Title
Authorizing the joint Committees on Public Safety and Streets and Services to hold hearings to investigate Philadelphia Police Department precinct policies and practices for approving and denying block party permits, and exploring methods to increase block party permit applications
Body
WHEREAS, Philadelphians from neighborhoods all over the City share a strong tradition of hosting neighborhood block parties, particularly during the summer months. These events help bring families of all backgrounds together and create a sense of community.
WHEREAS, Block parties often compliment larger open streets events such as National Night Out, Philly Free Streets, the Odunde Festival, and the many parades, marathons and festivals that occur on larger corridors in the City. Block parties have historically served as a training ground for aspiring musicians and DJs, such as DJ Jazzy Jeff, and give car-strewn neighborhood streets a second look as public space gets repurposed for people; and
WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Streets Department offers residents a very lightweight process for permitting the closing of streets for block parties: a $25 fee ($60 if received within three weeks of the scheduled block party, $150 if scheduled on a weekday) and signatures from 75 percent of your block (not including vacant properties). The Philadelphia Police Department historically gives the final signoff on a block party permit; and
WHEREAS, According to a city GIS dataset obtained by PlanPhilly, North and West Philadelphia zip codes predominated block party hosting in the City of Philadelphia between 2006 and 2016, with 68,553 permits being issued to nearly every block in the city at least once. While Northeast and Northwest Philadelphia were big exceptions, 3500 Ryan Avenue in Holmesburg hosted 69 block parties, the largest number of block parties over that period; and
WHEREAS, The dataset also showed that July 4th and Labor Day were far and away the major block party occasions...
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