Dupont residents discuss Safeway’s application for a liquor license. (Photo by Chris Cioffi)
By DCist contributor Chris Cioffi
About 100 Dupont residents shuffled into the Chastleton apartment building last night, a number wearing matching shirts that declared “Food Not Booze at Safeway.” The Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission called the packed community meeting to discuss a single agenda item: Safeway’s application for a liquor license.
Plans at the 17th Street NW store — dubbed the “Soviet” Safeway by neighbors who accuse it of having poor service and limited selection — call for removing a couple aisles of groceries and replacing them with beer and wine. The ANC had been discussing the proposal with Safeway representatives since last fall, but opposition has grown louder and more organized in recent months.
In June, the ANC voted 4-3 to protest the grocery’s request with the Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration, which will ultimately decide whether to grant or deny the permit.
Nick DelleDonne, an ANC commissioner who voted to oppose the store’s request, says that some neighbors are concerned that Safeway could put locally owned wine and liquor stores out of business. The loss of small businesses would diminish the neighborhood’s character, he argues.
“The balance will be uneven and it will hurt the complex of the neighborhood,” DelleDonne told DCist before the community meeting. “We to have a livable, walkable neighborhood where we can get the food we want and the liquor we want.”
Eleven of the 13 D.C. Safeway stores currently offer beer and wine, said Safeway spokeswoman Beth Goldberg in an email. As part of the Dupont store remodel, the company will stock new offerings, including more than 800 new organic and premium products.
Goldberg said beer and wine is something customers want.
“Across the country, our stores offer quality wine and beer at many of our locations,” she said. “It is our hope to extend the same convenience and value to our Corcoran Street store shoppers.”
Safeway representatives and opposing groups will now go to a mediation to try and come up with a settlement, which could include restrictions on sales and service, other other things like litter and debris removal.
If no settlement is reached, the groups will go in front of ABRA at a September protest hearing. The board then has 60 days to approve or deny the permit.
The ANC called the community forum to glean input from neighbors on possible settlements during the mediation process. Safeway representatives were not present.
Some neighbors said they favored beer and wine sales, some were completely opposed, and some suggested limiting the amount of space on shelves and the hours when alcohol can be sold.
Dupont resident Wendy Schumacher, who gets groceries for a neighbor with mobility issues, said she worries that removing aisles of food in the already small store could limit choices.
If the store no longer carries what she needs, Schumacher said she may may have to give up her caretaking duties because she has no car and can’t go elsewhere. “I think that we need to consider our larger community of those who could not be here today,” she said.
Commissioner Stephanie Maltz, whose district includes the Safeway, cast her vote to protest the application at June’s ANC meeting.
“What I’m trying to do as an ANC commissioner right now, is to look at it from the perspective of what’s best for the neighborhood,” she said. “We understand this is something they have asked for, and we understand that the ANC is not ultimately going to be the decider.”
Protests from several other groups, including one made up of parents from a nearby school, and one including a 600-signature petition have also been filed.
Sarah Fashbaugh, a community resource officer for ABRA, told the crowd that in her six years at the administration, less than 10 permits have been denied by the board. Most groups find a middle-ground, she said.
The area is no stranger to fights over alcohol. After owners of Dacha Beer Garden announced plans for a 14th Street location, “NO DACHA” signs began springing up in area front yards.
Patrick Wilson, who lives in the Chastleton spoke up at the meeting, explaining that he was in favor of beer and wine sales at Safeway because he prefers to buy groceries and alcohol in the same trip.
“I walk the six blocks to buy my groceries and wine at Trader Joes,” he said.
Allowing the grocery store to sell alcohol didn’t seem controversial to Wilson, who pointed out that nearby bars and grocery stores already sell alcohol.
“It’s a fairness issue,” Wilson said.
