City Council bill would ban so-called nuisance businesses from far North Philadelphia

Anthony Phillips is the latest member of City Council trying to tweak the city’s zoning code to make it harder to establish certain types of businesses in his corner of Philadelphia.

Phillips represents parts of Northwest and Northeast Philadelphia that are largely composed of middle- and working-class rowhouse neighborhoods, many of them majority Black and boasting some of the highest voter turnout in the city.

His bill would ban conveniences stores, event halls, and most auto-related businesses except gas stations. Those who seek to open such establishments anyway would have to get permission from the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment and meet with community groups first.

“We’ve heard clear concerns about how these businesses — when overly concentrated — disrupt quality of life, create safety and cleanliness challenges, and detract from the character and appeal of our neighborhoods,” Phillips said.

Phillips isn’t the first Council member to attempt such a bill. His predecessor, Cherelle L. Parker, got similar legislation through City Council in June 2022. Soon after it passed, she resigned from Council to run for mayor in 2023.

In a surprise move, then-Mayor Jim Kenney vetoed the legislation, citing fears that it could hurt legitimate businesses. So many Council members had stepped down to run for mayor at that time that the Council did not have the votes override his veto. In a controversial move, City Council President Darrell L. Clarke delayed sending out mail-in ballots so that new Council members could quickly be elected to counterbalance Kenney’s power.

Phillips at the time said he would revive legislation, and two years later, he finally has. He dismissed the idea that his bill would be controversial or have punitive effects on legitimate businesses.

Instead, he said, it would boost commercial life in his district.

“We find ourselves in a pickle because though we’re trying to attract the businesses that our neighbors want, the developers are not interested because they see bad businesses that are causing dysfunction to the neighborhood,” Phillips said.

Similar legislation has been passed across the city, with so-called smoke shops that sell nicotine and marijuana-related paraphernalia being a particular target. Critics of such bills, such as Kenney, say they have harmed bodegas, corner stores, and small grocery stores as well as cluttering up the zoning code with a patchwork of rules in different parts of the city.