NE Residents Fear Clubs Bill Would Create a 'Red-Light Zone'

"I told Graham he's going to have the fight of his life," said Thomas, who was pleased to see 300 people show up when he called a community meeting to protest the bill last week. "How much of one thing do you want in one neighborhood? This would create a red-light zone."

At today's council session, Thomas said, he will try to weaken Graham's legislation with amendments, including one that would require the clubs to be compatible with the zoning changes in the comprehensive plan for that neighborhood.

Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) said he hoped to mediate a deal between Graham and Thomas before the meeting. Graham said one compromise would limit the liquor license transfers to two establishments that had been forced to move directly by eminent domain.

The strong protests could make compromise difficult. Many Ward 5 residents complain that their community is saturated with nightclubs and worry that the new clubs would attract crime and drain police resources.

"This place was crawling with prostitutes," said Kathy Henderson, a former advisory neighborhood commissioner. "We just got it cleaned up."

They also fear that the clubs will have a negative effect on a $1 billion project with high-rise condominiums and upscale shops by developer James Abdo, a symbol of development along the New York Avenue corridor, bordering Bladensburg Road and Montana Avenue.

"Can you imagine being in your penthouse suite across the street and seeing this kind of establishment and what could be going on in the parking lot?" Ray asked. "Would you buy that?"

The 2120 club owner, Robert Siegel, is an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Ward 6. Siegel purchased the property at 2120 West Virginia Ave. NE last year for $2.6 million and another building at 2046 for $3.9 million.

The club, which sells X-rated magazines, videos and sex paraphernalia, does not serve alcohol, so it did not have to wait for the legislation to be approved to open. Siegel could not be reached to comment.

Not all residents in Ward 5 have been criticizing Graham's proposal, and some say there is nothing to fear from the clubs.

Akua Osei-Bonsu and her partner, Rhonda L. Ward, bought a newly built three-story house for $515,000 about 18 months ago, just blocks from Love nightclub. The 30-something couple say they go to sleep with music blaring, and they are optimistic about the neighborhood.

"I lived near P Street [NW] before Whole Foods came. I worked on U Street during its transition. It will come," said Osei-Bonsu, a real estate agent. "I believe in Ivy City."

Several council members said they sympathize with Thomas's position and oppose the idea of having the cluster of clubs move into one ward, near a residential area.

"I take offense to all those clubs being placed in one ward," said council member Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 7). "If you are a ward representative, you shouldn't impose something in another ward that you wouldn't put in your own."

Other council members said privately that they face a dilemma: alienating Thomas and his constituents or angering the vote-rich gay community. Thomas rejects claims that his reaction to the clubs is based on prejudice against homosexuals.

Steven Lowe of Brookland was the only one to speak in favor of the bill at the community meeting Thomas called last week.

"It feels to me like homophobia," said Lowe, who is gay. "What I hear is a lot of fear. The people who go to these clubs are not bad people."