As Dacha looks to expand to the 14th Street corridor, it is pulling all the stops to win over reluctant neighbors.

The beer garden announced today that it has tweaked the design to enclose more of the space indoors—and people can view the new plans on a snazzy new website.

“Support Dacha Beer Garden on 14th,” it implores visitors. Owners Ilya Alter and Dmitri Chekaldin “stand ready to invest an estimated $3 million to construct a stunning new building on a vacant lot currently used for parking. This architecturally innovative and visually sophisticated new-build property will be constructed at the center of the vibrant 14th Street hospitality destination.”

So what’s with the lobbying blitz?

Dacha has been a lighting rod for neighborhood controversy since opening in 2013 under Liz Taylor’s watch in Shaw. Neighbors complained about noise and fought the beer garden’s efforts to expand in 2015. In the end (after dramatic pledges to cut the staff in half or sell the business), Dacha came to a deal with the alcohol board that included one of the largest fines in ABRA history. The bad blood continued though; residents have said that Dacha didn’t hold up its end of the deal and continued to operate over capacity.

When the owners announced plans for a 14th Street location (they are also at work on opening up a location near Nationals Park), it wasn’t a huge surprise that “NO DACHA” lawn signs started appearing.

At an Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting in May where Alter and Chekaldin presented their plans, neighbors came out and complained that Dacha hadn’t done enough to address safety, security, and noise levels.

On its new website, Dacha counters that their opponents are a “small group of residents who are opposed to virtually any new business.”

Still, the establishment made a series of dramatic changes to their original set of plans in the hopes of winning approval from the D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control.

That includes tripling the build-out budget to an estimated $3 million to enclose about two-thirds of the space, promising there won’t be any DJs, and hiring a sound engineering firm to make sure noise levels stay within regulations.

“By making this major financial investment to surround a much smaller outdoor space with an innovative building design on a busy thoroughfare we can both serve patrons on a year-round basis while earning respect of residents as a good neighbor and a welcomed social amenity,” Alter said in a press release. Yes, a press release.

Still, they seem optimistic it will work out in the end. If you make it to the bottom of the new website, there’s an option to vote for a female icon to grace another large-scale mural: Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy, Donna Summer, Audrey Hepburn, or Hillary Clinton

Filed Under: 14th street, dacha, dacha on 14th,