17th Street Liquor Moratorium Renewed

On Wednesday, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (ABC) issued an emergency ruling renewing the Dupont East liquor moratorium for a 3-year period.

The renewed moratorium contains several modifications, including the addition of 1 restaurant license, serving beer and wine or full bar, including liquor. The Board also granted 2 lateral expansions of existing license holders (note that lateral expansion can also mean vertical).

The Board left questions as to additional outdoor seating, entertainment endorsements, and summer gardens to the "Substantial Change" and "Voluntary Agreement" processes already in place.

While this is not exactly what the ANC had requested in our petition to the Board, I believe that the Board's order will allow protection for residents while at the same time helping to revitalize the 17th Street commercial corridor over the coming three years. The ANC shortly will convene a working group on the future on 17th Street, in an attempt to attract retail to 17th Street.

It should also be noted that of the two existing licenses along 17th Street that were unused at the beginning of this process, Java House has reportedly chosen to excercise its license and begin serving wine. Also, the Chaos restaurant license was sold at auction two weeks ago to help repay taxes that were in arrears. It appears that in addition to the license added by the ABC Board, the Chaos license will also be put into use in the coming months to add new dining options to 17th Street.