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City staff outlines narrowly tailored panhandling, loitering options; no ordinance yet
Summary
City legal and police staff briefed the Economic Development Committee on options to address aggressive panhandling and loitering, recommending narrowly tailored rules focused on downtown, Green Street Market and parks that emphasize a ban on repeated solicitations rather than a general ban on speech.
City legal staff and police presented a multi-month review of existing tools and possible ordinances to address aggressive panhandling, loitering and soliciting, with a focus on creating narrowly tailored rules that could survive constitutional scrutiny.
Assistant City Manager Ryan Elam opened the discussion and said staff had coordinated legal review with police to identify enforcement challenges. Legal counsel Rucker explained the constitutional constraints and the need for careful drafting. “Reed versus Town of Gilbert” was cited by Rucker as limiting government restrictions on speech and requiring narrow tailoring; Rucker said the effective, defensible approach is to distinguish between a…
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