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MURIEL BOWSER
MAYOR
September 23, 2025
The Honorable Phil Mendelson
Chairman
Council of the District of Columbia
John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 504
Washington, DC 20004
Dear Chairman Mendelson:
Enclosed for consideration and approval by the Council of the District of Columbia is a proposed
resolution entitled the “Gateway/Langdon Park Moratorium Zone Approval Resolution of 2025.”
The proposed resolution would approve amendments to the Gateway/Langdon Park Moratorium Zone,
which responds to the concerns of residents in that community regarding the impacts of nightlife -related
activity on the quality of life in the neighborhood. In addition to renewing and renaming the previously
imposed moratorium, the rules limit the number of nightclub licenses to three; lift the caps on multipurpose
facility licenses; and allow restaurants and taverns to obtain entertainment endorsements.
Establishment of the moratorium will help preserve peace, order, and quiet in the area; protect pedestrian
and vehicular safety; prevent the overconcentration of licensed establishments; and mitigate detrimental
impacts on public safety.
If you have any questions on this matter, please contact Donovan Anderson, Chair, Alcoholic Beverage
and Cannabis Board, at (202) 442-4423.
I urge the Council to take prompt and favorable action on the enclosed proposed resolution.
Sincerely,
Muriel Bowser
Enclosure
1
2
3 at the request of the Mayor
4
5
6 A PROPOS E D RESOLUTION
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8
9
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11 IN TH E COUNCIL OF TH E DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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16 To approve proposed final rules of the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board to
17 establish the Gateway /Langdon Park Moratorium Zone.
18
19 RESOLVED , BY TH E COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA , that
20 this resolution may be cited as the "Gateway /Langdon Park Moratorium Zone Approval
21 Resolution of 2025".
22 Sec. 2. Pursuant to section 25-21 l(b)(2) of the District of Columbia Official
23 Code , the Council approves the proposed final rulemaking of the Alcoholic Beverage and
24 Cannabis Board to amend Chapter 3 (Limitation on Licenses) of Title 23 (Alcoholic
25 Beverages) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations to establish the
26 Gateway /Langdon Park Moratorium Zone , which was transmitted by the Mayor to the
27 Council on September 23, 2025, and a notice of proposed rulemaking for which was
28 published in the District of C olumbia R egister on June 6, 2025, at 72 DCR 006517.
29 Sec. 3. Transmittal.
30 The Council shall transmit a copy of this resolution, upon its adoption, to the
31 Mayor, the Chairperson of the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board, and the
32 Administrator of the Office of Document s and Administrative Issuances.
1
2
Sec. 4. Fiscal impact statement. 33
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the 34
fiscal impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act 35
of 1975, approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a). 36
Sec. 5. Effective date. 37
This resolution shall take effect immediately. 38
Government of the District of Columbia
Office of the Chief Financial Officer
Glen Lee
Chief Financial Officer
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 203, Washington, DC 20004 (202)727 -2476
www.cfo.dc.gov
MEMORANDUM
TO: The Honorable Phil Mendelson
Chairman, Council of the District of Columbia
FROM: Glen Lee
Chief Financial Officer
DATE: August 27, 2025
SUBJECT: Fiscal Impact Statement – Gateway/Langdon Park Moratorium Zone
Approval Resolution of 2025
REFERENCE: Draft Resolution as provided to the Office of Revenue Analysis on
August 4, 2025
Conclusion
Funds are sufficient in the proposed revised fiscal year 2025 budget and proposed fiscal year 2026
through fiscal year 2029 budget and financial plan to implement the resolution. The Alcohol Beverage
and Cannabis Administration (ABCA) can absorb the costs of enforcing the Gateway/Langdon Park
Moratorium Zone within their existing budgeted resources.
Background
The resolution approves the proposed final rules of the ABCA to Chapter 3 (Limitation on Licenses)
of Title 23 (Alcoholic Beverages) 1 of District of Columbia Municipal Regulations Section 311, which
renews, modifies, and renames the Gateway/Langdon Park Moratorium Zone.2 The ABCA enforces
this moratorium.3
1 Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration. (2022, August). District of Columbia (D.C.) Official Code
Title 25; Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration and D.C. Municipal Regulations Title 23; Alcoholic
Beverages. Retrieved from Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration:
https://abca.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/abra/publication/attachments/ABRA%20Code%20Book%2
0-%20Updated%208-22.pdf
2 The new moratorium zone extends approximately six hundred feet. in all directions from 2135 Queens
Chapel Road, N.E.
3 D.C. Official Code § 25–351.
The Honorable Phil Mendelson
FIS: “Gateway/Langdon Park Moratorium Zone Approval Resolution of 2025 ”, Draft Resolution as provided to
the Office of Revenue Analysis on August 4, 2025
Page 2 of 2
The rulemaking renews and amends the moratorium for three years to limit the number of Retailer
Class CN/DN (Nightclubs) licenses to three ; lifts the cap on Retailer Class CX/DX (Multipurpose
Facility) licenses ; and remove s the prohibition of entertainment endorsements for Retailer Class
CR/DR (Restaurants) and CT/DT (Taverns) licenses.
The ABCA initially adopted the Langdon Park Moratorium Zone, which expired on June 11, 2024, in
2017.4 In March 2024 , Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 5C submitted a resolution
requesting, primarily, that the ABCA renew the Langdon Park moratorium for three years and
maintain the prohibition on issuing new nightclub licenses, but increase the number of allowable
multipurpose facility licenses. ANC 5C also requested that the ABCA remove the prohibition on
entertainment endorsements issued to restaurant/tavern licensees, and that the ABCA consider
renaming the moratorium zone.
In June 2024, the ABCA adopted the Langdon Park Moratorium Zone Notice of Emergency
Rulemaking temporarily extend ing the moratorium . In October 2024, the ABCA adopted the
Gateway/Langdon Park Moratorium Zone Notice of Emergency and Proposed Rulemaking , which
renewed the moratorium for three years, maintained the cap of three permitted licenses for
nightclubs, lifted the cap on multipurpose facilities, and removed the prohibition on entertainment
endorsements for restaurants and taverns. In February 2025, the ABCA adopted a Second Emergency
and Proposed Rulemaking that kept the moratorium in place, but clarified the specific area covered
by the moratorium by delineating boundaries using a map and altering the previous location of
focus.5
In June 2025 , the ABCA adopted and published in the D.C. Register a Notice of Third Emergency
Rulemaking, which expires on October 1, 2025.6
Financial Plan Impact
Funds are sufficient in the proposed revised fiscal year 2025 budget and proposed fiscal year 2026
through fiscal year 2029 budget and financial plan to implement the resolution. The ABCA can absorb
the costs of enforcing the Gateway/Langdon Park Moratorium Zone within their existing budgeted
resources.
4 Council of the District of Columbia Committee on Business and Economic Development. (n.d.). Alcoholic
Beverage Regulation Administrative (“ABRA”) FY 22-23 Performance Oversight Hearing Questions. Retrieved
from https://dccouncil.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/ABRA-FY22-23-Performance-Oversight-Pre-
Hearing-Questions-Final.pdf
5 The previous location of focus for the moratorium zone extended approximately 600 feet from the
intersection of Bladensburg Road, N.E. and 24th Place, N.E., and relied on a verbal description to describe the
boundaries of the moratorium zone.
6 The resolution reports the date of publication as June 6, 2025.
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 409, Washington, D.C. 20004
Phone (202) 262-6402 Email: adele.el-khouri@dc.gov
GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BRIAN L. SCHWALB
ATTORNEY GENERAL
LEGAL COUNSEL DIVISION
MEM
ORANDUM
TO: Jonat
han Berman
Assistant General Counsel
Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration
FROM: Adele El-Khouri
Deputy Attorney General
Legal Counsel Division
DATE: April 7, 2025
SUBJECT: Legal Sufficiency Review of Langdon Park Moratorium Second Emergency and
Proposed Rulemaking
(AR-24-260 B)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
This
memorandum responds to your request that t he Office of the Attorney General conduct a legal
sufficiency review of the above-referenced rulemaking.
This
rulemaking, renews, renames, and modifies the Langdon Park Moratorium Zone, taking into account
extensive public comment. It renews the moratorium for the lifetime of these emergency rules, renames it
the “Gateway/Langdon Park Moratorium Zone,” and modifies it to extend approximately 600 feet in all
directions from an existing alcoholic beverage licensee located on Queens Chapel Road, N.E . See D.C.
Official Code § 25-351(a) (2) (authorizing the Board to declare an alcoholic beverage license moratorium
covering any “locality, section, or portion of the District”).
The rul
emaking, which incorporates changes we recommended and you approved, is legally sufficient. I
have attached a rulemaking transmittal form for your use. You should submit the notice of final rulemaking
to the Office of Documents and Administrative Issuances without coming back to us for certification, unless
(1) there are changes to the substance of the rulemaking we reviewed or (2) there are comments that
question the legality of the rulemaking. If you have any questions regarding this memorandum, please
contact Joshua Turner, Assistant Attorney General, Legal Counsel Division, at 202-442-9834, or me at
(202) 262-6402.
AME/jat