PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The Philadelphia City Council has passed a bill that would limit business hours and impose a curfew in Kensington, Councilman Quesi Lozada said in a news release Thursday.
The bill would impose an emergency order restricting the activities of all businesses bounded by East Lehigh Avenue, Kensington Avenue, D Street, East Tioga Street, and Frankford Avenue between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. It is a measure. Restaurants with liquor licenses are not affected by this bill.Still open until 2am
The bill must be signed by Mayor Sherrell Parker to become law.
Lozada said the bill is aimed at “reducing crime, preventing trash from piling up, and calming after-hours activities.”
Kensington has been plagued by an opioid crisis for years, most recently drugs like xylazine It has become Cleaning the streets of the city.
Lozada said the bill was drafted with input from residents, businesses and nonprofit organizations in response to the opioid crisis.
“Businesses in the Kensington Corridor support this effort. They are grateful that Councilwoman Lozada included them in the conversation and took their opinions into consideration. In the meetings we held with them, it was clear that they support “this and future security measures,'' Roberto Rodriguez of Kensington-based nonprofit IMPACT Services said in the release.
Lozada estimates there are about 90 companies in the area where the bill would go into effect.She added that currently fewer than 20 people are open past 11 p.m.
Businesses that fail to comply with the bill would be subject to a $500 fine for each violation. This measure is scheduled to expire on January 1, 2028.
During February, Lozada was one of four City Council members who formed the Kensington caucus. We hope to improve the quality of life in the surrounding area.
After taking office in January, Parker declared a public safety emergency. And he said he intended to shut down Kensington's open-air drug market.
Parker in January Pedro Rosario becomes the first Philadelphia Police appoints Latino deputy chief Dealing with public safety in Kensington.
