Boston city councilor and mayoral candidate Andrea Campbell called for waiving liquor license fees in 2022 and placing a 15 percent cap on Uber Eats-style delivery service fees as part of a platform to help the city’s restaurant industry recover from the pandemic.
The District 4 councilor released a “Restaurant Recovery Plan” this morning, including a study of the city’s liquor licensing system that has fostered racial inequities. The plan calls for a one-year moratorium on liquor license fees, while creating a hospitality division at city hall to cut through red tape needed for restaurateurs to obtain approvals from various departments.
“Opening a new restaurant in the city can be borderline impossible for an independent operator, especially someone doing it for the first time,” the platform states.
The proposals include a study of the liquor license system in which licenses are sold on the private market for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and have created barriers to industry growth in neighborhoods such as Mattapan. The focus will include potentially more equitable license fees set on a neighborhood basis.
Campbell also called for expansion of the relaxed outdoor dining regulations implemented during the pandemic, making street patios permanent while expanding the Open Streets pilot from Newbury Street to areas such as Hanover Street, Harvard Avenue in Allston and others in neighborhoods of color.
The platform also would cap third-party delivery fees for GrubHub-type services at 15 percent, expand partnerships with nonprofits to connect Boston students with hospitality careers and make the COVID-19 vaccines available to restaurant workers.