DC food trucks have grown in number and quality over the last several years, and are now a lunchtime staple in the District’s business corridors. But new regulations would directly undermine food trucks, giving DC workers fewer options and lower-quality food.
Read the rest on GGW.
I was forwarded a copy of an article from the Dupont Current about the proposed liquor license moratorium for a circular area surrounding U Street.
In it, staff writer Alix Pianin uncritically paraphrases lead NIMBY Joan Sterling, “In her research, Sterling found that the U Street area has the highest concentration of alcohol-licensed establishments in the city.” Much of the debate about Ms. Sterling’s proposal has revolved around this assertion, which is the central argument made by her and her small group of allies.
This is the same claim Sterling made in her moratorium petition, filed on behalf of the Residential Action Coalition and the Shaw Dupont Citizens Alliance, which she leads:
No other area of the city has so many license crammed into such a small area… Georgetown, Dupont Circle East and West, and Adams Morgan Moratorium Zones, also contain far fewer licenses, singly, or combined when calculated on the size of the Zone, than the proposed Historic 14th and U Street Corridor Moratorium Zone.
In another part of the petition, she claims:
This area has the greatest concentration of alcohol licensed establishments in the city and in fact is significantly higher than any other current Moratorium Zone.
Luckily for us, she provides the following information about the zones and we can evaluate the accuracy of the central claim of the entire petition based on her own numbers:
Location (Moratorium Radius) Total Number of Liquor Licenses
Adams Morgan (1400′) 85
Dupont East (600′) 19
Dupont West (600′) 33
Georgetown (1800′) 94
Glover Park (1200′) 21
U Street (1800′) 107
At first glance, these numbers might make the concentration of liquor licenses in the different zones look comparable. A gullible person might think that U Street does, indeed, have the highest concentration of liquor licenses. But once you recall some basic math the error becomes obvious: the formula for the area of a circle is radius squared, multiplied by Pi. The area of the proposed U Street moratorium (with an 1800′ radius) isn’t three times larger than the Dupont moratorium zones (with 600′ radii), it is actually nine times larger.
Using her numbers, the U Street zone has concentration of 1.05 liquor licenses per 100,000 square feet. Adams Morgan has 1.38 (31% higher concentration), Dupont East has 1.68 (60% higher concentration), and Dupont West has 2.92 (a whopping 178% higher concentration).
Ms. Sterling’s assertion that the proposed U Street moratorium area has the highest concentration of liquor licenses in the District is not only inaccurate, but obviously so, and by an enormous margin.
If we’re going to have a reasonable discussion about liquor licenses and development in DC then we need to start from true premises. This debate isn’t about whether or not the DC government should put some limits on the neighborhood in DC with the “highest concentration of liquor licenses.”
This is really about whether or not a small group of disgruntled residents is going to be able to stop a growing neighborhood based simply on their own, inaccurate perceptions of U Street.
After seeing yet another proposed liquor license moratorium in DC, I’ve decided to found this group dedicated to creating an environment in the District where residents, small businesses, and neighborhoods can flourish.
It has been too easy for small groups that do not represent most DC residents to derail any kind of new development in DC. With just a few signatures and some complaining, these groups successfully stop businesses and homebuilders from serving the needs of DC residents.
It’s my opinion that DC will be better off with more options for consumers, not fewer. Residents currently face increasingly unaffordable housing, and the only solution to easing this problem is to allow the supply of housing to expand. Allowing developers to build new homes and buildings will lower rents and increase standards of living in the District.
The primary function of this group will be to submit petitions and comments to City Council, Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, and the Alcohol Beverage Control Board in support of the new developments that can provide homes and jobs for our growing community. We will counteract the close-minded voices who speak out against new housing for consumers and new restaurants and businesses that seek to serve our neighborhoods.
I’m not a developer or politician, but I do want to live in a more vibrant District with more options for regular residents like you and me. If you agree, please fill out the form below to join In My Backyard – DC.
-Michael Hamilton
Columbia Heights
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