The Price Of Success In Clarendon
Task Force to Examine Neighbors' Concerns

By Jamie Stockwell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 9, 2006

In response to growing concerns from Clarendon residents upset about some of the rowdy patrons who frequent the neighborhood's numerous bars, county officials have created a task force to study the issue, including whether more police officers should be assigned to the popular commercial area, officials said.

Members of the working group, who represent various county agencies, met with neighborhood civic associations last week to discuss the problems, said Roni Freeman, executive director of the Clarendon Alliance, a public-private partnership chartered by the County Board 20 years ago.

Freeman attended the hour-long meeting, a quarterly session of restaurant owners and residents, and said the group expects to present its findings to county officials this spring.

Diana Sun, a county spokeswoman, said numerous recommendations are expected to be made to the County Board, including suggestions for dealing with public drunkenness, noise, litter and parking problems.

"Things have changed" in Clarendon, Freeman said. "It's a function of the neighborhood and commercial area being so integrated. . . . We're dedicated to making sure that the commercial area is kept alive, and so we want everyone talking to each other about what's going on."

Residents of the popular area have long complained about such nuisances as public urination and littering. And fights sometimes break out over the precious few parking slots.

Residents want more police enforcement, said Mark Weinress, president of the Lyon Village Citizens Association, a community that abuts the bar area. He noted one of the more bizarre incidents that played out there late last month when a group of men got into a fight shortly after leaving Mister Days, one of several popular nightspots. During the altercation, one man's ear was partially bitten off; two men were arrested.

"Mister Days has long been a problem, and now that someone's ear has been bitten off, it's evident that things need to be addressed," Weinress said, adding that the fight was one of a series of disputes fueled by alcohol.

Tiffany Lee, owner of Mister Days, said that though the incident was unfortunate, it is unfair to cast blame on her bar. She said that patrons often hop from one bar to another and that the circumstances surrounding those involved in the ear-biting incident and their time at Mister Days was unclear. Still, she said she and her partner would welcome a stronger police presence.

"Our position is that the area is booming, and real estate property values have increased partly because of businesses like ours and the entertainment district we've helped build up," she said. "We're paying a lot in taxes, but it's not being redistributed into the area the way we wish it would. Over the years, as this area has grown, the police presence hasn't. We'd like to see the government reallocate the money so that more officers are directed here."

Mister Days provides parking for its customers on weekends. A parking lot across the street is available for patrons as well, Lee said. And the bar has a contract with Clarendon House, a rehabilitation program for people with mental illness, to pick up trash on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Still, Weinress said he and his neighbors regularly have to clean up bar patrons' trash, including broken beer bottles left scattered on sidewalks and in yards.

Parking is another contentious issue for patrons and neighborhood residents. Once, for example, two motorists were vying for the same spot on one of the neighborhood streets, where parking is free and legal, when they hit each other, Weinress said. Another time, a motorist parked in front of a homeowner's driveway, angering the man who lives there.

"We're not anti-entertainment or against having these bars in the neighborhood. We frequent them, too," Weinress said, adding that he frequented the bars in Georgetown as a college student and no doubt did some of the same things that now irk him and his neighbors. "This is a lively area, and it's lots of fun. . . . What we want is just more of a police presence so that maybe when the patrons walk out, they will be a little calmer."

Police said the ear-biting incident, which occurred near Mister Days in the 3100 block of Washington Boulevard, is not indicative of the calls to which officers respond on weekends in Clarendon. Although calls for service are up slightly in the neighborhood compared with elsewhere in the county over the past three years, overall crime is still falling, police said. Most of the calls to which officers respond involve nuisance issues such as traffic and noise, police officials said.

Officials said more police resources are deployed to Clarendon on the weekends, with additional officers assigned to the area when the bars close. In addition, police officers work with the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and bar owners in special operations to check for underage drinkers, to make sure IDs are being checked and to ensure that no one is being over-served, officials said.

Other neighborhood establishments have worked with residents to resolve complaints. After neighbors complained about drunk and rowdy patrons of Whitlow's on Wilson walking the quiet residential streets after closing time, Whitlow's agreed to hire an off-duty police officer on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

The officer costs the bar about $37,000 a year, said Freeman of the Clarendon Alliance. And as the neighborhood and business district evolve, other bar owners are worried that they also will have to pay for off-duty officers if residents continue to complain, she said.

The question of who should pay for the extra resources -- should the county task force determine that more officers are needed -- is among the many the working group needs to address, residents and bar owners said.

"To some degree, many folks are long past the 'last straw' and just accept that stuff is going to happen," Weinress said. "It's containing it, keeping it from getting worse and trying to improve the situation that are the top of the agenda. For this, we need regular, frequent and unbiased reviews of permits, open discussions with businesses and the county, and the help of some off-duty officers to keep an eye on things and enforcement of the rules."