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1. FWIW, the issue of residents abutting commercial districts and quality of life issues will never go away. Especially as residents age. In a place like the Warehouse District in Cleveland, people move out once they reach about 35 years of age. People don't do that around places like 17th Street because the property is so expensive. They stay put. And the older they get, the more they are turned off by the vitality/excitement quotient of night life that originally attracted them.

2. WRT the Mt. Pleasant ANC suing ABRA. ANCs are strictly advisory. Look up the statute. So the resolutions, reports, etc. are part of the process and record, but aren't directive--they aren't promulgations that are law.

3. This piece would have been better had it contrasted the experience in Dupont Circle with the Mt. Pleasant Street stuff as well as the activities of ANC6A and its involvement in similar matters. WRT ANC6A, they have an issue with a citizen wackjob, Robert Pittman, who pulls together his own groups of protestants and gets involved in the ABRA processes in ways counter to the overall approach put forward by ANC6A.

4. I've been a protestant before, but on Class A and B licensing, not restaurants-taverns. A lot of the problem is that typical residents have a difficult time distinguishing between the different issues involved based on the type of license.

For the most part, my own concern is nuisance consumption of alcoholic beverages in the public space. WRT evening establishments, especially in night life districts, the issue is different, having to do with security, dealing with crowds, violence and/or its potential, etc. Those are serious issues and they need an overall plan and perspective.

WRT to the mention of the Mt. Pleasant initiative, people should check out the Responsible Hospitality Institute.

by Richard Layman on Dec 1, 2010 7:17 pm • link • report