(Via The Daily Wire)

On November 2, Philadelphia Councilwoman Cindy Bass introduced a bill to more closely regulate so-called “beer delis.” These establishments are neither restaurants nor convenience stores, but in-betweens that often sell alcohol — including straight shots of liquor — alongside cigarettes, candy, and various foods, according to Bass.

The bill, which was amended on December 4, calls for local “beer delis” to install restrooms, and provide seating areas for their customers. The bill also asks the Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) to issue regulations regarding bullet-proof partitions by January 2021.

Prior to the amendment, the bill called for the complete removal of bullet-proof glass, reading: “No establishment shall erect or maintain a physical barrier.” Following backlash, the legislation was altered to allow the L&I to study the matter for three years, then issue regulations regarding the partitions.

The text of the amended bill that pertains to the glass reads:

By no later than January 1, 2021, the Department of Licenses and Inspections shall promulgate regulations to provide for the use or removal of any physical barrier that requires the persons serving the food in any establishment required to obtain a Large Establishment license … either to open a window or other aperture or to pass the food through a window or other aperture, in order to hand the food to a customer inside the establishment.

The argument from Councilwoman Cindy Bass is that many of these stores exploit legal loopholes in order to masquerade as restaurants while simply selling alcohol.

In a December 11 op-ed, Bass writes: “Would you feel safe with an illegal liquor store next door to you, selling shots of cheap booze at 10 a.m. to loitering alcoholics?”

In Pennsylvania, private owners can’t operate liquor stores. That’s what the state Fine Wine and Good Spirits stores do. But private owners can run restaurants that sell alcohol to their customers to drink while they eat.

Bass notes that aside from alcohol, beer delis sell “candy-flavored cigarillos to get kids hooked on smoking and big boxes of cold medicines that can be turned into street drugs,” adding that these establishments contribute to “drunkenness, loitering, noise, disorder, crime, and violence” in the neighborhoods in which they operate.

The Councilwoman then outlines the loopholes she believes beer delis exploit:

The stop-and-go stores have state liquor licenses as if they were restaurants, but they’re not even close. They are in fact liquor outlets. They don’t have 30 seats; most don’t have any. They don’t prepare or serve food; if you ask, most will show you a single plastic cup of dried Ramen noodles. But for years the ineffective state Liquor Control Board has turned a blind eye to the stop-and-gos’ blatant disregard for the law.

Bass concludes her argument by stating that under her legislation, large establishments with 30 or more seats would be allowed liquor licenses, but no bullet-proof partitions, and smaller establishments that don’t qualify as “restaurants” would no longer be allowed to sell alcohol, but they could retain their partitions:

The stop-and-go owners are complaining that my bill would force them to take down their acrylic glass wall. That’s just false. What the bill simply does is require them to be honest and follow the state law: either become true restaurants (with 30 or more seats) that sell alcohol to customers dining on-site, or admit that they are small convenience stores and stop selling alcohol. The ones that are convenience stores can keep their acrylic glass walls.

Prior to the bill being amended, however, Bass told Fox29 that “the plexiglass has to come down.” She added, “We want to make sure that there isn’t this sort of indignity, in my opinion, to serving food through a Plexiglas only in certain neighborhoods.”

Despite the protestations of many beer deli owners, the City Council voted on Thursday, and the amended bill passed 14-3.

Councilman David Oh expressed his concerns over the bullet-proof glass portion of the bill before the vote on Thursday, saying, “If we take down the safety glass, they’re not changing their business model. They’re not moving. What they will do is purchase firearms. I think that is a worse situation than what we have today.”

In order to clarify Bass’ position regarding plexiglass barriers, The Daily Wire contacted the Councilwoman’s spokesperson, Layla Jones.

When we asked what Bass meant when she said: “We want to make sure that there isn’t this sort of indignity, in my opinion, to serving food through a Plexiglas only in certain neighborhoods,” Jones replied:

As Councilwoman Bass said during her speech yesterday in Council, the clientele at these establishments are not willing customers. They are residents with habits and addictions. These are supposed to be sit-down restaurants, but they operate as a hybrid between a liquor store, drug pharmacy and convenience store. There are no stop-n-go establishments in more affluent Philadelphia neighborhoods. But in vulnerable communities in Philadelphia, store owners feel it’s acceptable to serve limited food and ‘get high’ products through a prison-style plexiglass barrier. If these establishments were selling hypodermic needles which are synonymous with heroin use, there would be an immediate call to shut these places down.

We then asked why businesses might not be allowed after January 1, 2021, to use bullet-proof barriers even if they’re complying with all other legal guidelines, Jones said:

This bill is about conforming city law with state law and creating actual sit-down restaurants in all of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods. This bill is not about plexiglass. Several other regulations including seating for 30 or more patrons, square footage requirements and the installation of publicly accessible restrooms will be required by May 1, 2018 at the latest, before L&I is required to create regulations on the use and removal of plexiglass.

We spent a lot of time and effort on a compromise to this bill, to ease store owner concerns but address community outcry. L&I has until January 2021 to create regulations on the use and removal or plexiglass, and the word “use” suggests that after working on the issue L&I may decide there are instances in which plexiglass is acceptable.

As the Philadelphia Department of Public Health Commissioner Tom Farley testified, plexiglass barriers create a special health risk in sit-down restaurant establishments where food is supposed to be consumed on the premises because of increased choking risks. A barrier limits food service staff members’ access to a choking customer or a customer having an allergic reaction. We want both store owners and consumers to be safe.

In the end, it appears the primary defense for possibly removing bullet-proof glass from “beer deli” businesses that sell food and alcohol in dangerous neighborhoods is it could inhibit employees from helping choking customers.