TNA held a community meeting on December 17th to hear from two businesses that are in process of requesting changes to liquor licenses. Approximately 25 people attended, including Sarah Fashbaugh, Community Relations Officer at ABRA, the owner of Mike’s Market/Trinidad Market, a representative of Rose’s Queen Liquor, and three of the ANC 5D Commissioners including Commission Yvonne Buggs, Keisha Shropshire, and Adam Roberts.

There was a lengthy discussion with questions from the community on the process to obtain a liquor license, community input/concerns/protests, community settlement agreements, and laws and regulations. Ms. Fashbaugh provided the number for the ABRA complaint hotline (202-329-6347). This number should be used for issues that ABRA can address by law or to enforce a specific settlement agreement such as sales of ice cups, single sales if prohibited by a specific business, sales to minors, opening or closing times different than approved hours, trash outside the business, etc. Other issues may fall under the purview of the DC Police Department or city services, such as trash and persons blocking the sidewalk, and should be reported to 911 or 311 accordingly. Additional information on ABRA can be found on their website.

Both businesses presented to the community what they request to change in their license. In the case of Mike’s Market or Trinidad Market, they are seeking a new Class A Liquor License. Rose’s Queen was requesting to add Sunday hours (9 am to 7 pm) and to open two hours earlier and close two hours later Monday through Saturday. Community members at the meeting expressed opposition and/or strong reservation about both changes for a number of reasons including but not limited to noise and security issues as well as trash from patrons of the establishments.

On December 18th, the ANC 5D Commission met in a special session to review and vote on these licenses prior to the filing deadline for protests. They unanimously voted to protest both licenses. The representative from Mike’s Market/Trinidad Market was not at the meeting for discussion. The representative of Rose’s Queen Liquors noted that they were retracting their request and would resubmit a revised one to ABRA with a request for Sunday hours but not for extended hours during the week as in the previous request. It was noted during the meeting that the 5th District Police Commander may also be submitting a protest in the case of Rose’s Queen request for extended hours or additional days of liquor sales. This special meeting can be viewed on YouTube.

Any adjacent neighbor to a business or group of five citizens can also submit a protest letter per guidelines on the ABRA website. Residents can also contact Council Members to request that issues with loitering be addressed by the City Council. Currently there are no anti-loitering laws and that is cited by residents, police, and business owners as a factor in trash, police calls for service to address disturbances, and crime.

TNA hosts and sponsors discussions and activities aimed at:

· Building community;
· Promoting harmony among all cultural, racial, and economic groups;
· Maintaining cleaner streets, sidewalks, and alleys;
· Improving utilization of public and private properties within the neighborhood;
· Reducing neighborhood crime and increasing individuals’ sense of security; and
· Helping neighbors represent their interests in front of DC government agencies.

We appreciate the lively discussion at our meeting and the interest in issues related to these businesses in our community. We hope for more of the same in 2016!