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NOTICE:
On
occasion, This Week receives letters from our readers complaining about
an article we published, City Hall antics, the quality of life in
city, and more. After due consideration, we have decided to publish the
below letter, as it raises important issues about current public
matters that may potentially affect the quality of life in Center
City. This letter does not represent the opinion of CCRA. Please follow
the links provided to evaluate the facts and form your own
opinions. CCRA encourages all readers to send in letters to the
editor. CCRA reserves the right to publish any letter we receive, or not
publish it. If we edit it, we will contact you for permission to
publish the edited version prior to publication. Any published letter
represents the opinion of the writer and not the opinion of CCRA.
A Letter to the Editor about the New Streeteries Law and Regs
In
January 2022, Philadelphia acted to legalize the streeteries that we
are all dining in now. Recently, the new law (and the regulations
implementing it) has created a new set of roadblocks, especially for the
smaller streeteries we’ve grown to appreciate over these last two
years. The new law is here: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/philadelphia/latest/philadelphia_pa/0-0-0-221920. The regulations are here: https://www.phila.gov/media/20220302153735/li-regs-license-operation-of-streeteries-on-authoized-ROW-20220211.pdf.
As
I read it, the law sets the maximum streetery width at 6 feet from the
curbstone a standard that many existing streeteries cannot meet. The
new law allows streeteries only where there are parking spots, but not
in traffic or bike lanes (unless the entire street is shut). All
streetery structures must conform to the building code, but also be
removable within 48 hours. Streeteries must have crash-proof barriers
around them, e.g., jersey barriers. The number of streetery seats is
limited to the number of inside seats.
The
regulations – all 17 pages of them – are especially challenging to
smaller streeteries. The $200 annual fee is upped with an additional
annual fee of $2,200 (regardless of operation size). The operator must
have $1,000,000 insurance policy covering it and the City
and must post a $60,000 bond to cover the City if it has to remove a
streetery. The operator must obtain approval from the Art Commission
for their streetery. Streeteries must not be within 20 feet of a cross
walk. Manholes and catch basins get 5 feet clearance (even if the
manhole is in a traffic lane). Propane heaters are banned. Electric
cables must be run underground, not overhead. The regs define a
crash-proof barrier as a water-filled jersey barrier, 18 inches thick,
three feet high and six feet long.
The
new law legalizes two top tables in the gutter flanked with bright
orange jersey barriers. This is not what we’ve had over the past two
years. I fear everything we’re used to now — from Ambrosia and Cotoletta
to Parc to Bonners Pub — may not be in compliance with the new law.
The apparent public sentiment, though, is for extending an urban amenity
that we’ve enjoyed for the past two years now that the City is getting
its groove back. But there may be good reasons that public sentiment is
wrong. If our elected representatives want to end streeteries now that
their original justification – the covid pandemic – is subsiding,
that’s a policy choice they can make and answer for. A law making
streeteries impossible as a practical matter is not a law legalizing
streeteries.
Charles Goodwin, Past President, CCRA
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