PHILADELPHIA—Today, a group of Philadelphia business owners and grassroots advocates from the Institute for Justice (IJ) called on the Philadelphia City Council to recall an ordinance that would impose a new curfew on certain businesses in several neighborhoods.  

Chef José Luis, who owns Alta Cocina Food Truck in Juniata and Alta Cocina Restaurant in West Kensington, and Mitesh Patel, who owns The Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy in Kensington, teamed up with IJ and activists around the city to call on city officials to recall the ordinance and consider a new, less-restrictive proposal. 

“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 IJ Cities Work Director Jennifer McDonald. “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 bill, passed by the city council in June, would impose 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. The ordinance would not impact 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. Businesses that violate the curfew would receive fines of $1,000 per violation. 

“The curfew will greatly affect Alta Cocina Food Truck because that time of night is when we make a little money,” said Chef José Luis. “My worry is so great that I can hardly sleep at night.” 

“The curfew is just too gray,” said Mitesh Patel. “Some aspects of my business, such as providing medicine for area hospices, operate after 11 p.m. So I’m worried about how this would impact them.”    

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 percent. It would also deprive the 13 percent 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. 

Philadelphia Police have also raised concerns about the scope of the new curfew. Deputy Police Commissioner Frances Healy said in May, when the ordinance was being considered, it would “likely result in inconsistent or uneven enforcement,” because the department, “continues to operate under constrained staffing and resource conditions.” 

The Philadelphia City Council has until Sept. 11 to recall the ordinance before it goes into effect.