Orlando May Further Restrict Panhandling

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OrlandoSentinel.com

Orlando might ban nighttime begging
Reports of aggressive panhandling spur a push for the City Council to consider more limits.

Mark Schlueb | Sentinel Staff Writer

(published) September 8, 2007

First, Orlando made panhandlers apply for permits before asking for spare change. Then the city restricted downtown begging to a few dozen "panhandling zones."

On Monday, the City Council will be asked to consider the next step: an outright ban on panhandling at night.

"We get reports just about every day of a panhandler using abusive language or threatening people," Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said Friday. "We want to be able to provide a safe environment in downtown and in the entire city."

The proposed ordinance, which if approved Monday would have to come before the council again for a final vote, would prohibit panhandlers from soliciting donations from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Those are generally some of the busiest times for panhandling, particularly downtown, which is flooded with bar and nightclub traffic into the early-morning hours.

Panhandlers who defy the rule would face a fine of as much as $500, up to 60 days in jail, or both.

Advocates for the homeless described it as another in a string of actions aimed at criminalizing homelessness.

"Another law targeting the homeless population is not going to work," said Michael Stoops, acting executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. "Unfortunately, people sometimes have to panhandle to survive."

Last summer, the city barred activists and church groups from feeding groups of more than 25 people in city parks without a special permit. Groups can get two permits per year. That rule was sparked by complaints from businesses around Lake Eola Park, where large groups of homeless people gathered for regular meals.

The city once prohibited panhandling altogether but backed away when courts began striking down similar laws as unconstitutional. So in 1997, the city passed a law requiring beggars to go to the police station for a permit before panhandling.

Three years later, the city did away with the permit system and painted 36 blue boxes on sidewalks. Now, panhandling is allowed downtown only within the 3-foot-by-15-foot rectangles.

Since then, Orlando has also made it illegal to sit or lie down on the sidewalk, and it has occasionally used undercover cops to nab beggars.

Although the blue boxes restrict panhandling only in downtown, the proposed nighttime ban would apply citywide.

Activist Ben Markeson said that instead of spending money to enforce panhandling and anti-feeding laws, the city should use the money to fund more alcohol- and substance-abuse treatment programs. That would reduce the homeless population, he said.

"They're trying to address the symptom of the problem rather than a root cause," said Markeson, a member of Orlando Food Not Bombs, a group challenging the feeding restrictions in court.

City officials say they are only reacting to complaints about aggressive panhandlers from downtown business owners, residents and workers.

At Orlando's Church Street Station, chef Mark Dollard said he supports the proposed ordinance because aggressive panhandling drives away his customers. Dollard ran Absinthe Bistro and Bar until recently and is now renovating the building to house his Brick & Fire Pizza and Wine Co.

"After dark, do you want someone coming up to you shaking a cup in your face? I'm spending 40 grand a month over here. I don't want panhandling," Dollard said.

Robert "Sarge" Kent was unobtrusively panhandling from inside a blue box next to the tracks on Church Street on Friday afternoon.

Kent, who uses a wheelchair and said he's a Vietnam veteran, said he panhandles because there's little of his disability check left after rent and utilities.

Still, Kent, 55, said he supports the nighttime ban.

"I don't come out here at night because it's dangerous," he said. "There are a lot of homeless people out here who are disrespectful, laying in front of businesses."

Mark Schlueb can be reached at mschlueb@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5417.

Resources:

National Coalition for the Homeless http://nationalhomeless.org

Orlando Food Not Bombs http://orlandofoodnotbombs.org

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TEXT OF ORLANDO'S PROPOSED NEW PANHANDLING ORDINANCE

AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 43, MISCELLANEOUS OFFENSES, OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF ORLANDO BY
ADOPTION OF NEW SECTION 43.86(5), TIME OF PANHANDLING, AND BY ADDING NEW SECTION 43.87(2)(C), TIME OF PANHANDLING, TO PROHIBIT PANHANDLING THROUGHOUT THE CITY BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 7:00 P.M. AND 7:00 A.M.; AND PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ORLANDO, FLORIDA:
SECTION ONE: Section 43.86, Chapter 43, of the Code of the City of Orlando be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows:
Sec. 43.86. Panhandling.
* * *
(5) Time of Panhandling
(a) It is unlawful for any person to panhandle, as defined in this Chapter, in the City limits of Orlando, between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 7 a.m.
SECTION TWO: Section 43.87(2), Chapter 43, of the Code of the City of Orlando be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows:
Sec. 43.87. Solicitation and Off-Premises Canvassing on Public Property in the Downtown Core District of Orlando, Florida.
* * *
(2) Prohibitions
* * *
(C) Time of Panhandling: It is unlawful to panhandle, as defined in Section 43.86 of the City Code, between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in the Downtown Core District, including within designated exempt zones.
SECTION THREE: If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct, and independent provision and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion hereto.
SECTION FIVE: This ordinance shall take effect as provided by law.
ADVERTISED: , 2007.
READ FIRST TIME: , 2007.
READ SECOND TIME AND ADOPTED:

, 2007.


CITY OF ORLANDO, FLORIDA

ATTEST:

Mayor / Pro Tem

Alana C. Brenner, City Clerk

APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY
for the use and reliance of the
City of Orlando, Florida, only.
, 2007.
City Attorney
Orlando, Florida