Wu's restaurant rule changes head to zoning boards, while a council hearing on restaurants still waits

If you have watched a corner coffee shop sit dark for months after it changed hands, Mayor Michelle Wu says part of the reason is a zoning rule, and she wants to change it.

On Tuesday, Oct. 27, Wu announced zoning and permitting changes meant to make it faster to open or take over a restaurant, Boston.com reported. She made the announcement at a cafe in Mattapan, according to the outlet. The Boston Globe and CBS Boston also covered it.

What the city is proposing

According to the city's announcement:

• Takeout. Boston's zoning code treats takeout as a separate use. That can trigger an extra zoning review when a new owner buys an existing restaurant or coffee shop, even if nothing about the business changes. The city would update its zoning definition of a restaurant and drop that review when takeout is the only trigger. The city says this would cut the time for a new owner to open from about four months to under two weeks, and that coffee shops, bakeries and ice cream shops would benefit most.
• Who approves it. The change would go first to the board of the Boston Planning and Development Agency and then to the Zoning Commission, the city said. It plans to propose the zoning updates "over the next several months."
• A wider rezoning. The Planning Department will start a citywide update of restaurant zoning in commercial and mixed-use districts, building on rezonings in Mattapan Square, Roslindale Square, downtown and East Boston over the past five years.
• Paperwork. The city is rewriting its guides on opening a restaurant, with a simpler process for the common victualler license, food service permit and entertainment license when only the ownership changes.

Wu said in the release that Boston is "cutting through red tape so entrepreneurs can open their doors sooner." Chief of Planning Kairos Shen called the changes "common sense reforms."

The Boston Policy Notes newsletter reported that Wu gave few specifics on which bodies must sign off, quoting her as saying "there may be a piece that needs to move through Council or the Zoning Commission." The city's announcement does not mention a City Council vote.

What our records show

The council has talked about restaurants and small-business permits this year, but its own hearings on the subject have not happened yet.

• A restaurant hearing, waiting since August. On Aug. 26, City Councilor Brian Worrell filed an order for a hearing on the challenges facing independent restaurant operators (docket 1604). He said it had been a tough summer for independent restaurants after World Cup and Tall Ships crowds stayed concentrated in a few neighborhoods, and listed streamlining the permit process among the areas for improvement (watch at 1:30:42). Ten councilors are listed as sponsors. It was referred to the Labor and Economic Development Committee, which Worrell chairs, and our records show no hearing on it in the nine weeks since.
• Permitting systems. City Councilor Sharon Durkan's order for a hearing on modernizing city permitting systems, focused on transportation, curb use, construction and development (docket 0506), has been in the City Services Committee since March 11. That day, City Councilor Enrique Pepén said the permitting process "should not be a relic" and pointed to a city event in Roslindale on updating permits for small businesses (watch at 50:49).
• Later hours. Worrell's home rule petition to let Boston allow alcohol sales until 3 a.m. (docket 1236) has been in the Government Operations Committee since June 24. A July resolution backing a state bill for a summer pilot on extended bar hours passed 8-2 (docket 1344).

The changes also land during a turnover at the Licensing Board, which keeps oversight of restaurant licensing under the plan. Ava Callender Concepcion becomes its chair on Nov. 4 (our story).

What's next

The zoning text has not been released. When the city files it, the BPDA board and the Zoning Commission will each hold public hearings, which are posted on the city's public notices page. Worrell's hearing order stays in his committee until he schedules it; its page will show any hearing date.