“There’s always controversy associated with nude dancing”

Thanks to Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) for stating the obvious. Of course, we can add liquor licenses, church parking, high-density/mixed-use/affordable housing and development....well, damn near anything, really. Here's Councilmember Thomas' (D-Ward 5) official response:

For Immediate Release May 8, 2007
Contact: Victoria Leonard-Chambers
Phone: 202.727.8204 Email: vleonardchambers@dccouncil.us

Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. Questions Legality of Bill to Relocate Businesses Displaced by Ballpark

Washington DC - Earlier today, the DC City Council's Committee on Public Works and the Environment voted in support of a bill to permit the one-time relocation of businesses displaced by the new baseball stadium, a move that sends the bill to the entire Council for approval. As currently written, the new bill will eliminates the 600-foot minimum distance between adult clubs, which would enable the clubs to cluster in one location.

Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr., who represents an area in which the clubs are seeking to relocate, questions the authority of the legislation. "The bill may usurp the authority of the Zoning Commission," said Thomas. "The legislation sets a precedent for grouping similar types of business enterprises in a single location, which is not the best public policy."

The legislation overlooks the D.C. Office of Planning, which is conducting small area plans in locations adjacent to the site where the clubs are seeking to relocate. Housing and retail projects that are planned or underway along the New York Avenue corridor are also not accounted for. "We have a system in place for managing the locations of businesses and economic development that includes the public as a decision making partner. We should use that system, not bypass it," noted Thomas.

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