7-Eleven, ANC negotiations break down over chicken bones
- Chicken wing bones remain an issue between ANC 6A and 7-Eleven. (Photo: TBD Staff)
H Street NE's ongoing chicken bone saga will be resolved by D.C.'s Board of Zoning Adjustment, after negotiations between the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission and the operator of the 7-Eleven at 957 H St. NE ended without a final agreement in place this week.
As you may recall, ANC 6A decided back in September to file an appeal of the 7-Eleven's certificate of occupancy on the premise that the convenience store derives more than 15 percent of its sales from fast food items, things like chicken wings, nachos and hot dogs. The ANC has long been concerned about the overall amount of trash potentially generated by the new convenience store due to their fast food offerings, and has been using the threat of its appeal as a point of leverage during negotiations over the past couple of months.
But those talks have ceased at this point, and the ANC will proceed with its appeal at a hearing set for Dec. 7, according to commissioner Drew Ronneberg, who has been leading the negotiations for the commission. The sticking point? Those pesky chicken bones.
In an earlier committee report, the ANC specifically outlined its concerns about bones from chicken wings sold at the store ending up on the street, potentially "attracting vermin, such as squirrels and rats, and also causing neighborhood dogs to choke."
Nancy Wade, a regional 7-Eleven representative who has been working with the franchisee in its dealings with the ANC, says the store's operator did sign an agreement about trash, but that the chicken wing issue has yet to be resolved.
"We have every intention of working with the ANC ... it's just that one term we could not come to an agreement on," she says.
The timing of this chicken bone stalemate is especially interesting given 7-Eleven's recent all-out promotion of its new boneless wings. The ANC had previously hoped that 7-Eleven would agree to stop selling the boned variety once the chain's boneless wings became widely available, which they are as of earlier this month. But now it seems the H Street 7-Eleven may not be willing to give up offering both.
"It's very disappointing," says Ronneberg. "I thought we had an agreement, but we don't, so we are moving forward" with the appeal.
4 Comments
Steve Lucas
Most of the chicken bones from around that 7/11 come from bagged trash near neighboring homes. Squirrels need to chew on bones to keep their teeth sharp, so they can eat acorns and other food. Also, you can throw the bones away, but the squirrels will get in and take them out. The solution is to leave a few bones on the ground. One every 10 feet or so along the sidewalk would be enough. Then they would not be scavenging. As far as dogs, the DC has a leash law -- all dogs are to be on a leach 4 feet in length, or less. That means none of those retractable leashes that extend 20 feet or so. Obey the law and your dog won't be scarfing up bones.
TJ T
It's a shame that the customers that were buying said boned chicken would just THROW THE BONES IN THE TRASH, but I guess that's asking for too much.
Chris Pulaski
For real! But instead of expecting people to, you know, act like human beings, let's make a law/policy against. And in the event where it's not people discarding the bones, you'd think maybe these extremely concerned citizens could form some kind of volunteer group to clean up the sidewalks. Oops, sorry. I didn't mean to imply that people who are complaining should actually have to lift a finger.
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