Does DC have to get 90% of neighbors to sign off before licensing a street festival like Adams Morgan Day?
Plain-English summary
Adams Morgan Day is one of DC's biggest neighborhood festivals, held annually since 1978 on 18th Street in Adams Morgan. In 1988, the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA, since reorganized into the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection and other successors) had a question about which licensing rules applied. DCRA's regulation 19 DCMR § 1301.4 required the operator of a "circus, rodeo, carnival, fair, performance" or similar amusement to obtain written consent from 90% of resident housekeepers and business occupants within 500 feet before getting a license. If that rule applied to Adams Morgan Day, getting 90% sign-off from every business and resident within 500 feet of the festival route would be administratively impossible.
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.
So the rule is straightforward. Adams Morgan Day on the public streets and sidewalks of 18th Street: no 90% private-property consent rule applies, but the 51% street-closure consent rule applies because the festival requires temporarily closing 18th Street.
What this means for you
If you organize a street festival or block party in DC
Two consent rules potentially apply, depending on where your event is:
- Event on public streets requiring closure: Get signatures and addresses from at least 51% of adult heads of households and business proprietors on the blocks you want closed. This is 19 DCMR § 1101.5. There is no waiver. Plan time to canvass; for long routes, this can take weeks.
- Event on private property: Get written consent from 90% of resident housekeepers and business occupants within 500 feet of the property. This is 19 DCMR § 1301.4.
If your event mixes public and private (a street festival with a stage on private property), you may need both. Talk to DC's special events permitting staff early. Coordination with the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, the Mayor's Special Events Task Group, and Metropolitan Police Department is required.
If you organize a single-block neighborhood block party
DC has a streamlined block-party process for residents wanting to close one block of a residential street for a few hours. The 51% consent rule still applies in principle, but for a single block the canvass is manageable, and the application process through MPD's special events unit is well-defined. Check current DC requirements for the simpler block-party permit if your event is on a small scale.
If you live or run a business on Adams Morgan Day's route
You should expect to be canvassed for the 51% consent. If you do not consent, the festival organizer needs additional consents to hit 51%. Sign-offs are typically negotiated months in advance.
If your business needs deliveries on the festival day, plan ahead. Street closure means trucks cannot use 18th Street during festival hours. Coordinate with the festival's logistics team.
If you are a DCRA / DLCP licensing officer
This opinion clarifies the scope of 19 DCMR Chapter 13's 90% consent rule. It does not apply to events on public streets and sidewalks, so do not require it for street festivals. Apply Chapter 11's 51% rule for street closures instead.
For mixed events, identify the public and private components and apply the right rule to each. Talk to the AG's office for novel cases.
If you are a community advocate
The 51% consent rule is your protection against street closures imposed against neighborhood will. If you can rally a majority of households and businesses on a block to oppose a closure, the festival cannot get its permit on that block. Use the rule.
If you support a festival, sign the consent forms when canvassed. Festivals depend on hitting the 51% threshold.
Common questions
Q: How is "abutting the street" defined?
A: A property abuts a street if it has frontage on or direct access to that street. The 51% rule looks at properties along the block being closed.
Q: What about consent from people who live or work near but not on the closed street?
A: They do not count for the 51% calculation under § 1101.5. The rule is keyed to abutting properties, not nearby ones. Of course, festival organizers often try to engage broader community support for political reasons.
Q: Can DC waive either consent rule?
A: The 51% rule has no statutory waiver. The 90% rule for private-property events also has no waiver. Both are mandatory if the rule applies. The first question, as this opinion shows, is whether the rule applies at all.
Q: What about emergency or sponsored events?
A: Federal events, presidential inaugurations, and similar mandated street closures operate under different authorities (e.g., MPD's special operations unit and federal law). Routine community festivals are subject to the 51% rule.
Q: Are there other permits required for a DC street festival?
A: Yes, multiple. Beyond the street-closure consent, festivals need MPD coordination, sound permits if amplified music is involved, vendor licenses for food and merchandise, ABRA permits for alcohol service, fire marshal review for tents and stages, and DPW arrangements for sanitation. Allow several months to assemble the package.
Q: Is this opinion still good in 2026?
A: Yes. 19 DCMR Chapters 11 and 13 remain in force. The 51% and 90% consent rules still apply, with the same private-public split this opinion explains. The DCRA has been split into successor agencies, but the licensing functions and regulations carry forward.
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.
Adams Morgan Day operates in the public-streets framework. The festival closes 18th Street between Florida Avenue and Columbia Road for one Sunday a year. The 51% rule applies because the festival requires street closure. The 90% rule does not apply because the festival is on public streets, not on private property.
The opinion's two-tier structure is sensible. On private property, the property owner already controls the space, so the consent rule protects only adjacent neighbors from spillover effects. On public streets, the public has shared rights, so the consent rule reflects the views of those most directly affected (households and businesses that can no longer access their abutting 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 opinion text
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OFFICE OF THE CORPORATION COUNSEL
DISTRICT BUILDING
WASHINGTON.
D, C.
20004
IN REPLY REFER TO:
LCD:L&O:LNG:Drnck
(88-153)'
September 9, 1988
OPINION OF THE CORPORATION COUNSEL
SUBJECT:
•
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 .
•
•
•
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.
•
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.
\i::r:'j~u
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.).
•
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."