A vegetarian restaurant owner’s yearlong battle with a nearby church over whether liquor can legally be served in the establishment has opened up a debate that could change the face of economic development across the city.
Vegetate, which opened in the rapidly regentrifying Shaw neighborhood, has been blocked from serving alcohol because of D.C. law that does not allow new restaurants and bars within 400 feet of any school or city recreation area. Seaton Elementary School is just 334 feet away. A D.C. Council regulatory committee is considering legislation that would give the city’s Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration some leeway in giving exemptions to restaurants that could be a boon to the economic development of a neighborhood.
Council Member Jim Graham, chair of the Consumer and Regulatory Affairs committee, said the city is in a “quandary” in trying to balance economic development and the safety of children. Graham said with the explosion of charter schools, which often locate in nontraditional space likes storefronts and office buildings, the city needs to rethink whether the law is “truly protecting children.”
Dr. Regina Hampton, a frequent customer, said before the restaurant opened the street was filled with people “drinking out of paper bags, looking unkempt with an odor of alcohol and unprotected, used needles laying on the sidewalk.”
Graham, a recovering alcoholic, said any decision the city makes has to go through Charles Burger, chair of the ABRA’s board, who said he isn’t taking a position on the legislation.
