Chuck Baldwin • June 10, 2016

Following a backlash from the restaurant industry over Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour and the base wage for tipped workers to $7.50, […]

Chuck Baldwin • June 9, 2016

Grace Street Coffee, South Block Juice Co. and SundeVich will be opening their communal doors on Grace Street the week of July 4th. Each excels in one specialty food or […]

Chuck Baldwin •

Georgetown’s only Subway sandwich shop at 3275 M St. NW is empty, but the business is expected to reappear on the opposite corner just across Potomac Street at 3277 M […]

Chuck Baldwin •

Georgetown’s only Subway sandwich shop at 3275 M St. NW is empty, but the business is expected to reappear on the opposite corner just across Potomac Street at 3277 M […]

Chuck Baldwin • June 8, 2016

Georgetown classics, 1789 Restaurant, the Tombs and F. Scott’s, will close for major summer renovations, starting this weekend.

Another …

Chuck Baldwin • May 4, 2016

Glover Park has joined the list of District neighborhoods without a cap on new liquor licenses for restaurants and liquor stores. The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board decided to lift the cap in Glover Park, effective May 3, just shy of a month after Georgetown’s moratorium was allowed to expire April 9. However, the cap on taverns, nightclubs and multipurpose facilities will remain in effect for another five years.

This is potentially good news for the Rite Aid at 2255 Wisconsin Ave. NW, which has argued for lifting the ban on liquor stores since the pharmacy was rejected for a beer and wine license in January, due to the proximity of the Whole Foods nearby. Regulations require businesses with that license be spaced at least 200 feet away from each other. They then applied for a full-service liquor license, which requires a distance of 400 feet between stores with the same license. The Rite Aid is located right between, and at least 400 feet, from the nearest full-service liquor stores: Pearson’s, at 2436 Wisconsin Ave. NW, and Wide World of Wines, at 2201 Wisconsin Ave. NW.

The ABC board will continue to decide on licenses on a case-by-case basis, despite lifting the ban on new licenses, and the Rite-Aid application continues to face opposition from within the community. After a recent Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3B meeting, chair Jackie Blumenthal told The Current, “We have plenty of alcohol availability in Glover Park. It’s a three-block commercial district. We have 24 liquor licenses — that’s quite enough.”

Both the ANC 3B and the Glover Park Citizens Association voted against issuing the license and responses to a community survey were mostly against it. Approval is ultimately up to the ABC Board, which is planning to decide on the matter soon.

Chuck Baldwin •

At a recent Citizens Association of Georgetown meeting, citizens seemed overall quite pleased with presentations by Kevin Brandt, superintendent of the C&O Canal National Historical Park; Terrie Rouse, executive director of the nonprofit Georgetown Heritage; and Maggie Downing of the Business Improvement District, according to Long & Foster’s Roger Carp, who was in attendance.

Brandt presented a brief history of the canal, including photos of how the canal looked in its prime, and described how the canal walls will be disassembled and reassembled, piece by piece, after a new out-of-view concrete footing is poured to replace the wooden footing. New wooden lock gates will also be constructed as the wood has a life expectancy of only 10 years.

Downing discussed future educational programs, while Rouse talked about improvements to the overall amenities and the canal boat. She said the existing replica canal boat is beyond repair, but could be recycled into such things as park benches. Downing talked about plans to build a new boat that could accommodate small functions.

Chuck Baldwin •

D.C.’s minimum wage is scheduled to increase to $11.50 per hour July 1 and will be capped at that rate, following $1 per year increases since July 1, 2014, when the minimum wage increased from $8.25 to $9.50. On Jan. 15, 2014, Mayor Vincent Gray signed the “D.C. Minimum Wage Amendment Act of 2013,” triggering the raises. Maryland’s Montgomery and Prince William counties also increased their minimum wages to $11.50 in 2014.

During her 2016 State of the District address, Mayor Muriel Bowser called for increasing the District’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2020. A voter initiative was approved last July to be on the ballot this November if enough signatures supporting the wage increase are collected.

This year’s increase does not affect the base minimum wage for tipped restaurant workers, which remains at $2.77 per hour, however, if the average earnings (per week) do not equal or exceed $11.50 per hour, the employer must make up the difference.

While labor unions and other progressive groups have praised the moves, restaurant owners and the D.C. Chamber of Commerce have warned that the increases will cause businesses to close and jobs to be cut.

Chuck Baldwin •

In an effort to make advisory neighborhood commissioners more accountable to residents, At-large Council members Anita Bonds and David Grosso introduced “The Advisory Neighborhood Commission Omnibus Amendment Act of 2016” on April 5 to change the way ANCs operate.

Commissioners are elected to represent their neighborhood residents on issues such as zoning, parking, public safety and public works, liquor licenses and economic development, but calls for reform of the system have been rumbling for years amid scandals of abuse, most recently highlighted by the conviction of commissioner William Shelton in Ward 5 for embezzling more than $28,000 from ANC funds.

The bill — which among other things, would require commissioners to share office space and equipment, provide commissioners with a $500 per year stipend and simplify financial reporting — has a number of critics from ANC commissioners such as Kathy Henderson of Ward 5, who said, “The bill is outrageous,” and Mary Cuthbert of Ward 8, who said, “It’s horrible.” Commissioner Gary Butler of Ward 7 said, “I think if commissioners are compensated at perhaps $5,000 or $10,000 a year, you would get a better pool of candidates for the positions.”