Conditioning Restaurants in Alexandria

On Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018, the Planning Commission adopted a new housing affordability strategy for Old Town’s Southwest Quadrant (more on that in my next post) and grappled with appropriate conditions for new restaurants planned for Del Ray and Old Town. Discussion centered on hours of operation, regulation of noise, outdoor games, and number of seats.

The restaurant cases included Charlie’s on the Avenue, 1501 Mt. Vernon Avenue, the former location of Fireflies, and Augie’s Mussel House, 1106 King Street, formerly Le Gaulois and number of other restaurants in recent years.

Each proposes to intensify restaurant uses in order to succeed in a highly competitive regional marketplace. The proposals highlight the tension between restaurateurs and the city’s regulatory framework as well as between residents seeking to maintain neighborhood quiet and those in search of more vibrancy in Alexandria.

Applicant Requests and Staff Recommendations

In addition to the indoor and streetside dining formerly offered by Fireflies, Charlie’s proposes to include outdoor dining in a portion of the former garden center located next door, at 1503 Mt. Vernon Avenue. The applicant requested 200 total seats, indoors and out (an increase from 100 permitted at Fireflies), outdoor games, an outdoor grill amplified sound for outdoor music, and hours of operation until 1:00 am indoors and 11:00 pm outdoors.

Given the proximity to nearby residences, city staff recommended 80 outdoor seats– with no more than 64 permitted at the garden center site–a limit of two sets of outdoor games, no outdoor speakers or outdoor grilling, and hours no later than 12:00 midnight indoors and 10:00 pm outdoors. The staff report cited a need balance an increase in commercial activity to reduce noise, odor, and parking impacts on the residential neighborhood.

Discussion of the Augie’s proposal focused on the site’s location in the central business district (CBD), where greater activity is generally permitted despite nearby residences. The applicant requested closing hours of 2:00 am outdoors, 86 outdoor seats, outdoor games, and outdoor amplified music. Staff recommended an outdoor closing time of 11:00 pm, 65 outdoor seats, only acoustic outdoor music, and no more than two sets of outdoor games.

Planning Commission Recommendations

In each case, the Planning Commission sought to loosen conditions proposed by staff. At both restaurants, the commission recommended replacing a specific limit on the number of outdoor games (such as cornhole or Jenga) with a more flexible requirement that games be ancillary to the restaurant use (to avoid triggering zoning requirements for amusement enterprises). Commission members generally agreed that conditions specifically regulating noise were a better way of controlling noise than limiting the number of outdoor games.

The commission discussed applicant requests to allow outdoor speakers, but agreed that this standard condition required deeper examination and a possible change in policy rather than an ad hoc change in recommended conditions for each of these cases.

Regarding operating hours, commission members challenged whether 12:00 midnight is a community standard for restaurants in the Mt. Vernon Avenue corridor, since several restaurants have opening hours past midnight. At Charlie’s the commission voted to recommend outdoor dining until 10:00 pm and indoor dining until 1:00 am. For Augie’s, the commission voted to recommend outdoor dining until 1:00 am Thursday through Saturday nights given its location and more permissive noise ordinance standards in the CBD, and 11:00 pm other nights. The commission also recommended approval of 86 outdoor seats at Augie’s, as requested.

City Council will have the final say on each of these cases at its Saturday, September 15, 2018 public hearing. (Planning Commission will also tackle two more restaurant cases, at the 219 King Street restaurant and Urban 116 at 116 King Street, on Thursday, September 6)

Commentary

Alexandria’s business districts—and Old Town, in particular—are in a highly competitive environment, facing many challengers including National Harbor, the Wharf, and a variety of other new and reinvigorated business districts across the region. In 2017 Alexandria chose not to implement a business improvement district to support commerce in the King Street corridor, but the need to grow and to attract new customers to Alexandria remains. With traditional retail fading and the public demanding more experiential retail, the success of our business districts—and indeed, the city government’s own coffers—hinges on innovative retail, restaurant, and entertainment concepts that will attract customers–particularly those under the age of 40–from within and beyond the city limits.

We must reexamine condition language that has been “standard” since special use permits for restaurants were adopted in the early 1990s. In the past year, the city has tackled parking standards for restaurants, retail, and a number of other commercial uses. Standards regarding outdoor noise, games, and hours of operation should also be reviewed for opportunities to provide greater flexibility.

Without reform, we will fail to attract new visitors, because we will fail to lure the commercial enterprises that will attract those visitors to Alexandria.

Addendum

At the continuation of the September Planning Commission hearing on Thursday, September 6, 2018, the commission voted to approve a special use permit for expansion of operations at 219 King Restaurant and for a new take-out window at Urbano 116, now under construction at 116 King Street. The Planning Commission voted to permit the take-out window to operate the same hours as the interior of the restaurant, until 12:00 am Sunday through Wednesday and 2:00 am Thursday through Saturday nights. This was later than the staff recommendation to permit the take-out window to operate until 11:00 pm nightly.

Postscript: Council Action

Council approved special use permits for 219 King, Charlie’s on the Avenue, and Augie’s Mussel House on Saturday, September 15, 2018. Council generally supported the hours of operations and condition language regarding games recommended by the Planning Commission. At Charlie’s and Augie’s, Council also approved conditions permitting limited amplified sound outdoors until 9:00 p.m.

Council also approved the take-out window at Urbano 116 by a very close 4-3 vote.