Ask City Council Members Not to Extend Liquor Store Hours

The City Council is about to consider legislation on Tuesday that would expand the hours of operation for Class B license stores [like N-A Minit] until midnight seven days a week [and for Class A license stores, like Excello, until midnight on Saturdays].

Think of N-A Minit, and the problems that come with it, running strong until midnight, night after night after night and you get the picture.

Time is running out, but it's still not too late to contact your City Council member and ask them to strip this amendment from the Alcoholic Beverage Control legislation.

Editor's Note: Council members Adrian Fenty, Jim Graham and Harold Brazil have said recently that they oppose extending liquor store hours. According to a March 10 article in the Northwest Current, Sharon Ambrose supports extending the hours to midnight. The extension of hours was initially proposed by Harold Brazil, who has since said he has changed his mind due to comments from constituents.

The following are letters sent by two area residents and by our Advisory Neighborhood Commission to City Council members in the past few weeks. E-mail addresses, regular addresses and phone numbers for City Council members can be obtained at 724-8000.

I frankly am stunned that this bill was introduced by Mr. Brazil. He moved from his old home on the 1200 block of D Street NE years ago, in large part to take his family members out of an environment where they were confronted with alcohol-fueled problems on a daily basis.

I feel betrayed by Mr. Brazil, as I stayed and did everything citizens were encouraged to do with the protests, etc. And now this setback.

We are already told the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration does not have enough inspectors, the police do not have enough manpower etc.

And at the same time, study after study shows that D.C. residents suffer mightily from alcohol abuse and related illnesses. The cost of that outweighs the pittance in any increased revenues. This needs to be reconsidered immediately.

As a resident and registered voter in Ms. Ambrose's Ward, I will attest to the fact that large numbers of residents are plagued by the noise, litter, loitering, public urination, car traffic and associated drug traffic that surrounds Class A and B liquor establishments located on nearly every block in Northeast D.C.

Increasing operating hours for these establishments in order to increase tax revenue incentivizes exactly the type of substance abuse and problems D.C. leadership has said it wanted to curb, and; 2) runs counter to the "assistance" with these issues Ms. Ambrose and other Council leaders have been promising D.C. residents in their attempts to control the problems in their neighborhoods.

At a time when alcoholism and drug use in the District has reached epidemic proportions and ANCs have been battling city licensing boards and councils to place restrictions on these establishments, I find the D.C. Council's proposal to extend Class A and B operating hours insulting and an outright slap in the face.

Should this measure pass with Ms. Ambrose's endorsement, I promise not only to NOT vote for Ms. Ambrose's re-election, but will work in concert with the significant numbers of concerned, like-minded neighbors to support council candidates in other wards (such as Mr. Brazil's) that better represent the concerns of their taxpaying constituents.

On February 26, 2004 the Committee on Consumer and Regulatory Affairs marked up Bill 15-516, the Omnibus Alcoholic Beverage Amendment Act of 2004. At the Committee mark-up, Council member Brazil offered an amendment titled "Reasonable hours of operation for ABC Retailers Amendment Act of 2003." This legislation extends the hours of operation for Class A establishments until midnight on Saturdays and extends the hours of operation for Class B establishments from 10 p.m. until midnight for the entire week. This amendment was approved.

Our Commission, with a quorum established, voted unanimously at our regularly scheduled monthly meeting on March 11, 2004, to express opposition to this legislation due to the extension of the hours of operation for Class A and Class B establishments. Furthermore, we request that you offer an amendment at the first available opportunity to remove the Brazil Amendment. Councilmember Graham has indicated that he will support the elimination of the proposed extension of operating hours, which assures you a second to your motion. We urge you to take this highly unusual action on your committee's bill for the following reasons:

(1) Extending the hours will not significantly increase total purchases of liquor as ample opportunity currently exists. If extended hours generates increased sales tax revenue, this will certainly be offset by a corresponding increase in demand for police, emergency and sanitation services as the hours for those who currently abuse alcohol will simply be extended.

(2) An overwhelming number of our constituents have expressed opposition to this legislation. In our community, many of the Class B establishments are on residential street corners. Our residents living near these stores are already tolerating the associated noise, loitering, disorderly conduct, and public urination. Currently, these nuisances end at 10:00pm.

(3) Our community had no advance notice of the Brazil amendment. Since the amendment was a surprise, and
there is no opportunity for the public to speak at a committee session to vote on legislation, we would ask that as a matter of fairness and due diligence, this be stricken from the proposed legislation.

In close, we believe immediate action is needed to remove the unacceptable provision of this proposed legislation.