Friday, April 15, 2011
@nycnell: Tru Orleans to Open End of May
Via Twitter comes an update from Nycci Nellis (TheListAreYouOnIt.com) on Tru Orleans. Tru Orleans is a restaurant coming to 400 H Street. They will serve New Orleans style fare, and will sometimes feature live musical entertainment on two levels. They are also planning a sidewalk cafe.
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13 comments:
I think they forgot to say "2012" after "May". And even then, it'd be ambitious.
I mean, there are places that have been fully built-out and ready to go and have taken more than a month from that time to open. That place currently just has a bunch of i-beams as its second story and lord knows where they are on permits and inspections.
I applaud their optimism but, c'mon.
@James, I agree with you. At the ANC back in October, the owner said he will open for New Years (he invited all the commissioners). Than at a community meeting in Nov, he said they will open for Mardi Gras. This was all before they got a Demo Permit.
..Should have hired a permit expediter.
I predict they will be open by Fat Tuesday 2012!
Is an 'expediter' am amelioration of corruption? What can an expediter do that a normal citizen cannot? Do they pay people on the inside?
An expeditor is someone who spends the time and effort running through the permit process for you. Since they spend a great deal of time in the permit office, they have developed professional relationships and know the process intimately. Therefore they are better able to achieve results than someone who really doesn't know. Also, they assist in answering and resolving issues with the permit.
Most commercial projects use an expeditor.
oh, okay, so they are like lobbyists. great...
@anon 11:02
Wrong!! They perform a service. They do not lobby at all. You can expedite the permit process yourself, but if you are busy working a the project, than you hire someone to spend the time doing the paper work and time spent there.
Nearly all commercial projects are done via permit expeditor.
The whole permit system is absolutely corrupt. But, if you want to get anything done you need to use one. Many expediters are former DCRA employees and know the staff and how to navigate the inefficient and bureaucratic morass that is DCRA.
I've personally seen permit expediters walk behind the counter at DCRA, sit down at a DCRA computer and start working on permits. There's an expediter who for many years used a vacant office at the old DCRA as his own office.
I've seen approvals for commercial projects that did not meet basic code standards and did not bear required architectural or engineering stamps. The whole permit process in DC is ridiculous and doesn't really protect the public welfare which is purportedly what it is supposed to do.
Maybe we should just go back to the old days where you just paid a bribe directly to the DCRA official and went on your way rather than having to pay an intermediary to do the bribing for you....
I've personally seen permit expediters walk behind the counter at DCRA, sit down at a DCRA computer and start working on permits.
That sounds about right, sadly this is less about "corruption" and more about that being the most effective way to get things done. If they were truly corrupt I think they'd be more efficient.
I'm starting to lose track of all the new restaurants and bars. I'm waiting for Joe Englert to post a comment saying I told ya so when he was advocating for a cap on the number of bars and restaurants. Or was it just bars? Or just restaurants???
Ok, this clears it up. It is corruption. This is essentially what a development economist would call a 'patron-client' governing relationship. It is rent-seeking, meaning that those who govern require funds directly paid in order to provide benefits from the government. See: Nigeria. The process should not be so corrupt. Is there any media exposure to this? Sounds like it would be a great investigative story.
I enjoyed following the whole entry, I always thought one of the main things to count when you write a blog is learning how to complement the ideas with images, that's exploiting at the maximum the possibilities of a ciber-space! Good work on this entry!
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