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Voluntary or not?
ABC Board, council to review agreements
(Published September
8, 2003)
By ERIN
HENK
Staff Writer
The recent unanimous vote by Mount Pleasant’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission to amend so-called "voluntary agreements" with establishments that dispense alcoholic beverages has sparked strong feelings.
Many D.C. residents are expressing doubts that the ANC’s vote will carry any weight with the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, while others are applauding the ANC’s effort to change what many view as an undemocratic process.
The Mount Pleasant ANC’s vote is expected to be considered by the ABC Board in early September. In Mount Pleasant, the voluntary agreements were signed between the Mount Pleasant Neighborhood Alliance (MPNA) and the neighborhood business owners. Members of neighborhood alliance said they feel that the Mount Pleasant ANC is not in a position to amend these agreements, since it was not a party to their signing.
The motion to amend the agreements was brought to the ANC’s attention by longtime Mount Pleasant resident Rick Massoumi. Massoumi, who collected 308 signatures from Mount Pleasant residents in a two-week period, called these agreements nothing more than "forced capitulation."
Massoumi’s motion calls for the ABC Board to review the class C and D alcohol licenses in Mount Pleasant and remove restrictions which prohibit business owners from hosting live music performances, restrict advertising in particular areas, and restrict an establishment owner from selling a business to another ABC licensee.
This is the first time an outside party who was not originally a part of a voluntary agreement has made a motion to amend the agreement. Whether or not they are permitted to do so is not specified in the law. This is a novel issue, said Niquelle Allen, attorney adviser for the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA).
Laurie Collins, a member of the ABC Board and member of the MPNA, said that the petition of 308 signatures is not necessarily representative of the opinions of all 1,200 Mount Pleasant residents. Also, Collins stated that due to the fact that the law says only the parties who signed the agreement can change it, the Mount Pleasant ANC has no standing in the situation.
"They’re [Advisory Neighborhood Commission] not a party to the piece of paper," she said.
Voluntary agreements, also sometimes called "cooperative agreements," were designed as a way for citizens to voice their concern over ABC-licensed establishments that they feel have a negative effect on the neighborhood. The voluntary agreement process enables a minimum of five community members or a community organization to "protest" a concern they have over an establishment obtaining or renewing its liquor license. Steps to alleviate those concerns become a part of the license requirements once the conditions are inspected and approved by the ABC Board.
However, many believe the agreements have become too restrictive and that the process of putting the agreements into effect is a case of a small group of people who are able to preside over the majority.
"These groups can basically make private law," said Natalie Avery, a member of Stand for Our Neighbors, a group dedicated to raising awareness of poverty and injustice in Mount Pleasant.
Controversy over voluntary agreements is not limited to the confines of Mount Pleasant; many residents and business owners are voicing their concern over the effects the voluntary agreements have had over D.C. commercial areas as a whole.
Denis James, executive vice president of the Kalorama Citizens Association, has been a party to many voluntary agreements in his neighborhood. James said he views the agreements as a business tool to solve contested problems. The community needs a way to deal with businesses that are not acting appropriately, James said.
"We’re trying to keep a good community," said James, an Adams Morgan resident since 1971. He said with an increase in ABC businesses, there has been an increase in problems with parking hassles, higher crime rates and drug problems. Since experiencing these problems, it has become the KCA’s policy to require voluntary agreements with all the new restaurants.
"It’s criminalizing them [the ABC businesses] before they’ve done anything," said Constantine Stavropoulos, owner of Tryst and The Diner in Adams Morgan. Stavropoulos said he had difficulties with a voluntary agreement when he opened Tryst six years ago.
"If you don’t sign the agreements, you must be prepared to go through a fight," he said.
Stavropoulos described the voluntary agreements as something which was once an excellent tool, but since its initiation has become abused.
"We have had many establishments in Adams Morgan that were bad players, who didn’t cleanup or were risks to others, and in those cases the voluntary agreements were okay," he said.
"Many businesses go bankrupt before they even open the door," said Bill Dougan, owner of Madam’s Organ in Adams Morgan. Dougan said many business owners, especially smaller business owners, do not have the time or the money to fight the agreements and are often faced with no other option than to comply with the terms.
"It amounts to economic blackmail against smaller businesses," he said.
Much of the debate over the voluntary agreements is sparked over the fact that many business owners are restricted from holding live music performances in their establishments. There are some who feel voluntary agreements are infringing upon the very cultural identity which residents deem invaluable to the community.
Jaime Carillo has been a resident of Mount Pleasant since 1972 and opened Don Jaime’s restaurant in 1995. Carillo said the voluntary agreements have affected his business tremendously. Once open every night for dinner, Don Jaime’s now only serves dinner Friday through Sunday and is open every morning for breakfast and lunch. Carillo attributes much of his loss in business to the fact that the voluntary agreement part of his license restricts him from having live music, happy hours and advertising – all factors that contributed to the strength of his business.
"We need to have changes in the voluntary agreements," said Carillo, who feels that many business owners do not have the financial means to fight the agreements. Carillo said that Don Jaime’s is surviving because he owns the property, yet this is not always the case with those business owners who rent their space.
"People are tired, beaten up, broken in a city that has a hard time keeping businesses," said Dougan. "These agreements keep people from opening up in new places. The voluntary agreements have galvanized people – not just business owners, but also artists and musicians."
Avery said she is "scared about what the city is becoming ... a divided, joyless place."
"Part of living in a city is to challenge yourself and to cross borders," she said. "It’s not about sanitizing the area."
Billy Martin, owner of Martin’s Tavern, which has been in Georgetown for the past 70 years, said that the neighborhood in itself has diminished.
"Fifteen years ago there were a whole bunch of bars and restaurants in Georgetown that are not here anymore, or have since gone upscale," said Martin.
He described voluntary agreements as an oxymoron.
"You’re making an agreement and you’re locked into it – the whole issue is confusing to me," said Martin, who expressed his feeling that there are other ways to handle problems in the community.
Although, Martin’s Tavern has occasionally been asked to control its noise level, Martin said he has never been asked to sign a voluntary agreement.
"Unfortunately, what happens here is businesses doing business in residential communities," said Martin. "It is a battle that has gone on and will go on forever."
Kurt Miller, director of development for Austin Grill Inc., experienced some difficulty a few years ago at Austin Grill’s Glover Park location. Austin Grill, which shares its trash area with three other businesses, was told that if their trash was not properly maintained, their liquor license renewal would be threatened.
"We couldn’t believe that they took this route," said Miller, who said he felt that is was unfair for Austin Grill to have been the only establishment that was held accountable for the trash problem.
"They failed to realize it wasn’t just one business that was contributing to the trash problem. We had no choice, but we love the neighborhood, these are our customers and we would do anything to satisfy them," said Miller.
Rob Halligan, a Dupont Circle advisory neighborhood commissioner, said that some voluntary agreements have ripped the community apart. However, in an area like Dupont where there are 200 liquor-licensed establishments, voluntary agreements are an effective means of keeping hassles out of the community, he said.
Jim Berry, chairman of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 5C, said that his ANC began about six years ago to require all ABC licensees, or as many as possible, to sign a voluntary agreement.
It’s an attempt to "get our arms around the problem," said Berry. "We’re just trying to get them to share in the responsibility for the neighborhood."
Berry cites trash excesses, parking problems, alcohol sales to minors, alcohol single sales and improper signs as some of the problems Ward 5 has encountered with its Class A and Class B licensees – liquor stores or smaller grocery stores that sell beer and wine. Berry said that his Advisory Neighborhood Commission has had some difficulties with establishments in the past and that many ABC businesses do not have an incentive to take care of certain regulations if they have not taken part in signing the agreements.
"Voluntary agreements should be given special consideration for where the community is; they should be enforced to accommodate some of the neighborhood concerns, not just to object for the sake of objecting," he said.
Mark Lee, a D.C. resident and special events producer for ATLAS Events, said he feels that restricting liquor-licensed establishments through voluntary agreements doesn’t speak to sensible economic development.
"We don’t need to be removing incentives of urban life if we’re trying to attract 100,000 new people to the city," said Lee.
In addition to the ABC Board’s consideration of the Mount Pleasant Advisory Neighborhood Commission’s motion to amend the voluntary agreements, D.C. council member Sharon Ambrose, head of Committee on Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, will hold public hearings to reconsider ABC regulations. Earlier in the year, two separate groups appointed by city officials compiled unanimous recommendations for the ABC regulations, which include investigating the legitimate scope of the regulation implications and their effect on economic well being, amongst other things. The voluntary agreements are expected to be addressed during the committee hearings.
Copyright 2003, The Common Denominator