Beverly Council Refers Outdoor Dining Extension, Launches Rat Control Inquiry

BEVERLY -- June 28, 2021, Beverly City Council advanced outdoor dining ordinances and opened a formal rodent-control inquiry at a June 28 special meeting and joint subcommittee session. The council referred two ordinance amendments, extending pandemic-era alcohol service on sidewalks and parklets and suspending sandwich board sign permits through April 1, 2022, to the Committee on Legal Affairs for a final vote before the August 14 expiration of current provisions; only a housekeeping correction carried a vote, passing 7-0. The evening's headline event was a packed joint hearing of the Subcommittees on Legal Affairs and Public Services, co-chaired by Ward 4 Councilor Scott Houseman and at-large Councilor Julie Flowers, where residents from the Chase, Mulberry, and West Dane Street neighborhoods described rats chewing car wiring, burrowing under foundations, and rendering yards unusable. Mayor Mike Cahill disclosed the city is already funding ongoing pest management at two hoarded or bank-held properties in the area. Houseman, who has begun working with the city solicitor on a new rodent-control ordinance, called the fact-finding session "a start to a process that I think is frankly overdue."