Welcome to the Neighborhood!

Spacycloud Lounge
2309 18th Street NW

CBD BAR  | COFFEE SHOP | ART GALLERY | SKATE SHOP

Important Reminder:
Rules about a-frame sidewalk signage

Sidewalk signage is not permitted to extend more than three (3) feet from the edge of your storefront into the sidewalk. There have been complaints about a number of businesses placing the signs too far from their business and impeding sidewalk traffic. DDOT has been alerted about the issue and will be inspecting the neighborhood to ensure compliance. Businesses that violate the ordinance are subject to fines.

From the DDOT Memo on the topic:

• Placement of A-frame and other portable signs must be consistent with the display of merchandise in public space governed by District of Columbia Municipal Regulation (DCMR) 524-112.
• This regulation authorizes the display of merchandise within three feet (3') of the face of a building.
• The sign should not have a footprint more than three feet by three feet (3 ft. x 3 ft.).
• The allowance of three feet (3') from the face of the building notwithstanding, the sign should not at any time reduce the pedestrian walkway to a clear unobstructed width of less than eight feet (8 ft.) in the Central Business District and six feet (6 ft.) in all other areas of the District.
  
  Failure to follow these guidelines is considered a public space violation. A Notice of Violation will be issued, with associated fines for this violation of public space.

Please be a good neighbor and keep your business's signage within the three foot limit.

"Shut the Front Door DC" is now being enforced

As of April 1, commerical properties in the District of Columbia are required to keep their windows and doors closed when running air conditioners.

All commercial properties must keep their doors and windows closed when the air conditioning is running. Restaurants using connected indoor and outdoor seating areas are excluded.

Why should I close my doors and windows? Open doors and windows allow warm air to circulate indoors, causing HVAC systems to work harder to achieve and maintain set temperatures. During high heat days this can cause high demands on the electrical grid which, when multiplied or concentrated, may lead to brownouts. Over time increases in demand may lead to overloads on the electrical system. A brownout causes a reduction in voltage, which can damage your appliances.

What is a brownout? During a brownout users typically still have power, but less of it, due to a reduction in voltage. Lights dim and electronic devices - especially computers - can be damaged.

If I decide to keep the door open to bring in more customers and pay more money for electricity, what is wrong with that? When you increase the electric demand by keeping your windows and doors open during “peak” hours (i.e. when the energy use is highest), you increase the price of electricity for the entire neighborhood, not just for your store, but even for those owners who keep their windows and doors closed. In addition, high electric demand means electrical lines and transformers, may not adequately meet the needs of your commercial entity.

FINE SCHEDULE

• For the first offense $ 100;
• For the second offense $ 200;
• For the third offense $ 400;
• For the fourth and subsequent offenses $ 800.

Click here for more information

The 2018 CSA season is rapidly approaching!

And so is the Early Bird deadline - April 16.

From our friends at Licking Creek Bend Farm (from the Adams Morgan Farmers Market):

As we are about to enter the 2018 farm season, we hope you will want to be a part of our CSA, visit our farm to see where your food is grown, and be a part of the voices speaking out to preserve healthily grown local food and cherish access to the wonders our earth produces.

WHY A CSA

The intent of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is to partner with the farmer by providing a cash flow to enable the farmer to purchase seeds, hire staff, prepare equipment, plant, nurture and harvest. All of this happens months before the farmer can begin to get income from the sale of produce. The pre-purchase of membership gives the farmer a good sense of how much of our yield is needed for the CSA, which is critical to a smooth operation.

The CSA will start the first week in June.

• We'll have 4 sessions - June-July; August-September; October; and November.
• You can sign up for the entire season or by session. Either way, you need to pay before the session begins. So we encourage you to plan accordingly. Early bird prices apply for the whole season.
• You will get a reminder about two weeks before the beginning of each session, so you should have plenty of time to get your payment to us.

Membership Fee
We are not changing the prices from the last three years even though our costs have risen across the board on seeds, equipment, salaries, etc.! Please check the attached Membership Form for the prices.

Early Bird

If you start off with the early bird price, we will honor that throughout the season if we get your payment before each session begins. If not, then the regular price will apply for that session.

Pro-rating

If you know before you pay that you won't be picking up on particular dates, pro-rate your amount and make sure you write on your form the dates you will not pick up. That is essential for our weekly counts. The Membership Form lists the fees.

Credit

We do not give cash refunds. As is our practice, if you let us know in enough time you will not be picking up that week, we will give you credit towards the next session. Enough time means, before Monday for the Tuesday pickups and before Friday for Saturday pickups. If you just forget to pick one week, we donate your share to a good cause. Obviously, emergency situations are different so please let us know and we will make adjustments. The best reason we've had for not picking up was, "I'm so sorry, I went into labor Saturday morning".

How we operate weekly

To understand why we need to know the numbers each week, here is how we operate:

• We call the farm the day before each pick up. So we call in early (before 8am) Monday mornings for our Tuesday CSA and early Friday morning for our Saturday CSAs. The staff first pick for the CSA. Then the staff picks for our markets and wholesale. So, if we don't have the correct number, we either don't have enough for the CSA, or we have extra that could have been used at our markets for sale. That is why it is so important we have the correct number.

Pick up hours

• We encourage you to try to pick up as soon as possible especially when it is really hot. We keep what we can in water or on ice, and we mist, but the heat can be brutal, as you know, so the sooner you can get your produce in the refrig or inside, the better it will keep for the week.
• If you need to be late, please let us know (for market pickups, we can't stay longer than it takes up to pack up).
• The best way to contact us on pick up days is by phone. 301 587-1739 (home) or 240 505-6281 or 6282 (cells). On market days, we rarely have time to check email so phone calls are best.
• If someone else will be picking up, even with their good intentions, they often forget, so please give us their contact information.

SATURDAY PICK UP: Adams Morgan market CSA pickups start around 9:00am until about 1:00pm.

Don't hesitate to ask us questions. Check out our web site (www.lickingcreekbendfarm.com), which we are in the process of updating with wonderful new pictures and information.

We are excited about the new season. Thanks for your support.

Michael, Esther, Charmaine, Justin, Lauren, Hudson and Stephanie
Licking Creek Bend Farm

Registration is now open for Bike To Work Day 2018