Locallow impact · 3/10substantive080749

Council sought to ban large household appliances from being sold on city sidewalks.

Official:Amending Section 9-205 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Sidewalk Sales," by prohibiting the exhibiting, displaying or selling of any washing machine, clothes dryer, refrigerator, ice box or other household appliance measuring more than one cubic foot on City sidewalks.

Sponsor: Councilmember Blackwell

Introduced: October 16, 2008

: Committee on Streets and Services

business neighborhood zoning

No one voted on this bill

This bill was introduced in the 2008–2011 Council term and when that term ran out. The public record shows no committee vote and no floor vote at any stage, so no member of Council ever went on record for or against it.

That is not unusual here. Of the 8,465 bills introduced between 2000 and 2025, 1,624 lapsed without a single recorded vote. Ninety percent of bills that became law carry a roll call. Three percent of lapsed bills do. How this works.

Plain-Language Summary

This bill restricts sidewalk sales of large household appliances, like refrigerators and washing machines, on City sidewalks.

What This Bill Does

AI-written. Every figure is checked against the bill text.

Prohibits the selling of large household appliances (such as refrigerators and washing machines) with a volume of more than one cubic foot on City sidewalks.
Applies this prohibition to both vendors and individuals.
Amends Section 9-205 of The Philadelphia Code to include this new prohibition.
Defines the prohibited appliances as those with a volume of more than one cubic foot, which suggests that smaller appliances, such as those with a volume of one cubic foot or less, may still be sold on City sidewalks.