GPCA Meeting Notes – Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Liz Myers, Stoddert PTA Liasion

For more details and recent minutes, please visit the Glover Park Citizens Association web site: www.gpcadc.org

• Police Report – The police force is more aggressively issuing traffic violations, concentrating on cars that fail to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. They recently began conducting sting operations at intersections throughout Northwest to curb the problem. This particular offense is considered an arrest, so the officer in attendance encouraged all to be mindful of the regulations.
• Holiday party – The event will be held from 3:00 to 5:00 pm at Guy Mason Center on December 8. Bring your kids!
• Commercial Zone – Melissa Bird from the DC Office of Planning attended, to address concerns about the liquor license moratorium and vacant store fronts in the area. She intends to organize a committee to work with the DC Economic Partnership and Re-Store DC organizations by December. This group would work to actively recruit appropriate businesses to the neighborhood. Additionally, she mentioned that there are new taxing mechanisms (rates 10 times the norm) that the District can use to encourage landlords to rent their properties, which may help. She also offered the idea that opening the zone to more restaurants with additional liquor licenses could shorten the wait time for filling vacant spaces.
• Liquor License Moratorium – The current moratorium expires in January of 2008. Over the past several months as the issue has been debated, a majority seemed to feel that a modification of the current moratorium, allowing the neighborhood to carefully control any increase in restaurant business, would be the best approach. A motion was made and carried to support making two additional CR class licenses available (permitting sales of beer, wine and spirits in a restaurant). This vote will signal our position to the ANC, where the ABRA looks for input to make decisions. The determination should be made in January, 2008.