Several local establishments have learned this spring that getting community approval for a liquor-license extension is no walk in the park.

Georgetown Wine and Spirits agreed to make several concessions last month in exchange for an additional daily business hour after three months of negotiations with the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission. Leopold’s Kafé and Rugby Café have both received a “protest” from the ANC after applying extensions to their business hours and liquor licenses during the ay 1 ANC meeting, according to ANC Administrator Bonnie Hardy.

Under its new business contract, Georgetown Wine and Spirits will operate until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 9 p.m. onday through Thursday, beginning six months after the agreement. The store currently closes at 9 p.m. on weekend nights and 8 p.m. on weekdays.

Store management agreed to several concessions, including allowing that the store will no longer sell single beers, and will no longer offer its delivery services, which had been available during all business hours, after 8 p.m.

In the three months following the commission’s initial rejection of the proposed liquor-license changes earlier this year, Georgetown Wine and Spirits made many attempts to “convince the ANC that what we were trying to do was not going to `adversely impact the peace and quiet of the neighborhood,'” Manager Christianna Sargent said.

Sargent said finding common ground with the commission was a difficult task.

“We were immediately shot down,” she said. “They wouldn’t even listen to our argument.”

In addition to further negotiations with the ANC, Georgetown Wine and Spirits asked residents in the immediate vicinity of the establishment, which is near 27th Street, to sign a petition confirming that the neighborhood would not be adversely affected by the change in hours.

“We had over 200 people within five blocks sign the petition,” Sargent said. “Not a single one of them thought the extra hours would adversely impact the neighborhood.”

Hardy said that the ANC initially protested the store’s proposed changes to ensure the well-being of Georgetown’s citizens.

“A protest just sets up a time period to work out an opportunity for residents who are in the area to be heard from,” she said.

Agreements like this, Hardy said, are typical among local businesses.

“Most establishments in Georgetown have made a voluntary agreement” with the ANC, she said.

Leopold’s Kafé and Rugby Café are in the process of making similar agreements with the ANC, Hardy said.

Leopold’s Kafé, located on Cady’s Alley off of M Street, has requested a 75-person increase in seating capacity, a change in its weekend closing time from 11 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. and an entertainment license, which will allow the establishment to play loud music and instate a cover charge.

Manager Rob Heim said these changes will give the establishment a new atmosphere.

“It might be more of a late-night stop,” he said.

Rugby Café on Wisconsin Avenue has requested to be able to open at 9 a.m. on Sundays and to be permitted to sell alcohol between 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, according to the agenda for the most recent ANC meeting.

Hardy said that both Leopold’s and Rugby’s requests have raised concerns among commissioners.

“The ANC put a protest on each of those on the grounds of peace, order and quiet,” she said.

Nevertheless, Hardy said that the ANC will likely reach an agreement with both establishments.

Leopold’s Kafé and Rugby Café will both appear before ANC in hearings on June 13.