PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — More business restrictions could be coming to Kensington. A bill introduced in Philadelphia City Council on Thursday would ban some convenience stores in the entire Seventh Council District.
Councilmember Quetcy Lozada said her bill is aimed at nuisance businesses that seem to pop up with no notice to neighbors.
“If you drive through the 7th Councilmanic District, and quite frankly the city of Philadelphia, you see multiple convenience stores on one block and all of them together seem to be extremely problematic,” said Lozada.
She argued these are not chain convenience stores but shops selling drug paraphernalia that she said attract illegal activity.
“The goal is to respond to the request of community residents of not allowing for any more of them to open,” she said.
Council has already passed Lozada's bill imposing an 11 p.m. curfew on convenience stores and other businesses she finds problematic, including food trucks.
“All of this legislation does work hand in hand with each other and it is legislation we have worked on very closely with community residents who are impacted and whose quality of life is impacted on the day-to-day.”
Other legislation introduced this week included a requirement for locks on dumpsters, as well as resolutions calling for hearings on SEPTA’s Silverliner IV train car crisis and on whether suicides among first responders should be considered line of duty deaths.
What was not introduced was a bill on Mayor Cherelle Parker’s HOME initiative. Council got the spending breakdown last week and members weren’t satisfied with the level of detail. Council President Kenyatta Johnson said members had questions, but was optimistic.
“We all want to make sure this proposal is successful as we address housing inequality so we’ll continue doing our due diligence and we’ll go from there.”
The clock is ticking, though, on the mayor’s plan to issue bonds next month to fund the program.