Resident requests permit parking as council hears youth-center safety and trafficking allegations

Shawn Miller, a resident of 42 S. Main St., asked Red Lion Borough Council for a resident permit-parking program on metered streets, saying he “continuously gets fined.” Council members responded that issuing resident passes broadly would eliminate available parking for visitors and downtown patrons.

The public-comment period included remarks from Chris Kenna, operator of the 18 South youth center, who described a recent incident in which a staff member called 911 after finding an intoxicated teenage girl and said staff followed protocol in attempting to contact her parents. Kenna acknowledged neighborhood perceptions of teens vaping and smoking in public and said those behaviors occur on public property; he asked the public to contact him directly about specific incidents. “There is borderline human trafficking at these businesses as they are soliciting minors for nude photos/ sexual acts in exchange for merchandise,” Kenna said; he added that a related investigation is ongoing. Council members asked about enforcement options and whether businesses were selling to underage customers; the solicitor and police enforcement were discussed as the mechanisms for follow-up.

The council did not adopt changes to parking policy at the meeting; members suggested enforcement and targeted warnings for problem addresses as a next step. The council also reiterated that state police must catch sales to minors in the act to pursue criminal charges related to underage purchase of tobacco or vaping products.