East Boston restaurant owner Phil Frattaroli talks licenses at hearing.
Warning of "vulture capitalists" snapping up the liquor licenses of locally owned restaurants at depressed prices as the restaurants permanently shut because of the pandemic, Boston city councilors today began looking at ways they could pay restaurant owners for their expensive liquor licenses as a way to give them enough capital to get back on their feet. Read more
The Boston City Council today agreed with a request from Councilor Lydia Edwards (East Boston, Charlestown, North End) to look at an ordinance under which local employers would be mandated to let their employees buy monthly MBTA passes as a pre-tax benefit, which would save workers some money and increase T use at a time when local roads are increasingly choked with people driving in from their suburban homes now that they've been priced out of the city.
City Councilor Lydia Edwards (Charlestown, East Boston, North End) is proposing a shake-up of the Zoning Board of Appeal that would include ditching its current requirements that it have representatives of the real-estate and building businesses and trades and replace that with requirements that the board include voting members with expertise in "urban planning and the design of neighborhoods," civil rights and fair housing, affordable housing, one renter, one home owner - and one member with expertise in zoning. Read more.
The Boston City Council today took no action on a resolution by Councilor Althea Garrison (at large) to formally support Boston Police and the local police action against outside agitators "committing crimes of assault against them," instead sending it to a council committee for a hearing and further discussion. Read more.
Normally, Zoning Board of Appeal Chairwoman Christine Araujuo opens the board's biweekly hearings with mundane requests to turn off cell phones and to take conversations outside and with a reminder that the hearings are being video recorded. Yesterday, though, she added a plea to the crowded room: Read more.
The Charlestown Patriot-Bridge reports the City Council is withholding action on people nominated by Mayor Walsh for seats on the Zoning Board of Appeal until they answer a question about what they'd do if the mayor's office approves pot shops closer to each other than the half mile allowed by city ordinance - as it did earlier this year in East Boston. Proposed pot shops need zoning-board approval.
The City Council on Wednesday will consider a proposal by councilors Matt O'Malley (West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain) and Lydia Edwards (North End, Charlestown, East Boston) to have public schools, libraries, community centers and other municipal buildings stock free menstrual products in women's rooms. Read more.
The City Council will consider a proposal by Councilor Lydia Edwards (East Boston, North End, Charlestown) to add the loss of existing homes and federal laws that bar housing discrimination to the list of things developers of large projects in Boston would have to address to win city approval. Read more.
A decision by the mayor's office to approve two marijuana shops less than a half mile apart - in potential violation of a city ordinance - sparked an unusually volatile Zoning Board of Appeal meeting today, during which the board chairman slammed his gavel to the table to restore order at one point, not long after he yelled at a city councilor that she was out of order. Read more.
The City Council today rejected a proposal that would have required hearings on any petitions signed by at least 500 Boston voters. Read more.
The City Council today approved a resolution in support of journalists at the Globe and WBUR who are battling management over workplace conditions and pay and benefits. Read more.
Boston city councilors agreed yesterday to take a look at how to ensure local companies that get tax breaks actually hire all the people or help fund community programs they promised to when receiving city tax breaks. Read more.
Councilors Lydia Edwards (East Boston, Charlestown, North End) and Kim Janey (Roxbury) say the city's current affordable-housing efforts are not enough to stop the Manhattanization of Boston. Read more.
City councilors agreed today to study possible zoning changes that would bar temptation from people going to substance-abuse facilities. Read more.
The City Council agreed today to consider a proposal by councilors Michelle Wu, Kim Janey and Lydia Edwards that would require retail and restaurant chains to get zoning-board approval before opening any new outlets in the city's "local business" districts. Read more.
Airbnb is making it clear this week that not only does it oppose efforts by city councilors to regulate the apartments and condos it advertises, it will take the low road to do it. Read more.
The Board of Appeals today approved the gut rehab and expansion of a decaying triple decker at 187 London St., over the opposition of neighbors who include City Councilor Lydia Edwards. Read more.
The Boston City Council today voted unanimously to support planned student protests over gun violence on March 24 in Boston and across the country. Read more.
Councilor Lydia Edwards (Charlestown, East Boston, North End) today proposed taxes on property speculation as a way to keep Boston from becoming another Manhattan.
The Board of Appeal today approved a total of 27 new residential units across East Boston. Because none are in projects of 10 or more units, all can be sold at market or luxury rates, with no units designated for people making less than the median income.
In a sign of political changes to come in the neighborhood, though, incoming City Councilor Lydia Edwards, who takes office in January, opposed two of the projects supported by outgoing Councilor Sal LaMattina. Read more.
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