Doylestown Produce Faces Court Date

The Doylestown Produce outlet will be heading to district court next week over charges that they are guiding traffic without the authority to do so.

Stephen Terinoni has owned and operated the produce outlet on Doylestown's South Main Street since 1990. In that time, he says, the volume and speed of traffic heading into and out of town has risen sharply.

That makes parking at his shop difficult; drivers sometimes have to back up into the street, and customers sometimes have to cross the road from the parking spaces across the street.

So Terinoni and his cousin started doing what they thought was right. The two men can be found nearly every day in front of the shop helping customers in and out, sometimes walking out into South Main Street and stopping traffic in the process.

Drivers "just fly up and down the street - dump trucks, SEPTA buses, you name it. They go way too fast," Terinoni said Friday. "We have a million people saying 'It’s a beautiful thing you guys are doing.'"

The police don't see it the same way.

Terinoni and his cousin have been cited twice by the Doylestown Borough police for stopping traffic without the authority to do so.

"The bottom line is, they’re not authorized by the state to direct traffic," Police Lt. Pat Penecale said Friday. "They don’t have any authority to stop traffic on a state highway."

Instead of just paying the fines, Terinoni plans to take his cause in front of District Justice Mark Douple.

The shop posted a sign on its wall asking customers for their support. Terinoni said he has at least 50 letters and a couple hundreds signatures supporting their position.

He plans to take them to court with him next week.

"Hopefully the judge will see we’re just trying to keep people safe," Terinoni said.

He said the court date has been set for June 4 at 11:30 a.m.