My wife and I moved not just to the hill, but down to the home we chose because we can walk our daughter to daycare and back every day. That was the key variable to our calculus. Whatever has been said, I can tell you it’s felt impossible to find childcare. Petite Scholars has been a mirage made real for us.
My jaw dropped when my wife told me about this dispensary application. The possibility of this “proper exotic” within talking distance—not shouting distance —from Petite Scholars threatens to crater the thesis of our move to the Hill. I’ll explain why.
I much appreciate the ongoing community dialogue about the proposed Proper Exotic cannabis dispensary in our neighborhood. The neighborhood has seen many voices emerge to express outrage, and it was a welcome sign of the type of community we wanted to see when we moved, despite the least ideal circumstances. At the October 2025 ANC 6A meeting, Commissioner Mike Velasquez asked the applicant, Musa Al‑Najah, whether the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA) requires armed security guards. Al‑Najah responded that ABCA does not require armed security (dc-gov.zoom.us). When asked if he plans to hire armed guards, he said he would only do so if absolutely necessary and that he currently sees no reason to employ them (dc-gov.zoom.us).
These admissions are a tell. In a block that is a children’s haven and, albeit a commercial zone, but in truth an enclave within a heavy family-focused residential block, would armed guards be necessary in any scenario? The applicant is not concerned about protecting children who might wander in; children cannot even enter the facility.
Instead, he knows his establishment will be a target for crime. Cannabis dispensaries in DC have been repeat targets of armed robbery. A dispensary mere steps from homes, schools, and day‑care centers puts our children — from newborns to high‑schoolers — at risk of stray bullets. A bullet that ricochets off pavement or a building, a wall, the pavement does not care who it hits. Criminals in this city sometimes “pray and spray,” firing indiscriminately and endangering everyone nearby. These are not trained shooters, and the armed robberies are wanton, not disciplined.
These concerns are not theoretical: July 19, 2024, a 2‑year‑old girl named Emily was wounded when gunmen sprayed 22nd St. SE with bullets while her day‑care class was out on a walk; two men were killed, and another man was wounded, and teachers shielding the children could not prevent a stray bullet from striking her (wtop.com). Just months earlier, on May 3, 2024, three‑year‑old Ty’ah Settles was sitting in a parked car on Hartford Street SE when multiple gunshots pierced the vehicle; despite emergency efforts, she died of her injuries, and a year later, police were still searching for her killer (www.wusa9.com). Reread this paragraph.
This can be our future. And it’s not a mere anecdote for me on this issue. This is existential. I implore other parents to engage, be heard – this is not something that will happen to someone else’s kid. A hearing is on the horizon. Please reach out to your ANC or email nopotnearkidsdc@gmail.com for updates on the hearing. The ABCA board values community voices, and after review of past board meetings, that is obvious; they want to hear from you. There are no powdered wigs and j’accuse! – but instead, an earnest effort from ABCA to understand the community and residential ramifications to peace and order. Help them understand.
The applicant emphasized vaults, buzz‑in doors, and 24‑hour cameras as security measures. But none of these hardened security features can stop bullets from leaving the premises if armed robbers strike. ABCA’s checklist may satisfy regulators, yet it does nothing to reassure parents that our block will remain safe. More so, they reinforce the fact the property might be robbed at gun point – where kids are in earshot, they can see it happen.
I urge the ABCA to oppose this license. If armed guards are even a consideration, that alone underscores the danger of placing a high‑value target on a commercial strip where our children walk and play every day.
This is but one aspect of the egregiousness of this high-value target cannabis dispensary close enough to a daycare, a horror film would find it too preposterous.
