5:14's post. That's the spirit, matey! I also love how everyone presumes the singles ban is an attack on 40+ year residents. I can see where you people are coming from though since you need a stiff 40 dogg once a day to deal with living in this hell hole of a city for that long! But thanks to folks like 5:14, brighter days are on the horizon! More LOL!
This is getting a little tiring -- all ages night clubs are the problem, the all-night breakfast joint is the problem, the single beers are the problem problem, and on and on.
Does the city always have to ban everything? There's a lot of time spent on these that could otherwise be spent on education, health care, transportation and community development rather than the current piecemeal, band-aid, knee-jerk approach.
There's a lot of time spent on these that could otherwise be spent on education, health care, transportation and community development rather than the current piecemeal, band-aid, knee-jerk approach.
Hey! That actually makes, so we can't do that.
Everett - I'm sure people DO install wiper blades and refill their antifreeze at Autozone. I'm talking about people who have their car jacked up and are installing brakes and dumping waste oil into the sewer. And that crap's been going on since 2002. That's a lot of waste oil going into YOUR water supply.
I've never heard anyone confuse Lincoln Park for the "Atlas District".
This singles ban is a necessary evil. In a perfect world we wouldn't have any bans on alcohol sales and we'd all get snarky drunk together whilst singing Guatemalan folk songs together. But selling cold single containers with the obvious intent to have your customers drink them on the corner isn't exactly a protected constitutional right. It does obvious harm to the community.
Will it stop everyone from pissing on people's cars and stoops, or from getting drunk and hanging out waiting for a chance to steal some shit? No. But it will help. And it frees the cops up to pursue more serious crimes.
This isn't a 'new resident' vs 'old resident' thing. And, of course, we know that's also code for racial classifications. A ton of 'old residents' in this neighborhood are sick to death of people drinking singles all day and crapping up the neighborhood, literally and figuratively.
We surely need this on GA Ave in Columbia Heights!
Great news for H St.! I hope we get similar bans for 14th St and Georgia AVe in Columbia Heights. Petworth and Mt. Pleasant already have them.
why not ban the things city-wide -- it seems repetitive and a waste of time to debate this on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis. Or maybe the folks in friendship heights cherish their singles so much?
I'm torn on an issue that should be a law enforcement one, but obviously even if enforcement against public drinking was better, there still isn't really enough manpower to prevent it except for certain areas. Of course those 'areas' (read: gentrification) are being proactive on their own to clean up their image, which I don't see as a bad thing. Legal or not, singles have basically one purpose and everybody knows/can see the consequences.
"Legal or not, singles have basically one purpose and everybody knows/can see the consequences."
Last time I mentioned this people weren't impressed, but I know plenty of folks who just buy one beer, pour it into a cup, and drink it on the porch. They're not a problem. Sure, they could buy more, but so could the folks who are a problem. And those problem folks could just switch to fifths or whatever else.
A deposit/return law would be my preference. But that would require courage on the council's part.
"This isn't a 'new resident' vs 'old resident' thing"
So this ban just HAPPENED to get passed right at the time when the area is being 'revitalized' instead of the many years before -- but that has nothing to do with the influx of new residents, right?
Guest: Residents have been trying for 10 years to get such a ban passed. And it has strong support in the community, from both long term residents and new. But for too many years the local ANC was astonishingly dysfunctional (if I've got the right ANC) and nothing ever got done.
And I love how you italicize 'revitalized', like that's a dirty word or somehow suspect.
Why don't you go ahead and tell us what's really on your mind already.
ME is right about the HSt Auto Zone: Here is a article from 2004 about it:
http://www.voiceofthehill.com/AutoZone.htm
Also, I have been to many car part stores that say the same thing from rual wherever to downtown, its part huckster deterient and a liability issue for the owner of the parking lot.
I have a solution! Here is what I propose. Pass the singles ban city-wide in DC. In return, I will hold a monthly Edward Fortyhands party once a month at my place in VA and everyone is invited. We can get our 40s at 7-11.
[I know, I know, an Edward Fortyhands party is pretty fratastic, but I want to have one anyway.]
Perhaps another way to look for a solution is an open container law. Then we could all toast in the streets and get to know one another better...
Naive, I know. But everytime I got to New Orleans it feels like Gods Country.
I've got a better idea. How about allowing sales of singles on the condition that the store also purchase and maintain a Port-o-Let adjacent to the premises or dispense adult diapers? Because the primary problem involves finding guys in your alley pissing so hard it knocks paint off your house. And those are the polite guys. You've also got the ones who just whip it out any old place (the bus stop, the geranium bed, next to your car) and start pissing like a racehorse.
And according to the link:
The proposed ban will impose a three year moratorium on the sale of single containers of beer, malt liquor, and ale, as well as liquor sold in half-pint or smaller volumes by the holders of retailer’s licenses class A and B located on both sides of the street on H Street, NE, between and including the 700 block of H Street, NE and the 1400 block of H Street, NE.
So can Hillman and I still go halfsies on a 3-liter jug of Carlo Rossi White Grenache which, I might add, makes for an excellent spritzer with seltzer or 7-UP and I've found actually enhances a benzedrine/typewriter-correction-fluid high?
This law makes you have to buy 2 pints of tasty microbrews at $5.99 a piece.
Monkey: It's a date, so to speak. And I have an old retaining wall that needs a good brick washing. So store it up and maybe you can powerwash that old paint right off in one winesy afternoon.
I'll bring the prosciutto-wrapped melon and brie, just so the neighbors will think its some kinda booshwa cocktail party. And if the zero-tolerance crowd snitches, we can tell the cops we're celebrating my mom just getting out of jail. They'll understand what that's like.
So can Hillman and I still go halfsies on a 3-liter jug of Carlo Rossi White Grenache . . .
Am I still invited?
Oh, hell yeah! Atlas District Bladder Blowout '07 in full effect! HR, you print up the teeshirts. And make sure they're better than the Tupac/Biggie ones you got last time. Those things didn't last one washing. I know a dude who can get us a good deal on some "Increase the Peace" teeshirts, and we can just scrape the "ac" off "peace."
It's a g***amn celebration, bitches!
Dear god, I'm moving to Minneapolis!
Hillrat: You're always invited. Somebody's got to pick up the tab and/or be blamed when shit goes down.
I've got a friend that has a whole garage full of Stop The Hate candles, slightly used. Those always add legitimacy to a street corner hoedown.
I like Monkey's idea of saying it's a Mom's Out of Jail Celebration. But I'd go one better. Say it's a Both My Moms Got out of Jail party. That way you get people that are too worried about being 'intolerant' of the 'mos to complain.
Debating gentrification in DCist comments: the only kind of online self-gratification that's not NSFW.
I'm gonna send you people douchebags in the mail.