Local restaurant operators have expressed a need for flexibility in the requirements for restroom capacity as they hope to carry on with outdoor seating arrangements for customers post-pandemic.

By Fernando Cervantes Jr.

During the pandemic, many restaurants across Somerville added outdoor seating areas to accommodate patrons and keep social distancing. Now that we’re past the days of COVID and social distancing, many want to bring back outside seating to their establishments, but there’s one thing standing in the way: restrooms.

In this months, Somerville Board of Health meeting, representatives from three Somerville restaurants requested a variance or exemption from rules requiring a certain number of restrooms depending on the restaurant’s occupancy.

According to Director of Inspectional Services, Nick Antanavica, these rules were not enforced during COVID to help restaurants during the pandemic.

“Now that we’re in year three and we are moving to a more permanent setup, these are things that we need to take into consideration,” Antanavica said.

For most of these businesses, expanding their seating to include outdoor seating would cause them to not have enough restrooms according to the law. But after deliberating for over an hour, board members came to an agreement.

In a 2-1 vote, members approved a one-year variance for two of the three restaurants and allowed for a 50% seating capacity increase for the next year. This did come with caveats though as the restaurants were instructed to add more restroom facilities in order to come into compliance within the next year.

Following this, the Board of Health discussed topics such as increased fees for summer camps in Somerville and tattoo permit fees. Afterward, the Board of Health heard an appeal from Abe Mansour, a representative from a local Sunoco gas station.

According to Bonny Carroll, Director of the Six City Tobacco Initiative, a member of staff sold cigarettes to an underage minor on March 7. During the meeting, Mansour appealed a cease-and-desist order given to the gas station.

“We’ve been in business since 1991, 32 years, we never had a violation. We do know that our employee made a mistake,” Mansour said. “If you can reconsider the fine, we really would appreciate it. For the last three years, with the pandemic, things have been very tough.”

Mansour also promised to have an agreement signed by his employees promising to not sell cigarettes to minors. The cease-and-desist order for first-time offenders given to the gas station consists of a $1000 fine and a three-day ban on selling tobacco at the gas station.

Members of the board voted 3-0 to deny Mansour’s appeal of the cease-and-desist order.

For more information on the Somerville Board of Health and to attend future meetings visit: https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/board-of-health.