Enforcing the law

AA BBQ along Salinas Drive in Cebu City was a favorite for people who wanted good food at a very affordable price. Customers would pick out fresh seafood or meat, put it on a tray and pass it on to the staff for cooking, then proceed to take a seat at a table and order rice. The trouble is that the restaurant's facade hugged the edge of the road, hardly giving up any space for a sidewalk, much less any space for parking. Customers with vehicles were forced to park their cars along the curb, completely ignoring the "No stopping" signs and obstructing an entire lane of the 4-lane road.

In early February, the city government served a closure order to AA BBQ (along with three other nearby restaurants) for failing to provide parking spaces as required by the city's zoning ordinance. It seems that a few months earlier a "concerned taxpayer" had complained to the city government's website about the traffic in the area.

Almost immediately after the restaurant was ordered shut down, work got started on renovating the restaurant, tearing down the building's facade and moving it back to accomodate parking. Construction was impressively fast... I passed by the place yesterday, and it looks like it's just about ready to open any day now.


What I like about this is how everyone did their part, as they should, to get the problem solved. There was a business violating the city's zoning ordinances, a concerned citizen calling the government's attention, the government taking action on the problem, and the offending business correcting its violation. This is the way it should be done, and everyone is better off because of it. It's a happy ending for everyone involved. Isn't it nice when things just work?