Ice cream shops are OUTLAWED in Boston.
Shocking, but true.
Here's why...
Under current Boston zoning code, ice cream shops are considered "take-out shops".
All take-out shops are considered a "conditional use" under the code.
Which means...
...in ANY neighborhood of the city, to open a small local ice cream shop you have to go through a full zoning board of appeals process to get conditional approval.
That's 9 months (if you're lucky) of paying rent while you go through the zoning process before you can sell a single scoop.
Think about how hard that makes it just to open a small, simple ice cream shop.
𝗕𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁:
The 4000 page Boston zoning code is littered with amendments, contradictions, and complexity that leads to a bureaucratic mess of a process to build or open anything.
Even ice cream shops. 🍨
This is a big reason why housing is so difficult to build.
And so expensive.
Good news is, zoning reform is FINALLY underway.
We've got a long road to go, but the process of simplifying the zoning code is starting.
We just need to get out of our own way, stop neighborhood infighting, and make it happen so we can have a forward-thinking, simplified zoning code.
And lead the way for other cities and towns to follow.
I, for one, want more ice cream.
More housing too.
#boston #zoning #housing #icecream #zoningreform #nimby #yimby
Sr. Business Development Manager (Virginia/DC) at Muller, Inc.
1mo👍 👍 👍