One of the topics that hocolocals love to complain about is waiting. I mean, nobody likes to wait. But this is a specific kind of waiting I am talking about.
We hate, hate, hate having to wait for new restaurants to open.
I must admit that this is not an issue which causes me pain and anguish. Eating at restaurants is a want, not a need. We have a pretty good variety here in Howard County. Sure, I’m as curious as anyone about new places opening up but I don’t feel a sense of entitlement about it. Nobody owes me a new restaurant.
New restaurants are not a service guaranteed by County Government, I might add, although you wouldn’t know that if you read the frequent complaints about our “slow permitting system.” It’s interesting how so many people have decided to blame the (perceived) holdup on the county. When it comes to impatient local foodies, suddenly everybody is a permitting expert.
Who knew?
The people who have the most right to be anxious about a restaurant’s opening day are the owners. They have serious money tied up in getting it off the ground, and every day that goes by means money that is not coming back in to offset those expenditures. That I understand. Ranting publicly that “so and so’s ought to be open by now” I do not understand.
It is with this topic in mind that I commend to you the following article in the Baltimore Banner.
The Dish: Opening a restaurant? Call the man in shorty shorts, Christina Tkacik
It’s the story of a gentleman named Lou Catelli (not his real name) who is …
Baltimore’s most prolific permit expediter and go-to-guy for opening a business. He can navigate the city’s Kafkaesque licensing processes with the same ease with which he rides through the streets in his adult tricycle. In Hampden alone, he’s worked with around 60 businesses, and hundreds more across Baltimore. Catelli estimated he “was in charge of 80 different liquor licenses” during last year’s renewal season.
Well, what do you know? Opening a restaurant is complicated in Baltimore, too. In fact, it’s so complicated that William Bauer (his real name) has built a specialized business dedicated to shepherding business owners through the process.
Business owners frequently gripe about how long it takes to get their permits in Baltimore, but Catelli often finds they’re held up by their own mistakes. A missing certification here, another document there. The sheer number of agencies and inspections are a lot for the uninitiated to keep track of. Want to add on outdoor seating to an existing restaurant? There are about six different city departments that you need to go through — and they don’t always know what the others are doing. “Knowing which door to knock on,” he said, “it’s a huge help.”
The article touches a bit on what makes it so complicated and what could make it better. I would love to have read how it got to be this way. And, are these permits specific to Baltimore? Are they different in Howard County? Are some required state-wide?
We don’t often contemplate the flip side of this situation, which is: we require these permits because…
There are those who think of regulations as synonymous with “red tape” - - interfering with the successful functioning of business. I can’t speak to that in every case but can we talk about food safety for a minute? Recent rollbacks of laws pertaining to foodstuffs have had an alarming impact on consumer health. Food recalls due to incidents of illness and death are more and more frequent.
Is that an improvement? Does that inspire you to forsake health and safety considerations in order to speed along that tantalizing new restaurant?
Reading this article gave me a new perspective on the other side of the process that most of us don’t see. If you are able to read it, I think it’s worth your time. I wonder if there’s anyone like “Lou Catelli” in Howard County? If not, I’d say it’s an unmet need that could be a goldmine for someone with the right set of skills.
*****
Today in Local HoCo: have you purchased your tickets for the WBAL Concert for Kids at Oakland Mills High School? Tickets to this festive holiday event would make a lovely gift. While you’re there perhaps you can stop stressing about waiting for restaurant openings and start agitating for expedited completion of long-deferred maintenance projects. (Now that’s a need, not a want.)
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