Trump hotel may lose liquor license
Last week, an Advisory Neighborhood Commission voted unanimously to support a petition that seeks to revoke the Trump International Hotel's liquor license on the grounds that its owner - you know, the president of the United States - is not of "good character." The ANC is not even the one where the luxury hotel is located.
During its July 11 meeting, the commissioners of ANC 4C - which represents several neighborhoods north of the downtown hotel - voted 8 to 0 to support a complaint that looks to strip the hotel of its liquor license. In June, a group of religious and judicial leaders petitioned the D.C.
Alcoholic Beverage Control Board to force the Trump hotel to justify why it should keep its alcohol permit when D.C. law states that license applicants must be of "good character and generally fit for the responsibilities of licensure."
"It is our considered view that Donald Trump, the true and actual owner of the Trump International Hotel, is not a person of good character, doesn't meet the D.C. Code . . . requirements and therefore the license should be revoked," ANC 4C chairman, Bennett Hilley, and vice chair, Charlotte Nugent, wrote in a letter to the director of the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration. (The letter italicized "should." The emphasis, was the authors'.)
Zach Teutsch introduced the resolution to his fellow ANC 4C commissioners. He says that it's "correct and very important" that Washington, D.C., law requires liquor license applicants to be of good character. "And this is a way to see how serious we are about it as a community," he adds.
According to ABRA spokesman Max Bluestein, anyone or any civic group can file a complaint against a licensee, at any time during the license's period, but an ANC cannot file an official protest against a license if the business is not located within 600 feet of its jurisdiction.
What's more, an official protest can be filed only when a liquor license is first being considered by the ABC board or when it's up for renewal, which in the case of the Trump hotel will be in 2019.
