North Shaw Moratorium Zone Notice of Emergency and Proposed Rulemaking

The Board voted on October 9, 2024, to give notice of its intent to take final rulemaking action to adopt these rules on a permanent basis in not fewer than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice in the D.C. Register. These rules supersede and replace the prior rules and shall remain in effect for one hundred twenty (120) days, expiring on February 6, 2025, unless superseded by an emergency or final rulemaking. 

The emergency rulemaking creates a new moratorium zone that extends approximately six hundred feet (600 ft.) in all directions from 1909 9th Street, N.W., which is the location of Noah Noal DC, LLC, t/a Sound Bar, holder of a Retailer’s Class CT license (ABRA License No. 122864). Specifically, this rulemaking establishes a moratorium on an emergency basis, and proposes to establish the moratorium on an ongoing basis through final rules, that prohibits the following for a period of three (3) years in the North Shaw Moratorium Zone:

• New Retailer’s Class CN and DN nightclub licenses
• New Retailer’s Class CT and DT tavern licenses
• New Retailer’s Class CX and DX multipurpose facility licenses
• New entertainment endorsements for any on-premises licensed restaurant or tavern to offer entertainment, a cover charge, or facilities for dancing;
• Modifications to existing entertainment endorsements for any on-premises licensed restaurant or tavern to add entertainment, a cover charge, or facilities for dancing;
• A licensed nightclub, multipurpose facility, or restaurant or tavern with an entertainment endorsement from transferring from a location outside of the moratorium zone to a location inside of the moratorium zone
• The Board from granting, within the moratorium zone, a change of license class application for a Class CN, DN, CT, DT, CX (multipurpose facility), or DX (multipurpose facility) retailer’s license.

The full rulemaking is accessible in the attachment.

The Board adopted these rules on an emergency basis to promote the health, safety, and welfare of the community by:

1. Limiting the number of additional taverns, nightclubs, and multipurpose facility licenses that can be applied for and issued in the moratorium zone.
2. Limiting the number of additional new or amended entertainment endorsement, cover charge, and dance floor requests that can be filed with the Board.

All persons desiring to comment on the subject matter of the proposed rulemaking must submit their written comments, not later than thirty (30) days after the date of the publication of this notice in the District of Columbia Register, to [email protected] or by mail or hand delivery to Jonathan Berman, Assistant General Counsel, Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration, 2000 14th Street, N.W., 4th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20009. Copies of the proposed rulemaking can be obtained by contacting Jonathan Berman at the above address.