Although I am happy to report that it is a small minority of these businesses which cause the great majority of the problems, up until the passage of Act 39 the city had very little recourse in providing relief to the communities surrounding these problem establishments. Because a majority of these problems occur outside of nuisance take-out businesses it has long been difficult to establish a record that satisfied the PaLCB’s threshold for removing the license either through non-renewal or a 611 action.

While we have had success shutting down nuisance bars, clubs, and restaurants because of the documented activities that have taken place on-premises, we are extremely limited with take-outs because most of the activity takes place outside of the establishment. Most owners of these businesses are proactive in working with us to help limit or completely stop problems once they begin to occur, unfortunately there are others who take no responsibility for the effects of their businesses on the surrounding neighborhood. It is with these businesses that a tool such as Act 39 becomes essential to keeping the peace and well-being of affected communities. Without the tools given to the City of Philadelphia by a properly amended Act 39, we will be back to chasing after nuisance take-outs without the proper resources and it will once again be the citizens who live in the communities that surround these establishments who will suffer.

In addition I would like to briefly touch on the work we have done in the last year forming local community task forces and the important roll of these groups in identifying nuisance take-out establishments. Because of the dedication and commitment of the members of City Council and the leadership of Council President Verna in addressing this issue, we are far better equipped than ever before to implement Act 39 in a responsible and affective manner.

As the former Community Relations Director for State Senator Vincent J. Fumo I helped to form several of these local task forces in areas with a high concentration of liquor licenses such as Old City and South Street. Due to the success of these task forces City Council hired me to set up and help run even more throughout Philadelphia. We now have eleven active groups with more being planned. It is through these task forces that we are able to work with owners of liquor establishments and help them be good neighbors to their surrounding communities. Those that choose to not behave will be dealt with swiftly and severely with all of the resources that each task force has at its disposal. These resources include the active input and cooperation of LCE on the State level, as well as L&I, the Health Department, the DA’s office, and the Managing Directors office on the city level.

Unfortunately without Act 39 all of the task forces in the world will not help us shut down nuisance take-out establishments because of the difficulty in building a legally binding record that will meet the standards of the PA Liquor Code. Fortunately, as more task forces form and more communities and agencies are educated and continue to communicate on a regular basis we will be better able to pinpoint and take action against these nuisance establishments. This will help streamline the Act 39 process and assure that no law abiding business owners will be unfairly targeted.

Therefore I implore this committee to amend Act 39 so that it stands up to Judicial review and allows us to continue the important work of helping to provide peaceful livable communities within the City of Philadelphia.