At the urging of the ANC DCRA is going to look into whether or not this new Cluck-U-Chicken franchise should be allowed to open in the 1100 block of H Street. The zoning rules dictate that a fast food operation cannot, as a matter of right, be awarded a certificate of occupancy. DCRA will also look into whether some existing fast food restaurants are complying with the conditions of their certificates of occupancy.
7 comments:
E-mail from DCRA:
Mr. Fengler:
On behalf of the Director, Dr. Canavan, I can assure you that no further fast food businesses will be allowed to open on H Street, NE in a C-2-A zone without the required Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) approval. Lenny Douglas, Acting Administrator, Building and Land Regulation Administration, has been instructed to place a "hold" on the issuance of any certificate of occupancy or permit for a "food establishment" on H Street, N.E. By placing this "hold", no certificate of occupancy or permit will be issued "over-the-counter" , but will be required to undergo a final review by the Zoning Administrator. Mr. Douglas and Deputy Director Neil Stanley, who is temporarily serving as the Acting Zoning Administrator, are ensuring that this simple check and balance system is in place and will be forwarding letters to staff explaining the purpose and process.
Theresa D. Lewis, Chief of Staff
Office of the Director
Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs
941 North Capitol Street, NE Suite 9500
Washington, D.C. 20002
Office: (202) 442-8947
e-mail: Theresa.Lewis@dc.gov
Fax: (202) 442-9445
Let me tell you exactly what will happen: An exception will be granted by the DCRA and Cluck U will operate as originally planned. The people that are opening this Cluck U are laughing at all this! Do you really think the DCRA is not going to allow them to open at this point after all that Cluck U has invested? Do you really think that Cluck U will change their format and have a wait staff serving wings on non-paper plates? Cluck U is a formatted establishment and can only exist as a carry out.
I’m not too sure about that. Establishing such a precedent would deal a huge blow to the DCRA’s licensing and enforcement powers. If nothing else, the DCRA will likely be concerned about preserving its authority to prevent businesses from circumventing its rules.
Last Thurdsay, I met Bernard and Duane, two of the managers at Cluck-U. They're pinning their hopes on not being considered fast food, on the grounds that 1) they make food to order; 2) they have seating; 3) they have silverware. These grounds are very loose approximations of the 3 criteria weighed in determining whether a restaurant is fast food, which they obviously had in mind.
I went inside, and they're really walking the line on this one. "Made to order" is calculated to get around the pre-packaged food factor (if 60% of food is pre-packaged, it's more like fast food). Now, you can't tell me that they're going to fry each piece of fried chicken and make all those side orders only after they're ordered.
They have installed seating to reduce the amount of floor space dedicated to purely carry out/queuing, but it's below 10% only if you have very, very thin customers. (10% or more indicates fast food).
The "silverware" and plates were all plastic (serving in primarily disposable containers is more list fast food). They might not want to throw the plastic forks away, but that doesn't mean they're not disposable.
It shouldn't be so hard for DCRA to determine that Cluck-U is "a high volume fast food restaurant," since Cluck-U admits it themselves. Let's hope DCRA get it right.
I think all restaurants that sell wings in to-go containers should be required to walk the neighborhood (defined by a 5 block circ.) and pick up the disgarded chicken bones on the streets, sidewalks, and flower boxes. It is disgusting, unsanitary, and dangerous for our four-legged animals that ingest them!
...and stores that sell cigarettes should pick up the butts on the street and sidewalk.
someone said "I think all restaurants that sell wings in to-go containers should be required to walk the neighborhood (defined by a 5 block circ.) and pick up the disgarded chicken bones on the streets, sidewalks, and flower boxes. It is disgusting, unsanitary, and dangerous for our four-legged animals that ingest them!"
Wow! You think it is the vendor's fault that people are slobs? Who picks up after you? They should enforce the littering fine, not punish the company that sells the product. That's like blaming the gun manufacturer for murder.
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