Smart Ideas: U.S. ignores a problem at its feet
C. Jarrett Dieterle, Nick Zaiac, and R.J. Lehmann, writing for the R Street Institute
As the economic effects of the pandemic hit the food-service industry, “[m]ore than 1 in 10 restaurants predict they will close permanently over the next 30 days, a number we can expect to grow as more states extend stay-at-home orders into May and June.” There are ways to ease the industry’s regulatory burden, such as creating temporary loading zones for pickups and delivery vehicles. Local governments and zoning boards also “could change local zoning codes to explicitly allow grocery retail at all food and beverage businesses, without forcing businesses to comply with regulations associated with typical grocery stores.” Finally, regulations should be relaxed to grant restaurants “delivery privileges-including the ability to team up with third-party entities such as Amazon, Drizly and others-to allow them to sell alcohol directly to quarantined customers.”
