A coalition of business owners and others is calling on the city council in Philadelphia to back away from its planned curfew scheme – a move that would, in fact, order businesses to shut down just when their customers are needing services and products.
It is the Institute for Justice that is working with those owners and other grassroots activists to call to abandon the change, which apparently was intended to address the city’s surging crime problem.
Chef José Luis, owner of Alta Cocina Food Truck in Juniata and Alta Cocina Restaurant in West Kensington, and Mitesh Patel, owner of The Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy in Kensington, teamed up with IJ to take the action.
“Crime is a serious issue and the city must act to address it, but this ordinance as it is currently constructed would do little to combat crime while having a serious negative impact on Philly’s small businesses,” said Jennifer McDonald, of the IJ, “We’re calling on city officials to recall this ordinance, get feedback from communities that will be impacted, and come up with a new proposal that won’t harm honest businesspeople.”
The curfew plan was created in June and insists that there is an 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew on businesses that sell goods to customers in the 7th, 8th, and parts of the 1st city council districts.
Exempted are restaurants with liquor licenses, gas stations, or those serving exclusively from a drive-thru window. However, convenience stores, takeout restaurants, mobile vendors, and others would be forced to close during these hours, under the threat of $1,000 fines.
Luis explained those hours are the time period when his business makes “a little money.”
Philadelphia already has more narrowly targeted curfews in place elsewhere in the city. This bill would expand the city’s existing business curfew coverage by more than 500%. It would also deprive the 13% of the city’s workforce who work nighttime jobs of the ability to pick up food, coffee, medication and other essentials after they get off work, the IJ documented.
Police officials there already have warned the curfew likely would result “in inconsistent or uneven enforcement.”
