City Council moves to rid Philly of archaic rules — including ban on tailgating

Councilman Derek Green has a package of bills aimed at ridding Philadelphia of archaic rules and regulations.(Tom MacDonald, WHYY)

Councilman Derek Green has a package of bills aimed at ridding Philadelphia of archaic rules and regulations.(Tom MacDonald, WHYY)

Some antiquated regulations will come off the city books if an eight-bill package gets through Philadelphia City Council.  

After a committee review of Philadelphia regulations with an eye toward streamlining, Councilman Derek Green’s bill package addresses activities that go on all the time — but are technically illegal.

“There is a bill that says we can’t do tailgating at the sports complex, which doesn’t make sense because we do tailgate at the sports complex,” Green said. “And then there are regulations that you have to go to a doctor before you get a marriage license, and other things in relation to milk products.”

The changes include elimination of :

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A 1950s-era requirement for premarital medical examinations (§ 6-207)
Rules for the production and sale of milk now regulated by the federal and state government (§ 6-305)
A ban on shoe fluoroscopes, a hazardous 1920s-era gimmick (§ 6-401)
A ban on the sale of pagers (i.e. “beepers”) to minors (§ 9-621)
Outdated rules pertaining to electronic checkout scanners (Chapter 9-1800)
A ban on dropping litter from aircraft, now regulated by the federal government (§ 10-712)
A ban on tailgating in city-owned parking lots at the Philadelphia Sports Stadium Complex, which is no longer enforced (Chapter 10-1400)
A redundant and unenforced penalty on businesses with public baths or showers, including gyms, that do not register with the Department of Licenses and Inspections (§ 9-705)

City Council is also setting up a review process for new regulations, Green said.

“We have come to an agreement with the administration that, as we do new regulations, that information will come to the special committee,” he said. “And we’ll talk to those in the private sector to get their impact.”

City lawmakers will continue working to remove regulations that are superseded by state or federal rules, Green said.

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