North End Restaurants Speak Out Against Wu's Outdoor Dining Fee

BOSTON — North End Restaurant owners are organizing to take a stand against the fees Boston Mayor Michelle Wu implemented for outdoor dining in Boston's North End neighborhood last week for the rest of this year.

In addition to having to pay a $7,500 fee to participate in the outdoor dining program, North End restaurants will also be charged $458 a month per parking spot used to support the outdoor dining areas, Wu said March 18.

"'We the People', of the North End Restaurant Community, are shocked and dismayed by the harsh requirements, exorbitant fees, and obvious discrimination being imposed on us by Mayor Michelle Wu and the City of Boston in order to be enrolled in the City's Outdoor Dining Program," the group wrote in a letter Thursday.

Read More: North End Restaurants May Have To Pay Fee To Keep Outdoor Dining

As outdoor dining for the rest of the city gears up to start next month, the North End will have to wait until May with a much shorter season, ending in September instead of December like the rest of Boston.

"Additionally, our community is also being singled out with difficult time restrictions i.e. later program start date and earlier program end date, giving other restaurant communities an outdoor dining length of seven months, while ours is only four months," the letter reads. "Again, this feels like discrimination and we are not sure of the 'why'?"

City officials say the fee "is needed to address immediate impacts in this neighborhood for this program," and is based specifically on costs figured out by the city.

Wu says the North End neighborhood has to be handled differently due to the tiny area and already overcrowded streets. "The impacts of outdoor dining, on this neighborhood, are unique because of that density," Wu said. "We want to make sure that everyone has the resources available for a safe, sanitary, clean experience, and one that really addresses all the needs that we see."

Wu added that all the money collected from the fees will go toward rodent and traffic control, cleanup and additional street cleaning.

Restaurant owners, employees, and North End residents alike have expressed frustrations with the hefty fee that no other part of the city has to pay, no matter how tight the quarters.

"Restaurants shouldn't have to pay that much, I mean, no one is really winning in this, but that seems excessive," A Boston bartender and North End resident Sophia Castillo told Patch. "Plus with inflation, how are they supposed to make any money?"

According to NBC10, the North End Restaurant Community organizers are in talks with an attorney about legal action.

"We are requesting that 'The North End Restaurant Community not be charged program fees or monthly fees, and that we be permitted to extend our outdoor seating permanently to September 30, and to be able to do so without restrictions such as 'Good Behavior,'" the letter reads.