The law defines a nuisance business as one that permits or engages in illegal drinking or drug activity, obstructing roads or sidewalks, gambling, loitering, public urination, prostitution, littering, or parking vehicles on the sidewalk in front of the business. are doing.
Businesses with at least three violations in a 60-day period or seven violations in a 12-month period are considered chronic nuisance businesses and will work with the Philadelphia Police Department and Bureau of License and Inspection to reduce illegal activity. It forces you to plan. Activities. The plan was to allow community organizations and neighbors to participate in the L&I process.
For example, if a resident calls or sends a message to the citywide help desk (311), a business may be flagged for further investigation.
“This will be reported and then we will start building a file on this particular business so we can take enforcement action,” Bass told WHYY News in November 2023.
Except, she said, 311 did not create a category for such complaints. So did L&I, which was supposed to work with the city council and police on the issue.
“So [the citizen complaint] I'm not going anywhere. Therefore, we cannot collect data to address this issue,” Basu said. “This is a management process, and administrators need to sit down and sort out the nuts and bolts of it to get their teeth into this.”
That's not to say the city's 311 system hasn't been filled with questions, complaints and calls for help on how to report nuisances at delis, bars, convenience stores and more. Records show there were 75 complaints between 2019 and 2024.
Crime is more likely to occur when illegal activity is occurring, said City Councilman Curtis Jones Jr., who has long fought nuisance businesses. Whether a store sells shots of alcohol, a pack of cigarettes, or customers hanging out inside the store selling illegal drugs.
“We want to address crime and hold companies accountable for what happens inside their facilities,” Jones said. “The commercial corridor is a mirror of the community. Some businesses don't care. We will continue to advocate for businesses to be good neighbors in the community.”
Violence is common around these nuisance businesses. In early February, a 21-year-old man was shot and killed inside a convenience store on the corner of 40th Avenue and Market Street in University City. City Council member Jamie Gauthier told WHYY News that a 19-year-old was killed at that same store in November 2023.
“What we found is that although we worked with the Philadelphia Police Department to compile this report, it was not part of a formal system for reporting outrageous behavior in the community. That's what I mean,” Bass said.
In November 2023, the City Council worked with the Police Department to create a new computer mapping system to streamline the process of tracking these nuisance businesses and cracking down on bad actors. That same month, the city created a nuisance division consisting of three full-time police officers tasked with investigating and law enforcement.
