Restaurant owners continue to argue that it’s unfair that the North End faces more restrictions to outdoor dining than any other neighborhood in the city, and now they’re escalating their battle in court with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
Twenty-one North End restaurant owners and the North End Chamber of Commerce have amended their complaint filed earlier this year in federal court.
They’re now demanding millions in monetary damages including compensation for losses of income for the outdoor dining ban in 2023 and 2024, refunds of the $7,500 in fees that North End restaurants were required to pay in 2022, and compensation for fees incurred for storage of equipment and furniture used for outdoor dining.
The lawsuit alleges that “the City’s conduct violated their constitutional rights under the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, and its imposition of harsh participation fees in 2022 was an unlawful tax.”
The mayor has argued that the fee helps compensate for people living in the neighborhood, who face further parking issues, more foot traffic and trash.
But the federal lawsuit alleges that this is “unequal, unfair, and discriminatory treatment of Italian restaurants” as the North End is the only neighborhood in the city to face restrictions limiting them to “compliant sidewalk patios” only, and banning on-street dining.
These restaurant owners are planning to protest Friday morning in their efforts to get this case to go to trial.
