Council adopts package restricting panhandling, loitering and tightening peddler rules downtown

The City Council unanimously adopted a set of ordinances that amend peddler and solicitor licensing and add new rules on panhandling and loitering.

Councilmember Shields moved adoption of the peddlers and solicitors amendment (Bill 25‑156), which updates Chapter 20’s licensing process to give the police authority to fingerprint applicants and deny licenses for serious or recent felony convictions. The motion passed unanimously.

The council also adopted a new panhandling ordinance (Bill 25‑157) that defines “panhandling” and “aggressive panhandling,” bans panhandling specifically in the downtown core and in parks, and prohibits aggressive panhandling citywide. City Attorney Ed Rucker said the ordinance aims to preserve access to downtown without “bothering” visitors while still respecting constitutional free‑speech rights: “We permit that activity citywide as long as it's not aggressive.”

Councilmembers adopted a related loitering ordinance (Bill 25‑158) to prohibit obstructing reasonable movement of traffic. All votes on the three bills were recorded as unanimous at the meeting.

Chief Travis Forbes described the peddler licensing change to council: the licensing process allows the police department to conduct fingerprint-based background checks and to deny applications for serious offenses and felonies within the past five years.

Council discussion at the meeting focused on where panhandling would be restricted (downtown core and parks) and the citywide reach of the aggressive-panhandling prohibition; council did not vote to expand or narrow the downtown boundaries during the meeting. The ordinances were adopted at second reading and then adopted on final motion with unanimous recorded votes.

The ordinances cited at the meeting amend the City Code (Chapter 20, Article 2 and new sections in Chapter 17) and were presented by staff and the city attorney during the council meeting.