Photo courtesy of Jimmy Valentine’s Lonely Hearts Club

[Ed. note: Despite the protest, the bar has remained open for business. For an update on the story, please click here.]

Being lonely is going to be a bit harder, now that we’ll have to be sober at the same time. The MPD-5D listserve lit up this weekend with news that the D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration had denied the liquor license renewal for Jimmy Valentine’s Lonely Hearts Club at a protest hearing last Wednesday. Currently the bar holds a tavern license and was arguably one of the first to populate the H Street corridor (even though it’s located on Bladensburg Road NE).

According to Kathy Henderson, one of the protestants to the renewal of the license, the club is a “disorderly business, which poses a safety threat to the ANC 5B10 community and surrounding area.” On top of that, the club is accused of disturbing the peace and order, violating ABRA prescribed hours of operation, ABC violations, and a failure to keep clean grounds, while the owner, Mark Thorp, has been called “combative.” But the real crux behind the denial of renewal? The club failed to file and serve a Protest Information Form (“PIF”) on the original protestants, a technicality thereby rendering any protestations moot. So while objections may have been lodged, they were not considered at all in rendering this decision.

Proponents of the club assert that JVLHC was one of the first fledgling businesses to populate the area and has spurred development. Also, without pointing fingers, they question whether other nearby establishments will be approached the same way.