On December 2, at the 11th hour when many streateries were being torn down, Councilmember Charles Allen rushed to save them at the behest of the restaurant lobby. He pushed an emergency, temporary streateries act through the District Council, up-ending 18 months of rulemaking which had included public hearings and deliberations by the District Department of Transportation (DDOT). Passing unanimously, Allen’s bill lowers fees and allows exemption from the rules.
In the Council’s debate, only Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto, representing Georgetown and Dupont Circle, challenged the bill with an amendment to require a public review of streatery permits. Allen said a review was unnecessary, onerous and costly. She responded, renewal is not review with public input. The streets of the city are a public resource not to be leased without public comment, she said. In the end, Pinto’s amendment passed 9-4. Only three members joined Allen in rejecting public review – Chair Mendelson, Frumin (Ward 3) and Nadeau (Ward 1).
In the debate, Allen never said what ‘exemptions’ would mean. But in his ‘Ward 6 Update,’ issued days after the vote, Allen explained that restaurants wanted streateries they can use “year-round” with roofs and HVAC. In essence they want to build permanent, enclosed structures on public streets for private gain. A stunning precedent.
Pressed for an explanation, Allen told Axios DC, “Go find any modern city – they have outdoor dining. So that’s what we want.“But we have to ask, how do heated, air conditioned, enclosed structures, qualify as outdoor dining? While it is true, Paris is famous for its sidewalk cafes, they are not enclosed structures. They are not in the streets. They are not barricaded by jersey walls to protect tables and patrons from on-coming traffic. Like Paris, DC has many sidewalk cafes with ample opportunity for outdoor dining, but city regulations require that structures on sidewalks be temporary, built so they can be removed on 24-hour notice, because they are on public land. Clearly, Allen and the restaurant lobby do not contemplate removing streateries on 24-hour notice, yet they intend to build them on public streets. What happens when the street needs re-paving? Under Allen’s leadership with the Council’s complicity, we have started on the unenviable model best compared to street scenes in Calcutta, with congested traffic and public health concerns. No city would look at DC streateries and say, “Oh yeah, cut me a big slice of that!”
Streateries are a land grab – great while it’s free. We built our streets to serve our needs for transportation, not dining. During the pandemic we extended a helping hand to restaurants that might otherwise fail. But the COVID emergency is long over and it is time we took our hand back.
DC Safe Streets Coalition has begun a petition to protest the false emergency that upends a deliberate rule-making process for the selfish interests of a lobby above the welfare of the city and its residents. But the Act is temporary and will expire, arguably along with its provisions. Please review our petition and sign it here https://c.org/Fj2DwqBpsf
Nick DelleDonne
703 929 6656