ANC: Call Your Mother, Trayon White, Alcohol and Cannabis
By • September 9, 2024 0 1287
ANC 2E, the Georgetown-Burleith Advisory Neighborhood Commission, met on Sept. 3 at Georgetown Visitation Prep. All commissioners were present, with Kishan Putta and Paul Maysak participating via Zoom.
Call Your Mother
The Call Your Mother deli saga continues. Owner Andrew Dana, who has applied for a special exemption, spoke about actions he has taken to appease neighbors who hold that the popular bagel shop at 3428 O St. NW creates a community disturbance. They point out that customers sit on the front stoops of surrounding houses and leave trash.
Dana referred to actions such as a letter addressed to the public asking for feedback, an email list enabling neighbors within 200 feet to express concerns, a public seating map, daily trash pick-ups and the creation of a full-time position to ensure compliance with rules. Dana also said that he attempted to purchase seating from Coffee Republic but was refused.
Chris Itteilag, a longtime supporter who lives across the street, said that Call Your Mother should be commended for its commitment to keeping the street in front of the store clean. Itteilag asserted that one vocally opposed neighbor was seen “aggressively verbally accosting” employees and customers. ANC Chair Gwen Lohse requested that Itteilag refrain from personal comments.
On the opposing side, next-door neighbor Neil Emad spoke, claiming that the “streets are becoming an eatery” and that Call Your Mother has shown a lack of respect for the law by undergoing renovations without a proper permit, which D.C. officials allegedly ordered the shop to remove. Emad added that there is no firewall between the two buildings, posing a safety risk for his tenants. Dana responded that he arranged for a contractor to install the firewall, following up five times with Emad to no avail. Emad replied that the contractor had “misdirected” information, leading him to refuse the offer.
“It’s a wonderful business,” Emad said. “It has grown its location, and we should not be supporting a business that does not have a place for their customers to sit and eat.”
Ultimately, the ANC supported the applicant’s request for an area variance to operate a corner store but disagreed regarding the request for a special exemption.
“If the special exemption is granted, ANC 2E urges BZA [Board of Zoning Adjustment] to impose conditions that address the concerns regarding adverse impacts to residential quality of life. ANC 2E welcomes ongoing dialogue,” Lohse stated.
The Board of Zoning Adjustment will decide soon on this matter.
Ward 8 Council Member Trayon White
Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto’s constituent services director, Brian Romanowski, spoke about fall legislative session priorities. First up was the “extremely serious” federal bribery charges facing Ward 8 Council member Trayon White, who was arrested by the FBI on Aug. 18 and formally indicted last week. According to Romanowski, White is being removed from his chairmanship of the Committee on Recreation, Libraries and Youth Affairs, while an ad hoc committee of all other Council members investigates his conduct.
Romanowski said that Pinto is “particularly concerned that these allegations involve contracts for our violence intervention programs,” which fall under Pinto’s chairmanship of the Public Safety Committee, and that she “plans to hold public oversight hearings to evaluate the potential reach of these allegations and to restore public trust in our violence intervention efforts and in the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement.”
Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Applications
Following a reminder for residents to complete the Vision Zero street safety survey due on Sept. 23, the ANC heard from three retailers applying for Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration licenses.
Arcay Chocolates at 3211 O St. NW aims to obtain a Class “C” tavern license in order to offer liquor and chocolate pairings a few times a week in their experiential retail room. Co-owner Dario Berti said that he wants to not only entertain guests with the pairings but to educate them on the marriage between the two.
“Chocolate is something special, and when you combine it with a liquor like an excellent bourbon or whiskey or rum, or sparklings like Champagne and prosecco, it will be something that will delight the time for everyone, so it will be my pleasure to host all of our clients and community,” Berti said.
Georgetown Pantry, a business that plans to offer dry, prepackaged groceries and specialty items at 1515 Wisconsin Ave. NW, is applying for a Class B license to sell liquor and wine.
Finally, Gray Side Design and Consulting applied for a medical marijuana retailer license at 3210 Grace St. NW. Molly Ruland and Carlos Toledo, owners of One Love Massive Health & Wellness Dispensary, shared their desire to bring organic, soil-grown medical dispensary practices to Georgetown, emphasizing farm-to-table style growing and pledging not to be a “drain on this community.”
“This is a full-scale, seed-to-sale, closed-loop operation, meaning we have secured all three licenses to groom, manufacture and retail,” Toledo said. “So, this is not another vape shop. This is a very different approach.”
However, the building’s proximity to Georgetown Montessori School at Grace Church has been questioned, as legally a marijuana dispensary may not be within 400 feet of a school (further measurements will be conducted to determine the distance).
Commissioner Mimsy Lindner expressed concern about the number of applications for medical marijuana licenses for the Georgetown area, stating that there are already five pending approvals in her Single Member District alone.
All three licenses were protested as they negotiate an agreement, as is the standard process for the ANC.
The next ANC 2E meeting will be on Sept. 30.
