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Philadelphia council committee hears strong neighborhood support for 7th District overlay bill to limit new convenience stores
Summary
Community members, school leaders and neighborhood groups urged the Committee on Rules to back bill 250834, Councilmember Lozada’s plan to create a 7th District overlay that would require special‑exception review for new convenience/sundries/pharmacy uses and give community groups a role before those businesses open.
Councilmember Angel Lozada's proposal to create a 7th District zoning overlay and require community review for certain convenience‑store uses drew extensive testimony at the Committee on Rules hearing on Oct. 16, 2025.
Supporters said the measure, bill 250834, would give residents a voice and a preventive tool against the proliferation of small shops they say function as 'smoke shops' or nuisance convenience stores. "We have over 20 of these convenience stores on a stretch of Frankford Avenue, and more than half opened in the past four years," said Kim Washington, executive director of the Frankford Community Development Corporation. She asked the committee to send the bill forward so…
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