U., city argue over control of area vendors

The issue involves whether the University or the city maintains the right to determine sidewalk use. Three days after University Police towed a newsstand from the southwest corner of 34th and Walnut streets, administrators, the newsstand's owner and city officials continue to argue over who controls property rights on the corner. The issue surrounds the question of whether the University or the city owns the sidewalk areas -- and has authority to determine who has the right to use the spaces, according to Associate General Counsel Roman Petyk. Petyk said that although the University has no plans to remove other newsstands from the campus, it maintains that it should have the legal right to do so. "The University, if it chose to, would have the same rights with respect to any other piece of property placed on any piece of land abutting the University," Petyk explained. Executive Vice President John Fry said University officials will begin to "ask questions" about other campus newsstands based on issues raised by the incident, which began when University Police towed the newsstand at approximately 4:30 p.m. Saturday. "Do [newsstands] have to look as horrible as they do?" Fry asked. "Do they have to be perched as close to corners as they are?" He added that the University "authorized the police to do what they had to do" under the assumption that owner Jitendra Dalwadi failed to secure permits to use electricity in his newsstand in front of Bennett Hall. City officials explained that vendors must secure a "business privilege license" from the Department of Licenses and Inspections in order to operate a newsstand, and the owner must receive an ordinance from the Philadelphia City Council if the stand will use electricity. Dalwadi, however, insisted that he has all the necessary city licenses. "It is legal for me to be in both places," he said, referring to the towed newsstand as well as to the one located directly across the street in front of Bennett Hall. And while Dalwadi said he intends to bring his newsstand back to the southwest corner of 34th and Walnut streets soon, University officials said they will not allow it to remain there. "If it does come back, we will remove it again," said Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs Carol Scheman. "We don't need the newsstand, we had no say in it and then it was here." She added that the stand was the sixth such vendor in a two-block area. And Fry called Dalwadi "piggish" for his attempts to set up another newsstand. "[The University] will fight back against these trashy stands," he said. Although the University has not brought suit against Dalwadi, officials appealed to Philadelphia's Bureau of Licensing and Inspection last week to withdraw Dalwadi's license for the newsstand located in front of Bennett Hall. The University made the appeal to L & I based on allegations that the Philadelphia Streets Department made a "fundamental error" last December in approving the permit, Petyk explained. "The newsstand was placed on property owned by the University without consent," he said. Petyk added that administrators are "confident" that L & I will revoke the license, although a decision may not occur until next month. Scheman noted that she feels "it is unreasonable for [Dalwadi] to have a license to be there." University administrators explained that the newsstand presents a safety hazard to students and pedestrians crossing to the west side of 34th Street. "Given the speed of traffic on Walnut Street, the newsstand obstructs the view and makes it difficult to cross," Fry said. "The newsstand represents a real hazard." But Penn officials also said that the presence of the newsstands reflects negatively on the campus -- especially at their current location. "We should be offended to have these two plywood shacks at the main entryway to our University," Scheman said.