Future bright for M29, serendipitous for Nathans
• June 18, 2013

Georgetown’s newest retail addition, M29, invited us for a peek at the new place last week in the wake of their grand opening on March 1. The shop, operating under the auspices of the Four Seasons Hotel and labeled a “lifestyle store,” is touted by the owners as the first of its kind in Georgetown. The idea? Eschew any sort of theme or niche and offer up a wide breadth of artisan clothing, accessories, games and knickknacks from which customers can pick and choose.

“It’s meant to be an experience,” says Allyson Wilder, who manages the store’s retail inventory.

Actually, scratch that: inventory’s not the word. In fact, the shop carries no backroom stock of any kind — the items on sale, everything from Moyna handbags to Stewart Stand cufflinks to John Derian’s delicate decoupage, are on display in their entirety, and when they’re gone, well, they’re gone.
It’s part of a shrewd business plan that both discourages customers from passing up on an item they might never see again, and instantly adds value and cachet to wares that quite often are one of a kind. The trademark concept behind M29, though, is that everything in the store — save perhaps the walls and windows — is up for grabs. Customers can buy up a swath of handmade ceramicware and, if they like, the table it sits on.

Named for the intersection where it stands, M29 is distinctly Washington, offering its visitors an industrial, minimalist feel, naturally lit by floor-to-ceiling windows stamped with a rash of cherry blossoms. The store imports items from artisan craftsmen, designers and artists hand picked by Director of Retail Deborah Bush, whose years in the design industry — and the Rolodex to go with it — have afforded her a keen sense of what residents in an affluent, artistic neighborhood might like. So far, she boasts a roster of 35 designers, none of which are local, the idea being to refresh the Georgetown art scene with crafts it won’t find anywhere else.

Experience, indeed.

Also:

It’s been confirmed: Nathans, which has stood gutted and boarded up since the iconic Georgetown restaurant closed last July, will be the new site of Stephen Bruce’s Serendipity 3, a New York-based upscale ice cream parlor famous for its frozen hot chocolate and patronage by Andy Warhol. The effort to bring in the shop was spearheaded by local restaurant owners Rodrigo Garcia and Britt Swan, who signed a contract last Thursday, according to local blogger Kate Michael. Serendipity 3, known in New York’s Upper East Side as one of the most visited corners in the city, could make its debut on M and Wisconsin as early as spring 2010.
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Evans chats up neighbors, ANC
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-At last week’s ANC 2E meeting, Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, always in every place and with little time to spare, managed to pencil in a few minutes to speak to the neighborhood he calls home. The genial Evans, who lives on Georgetown’s P Street, is known for speaking best at the more casual forums he participates in, and at a weekday evening community meeting, he proved as animated as ever.

As chair of the council’s finance committee, his principal concern is the city’s budget, which he deemed “the most pressing issue today.” Evans was optimistic about the city’s financial prospect in what otherwise are gloomy economic times — going so far as to call it “one of the strongest financial entities in America, state, county or city” — but admitted even D.C. is facing considerable budget shortfalls that will need shoring up if the District is to balance out its finances.

He reported a $17 million budget shortfall in the last quarter of fiscal year 2009.

The councilmember diverged onto a variety of topics both of his own choosing and brought up by audience members. He reaffirmed his mission to overhaul Georgetown’s infrastructure, citing his efforts in the mid-’90s to standardize the neighborhood’s sidewalks, which etched their way through the historical avenues in everything from brick to plain dirt. And despite high-profile projects like the trolley rail rehabilitation and P Street traffic experiments, he said the neighborhood’s infrastructure on the whole needs improvement.

One audience member delved further into the budgetary question, with specific regard to the city’s education system, which is making headlines in recent months over Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s firing of 450 teachers, her subsequent gaffes about the incident and general grumbling of constituents over unpopular school and administration changes (of which Georgetown’s Hardy Middle School was one). Evans, who generally favors the Fenty-Rhee education policy, conceded a slight measure of frustration over the school system’s continual requests for additional funding.

“The school system, even with Michelle Rhee in charge, never fails to ask for more money next year than they did this year,” he said. A quarter of the District budget — $1.5 billion — is currently devoted to the school system. Educational funding was frozen last year at the behest of Evans, an effort to control the city’s expenses.

Evans had also earned the umbrage of neighbors during the February blizzard, who lightly accused him of using his position to secure the priority clearing of his home street. He joked with the audience about the rumors being true to incite a little comic relief, before quickly explaining that P Street is the site of several major bus routes.

Crime declining
Lieutenant John Hedgecock of the Metro Police Department gave his monthly crime update, and despite several recent mugging incidents, was happy to report crime in Georgetown overall was down 29 percent from last year. He called attention to a string of iPhone robberies — 14 in the past three months — where the devices are simply snatched from a victim’s hands while speaking on the phone. Hedgecock advised residents to remain vigilant and guard their valuable items and electronics. He also mentioned a sexual assault occurring the day before on 35th and T Streets, but could offer few details at the time. An investigation is ongoing.

Thanks for asking, DDOT
The ANC and a majority of residents applauded the recent test of four-way stop signs at the intersections of 33rd, 34th and Q Streets, which they deemed a vast aesthetic and functional improvement over the stop lights that once controlled traffic there. Less popular was DDOT’s decision to actually replace these lights with stop signs — without first obtaining the ANC’s approval. One neighbor said he was “appalled” at the agency’s skirting of the commission’s weigh-in. ANC Chairman Ron Lewis, in whose district the intersections reside, expressed similar concerns, but said the decision to replace the lights was still the right one. Lewis had personally monitored rush-hour traffic at the intersections every day for the past four weeks.

The commission unanimously passed a retroactive statement supporting the stoplight switch, with a small provision requesting that DDOT consult the ANC, you know, beforehand.

The Outlaw Philly Pizza
Commissioner Bill Starrels gave a markedly exasperated update on the Philly Pizza saga, which, despite what appeared to be final decision handed down by the Department of Consumer and Regulatory affairs, appears to still be in its death throes. We reported last issue that the pizza parlor, despite receiving an order to cease operation, was continuing to sling its saturated slices to partiers under curtailed hours. Starrels said he expected the city to crack down on the establishment with fines and a restraining order, but a D.C. Superior Court hearing slated for March 8 was postponed after the judge recused himself from the case, citing a personal bias.

“Apparently there’s more money in pizza than we originally thought,” Starrels quipped.

Stay tuned.

Twilight for Philly Pizza?
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Like something from a bad horror flick, it was the neighborhood pariah-turned-villain that just kept coming back from the dead.

But on March 10, it looked — lest we jinx ourselves — as if Philly Pizza, or at least the ranch-drizzled pizza slinger as we knew it, may finally have been laid to rest for good. Dust was settling. Neighbors gathered around the restaurant’s drawn shutters to offer up contented smiles, ANC commissioners shook hands, a few students skulked at the crowd’s fringes. Even the mayor made an appearance, opting for a chance to commend the efficacy of the neighborhood constituency. And to take a little credit himself, of course.

“We always do our best work hand in hand with the community,” Fenty said in triumph from his portable lectern, erected before the dark, curtained windows of the pizza parlor that was. At his side were District Attorney General Peter Nickles and DCRA Director Linda Argo, both of whom led their own rah-rah sessions. Nickles said the administration worked closely with District regulation agencies throughout the ordeal to ensure Philly was held strictly to tenets of its operating license.

“This administration is both sensitive to the community and we are persistent,” he said. Argo was a little more hard-nosed.

“If you think the neighbors are going to back down, you’re probably going to end up on the wrong end of the deal,” she said, clearly aiming her comments at Philly owner Mehmet Kocak, who was not present at the gathering.

Philly P’s had vexed residents of Potomac Street for almost a year since it moved in next to Georgetown Cupcake’s former store. Neighbors said patrons, out for a late-night (or early-morning) snack after a night out, routinely thronged around the pizza joint well into the morning hours on weekends, violating noise ordinances and littering on residents’ property. They allege that Kocak was less than cooperative when they voiced their concerns. Georgetown BID operations director John Wiebenson agreed.

“We encourage all business owners to follow all rules and regulations,” he said, adding that the BID attempted several times to reach out to Kocak, with little success. “It was disappointing when [Philly] wouldn’t use us as a resource.”

Fenty took the time to recognize ANC Commissioners Bill Starrels and Ed Solomon, Martin Sullivan, the attorney representing the license revocation effort, and a handful of neighbors who led the charge against what Fenty called “a nuisance business.” After all, it had been a long road uphill.

The day before, a District superior court upheld a Board of Zoning Adjustment decision made last month to close the Potomac Street pizza joint permanently, on the grounds that it was operating chiefly as a carry-out vendor, a violation of its sit-in restaurant license. That BZA ruling was itself an upholding of a similar order by the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs made in November. At the time, Philly received a stay on the cessation order until a BZA ruling could be made. From then on, the issue would undergo a roller coaster ride of appeals and postponements, and when the BZA handed down its final decision, Kocak simply ignored it and kept his restaurant open under reduced hours. Increasingly panicked neighbors and ANC commissioners appealed to the superior court system, but even that route was fraught with pitfalls — on the day of the hearing, the judge recused himself from the case, citing a personal bias. That was just days before the court finally managed to rule that Kocak’s defiance of a District order could render him in contempt of court. The Philly owner quickly capitulated and closed his doors.

Kocak reportedly is applying for a new license from DCRA. His attorney could not be reached for comment.

Starrels, who represents the single-member district where the showdown occurred, was pleased with the mayor’s personal interest and intervention in the case. The pair shook hands amid a swarm of shutter clicks.

“This is an example that the city works,” he said. “We have rules, regulations.” The commissioner led Fenty around the side of the Philly building to show him a jury-rigged ventilation system on the roof, another point of contention with neighbors now under scrutiny by the Old Georgetown Board.

“On a scale of five, this was a five, on the bad side,” Starrels said.

Neighbors who came to watch the public dressing-down were satisfied the outcome. Wolf Wittke, who, with his wife, was one of the most vocal neighbors on the issue, said the DCRA voted unanimously in favor of revocation, a clear indication the issue was cut and dried.

“It’s good to see the city and Georgetown community come together to defy a property and nuisance to the neighborhood,” he said.

Another neighbor simply was glad it was over, that justice had been served.

“You always have to be able to integrate into the community, even if it’s a hassle,” she said.

Powell gets Pythagorean at Dumbarton House
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-On March 15, the Citizens Association of Georgetown gathered to talk a little classical architecture at Q Street’s Dumbarton House, itself a beautiful specimen of neo-classical building techniques.

The point? To show and tell listeners how the iconic houses of Georgetown, now themselves becoming historical artifacts, owe much of their design to the olive-skinned, near-mythical cultures a half world away and over two millennia gone past.

The keynote speaker for the evening was Claudia Powell, who heads up her own eponymously named interior design firm after steeping herself in the fundamentals of ancient architecture at New York’s Institute of Classical Architecture. She lamented the sharp departure of modern architectural education from the tried and true classical methods, and was eager to give Georgetowners a crash course in building buildings, as the Greeks saw it.

Powell first discussed the concept of the golden ratio — which, for the record, is 1 to 1.618 — a proportion found so often in nature that Greek mathematicians, from Pythagoras to Euclid, thought it auspicious enough to use in human constructions. The ratio is found throughout classical architecture.

She went on to point out the finer subtleties of the three Greek columns — the stocky, stoic Doric type, the stately, majestic Ionic style and the florid Corinthian variety — as well as the strange decorative sculpture adorning joints and molding (acanthus leaves, teeth and lambs’ tongues were all favorites with the Greeks).

So, what have flowers of stone to do with Georgetown? As Powell explained, the Federal style borrows heavily from the classical tradition, and as the mecca of early American architecture, it’s tough to walk around Georgetown without seeing your share of columns, friezes and stone ornamentation. The latter is especially prevalent in Dumbarton House — Powell pointed to several examples of gadrooning, a convex, gourd-shaped style of ornamentation, and light fixtures incorporating urns of fire, a staple decoration among ancient structures.

Looks like history has visited the village yet again.

Look out, Ritz-Carlton: Capella Comes to Georgetown
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Capella Hotels and Resorts, founded by Horst Shulze, a former exec at Ritz-Carlton, recently announced plans for a new addition to their swank network of hotels right here in Georgetown. The Washington Business Journal reported the hotel group will renovate the five-story American Trial Lawyers Association building at 1050 31st Street. The finished project, called Capella Georgetown, will feature 48 rooms, a restaurant and rooftop pool. Expect a grand opening in January 2012.

April 2010 ANC Update
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At the ANC 2E’s March 30 meeting, the news was unsettling: crime is on the rise in Georgetown in recent weeks.

In the month of March, the neighborhood experienced a rash of five robberies, along with 11 burglaries across the Metro Police Department’s second district. One mugging victim, Erwin Kalvelagen, even required hospitalization after being tackled and kicked repeatedly on Georgetown’s R Street the morning of March 29. While on a walk just a block from his house, Kalvelagen says he passed by an SUV surrounded by men in the early hours of the morning before he was immediately jumped from behind. The robbers made off with his wallet and managed to purchase quite the pantryful of groceries before his credit cards were canceled. Other than a black eye, Kalvalegan was released from the hospital none the worse for wear. A neighbor even mailed his driver’s license to him after finding it close by the crime scene.

MPD Lieutenant John Hedgecock said the second district police are responding to what he termed an “uptick” in neighborhood crime, partnering with Georgetown University’s police force and broadcasting crime reports over the opt-in text message and email alert system (sign up at alert.dc.gov). Hedgecock said the usual advisories for residents stand: lock doors, remove valuables from cars, be vigilant when walking the neighborhood after dark and use 911 for any suspicious activity.

+ DDOT project manager Mohammed Khalid stopped by to update the commission and neighbors on the trolley tracks project, which will rehabilitate the pockmarked and crevassed surfaces of West Georgetown’s O and P Streets while preserving the aesthetic of the historic streetcar tracks. Khalid said work will begin this summer on the tracks between 35th and 37th Streets and will progress all the way to Wisconsin Avenue during the 18-month project. Residents can expect construction Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. In a resolution, the commission said it “enthusiastically supports” the project, while recommending minor logistical changes to ease traffic through construction areas.

+ Neighbors got the lowdown from Safeway’s Craig Muckle on the reopening of Wisconsin Avenue’s Social Safeway. Muckle reaffirmed the scheduled May 6 opening, and after a little mutual back-patting with commissioners, confirmed the store’s voluntary agreement, which allows for beer and wine sales over extended hours (9 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week) and a 24-hour pharmacy. The company is also reporting the new store will be the “greenest grocery store in town,” citing the building’s LEED certification, drip irrigation system and reflective roof membrane. Take that, Whole Foods.

+ Also reviewed were signing and façade plans for gourmet pizza peddler Il Canale and the forthcoming UGG retail outlet. Commissioners approved a subtle backlit logo sign proposed by the Australian furry boot seller, but nixed a blade sign that would hang outside the store. Also approved was a metal awning design for Il Canale, which is seeking to clean up the previous owner’s sloppy exterior pastiche of design elements.

Georgetown’s 10-Year Plan: Know Before You Go
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-The proposed 10-year plan for Georgetown University is increasingly controversial of late, pitting residents and students against each other in a growing neighborhood controversy about the future of the university. On April 19, Georgetowners will gather for a CAG meeting to address their major concerns and, ideally, make suggestions for an improved plan that compromises between resident and student interests. Will it be easy? Or straightforward? No, and no, but it can be done — if residents show up armed with the right questions, ready to have a frank conversation about the current and future state of the university’s interaction with the community.

As the dialogue progresses, there are several clear issues with the existing plan. Jennifer Altemus, president of CAG, expressed her own frustration in an open letter to the community, writing, “We are extremely disappointed with the process thus far. It appears that community input at the GU sponsored meetings has been ignored.”

In addition to her frustration, Altemus went on to succinctly cite five major concerns with the current 2010 plan that are unacceptable to Georgetowners. A primary issue is the disproportionate amount of University housing in a residential area traditionally made up of single families. Noise and other disturbances were a major concern, with complaints including theft, vandalism and sanitation. Traffic and land use are other veritable concerns.

In our view, three of these issues will most affect the interests of students and residents. As you sit down with your CAG compadres, consider these factors — and the give-and-take solutions necessary to satisfy town and gown alike.

Parking and traffic
For a road system that is already struggling daily with heavy traffic, the proposed increase of 3,375 more graduate and professional students in the 2010 Plan is a staggering prospect. More graduate students undoubtedly means more cars, exacerbating the already clogged roads of Georgetown. To this end, the University has proposed to add 1000 more spaces to the already existing 4,080 spaces. Where exactly will this parking be? How does the University plan to address commuters? (Presently, satellite parking spaces with shuttle access are provided. Rates on campus are discounted for carpools).

But more cars raise another important issue: traffic. The plan proposes to reroute the University bussing system, known as GUTS, to the Canal Street entrance, addressing a recent ANC resolution. Students have raised concerns, however, about the environmental implications of a less-direct route; how much more gas will be consumed from the new route? How can GUTS reduce overall traffic?

Housing
Just as more graduate students means more cars, it also means more housing. And, since the campus itself isn’t getting any bigger, it means more housing off campus. Keep in mind that 84 percent of undergraduates are presently housed on campus, which is more than any other area campus, excepting Gallaudet. To address sanitation concerns, the university also plans to implement a comprehensive trash policy with community clean-ups and a weekly trash patrol. How can the university help mitigate students living in traditionally residential areas? What other housing can the university provide? What measures can the university take to better address neighborhood complaints? How can relations be improved between students and residents?

Our history
With all the proposed growth, the University has included plans to build on the 1789 block, a distressing prospect to residents, since the block is a historic landmark. According to the plan, building on the 1789 block would provide for either graduate or faculty housing and 80 parking spaces, accessible from 37th Street. With the historic fabric threatening to tear, can the university build and maintain the historical integrity of the area?

Working together, Georgetowners will need to create a solution that addresses their major grievances with the current plan. Dialogue on both sides will improve the relationship between residents, the university and students, which, ultimately, should be mutually beneficial; having a renowned campus in the neighborhood, itself an element of Georgetown’s vibrant history, is a great benefit to the community, bringing in the best and brightest students to strengthen and diversify the neighborhood experience.

The CAG meeting will be held on April 19 at St. John’s Church (3240 O Street). The reception starts at 7 p.m. and the program at 7:30.

Heated Words Fly in Campus Battle
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-Georgetown is simmering, change is in the air, and University’s 10-year plan is a polished 2.0 version, new and improved, or so some would say. Last Monday, residents gathered for a meeting with the University, represented by Linda Greenan, Assistant Vice President of External Relations, Alan Brangman, University architect, Todd Olson, Vice President of Student Affairs and Provost James O’Donnell.

To say the meeting was business, cut and dried, simply would not be true.

Residents were indignant. One went so far to exclaim, “My quality of life is terrible … I don’t know when a toga party is going to erupt on my block!”

Toga parties excepted, the 10-year campus plan is taking a definite form as it approaches the final stages of planning. Greenan was clear from the get-go that, “We don’t intend that there will be changes,” which means that the plan presented Monday will be the same plan that will come before the zoning board in late May or early June.

As of the Monday meeting, there are several changes included in the updated plan, such as the removal of the Campus Convocation Center.

For those concerned about toga parties, the plan promises to double the SNAP car patrol, a University program employing a security officer and car to patrol the neighborhood, addressing
noise complaints and other behavior issues. Moreover, there will be two community advisers,
explained as “live-in educational and disciplinary advisers for off-campus students and liaisons to the local community.” They are expected to start in August 2010. Another addition will be three MPD reimbursable detail officers for the academic year as a pilot program. If the program succeeds in the first year, officers will remain during the summer months.

One of the bigger points of contention is the proposed enrollment increases. The University
is protective of its flexibility in projecting growth, as they look forward to creating “innovative
programs that appeal to professionals.” Estimates have been made however, with a projected
graduate increase of approximately 2,475 students, while non-traditional undergraduate enrollment is expected to grow by 104 students, based on 2010 data.

This growth means that the campus itself will be expanding, and one contentious location for growth is the 1789 block. Alan Brangman discussed several key changes regarding this historic area. Brangman was emphatic that all building on the block will take place on University land; no renovation will take place outside campus boundaries. Moreover, the number of graduate beds proposed was reduced from 300 to 120 beds. The building plans themselves also were reduced from five stories to two or three. Parking will be available under this structure, with 10 percent allotted to residents. A ZipCar presence is also a possibility, although nothing has been confirmed yet.

Brangman was insistent that although the plan will be presented to the zoning commission,
“this doesn’t close out the process” and neighborhood input will still be considered. In fact, the University is emphasizing the spirit of collaboration, repeating their commitment that “the dialogue doesn’t stop,” as Greenan stated. In a later meeting with The Georgetowner, she cited changes made in 2006 and 2008 as clear evidence of the University’s commitment to working with the community to better implement the changes. So far, she said, the University has received its share of positive, albeit quiet, feedback from less vociferous neighbors.

“People appreciate Georgetown University,” she said. “They see us as part of the community.” She pointed out that the students had done a lot in the community, both with the University and as individuals: “They are dogwalkers, babysitters … A lot of people like our students.”

Olson, who also talked with us after the forum, recounted a recent Community Clean Up day, with students and residents working side by side to clean up Georgetown. He also pointed out that the University has continually supported Trees for Georgetown and the Georgetown Senior Center. “The large majority of our students deserve and earn our respect,” he said at the forum, advocating minimal police involvement in student conduct issues. He later outlined an “ambitious, evolutionary way” of improving discipline through In fact, data collected by the University even shows that as high as 75 percent of houses that called the University to report problems have never been heard from again.

These statistics raise hopes that an additional SNAP car will be effective in resolving
neighborhood issues. Olson makes the point that calling 911 can take MPD officers off of the streets where they are most needed, drawing them into a situation better suited for a SNAP officer, who can alert the University on the issue and address it appropriately.

Despite what the statistics may be, there is clearly a pervasive neighborhood belief that “it is not enough.” Some residents are angry, feeling that their voices are not being heard, or that they are simply being ignored by the University, which, they claim, is simply pushing the plans through, disregarding many complaints and issues. ANC Chairman Ron Lewis, for one, was vocal, warning the University against disregarding the community’s input as they go forward to the zoning commission.
For its part, the University has expressed its commitment to stay engaged with the community.
“We are constantly out in the community,” Greenan explained. “We are constantly meeting with people.” And while residents have raised “fair issues” in the past, she said recent efforts at civil, one-on-one talks with the community “didn’t get off the ground.”

But in spite of these efforts, many residents are still crying foul. “I feel like we’re here just so you can check a box off with the city,” one neighbor said at the forum, referring to what he perceived was the University’s cursory probing of community input. Clearly, the town and gown tensions are far from settled as the 10-year plan approaches its ultimate review by the zoning commission. If the plan is approved, it will be unclear what role the community will play in planning the joint future of the neighborhood and the campus.

ANC Update: More Liquor Licenses for Georgetown?
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-The Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E’s May meeting began on a sobering note, with the Metro Police Department’s John Hedgecock admitting that Georgetown — and the District at large — has experienced what he called a “spike in violent crime.” The already laconic lieutenant brusquely cited 21 robberies occurring in Georgetown this year, in addition to 22 burglaries (though the latter figure has declined since last year). Hedgecock said that incidents have begun a noticeable shift from business corridors on M Street and Wisconsin Avenue to residential areas, likely due to the BID-sponsored reimbursable detail program keeping watch over the commercial sector. He advised residents to be on high alert after dark or in isolated sections of the neighborhood, to remove valuables from cars and to use 911 for any suspicious activity.

Burleith resident Steve Brown, who raised eyebrows last month after posting photos of partying University students on his none-too-subtly titled blog drunkengeorgetownstudents.com, interjected to report threats made against him by individuals he presumed were students. Brown’s original incarnation of the site, which identified the offending party houses and showed the faces of their residents, drew the ire of the student community and a recommendation from police that he blur any identifying information in his photos. The commission hesitated at Brown’s request for a formal condemnation of the threats, desiring to look into the matter more closely first, but Chairman Ron Lewis piped up with a de facto statement.

“We abhor threats against our residents,” Lewis said emphatically. “[Threats] will be taken very seriously. We urge MPD to do everything in their power … where there is an unlawful threat, to investigate it.” Hedgecock agreed, encouraging residents to call authorities if they ever feel in danger.

A lively and, at times, heated discussion over the upcoming liquor moratorium renewal occupied most of the evening. The restriction on liquor licenses in central Georgetown, last renewed in 2005, expired last month and has been extended until early June, when a meeting of the District’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration will meet to outline the neighborhood’s next round of liquor regulations. While the moratorium was originally instituted to curtail the establishment of restaurants in Georgetown in favor of retail stores, the policy has taken flak in recent years for its inflexibility and the detrimental effect it has on fledgling eateries looking to set up shop. While the total number of licenses has been capped, incoming restaurateurs have decried the fact that 18 licenses are currently in safekeeping (read: sitting unused). The moratorium law allows restaurant owners to hold their license in safekeeping indefinitely until they can find a buyer, even if they no longer operate a food establishment. Defunct licenses in safekeeping, then, have become a finite resource and a valuable commodity in Georgetown, with recent sale prices for licenses stretching into the tens of thousands.

In response, the ANC, under Commissioner Bill Starrels’ leadership, plans to petition ABRA for an increase in the moratorium cap by seven licenses (up from their previous request of two), which Chairman Lewis hoped would ballast the current shortage. The resolution also imposes expiration dates on any licenses in limbo, which would likely drive their value down and encourage licensees to sell faster. Commissioner Charles Eason disagreed with the motion, arguing that existing licenses should be tapped immediately.

“It doesn’t make sense to add two, seven or 50 licenses when there are licenses in safekeeping,” Eason said. He advocated exclusively instituting time limits to shake loose any permits hoarded by former restaurant owners. CAG President Jennifer Altemus piped up in agreement, saying legislation to that end is already being discussed in the city council. Starrels’ resolution, however, was passed by the commission, with only Eason opposed.

Crepe Amour, the owner-rebranded creperie that once housed Amma’s Vegetarian Kitchen, stood up afterward to petition for a 24-hour food service permit, and a half-hour extension to their liquor service hours. Representatives for the sleek café, which also houses a wing bar and 40 seats on its upper level, said “there is ample seating upstairs … We are still a sit-down restaurant.”

But commissioners were leery of a phrase used by the company at last month’s meeting: “grab-and-go.” The board of seven — with the possible exception of University commissioner Aaron Golds — shifted uncomfortably at what sounded like the specter of Philly Pizza, less than a block around the corner.

“I’m very skeptical of the request we have here,” said 2E06 Tom Birch. “I don’t think it’s fair to the community for us to go forward with this,” given the precedent set by the Philly debacle.

Holding a student constituency (and a student himself), Golds defended the restaurant, saying “there are many more seats than [Philly].” He added that he opposed punitive action against an establishment with no ties to earlier troublemakers.

The commission voted to protest the request until further notice.

Morso to Open Thursday
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The much-anticipated Mediterranean eatery Morso will open May 27, located at 3277 M St. The restaurant is the brainchild of tattooed Chef Ed Witt, who originally wowed Bay Area foodies at San Francisco’s Jardiniere. Reservations can be made here.

Morso’s take-out wing, Morso Express, has been open next door since March. While it initially received rocky reviews from a few locals, word on the street is that the menu has improved dramatically. We agree. First timers should try the lamb and pistachio kabob or the chicken pide, a delicious spin on typical flatbread dishes.