Council to tackle ‘stop and go’ biz

By MICHAEL J. MISHAK

A new state law gives City Council veto power over liquor licensees who opt to sell takeout beer and malt liquor. The law, signed by Gov. Rendell last month, requires the city’s 2,400 liquor license holders to apply for a special takeout permit starting Sept. 6. The permits must receive Council approval.

Under the new law, the body can only reject an application if it finds that the permit “would adversely affect the welfare, health, peace and morals of the city or its residents.” Vendors whose applications are denied can appeal to Common Pleas Court.

Council, whose next session begins Sept. 15, has just 45 days to review takeout permit applications, a timetable that has prompted Council President Anna Verna to suggest the body only hold hearings in cases where protests are filed.

According to the state Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, about 200 of the city’s liquor licensees operate as “stop and go” stores. Council members have fought to curtail such operations for years, claiming they constitute a neighborhood nuisance at best and a magnet for crime at worst.

“This law is really targeted at businesses that are slinging liquor out the door without paying attention to the detrimental impact it has on the community,” said Dave Yurky, a spokesman for Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller. “It’s an opportunity to hold them accountable and possibly shut them down.”

Yurky said Miller’s office is aware of at least 10 nuisance “stop and gos” in the 8th Councilmanic District, including ones in Mt. Airy, Germantown and North Philadelphia. Miller is part of a working group that will determine Council’s standard of review for takeout applicants in the coming weeks, he said.