Wu unveils plan to make it easier to open a restaurant in Boston

Mayor Michelle Wu is proposing a slew of changes that, the City said, would cut through “red tape” around opening restaurants, making it easier for would-be restauranteurs to get started in the city.

“By simplifying the permitting process, eliminating duplicate steps, and making information clear and accessible, we are helping more entrepreneurs choose Boston as their homebase, create jobs, and support our neighborhoods,” Wu said in a press release Tuesday.

Wu is proposing that changes be made to city zoning codes over the next several months to remove “unnecessary barriers to transferring ownership” and required zoning review for takeout service. She also proposed modernizing zoning to allow restaurants in more areas, the City of Boston said in the release.

Wu proposed updating the City’s definition of a restaurant to better reflect how modern businesses operate and to make transferring restaurant ownership simpler, the announcement said.

Currently, takeout service is treated as a separate use of a space and requires an additional zoning review when a new owner takes over a restaurant. The zoning change would reduce the time for takeout approval from four months to less than two weeks, the City said in the release. The current months-long review process can delay a restaurant’s opening for months, leaving owners to pay rent without making any revenue, according to the City.

This change “would particularly benefit businesses like coffee shops, bakeries, and ice cream shops whose sole business is based on takeout,” the City said in the release

The Planning Department will also work to change restaurant zoning in commercial and mixed-use districts to allow for more restaurants in existing dining areas. This would expand upon the city’s restaurant zoning changes in Mattapan Square, Roslindale Square, Downtown, and East Boston, all of which occurred over the last five years, the City said.

“These are common sense reforms that will support our small businesses and inject life into our local economy,” Chief of Planning Kairos Shen said in the release. 

Wu also announced Tuesday that Ava Callender Concepcion will take over as the  Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing, Chair of the Boston Licensing Board, and Chair of the Boston Cannabis Board on Nov. 4. Concepcion will work to grant and regulate alcohol and food licenses for restaurants and other establishments, according to an announcement from the City.

The City is also updating its “How to Open a Restaurant” guide and “Start or Grow a Business” webpage to include a simplified process to obtain a Common Victualler license and a Food Service Permit and Entertainment license when ownership changes, the city said.

Proposed zoning changes need to go through an approval process that involves multiple city bodies before they can take effect.

The mayor’s office painted the proposed changes as part of a wider initiative to transform the restaurant permitting process. it pointed to changes from the past five years including the creation of a digital application for certificates of occupancy, a move to simplify the process of obtaining outdoor dining permits, and the expansion of access to liquor licenses in the city.