ANC6B ABC Committee Hearing on Hill Center Liquor License - l-r Commissioners Oldenburg, Frishberg, Glick, Chair Green, Commissioners Flahaven, Metzger, Pate
ANC Alcohol Licensing Committee Refuses Carte Blanche to Hill Center
by Larry Janezich
At Thursday night’s ANC6B ABC hearing on the Hill Center’s application for a liquor license, the Committee deferred a decision on the application, effectively bucking the issue to the full ANC6B meeting next Tuesday.
In the meantime, Committee Chair Carol Green will meet with Hill Center representatives to work out the conditions under which a liquor license may be granted. The Hill Center was presented with two options, suggested by Commissioner Ivan Frishberg. The first would limit the hours of the summer garden operations to 10:00pm during the week and 12:00 midnight Friday through Sunday. The second option would limit summer garden operations to midnight 7 days a week, with a revaluation after six months. In addition, a reduction in the number of people permitted to occupy the summer garden will also be negotiated downward from the 500 maximum specified in the original application.
Former Ward Six Councilmember Sharon Ambrose was present as the spokesperson for Hill Center. She supported the application and asked the Committee to grant Hill Center maximum flexibility regarding operating hours and occupancy. To further that effort, and in an effort to respond to concerns of nearby neighbors, Hill Center had, today, faxed a modification of their intended operating hours for outside events, cutting them back to a closing time of midnight, 7 days a week. Operating hours for inside would remain the same.
Originally, the application provided that hours of operation for the Sale/Service/Consumption of alcoholic beverages for the inside premises and the summer garden are listed as 10:00am – 2:00am on Sunday, 8:00am – 2:00am Monday through Thursday, and 8:00am – 3:00am Friday and Saturday.
Several neighbors and community members rose to express concerns related to the hours or operation and the potential for noise. These included nearby residents Barbara Eck, Yoonmee Chang, Helene Quick, Joe Shay, Frank Young, and Pope Barrow. Barbara Eck has been and continues to be a strong supporter of and advocate for the Center, but warned against operating hours that would have an adverse effect on the community.
Some Committee members were concerned that Hill Center could not give an estimate of how often events such as weddings, receptions, bar mitzvahs, etc., would be held. Ambrose said there was “no way to predict the number of events,” that at best, it would be a “guestimate that would not serve your purposes now, or ours in planning.”
Ambrose stressed the Hill Center’s desire not to have a negative impact, saying the primary function of the Center was to be a learning center available to the entire community. At the same time, her implication that The Hill Center was only trying to raise “enough money to keep the property from going back to the city” was greeted with skepticism on the part of some commissioners.
Regarding concerns about parking, the Hill Center website says “events that expect more than 30 cars must contract with our approved valet parking vendor.” Nicky Cymrot, President of the Old Naval Hospital Foundation, said that in conversations with a parking valet vendor, the company said they would “guarantee” that there would be no parking on residential streets. It was not clear where these cars would be parked, however. Nor was it clear what impact 30 cars would have on the surrounding streets, should that occur with regularity. New parking restrictions will go into effect in some nearby areas – perhaps before Hill Center opens – but it is not clear exactly which areas will be affected, or whether that will push parking into areas north of Pennsylvania Avenue, but still within walking distance of Hill Center.
Commissioner Brian Pate raised the issue of a potential conflict of interest for the Commission, since ANC6B has announced its intention of renting office space within the Hill Center but has not yet negotiated the amount of rent. It seemed to be the consensus of the Committee to sidestep this issue by asking a disinterested third party to negotiate terms of a lease and to make that recommendation to the ANC.
The full ANC6B will meet at Church of Jesus Christ of LDS, 522 7th Street, SE, Tuesday, June 14, 2011 – 7:00pm.
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 
As a nearby resident who has been enthusiastically supportive of the revival of the Hill Center and who was among the many who were stabbed in the back by the Center’s 2 am and 3 am/500 people outdoors liquor license application, I was relieved to see the positions taken by the ANC board members last night, (with the exception of Norm Metzger). Norm seemed to be confused, but all of the other commissioners took seriously the problem of a late night outdoor alcohol-serving DJ and live music events only a few feet away from residents attempting to sleep at 2 and 3 am. I started to feel the knife being slowly removed from my back when we learned at the meeting that the Hill Center now wants to relent to some extent on its late hour outdoor request (but keep the indoors at 2 and 3 am). When asked why such a shocking and provocative application was filed in the first place, Ms. Ambrose excused it as “standard”. That was laughable at best, but the ANC (without Metzger) seems determined to fix up the mess. The wound is starting to heal. Slowly Hopefully the ANC will rescuue the Hill Center from its blunders in the case..
Sorry, I meant to say “Old Naval Hospital” not “Hill Center” in my post.
Why cars????????????
The metro station is just one block away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Metro is scaling back late night weekend operating hours, and will likely not be a viable option by the time this transit option would be necessary.
I think the compromise proposed by the ANC is reasonable and fair. I can’t imagine any circumstance that would require alcohol to be served outside (or indoors either) past midnight. My house is far enough away that a rock concert there wouldn’t likely disturb me, but I feel the pain of the resident who live across the street. I can only imagine the frustration if drunken wedding guests were permitted to drink until 3am. If the wedding guests want to continue the party past midnight they can make the 3 block walk to the Ugly Mug who would be happy for their business.
Job well done ANC.
I think the Hill Center’s intent probably never was to be open to 2am or 3am, but as evidenced in the Chipotle discussion (which was actually enlightening as to the why they initially have pushed this off until Chipotle gets their act together), you can’t go before our ANC without them taking their pound of flesh so businesses have to aim high. It will probably get scaled back to 12am or 10pm weekdays which is probably what the Center wanted. But if they went in asking for that, the ANC would still have wanted a pound of flesh just to push to another meeting and it would have shut them down at 8pm or added some other restriction making economic viability even more difficult.
In a tight-knit community so sharply tuned to the delicate balance between the interests and needs of residential and commericial neighbors, which coexist literally cheek by jowl, its hard to believe the ‘Hill Center’ would ask for a license for outdoor amplified music and liquor service AT ALL, much less until 3:00 a.m. Kudos to the new ANC Commisioners and new ANC leadership who got it right straight off the bat.
I cannot imagine what the extent of the outcry would be if a restaurant or heaven forbid a ‘tavern’ applied for a similar license in our neighborhood. I can imagine what the outcome of theat application would be: No live music indoors or live or amplified music outdoors, period. And that is what the outcome should be in this case.
Just because the “Hill Center’, which will occupy the Old Naval Hospital is a non-profit organization, does not mean it should be granted special privileges or rights, or be treated any differently than any other beverage alcohol license applicant.
Although I hope Sharon Ambrose was simply driveling when she implied the ‘Hill Center’ needs the money from outdoor amplified music alcohol sales to stay afloat, and therefore the license should be granted, I’m a little afraid she is not. The “Hill Center’ financial strcuture has never been clear, and I’m afraid its not clear to the ‘Hill Center’ either. Regardless, I thought the ‘Hill Center’ concept was a community center, not a nightclub.
The very good news in all this scuffle about not much, is that it was a distinct pleasure to see that almost all of our ANC Commissioners got it right straight off the bat with little nonesense. This has been a clear positive trend since the new Commissioners took office and the Chairman’s gavel switched hands. Bravo to the new ANC Comimsioners and leadership.
Please ANC Commisioners, do not lose sight of the fact that a license is a license, no matter who is applying (prior bad behavior notwithstanding). The ‘Hill Center’ license applciation needs to receive as much scrutiny as any other applicant, and the applicant must be required to play by the same rules and abide by the same restrictions.
I have just been informed that the “compromise” mentioned by the proponents of the license was a smoke screen. It is my understanding that they still are asking for 2 and 3 am hours inside and may reduce the outside crowd size to 380. I am sorry but I cannot fall over to support what appears to be a request for another late night establishment on the dubious assertion that it is needed to fit budgetary problems. It appears that the only response to this “blackmail” I know this is an extreme term but this is what is being presented. I look forward to the ANC meeting Tuesday and hope that a more reasonable approach is presented and that the proponents answer with specifics.
I thought the “compromise” seemed a bit one sided too. The real problem will be oversight — unlike individual business licensees, there’s little incentive to ad hoc users to really a give a crap about their impact on the surrounding area. I’d imagine the response will be something to the effect of ‘hey — it’s our wedding and we’re going to do what we want on this one special day — deal with it’ during the 1st and final time they lease the Hill Center. This will repeat with similar events.
I’ve been to Bar Mitzvahs that were rocking enough that I wouldn’t want anything to do with the event as a neighbor.
The parking north of PA Ave also needs to be addressed — lots of cheap people and people who may not want to be denied their keys at the end of a night of revelry absolutely will park on the surrounding streets and walk.
Anyone who remembers Ambrose at Ward 6 Councilmember knows her tendency for hyperbole as a negotiating tactic. I’m surprised she didn’t suggest that the whole place will become a methadone clinic if Hill Center’s request is not fulfilled.