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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A small minority should be able to derail the process. That is how we prevent mob rule. A pure democracy can have 51% of the people vote to take your things (or devalue them) without you having any recourse. This is particularly difficult if you have one person owning a large parcel of land and several people who have no financial ties yet can outvote the landowner and devalue his property by changing zoning laws. These are the checks in our system that prevent runaway majorities from forcing their will on the opposition and they are in place in the highest levels of Congress with filibuster powers all the way down to the local level with planning commissions. As has been said many years ago, a democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. Thankfully, our founding fathers put checks in place to control abuses of power.
But let’s be honest, the process has tilted way too far in the direction of not doing anything, ever, when even one person complains. Look at the Hank’s Oyster Bar saga. Look at the Giant on Wisconsin Avenue. I don’t think this is what George Washington had in mind. Good luck, Michael!