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Taipei plans BBQ restaurant law

The Taipei City Government is planning to establish new regulations to manage BBQ restaurants in residential areas after residents complained that several chain restaurants harm the air quality in their neighborhoods.

BBQ restaurants with outdoor seating areas have proliferated in residential areas recently, but the noise and smoke they produce disturb residents.

Taipei City’s Department of Environmental Protection said the number of complaints filed against such restaurants has increased significantly.

One BBQ restaurant in the city’s Neihu District (內湖), for example, faced protests in June, and the department slapped it with a NT$100,000 fine for violating gaseous emissions regulations.

The restaurant refused to move to another location, but promised to negotiate with local residents to find a solution.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said the city government should ban the restaurants in residential areas because the city’s emissions regulations do not deter them.

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said slapping the restaurants with fines would not solve the problem, and that the city government is drafting new regulations on the locations and business hours of such restaurants. ­

“Current regulations have a ­limited effect on keeping the restaurants from disturbing the residents. We will set up new regulations to regulate restaurants that could potentially damage the quality of life for residents,” he said.

Until such regulations are established, the department said it would dispatch staff to carry out random inspections at BBQ restaurants during business hours and demand that those who violate environmental regulations improve the situation immediately.
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