A liquor license reveals challenges with living on the border - Greater Greater Washington

Residents who live near DC's border have Maryland residents as neighbors, but local laws often act as though nothing but desert lies beyond Western, Eastern, and Southern Avenues. In Ward 7's Deanwood community, residents are protesting a liquor license in their neighborhood, but any decision will ignore a critical element: Capitol Heights, Maryland.

Uncle Lee's Seafood and Carry-Out, located on the northwest corner of Sheriff Road and Eastern Avenue NE, has applied for a "Retailer A" liquor license, which would allow for the sale of beer, wine, and spirits. In a ward that has more than 20 times the number of stores with an off-premise liquor license than groceries stores, it is safe to say another doesn't rank on the list of community needs.

Even bigger than the issue of an additional license is that there are already two other liquor stores at that intersection on the Prince George's County side of Eastern Avenue.