RESOLUTION RODMAN’S APPLICATION TO USE ITS RETAILER CLASS A LICENSE, ABRA-108215, AT ITS DC LOCATION
WHEREAS:
- Rodman’s is a combination grocery store / pharmacy / housewares store located on the south end of 5100 Wisconsin Avenue. Many residents value the selection of goods available at Rodman’s at competitive prices.
- For decades Rodman has also sold beer and wine.
- Although on occasion there have been citizen complaints related to trucks cutting through truck-restricted side streets to make deliveries at Rodman’s, complaints which Rodman’s has addressed appropriately, we are unaware of any complaints related to actual beer and wine sales by Rodman’s.
- We understand that Rodman’s has acquired a Retail Class A license, ABRA-108215, but has been unable to use it at its Wisconsin Ave location because ABRA believes it would be “operating within 400 feet of [Paul’s Liquor].”
- We further understand that the legal provision at issue refers to the differences between “establishments,” and that while the northern part of 5100 Wisconsin Avenue, a wide multi-story structure, is within 400 feet of Paul’s Liquor, Rodman’s contends that its establishmentbegins more than 400 feet from Paul’s.
- If this is true, the regulatory language at issue suggests that Rodman’s should not be subject to the 400-foot prohibition.
- Even if ABRA decides that the 400-foot prohibition applies to Rodman’s, ANC 3E believes that if ABRA can grant relief from this prohibition, it would serve the public interest to do so here.
- Rodman’s has been a valuable commercial member of our community for many years and, as mentioned, we have never received complaints related to actual beer and wine sales from Rodman’s.
- We understand that the 400-foot prohibition is intended to protect neighborhoods from excessive public intoxication and related harms associated with concentration of liquor stores in particular neighborhoods.
- Given the nature of Rodman’s commercial operations and its longstanding sales of beer and wine without incident, and the nature of the neighborhood Rodman’s and Paul’s occupy, we do not believe permitting Rodman’s to sell liquor will implicate the concerns the 400-foot prohibition is designed to alleviate.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
- ANC 3E supports Rodman’s application to be permitted to use its Class A license at its Wisconsin Avenue store.
- Should ABRA permit Rodman’s to do so, ANC 3E does not waive any opportunity it would otherwise have to opine on the proposed hours of liquor sale or other issues within ABRA’s purview.
The resolution passed by a vote of __-__-__ at a properly noticed meeting held on May 9, 2019, at which a quorum was present, with Commissioners Bender, Ehrhardt, Hall, McHugh, and Quinn in attendance.
ANC 3E
__________________
by Jonathan Bender
Chairperson