Georgetown pizza purveyor Philly Pizza (1211 Potomac St. N.W.) lost its fight to stay open in Georgetown during a Board of Zoning Adjustment meeting.
The spot was appealing an Oct. 14 decision to revoke its certificate of occupancy on the grounds that it was operating as a fast-food location instead of a restaurant.
Reports Saxaspeak:
Martin Sullivan, the attorney for the ANC and Neighborhood Commissioner Bill Starrels, cited a lack of dishwasher, the use of disposable dishware, public trashcans, security for crowds and overall carry-out numbers as beyond enough reason to deny Philly's appeal.
Neighborhood residents had been complaining about the late-night noise and trash generated by Philly Pizza -- after all, Georgetown has no desire for an Adams Morgan-style Jumbo Slice, right?
Vox Populi shares testimony from people who live near the pizza spot:
Several of them said that they are often woken between 1 and 3 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays by the sounds of the crowd around Philly Pizza. One of the residents displayed photos a crowd of 15 to 20 people eating pizza out of boxes she had taken with her BlackBerry one Saturday morning in September. Another testified that she felt her safety was threatened after a young man threw an empty six pack of beer at her one night.
If you need your Philly's hit, go soon, but CityPaper reports there is no set schedule for shut-down just yet; the owner says it could be 10 days or six months. The joint will be closing earlier (around midnight or 1 a.m.), though, to try to cooperate with the late-night complaints.
