Somerville’s restaurateurs are likely to face new fees imposed by the city in the near future for use of public space for outdoor dining.

By Beatriz Leite

This past Thursday, Rachel Nadkarni, representing the City of Somerville, held a meeting regarding the Outdoor Dining License Fees for the 2024 season and beyond. The proposal will be taken to the mayor’s office and have it established by October.

Nadkarni explained that after the pandemic, the number of restaurants interested in using public space as outdoor dining increased significantly, and in 2023, 69 establishments were granted a license to do so. Therefore, the City of Somerville plans to establish more permanent rules for 2024 and beyond.

The proposed fees will be based on capacity and space used and will be equivalent no matter if it will be a sidewalk or roadway, which raised some concerns from the community.

“You are trying to be equalitarian but it’s not egalitarian,” Joe Carreiro, owner of El Potro Mexican Bar & Grill, said, regarding the lack of differentiation between sidewalk and roadway.

The use of public space will be charged $3 per square foot for the first 150 sf and $6 per square footage above that. The fee would be fixed for the next three seasons (2024-2026). For 2027, there will be a minimum of a 10% increase in inflation, according to Nadkarni. The goal of this predicament is to allow small businesses to thrive and not be overcharged and discourage the overuse of outdoor public space.

Nadkarni showed comparisons with other cities to highlight how the City of Somerville is trying to come up with a fair price for the utilization of the streets for commerce. However, that did not convince business owners.

Jess, a small business owner, highlighted her concern for the never-ending construction in the city, and how that could affect outdoor dining. “How are these fees being paid?” she asked.

The question was addressed regarding whether the fees will be paid before the season, or just on days when using the public space is viable, considering the city is making constant repairs to the sidewalks and roads, making outdoor dining impossible these days.

Nadkarni did not have an answer to this question but wrote it down to edit the agreement before presenting it to the mayor. She also highlighted that the revenue that will be put into the general fund and later considered at the yearly budget meeting would be able to account for the expense of cleaning the sidewalk better and more carefully to make outdoor dining finer in the city.

Comments were written down and will be considered before making a final fee decision which will come most likely by the end of next month to allow the businesses to plan for the next season.