Jason
12-11-2006, 11:09 AM
Could this work in Jacksonville?
Proposal would limit panhandling
City to consider ordinance modeled after Key West's
By PETER GUINTA | More (javascript:document.searchReporter.submit();) by this reporter | peter.guinta@staugustinerecord.com | Posted: Sunday, December 10, 2006 ; Updated: 6:10 AM on Sunday, December 10, 2006
St. Augustine City Commission will consider Monday an ordinance modeled after what Key West does to limit panhandling.
The proposed new ordinance would prohibit panhandling in Historic Preservation Districts, essentially the areas from Cordova Street to the bay and Bridge Street north to Orange Street.
The new ordinance would grant panhandlers a specific area in which to ask for money -- a 225-square-foot spot at King and Charlotte streets.
City Commissioner George Gardner said that, in crafting such an ordinance, "There have to be reasonable alternative areas" for panhandlers to operate.
The area of prohibition contains a heavy population of tourists and is "highly congested with truck, bus, shuttle, taxi, carriage and other vehicular traffic that competes with space with pedestrians," the ordinance said.
Gardner said the ordinance had been suggested in response to complaints from both residents and visitors.
"People have been approached, especially in the evening, and felt very uncomfortable," he said, adding that a recent purse-snatching downtown has added to nervousness.
Panhandlers currently operating on St. George Street are mostly young people who have crafted cardboard signs asking for money. Others sit in the Plaza de la Constitucion.
The ordinance is patterned after an existing Key West measure, Gardner said.
The text of St. Augustine's ordinance says, "Visitors are regularly and often threateningly accosted by panhandlers."
About five years ago the City Commission passed an ordinance prohibiting street performers and artists from plying their trades on St. George Street.
Earlier this year, the city also passed an Aggressive Panhandling Ordinance to stop the verbal harassment of residents and visitors who did not give money to panhandlers.
According to the draft ordinance, "The City Commission finds that police and code enforcement efforts have been unable to diminish the problems of panhandling and solicitation. ...
"The ordinance also distinguishes between panhandlers and the homeless and "does not intend this ordinance as a pretext from removing the homeless from the city's streets."
Proposal would limit panhandling
City to consider ordinance modeled after Key West's
By PETER GUINTA | More (javascript:document.searchReporter.submit();) by this reporter | peter.guinta@staugustinerecord.com | Posted: Sunday, December 10, 2006 ; Updated: 6:10 AM on Sunday, December 10, 2006
St. Augustine City Commission will consider Monday an ordinance modeled after what Key West does to limit panhandling.
The proposed new ordinance would prohibit panhandling in Historic Preservation Districts, essentially the areas from Cordova Street to the bay and Bridge Street north to Orange Street.
The new ordinance would grant panhandlers a specific area in which to ask for money -- a 225-square-foot spot at King and Charlotte streets.
City Commissioner George Gardner said that, in crafting such an ordinance, "There have to be reasonable alternative areas" for panhandlers to operate.
The area of prohibition contains a heavy population of tourists and is "highly congested with truck, bus, shuttle, taxi, carriage and other vehicular traffic that competes with space with pedestrians," the ordinance said.
Gardner said the ordinance had been suggested in response to complaints from both residents and visitors.
"People have been approached, especially in the evening, and felt very uncomfortable," he said, adding that a recent purse-snatching downtown has added to nervousness.
Panhandlers currently operating on St. George Street are mostly young people who have crafted cardboard signs asking for money. Others sit in the Plaza de la Constitucion.
The ordinance is patterned after an existing Key West measure, Gardner said.
The text of St. Augustine's ordinance says, "Visitors are regularly and often threateningly accosted by panhandlers."
About five years ago the City Commission passed an ordinance prohibiting street performers and artists from plying their trades on St. George Street.
Earlier this year, the city also passed an Aggressive Panhandling Ordinance to stop the verbal harassment of residents and visitors who did not give money to panhandlers.
According to the draft ordinance, "The City Commission finds that police and code enforcement efforts have been unable to diminish the problems of panhandling and solicitation. ...
"The ordinance also distinguishes between panhandlers and the homeless and "does not intend this ordinance as a pretext from removing the homeless from the city's streets."