530607 West Dupont Circle Moratorium Zone

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE REGULATION ADMINISTRATION

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL BOARD

 

NOTICE OF FINAL RULEMAKING

 

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (Board), pursuant to the authority set forth in D.C. Official Code § 25-351(a) (2008 Supp.) and section 303 of Title 23 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR), hereby gives notice of the following final rules that amend existing subsection 307.3 of Title 23 DCMR by modifying the existing West Dupont Circle Moratorium Zone to exclude the 1500 block of Connecticut Avenue, N.W.  The final rules also allow an existing restaurant licensee in the 1600 block of 21^st Street, N.W., to apply to change its license class from a restaurant to a multipurpose facility.

 

The Board received a written letter from Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B, dated August 12, 2009, requesting that the Board amend the existing West Dupont Circle Moratorium Zone, as permitted by D.C. Official Code § 25-351(f), to carve out the 1500 block of Connecticut Avenue, N.W.  ANC 2B’s letter indicates that the buildings on the 1500 block of Connecticut Avenue, N.W. have been vacant for several years and an opportunity now exists to place restaurants in that vacant space.  ANC 2B states that its request is also supported by the Dupont Circle Citizen’s Association, Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets, and the Dupont Circle Merchants and Professionals Association. Additionally the District of Columbia Association of Beverage Alcohol Wholesalers has indicated its written support for this rulemaking.   

 

At a September 9, 2009, public hearing, the Board received support for ANC 2B’s proposal from the Dupont Circle Merchants and Professionals Association.  The Board also received testimony from the Phillips Collection requesting that the Board allow an existing restaurant licensee in the 1600 block of 21^st Street, N.W., to apply for a multipurpose facility license.

 

The Board found ANC 2B’s request to be appropriate in its entirety and is adopting its recommendation.  The Board also found appropriate the request of the Phillips Collection to allow for existing restaurant licenses in the 1600 block of 21^st Street, N.W., to be eligible to apply for a multipurpose facility license. 

 

The emergency rules were originally adopted by the Board on September 16, 2009. They were re-adopted by the Board on January 6, 2010, and again on May 12, 2010, to keep the existing moratorium in effect while the Council considers the proposed rules. 

 

These final rules were adopted by the Board on July 28, 2010.  The text of the final rules is substantively identical to the text of the notice published in the D.C. Register on January 29, 2010, at 57 DCR 1113.

 

Pursuant to D.C. Official Code § 25-211(b)(2) (2009 Supp.), these proposed rules were transmitted to the Council of the District of Columbia (Council), for a ninety (90) day period of Council review on May 25, 2010.  These proposed rules were approved by Council Resolution 18-521, the “West Dupont Circle Moratorium Zone Regulations Approval Resolution of 2010”, adopted by the Council at its June 29, 2010, legislative meeting.  These final rules will become effective five (5) days after being published in the D.C. Register.   

 

Title 23 DCMR, Chapter 3, “Limitations on Licenses,” is amended by replacing the existing subsection 307.3 to read as follows:

 

307.3               All hotels, whether present or future, shall be exempt from the West Dupont Circle Moratorium Zone.  The 1500 block of Connecticut Avenue, N.W., shall also be exempt from the West Dupont Circle Moratorium Zone.  Notwithstanding the limitation on licenses contained in subsection 307.1, an existing Class CR or DR licensee in the 1600 block of 21^st Street, N.W., shall be eligible to apply to change its license class from a restaurant to a multipurpose facility.  Any license class change application approved by the Board from a restaurant to a multipurpose facility in the 1600 block of 21^st Street, N.W., shall continue to count against the limit of permitted restaurant licenses by reducing the number of permitted restaurant licenses by one (1) for the duration of the West Dupont Circle Moratorium.