Wu said the changes are aimed at simplifying and streamlining a permitting process that can be difficult to navigate, and reducing the “financial and administrative hurdles that make it harder than it should be to do business” in Boston.
“Our goal is to make city government work the way people actually experience it and to help people accomplish things, not stand in their way,” Wu said Monday at a press conference at Ama at the Atlas, a new Allston restaurant.
“At a time when the federal government is imposing tariffs and other barriers that hurt small businesses, and making it harder for entrepreneurs and all of our community members to succeed, Boston is doing the opposite,” the mayor added. “We’re lowering barriers. We’re making it easier to build, to grow, to create, and that’s how we make our city a home for everyone.”
Wu highlighted four major changes that are set to go into effect.
She said small restaurants, cafes and other community spaces with fewer than 50 seats that don’t serve alcohol will no longer be required to pay a fee to renew their certificate of inspection. The change will remove an administrative step and part of the cost for the permitting process, the mayor said.
Wu said businesses will no longer be required to send physical samples of fabric to a chemist in the city to test for fire safety. Instead, business owners who use upholstered furniture or install window shades can simply provide proof from the manufacturer that the materials meet national fire safety testing standards.
For materials that still require the traditional physical testing, the city has reduced the required testing time from multiple weeks to no more than a week, Wu said.
Another key change, the mayor said, is moving certificate of occupancy applications online for the first time. All inspectional services department applications will be available digitally. An in-person visit to city offices to complete and submit the permitting forms is no longer required, Wu said.
In addition, the inspectional services department is increasing capacity to conduct fire safety reviews, which Wu said “will eliminate an existing bottleneck in the planned review process.”Wu described the city’s overhaul of its permitting process as “a very personal endeavor” for her. She said tackling restaurant permitting was the first major project she took on during her time working for former Mayor Thomas Menino.
She also reflected on the challenges she faced navigating city bureaucracy when going through the permitting process for a small tea cafe she opened to support her struggling family as a young woman in Chicago.
“We want permitting to be a place where you feel like when you reach out to the City of Boston, you’re actually getting access to even more supports and help than you even knew existed, rather than having to battle through a complicated set of red tape,” Wu said. “So we’re cutting that red tape to make this easier.”
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