Chester Woman is Fined $600/day for Feeding Children From Her House

By Anonymous -
PBJSince many children in lower-income families acquire their sustenance from school meals during the year, the summer can be a difficult time for these children to get the food that they need. In some families, breakfast and lunch at school are the only meals that kids get to eat in a day, prompting some organizations such as Feeding America to start BackPack Programs to send children home with food to eat for dinner.

This summer, Angela Prattis has been attempting to alleviate this problem by distributing free meals (provided by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia) out of her driveway.

However, she is facing fines of $600 a day from Chester Township officials for every day that she has fed the kids. Township officials state that the violation resulted from conducting commercial activities in a residential zone. To continue, she has been asked to request a zoning variance which costs about $1,000.

What do you think? Is Angela Prattis guilty of a zoning violation? If so, do you agree that she should be fined?

Comments

  1. Natalee HillAugust 23, 2012 at 10:07 AM

    I don't believe that giving away things for free counts as commercial, and therefore this is ridiculous. They need to look again at the definition of commercial and see if free food to people unable to buy it for themselves counts. Does Chester Township fine every child-run lemonade stand? Probably not, and rightly so. They also shouldn't fine this woman. I would love someone to dig deeper into this story and find out how she was even reported to the officials. Shameful. Absolutely shameful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownAugust 28, 2012 at 11:27 AM

    Natalee, that's so true. What you're saying hits at the heart of the issue--why choose to target this woman? Although I am not claiming to be well versed in zoning regulations, I also question if this qualifies as a zoning violation. It doesn't sit well with me.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Overlooked and Undercounted: Struggling to Make Ends Meet in Pennsylvania

By -
Image
Census data tells us that 13% of Pennsylvania households live in poverty. In reality, even more households don’t have the income they need to reach self-sufficiency. One in four Pennsylvania households – over 846,000 – lack enough income to cover just the necessities. Since 1997, PathWays PA has worked with Dr. Diana Pearce and the University of Washington to calculate  The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Pennsylvania . Over the last 23 years,  The Self-Sufficiency Standard of Pennsylvania  has documented the continuing increase in the real cost of living, illuminating the economic crunch experienced by so many families today. Since 2010, PathWays PA and the University of Washington have also issued three versions of the  Overlooked and Undercounted  report, which looks at the number of households living above and below self-sufficiency. You can now use the interactive materials below to find out what it takes to be self-sufficient in your county. Click ...
Read more

Mini-Budget Update-Supporting the American Community Survey

By MB -
Image
(via The Census Project ) Next Tuesday, June 19 is an important date to mark on your calendar. The Congressional Joint Economic Committee is holding a public hearing on the economic impact of eliminating the American Community Survey (ACS) at 2:30 p.m., in Room 210 of the Canon House Office Building. Witnesses that will be speaking in opposition to the move to eliminate the ACS are Vincent Barabba, former director of the Census Bureau in two GOP administrations and Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Association of General Contractors and also representing the National Association of Business Economists. It is very important that we pack the congressional hearing room! If you cannot come, please urge your colleages to come. If you represent a non-DC organization contact your friends in Washington and urge them to attend. Also on Tuesday of next week some of our congressional supporters will be holding a noon press conference in the so-called House Triangle right outside the Cap...
Read more

Overlooked and Undercounted in the Media (#media)

By MB -
Image
Below are all of the places we've seen Overlooked and Undercounted in the month of May! If you know of anywhere else, please let us know! You can also listen to the audio from our May 11 Conference Call on our website . May 21, 2009 - New Report Says 1 in 5 PA Families Live in Poverty May 21, 2009 - LTE: Clarifying ‘Overlooked And Undercounted’ Study May 19, 2009 - Caught in a trap: State and federal governments must help working poor May 16, 2009 - Study: Local poverty estimates too conservative May 15, 2009 - Study: Pa. Families Above Poverty Level, But Still Struggling May 12, 2009 - Study: 1 in 5 PA Families Struggling to Make Ends Meet May 12, 2009 - Report: Many PA families struggling May 12, 2009 - PathWays PA Releases New Report on Self-Sufficiency Standard May 12, 2009 - Poverty worse in PA than reported: study May 11, 2009 - 1 in 5 PA Households Can't Make Ends Meet May 11, 2009 - Study: 1 in 5 PA residents can't make ends meet May 11, 2009 - 1 in...
Read more