If you are a businessman here or are seeking to come to this neighborhood with a plan you presently can expect to wait many, many months before anything meaningful will come of your request.
The present structure of early non-binding permitting in this neighborhood forces business owners wishing to change some aspect of their operation and those wishing to own a business in the North End, to appear before a series of hearings with three different advisory boards.
How many advisory boards does one neighborhood need?
One might well ask this question.
Not only is this time-consuming but it is costly and regressive.
One must bring their architects, lawyers and even bankers to all three of these required meetings which again, are advisory meetings.
Some consideration should be given to the idea that this arcane process needs to be streamlined.
Would it not be better if a few representatives from each advisory group attended one meeting together, make judgments about what was presented by the businessman or businesswoman at that meeting and then go back to their individual advisory committees and report to them and make judgments and votes based on their observations?
We think this would be more democratic.
Even at the State House, the House and Senate will often meet in what is called “convention†to discuss issues of importance to both houses for their cumulative judgment. It saves time and it stops the duplication of effort.
Perhaps leaders in the North End – business leaders, politicians and residents – should have such a convention instead of duplicating effort, wasting time, causing the excessive lawyer’s and architect’s fees that arise from having to appear before three neighborhood advisory boards.
There is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide in the North End of today.
Cutting down on the time spent attending meetings held by competing advisory boards for those wishing to do business in this neighborhood is an idea that should be explored.
Even in the North End, time is money and time is of the essence if we wish to maintain the great success that businessmen and women have achieved here.
No one loses if the process is streamlined.