Four decades in the making, a task force takes steps to rid Philadelphia of nuisance stop-and-go stores

Almost a century ago, Pennsylvania’s liquor code was created by a teetotaler governor distraught enough about the repeal of Prohibition that he decided to make drinking as difficult as possible for residents.

For the last four decades, Philadelphia residents have vigorously complained that the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) hasn’t made drinking more difficult at so-called stop-and-go stores throughout the city.

And for four hours over two days last week, the bipartisan Pennsylvania Stop-and-Go Legislative Task Force heard it all once again — residents’ grievances and store owners’ complaints of harassment — as they attempt to find a solution that will eradicate nuisance stop-and-gos in the city without unnecessarily burdening law-abiding businesses.

“I invite everyone on this panel to come and join me in my backyard, because the shenanigans go on all day long and you can have a bird’s-eye view sitting in my yard seeing people at 1 a.m., 2 a.m., 3 a.m., 4 a.m.,” said Stephanie Ridgeway, president of Lower North Philadelphia CDC. “This is impacting a community that is attempting to rejuvenate itself.”

» READ MORE: A brief history of a long effort to regulate stop-and-gos

The task force, chaired by State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams, a Philadelphia Democrat, is responsible for legally defining stop-and-gos and coming up with a suitable special license and effective enforcement to use only in Philadelphia.

The state liquor code prohibits private ownership of liquor stores but allows entrepreneurs to run restaurants and eating establishments that can sell alcohol to customers as they eat. In the late 1980s, entrepreneurs started purchasing old, unused liquor licenses that allowed them to sell food. According to the Pennsylvania State Police’s Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement (BLCE), some stop-and-gos run afoul of the liquor codes because they do not provide sufficient food and eating space, tables and chairs, or utensils, and may sell liquor to go, in violation of the law.

Instead they specialize in selling small quantities of hard alcohol and beer to a transient population, many with addiction issues. Buying single servings of alcoholic beverages is easy and cheap, and customers tend to linger outside the stores, neighbors complain, drinking and creating chaos throughout the day and night.

“Stop-and-gos is also our corner store, and there are many members of my community who go to these stores and utilize their services. Even the kids go there and utilize their services,” said Christopher Edwards of the Bayton Hill Neighborhood Association in Germantown. “The problem we’re having is with the consumption of small quantities of alcohol where these outlets are pretty much functioning as bars. It’s a happy hour outside.”

As stop-and-gos proliferated and prospered, they incensed nearby residents who complained that customers loitered, which brought noise, litter, drug dealing, sex work, and violence, eroding their quality of life along with the value of their homes.

“Thankfully, we can’t say that we see stop-and-go types of businesses across the state. In fact, we only hear complaints in Philadelphia,” said Chuck Moran, executive director of the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association (PLBTA), which represents the state’s small and independent taverns, bars, and licensed restaurants.

“Frankly, the negative things happening inside and outside these establishments act like a magnet to bring the wrong crowd,” Moran said.

» READ MORE: What a nuisance!

In 1987, enforcement of alcohol sales at stop-and-gos was transferred from the PLCB to the state police. In 1990, at another early attempt to control stop-and-gos, the PLCB established the Nuisance Bar Program, where chronic offenders could have their license immediately suspended until the problems were corrected. Neither initiative was able to stop the issues associated with stop-and-gos.

There are currently 1,546 places in Philadelphia licensed as a restaurant or eating place where alcohol is served as part of a meal. This year to date, the State Police’s Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement has issued 90 citations for violations associated with failure to operate as a bona fide restaurant. Last year it was 166 citations, up from 122 citations in 2022.

“However, a licensee who regains the privilege to sell alcohol may, and often does, become non-compliant shortly thereafter, requiring yet another compliance check by the Board and BLCE under current law,” explained Capt. James Hennigan, director of operations for the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement.

“Sometimes these operators do try to manage inside their operations and sometime ask [customers] to take it outside, which then becomes a problem for the entire neighborhood, because we see all the gambling and carousing and all that dysfunctionality in our neighborhood,” Edwards said.

The stop-and-go problem is further complicated because the stores have been primarily owned by Asian Americans and located mostly in Black and Latino neighborhoods, which adds a racial tension to the debate.

“The business owners don’t really seem to care and have an investment in our community,” Deneen Brockington, chair of the Penn Knox Neighborhood Association, told the task force. “They’re there to make their money and to leave, and that’s not fair when we talk about out communities.”

One of the city’s enforcement efforts with stop-and-gos was the 2005 implementation of an 11 p.m. curfew for businesses on residential streets, but it was later found to discriminate against Chinese restaurant owners.

“The long history of Asian Americans in this country has been one of discrimination,” said former Philadelphia Councilmember David Oh, president and CEO of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia. “The issue is guilt by association. I believe everyone who testified. There are problems. The issue is: Is everyone guilty because they look the same and because they have a beer deli?”

The ultimate goal of the task force, which was established in December by Gov. Josh Shapiro, is to create a stop-and-go liquor license category and provide recommendations for regulating these city businesses. In May, Williams organized a tour of several troublesome stop-and-gos as part of the task force’s fact-finding mission.

Darrell Clarke, the former City Council president and PLCB board member, who chaired the hearings in Sen. Williams’ absence, said the task force has until the start of the next Senate session in September to release a report with recommendations.

“We need to come with a solution that can accommodate everyone’s needs,” Clarke said.