City Code, ExplainedBetaPardon our dust while we build this out — expect some changes along the way.

This chapter requires licensing and health inspection of public eating and drinking places in the city, sets fees, and adopts state food safety regulations.

Who this affects

Anyone who owns or operates a restaurant, bar, or other public eating or drinking establishment in the city, as well as their employees, including bartenders and servers of alcohol.

Key rules

• No proprietor may conduct or operate a public eating or drinking place without a license issued by the Health Officer.
• The Health Officer must inspect the premises, facilities, and equipment and find them adequate before issuing a license.
• The annual license and inspection fee is $75.
• A proprietor operating more than one eating or drinking place in the city must obtain a duplicate license for each additional location, at an additional inspection fee of $20.
• License applications must be made on forms furnished by the Health Officer, including the applicant's name and address and other required information.
• The Health Officer may refuse to issue a license if the premises or equipment fail to meet requirements, and must state the reason for refusal in writing.
• Licenses are valid for one year; renewal applications must be made one month before expiration and are subject to reinspection.
• Licenses must state the date of issuance, the period covered, and the name of the licensee; they must be conspicuously displayed at all times and are not transferable.
• The Health Officer may make reasonable rules and regulations to carry out this article.
• This article does not exempt any proprietor from the licensing requirements of 35 P.S. § 655.1 et seq.
• The Health Officer inspects food, drink, and other commodities and their preparation at all reasonable business hours to check compliance with state and city regulations.
• No proprietor may employ or retain any person known or subsequently found to have a communicable disease, per Pennsylvania Department of Health rules.
• Within one year of the 2000 ordinance's enactment, each licensed food establishment serving alcohol must have at least one bar manager, all bartenders/servers, and security personnel attend an approved responsible-serving-of-alcohol course.
• The Board of Health reviews and approves alcohol-server courses, consulting with the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.
• Establishments serving alcohol must ensure bartenders/servers and security personnel complete an approved course within 90 days of hiring and must keep attendance records, open for review by the Health Department upon request; a certificate of completion (or, if pending, a written statement from a recognized alcohol awareness trainer) satisfies this.
• The City adopts the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Division of Food Safety "Food Code" Regulations, Title 7, Chapter 46.
• A license may be removed and deemed invalid at the Health Officer's discretion; certain events trigger mandatory and immediate loss of license: septic/sewage flooding, fire to/in/anywhere with the building, large object impact to the building, serious electrical issues, and lack of adequate pest control.

Penalties

Any person violating any provision of Article I shall be fined not more than $1,000 and, in default of payment of fine and costs, imprisoned not more than 90 days.

Notable and archaic details

• The chapter's definitions were adopted in 1966, but the license and inspection fee wasn't updated to $75 until 2024.
• Certain building-safety events — sewage flooding, fire, a large object striking the building, serious electrical issues, or inadequate pest control — trigger mandatory, immediate loss of a food license under a 2024 addition.