Following several incidents of aggressive panhandling on the Downtown Mall, City Council will consider an ordinance to restrict the practice citywide at its meeting next Monday.
The proposed ordinance would prohibit aggressive panhandling in public areas such as parks and all panhandling on private property, around outdoor caf? and within 15 feet of a bank or ATM.
"This is protecting the rights of people on the mall," said Evan Scully, homeless management information systems coordinator for the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. "It's certainly not overly restrictive."
In addition to restricting panhandling citywide, the ordinance would make it illegal to drive or park on the Downtown Mall.
In the past, street vendors often drove onto the mall to load and unload their wares, occasionally threatening pedestrians, Vice Mayor Meredith Richards said.
"Very dangerous situations have been created with vendors setting up on the mall," she said.
Though most vendors have voluntarily ended the practice, one unnamed vendor remains unwilling to do so. This has prompted Council to take action, Richards said.
The new panhandling rules similarly target a small group of individuals that have caused problems in the past, said Council member Kevin Lynch, who described the ordinance as a preventative measure.
"Hopefully, we won't have to do a lot of enforcement," he said.
Although panhandlers make some customers uneasy, the situation has not become unmanageable, said Bud Nelson, manager of the Bank of America on the Downtown Mall.
"It hasn't been a rampant problem," he said.
Most panhandlers are understanding when problems do arise, said restaurant manager Natalie Belt, who works at Hamilton's on the mall.
"I've never had a problem with anyone becoming irate or being unreasonable," she said.
Lorenzo Gray is a homeless panhandler who frequents the Downtown Mall. Despite receiving public assistance, Gray said he does not receive enough money to pay for his meals.
"People need money, and they don't have no help," he said.
The proposed ordinance would not affect most panhandlers because they are not aggressive, Gray said.
"We don't bother nobody," he added. "I don't have anything against this."
Gray said he always has respected business owners and has never been arrested.
"I understand it's bad for business," he said. "When they ask me to leave, I leave."
This is not the first time Council has addressed problems stemming from the homeless population. Park benches were removed from the Downtown Mall after they were being used as makeshift beds and shelters. Measures also have been taken to reduce the number of chronic alcoholics who wonder the mall at night.
Such actions sometimes are characterized as portraying the homeless as criminals, Scully said.
This, however, is not the intention of Council, Lynch said.
"It's a tough balancing act," he said. "How do you make things tolerable for the homeless without becoming a magnet for them?"
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