Does DC have to get 90% of neighbors to sign off before licensing a street festival like Adams Morgan Day?

Plain-English summary

In 1988, the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs asked whether the regulation requiring 90% consent from certain neighbors applied to licensing Adams Morgan Day. The opinion distinguished activities on private property from those on public streets and sidewalks.

DCRA Director Donald Murray asked Corporation Counsel Frederick Cooke whether the 90% consent rule applied to Adams Morgan Day. Cooke said no, and explained the structure.

The 90% rule (19 DCMR § 1301.4) is part of a chapter that applies only to events on private property, like a carnival on a vacant lot or a rodeo in a fenced field. The chapter's text says it covers events "in a tent or temporary structure of any kind, on vacant land, or in a yard or area appurtenant to any building." That language reaches private property, not public streets and sidewalks. The history of the regulation confirms this: the original 1925 version required application by "the owner or person in control" of the property, language consistent with private-property events.

For events on public streets, a different chapter applies (19 DCMR Chapter 11). § 1101.5 requires the applicant to file signatures and addresses of at least 51% of adult householders (heads of households or families) and proprietors of business establishments occupying the premises abutting the street to be closed. There is no waiver provision.

The opinion concluded that the 90% private-property consent rule did not apply to Adams Morgan Day activities on public streets and sidewalks. It said that if the event involved temporarily closing a public street, the separate 51% street-closing application rule would apply. It did not find that a street was in fact closed.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1988. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: How is "abutting the street" defined? A: The opinion quoted the regulation's reference to householders and business proprietors occupying premises "abutting the street for which temporary use is requested." It did not define "abutting" further.

Q: What about consent from people who live or work near but not on the closed street? A: The quoted rule counted specified householders and business proprietors occupying premises abutting the street for which temporary use was requested. The opinion did not analyze any other consent or outreach requirement.

Q: Can DC waive either consent rule? A: The opinion said the street-closing regulations contained no provision for waiving the 51% requirement. It did not decide whether any exception applied to the private-property consent rule.

Q: What about emergency or sponsored events? A: The opinion did not discuss emergency or sponsored events. Its street-closing discussion was conditional on whether Adams Morgan Day involved a temporary closing.

Q: Are there other permits required for a DC street festival? A: The opinion addressed the 90% private-property consent rule and the 51% street-closing application rule. It did not discuss other permits.

Q: Does the opinion establish festival licensing rules today? A: No. It interpreted the regulations as they stood in 1988. It did not address later regulatory amendments or changes in agency structure.

Background and statutory framework

DC's special-events licensing has two regulatory chapters that target different settings.

Chapter 13 (Activities on Private Property). 19 DCMR § 1300.1 applies to "a circus, rodeo, carnival, fair, performance, singing, playing of musical or other instruments, dancing or amusement of any kind, or preaching, exhorting, or lecturing" that is "conducted or operated in a tent or temporary structure of any kind, on vacant land, or in a yard or area appurtenant to any building." § 1301.4 requires written consent from 90% of resident housekeepers and business occupants within 500 feet of the property at least 10 days before the event.

The 90% rule has its origin in Article 6, § 4 of the 1925 DC Police Regulations, which required application by "the owner or person in control" of the property. The original and modern texts both contemplate private-property events, where the property owner has primary control and the neighbors are concerned about noise, traffic, and property values.

Chapter 11 (Temporary Use of Public Streets). Originally adopted as Commissioner's Order 67-717 (13 DCR 260, June 5, 1967), Chapter 11 regulates temporary use of public streets by private persons and organizations for "recreational, educational, civic or charitable" activities. § 1101.5 requires each street closure application to be accompanied by signatures and addresses of "at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the adult householders (the head of a household or family) and proprietors of the business establishments occupying the premises abutting the street for which temporary use is requested." No waiver provision exists.

The opinion said the 90% rule did not apply to Adams Morgan Day activities on public streets and sidewalks. It made application of the 51% rule conditional: the street-closing application requirement would apply if the event involved temporarily closing a public street.

Citations and references

Regulations:

• 19 DCMR § 1300.1 (private property events)
• 19 DCMR § 1301.4 (90% neighbor consent)
• 19 DCMR § 1101.5 (51% abutting consent)
• Article 6, § 4 of the 1925 DC Police Regulations (predecessor)
• Commissioner's Order 67-717, 13 DCR 260 (June 5, 1967)

License

This opinion is published by the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia. Per the DC.gov terms of use, content is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, which permits commercial use, redistribution, and modification with attribution.

Source

• Original PDF: https://oag.dc.gov/sites/default/files/2018-02/Opinion-July-2014-Adams-Morgan-Day.pdf

Original opinion text

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OFFICE OF THE CORPORATION COUNSEL
DISTRICT BUILDING
WASHINGTON.

D, C.

20004

IN REPLY REFER TO:

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September 9, 1988
OPINION OF THE CORPORATION COUNSEL
SUBJECT:

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Whether the Department of Consumer and
Regulatory Affairs must obtain the written approval of 90 percent of the neighbors before licensing "Adams-Morgan Day".

Donald G. Murray
Director
Department of Consumer and
Regulatory Affairs
614 H Street, N.W •
Washington, D.C. 20001
Dear Mr. Murray:

This is in reply to Diane Herndonls August 18, 1988, verbal request for legal advice regarding whether the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs must obtain the written approval of 90 percent of the resident housekeepers and occupants of business establishments in the neighborhood before licensing "Adams-Morgan Day". The consent requirement described above is contained in 19 DCMR § 1301.4, which provides: No later than ten (10) days prior to the date on. which an activity is scheduled to commence, the owner, operator, manager, or other person in charge of the activity shall obtain the consent in writing of ninety percent (90%) of the resident housekeepers and occupants of business establishments within a distance of five hundred feet (500') from the perimeter of the lot(s), reservation(s), or parcel(s) of ground on which the activity is to be conducted .

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2

The activities to which this provision appiies are set forth in 19 DCMR § 1300.1: A circus, rodeo, carnival, fair, performance, singing, playing of musical or other instruments, dancing or amusement of any kind, or preaching, exhorting, or lecturing may be conducted or operated in a tent or temporary structure of any kind, on vacant land, or in a yard or area appurtenant to any building, subject to the conditions set forth in this section and § 1301. If Chapter 13 of Title 19 DCMR applied to the "Adams-Morgan Day" event, DCRA would not be legally free to ignore the consent requirement set forth in § 1301.4. However, the language of
§ 1300 applies by its terms to the named events as conducted on private property.1/ Thus, if the Adams-Morgan Day events are conducted only on public streets and sidewalks, Chapter 13 is inapplicable.

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If Adams-Morgan Day will involve the temporary closing of public streets, Title 19 DCMR Chapter 11 applies. 2 / In this regard, 19 DCMR § 1101.5 requires each street closing application to be accompanied by the "signatures and addresses of at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the adult householders (the head of a household or family) and proprietors of the business establishments occupying the premises abutting the street for which temporary use is requested." There is no provision in the regulations for waiving this requirement.

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Frederick D. Cooke, Jr.
Corporation Counsel, D.C.

1/ The history of Chapter 13 confirms that it applies to private property. As originally written, this provision required "the owner or person in control" of the property to apply for a permit. See Article 6, section 4 of the Police Regulations of the District of Columbia (1925 ed.).

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2/
Chapter 11 was originally adopted as Commissioner's Order 67-717 (13 DCR 260, June 5, 1967) to regulate "the temporary use of streets by private persons and organizations for activities of a recreational, educational, civic or charitable nature."