Dear Linda Argo, Director
Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs

The Convention Center Community Association (CCCA-online.org) supports the application for outdoor seating submitted by the Toque Café located at 1701 6th Street NW, Washington DC 20001. We believe that outdoor seating will not only enhance the restaurant’s business operations but will likely become a popular neighborhood amenity. We also urge you to facilitate the proper and timely approval of permits and licenses for the restaurant to open and begin operations.

Allowing Toque Café to utilize the space to the south of its building on R Street NW will:

• highlight the presence of a lively business establishment along R Street, which is a busy thoroughfare for motorists and cyclists;
• transform an unused and blighted space, which is usually overgrown with weeds, strewn with litter, and dark at night, into an attractive, lively, bright, and inviting outdoor dining space with decorative plants and planters;
• allow the restaurant business operate at its full potential, which will generate tax dollars for the District of Columbia and provide the maximun number of local job opportunities;
• promote neighborhly interaction among outdoor diners and pedestrians;
• allow the restaurant to maintain a prominent tree on the corner of 6th & R Street NW, which the restaurant management views as an amenity for the community and his business;
• put more eyes on the street which will promote safety in an area that has been a plagued by violent crime;

The CCCA believes that Toque Café and its outdoor seating will help revitalize the local neighborhood. Toque Cafeé's owner has had to endure costly and unreasonable delays in getting his business up an running. These delays not only impact the owner but also the community. We thank you in advance for supporting economic development in Shaw by expediting the swift approval of all licenses and permits.

Sincerely,
Survey respondents to follow.

cc:
Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans
At-Large Councilmember Kwame Brown
At-Large Councilmember Micheal Brown
Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser, Chair of the Committee on Public Services & Consumer Affairs
ANC2C02 Commissioner Kevin Chapple