Council committee advances ordinance to add daily fines for unauthorized street excavations

The Philadelphia City Council Committee on Streets and Services advanced an amendment to bill 250066 and voted to report the measure favorably to council with suspension of the rules for first reading.

The bill, introduced by Council Member Hagerty, would amend Chapter 11-200 of the Philadelphia Code (openings and excavations in the streets) to authorize the Department of Streets to impose “additional penalties not exceeding $450 per day” on individual contractors who violate underground permitting requirements by digging up a street and not completing repairs, Deputy Commissioner Richard Montanez said in testimony.

“This bill will also prevent the department from issuing permits until all fines and penalties have been paid,” Montanez said. He told the committee the penalty provisions “will not apply to large parties such as PECO, Verizon, and Comcast.”

Why it matters: Committee members said the measure is intended to give the Department of Streets stronger tools to compel timely repair after excavations and to ensure fines are paid before new work begins. Supporters said the threat of daily penalties and a permit hold would address recurring reopening of recently repaired pavements.

Details and committee action: Montanez told the committee the exclusion for large utilities also would cover entities regulated by the Pennsylvania Utility Commission, and that subcontractors performing work for utilities are treated differently in practice; Council Member Herrity clarified that subcontractors are included in the bill while the utilities themselves are excluded. The committee adopted an amendment to the bill offered by Council Member Brooks and then voted to report bill 250066 as amended with a favorable recommendation; the motion to report also included a request to suspend council rules to permit first reading at the next council session.

What the ordinance would do: As described at the hearing, the ordinance would (1) allow the Department of Streets to add daily penalties up to $450 per day against individual contractors who fail to complete required repairs following permitted excavations; (2) prevent issuance of subsequent permits to the same party until fines and penalties are paid; and (3) exclude ‘‘large parties’’ (named examples given were PECO, Verizon and Comcast) and entities regulated by the Pennsylvania Utility Commission.

Next steps: The committee voted to report the amended bill favorably to the full council and requested suspension of the rules for first reading. Committee members did not provide a roll‑call tally on the record during the committee meeting; the chair announced the motion carried. The bill will proceed to the council docket for first reading as requested by the committee.

No public commenters spoke on this bill during the committee hearing.