Proposal to curtail retailing draws ire

Need a pack of smokes at 2 a.m.? Have to make a toilet-paper run at midnight? You may soon be out of luck.

A bill pushed by Councilman Darrell L. Clarke - and up for final vote in City Council today - would scale back the hours of operation for a number of retail stores that operate on predominantly residential blocks.

The purpose of the bill, Clarke said, is to crack down on criminal or nuisance activity outside late-night establishments in city neighborhoods. To do so, he said, his bill would require retail shops on blocks where 80 percent of the buildings are residential dwellings to open no earlier than 6 a.m. and close by 11 p.m.

But the legislation has whipped city business groups into an uproar. They fear the bill reaches too far, affecting legitimate stores that are trouble-free.

Under Clarke's legislation, retail shops are defined as places that primarily sell goods for consumption or use off-premises, such as convenience stores, drugstores, take-out restaurants, supermarkets and gas stations. His office said it could not say how many such businesses would fall under this definition.

"We fully appreciate and understand the intent of the bill, but the way it is written now, we cannot support it" said Denise Earley, director of public policy for the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. "Our concern is that it will affect legitimate, for-profit businesses."

Philadelphia attorney Joseph Beller, who represents 7-Eleven and many independent business owners, put it this way: "It's almost like a surgeon who wants to operate on your little finger, but ends up taking your whole hand."

Clarke said he had met with a number of business groups - as well as Council colleagues - to address concerns and had amended his bill several times to accommodate them.

Among the amendments Clarke said he added: Under his bill now, buildings with retail on the first level and residential space on upper floors are not considered residential. That exempts many main streets or commercial corridors, particularly in Center City, which has many such mixed-use buildings.

But he said he was not willing to keep changing the bill: "I've watered it down enough. If I continue to water the bill down, it will not address the concerns I set out to address in the first place."

Those concerns, Clarke said, include drinking, gambling, and the sale of drugs outside such stores - activity that often leads to further violence. Two months ago, 17-year-old Adam Hammer was gunned down outside a gas station in Germantown shortly after 11 p.m. while trying to buy a cigar.

Councilman Frank DiCicco, who said he had concerns about the bill, has proposed that Clarke amend it to apply only to late-night establishments in certain areas of the city.

Clarke said yesterday that such legislative language would open him up to litigation. But he added he would consider exempting DiCicco's district, which includes Center City and South Philadelphia neighborhoods east of Broad Street.

"I'm not looking to create problems for anybody," Clarke said. "It's just that there is a real issue with these establishments that stay open all night playing a large role in crime."

Vern Anastasio, president of the Bella Vista United Civic Association, said that neighborhoods should be able to determine what's best for them. And some might choose to have a business, such as a bookstore or an art gallery or a pharmacy, open past 11 p.m.

"Are you telling me we should have one guy in City Hall telling every community what they can and cannot do?" Anastasio asked. "I don't think that's the way to grow neighborhoods."

Not every neighborhood association shares that sentiment. Marc Stier, president of West Mount Airy Neighbors, said he could support the bill as long as it "didn't do anything to undermine commercial corridors."