Commissioners press for Pensacola Street fixes, ask county attorney to draft ban on panhandling in medians

The Leon County Board of County Commissioners accepted a status report on development and safety along the Pensacola Street and North Monroe Street corridors and directed staff to seek an updated corridor plan from the City of Tallahassee. Commissioners also asked the county attorney to draft ordinance language limiting panhandling and similar solicitation in roadway medians after several residents and commissioners described the activity as a public-safety hazard.

The status report covered ongoing investments and planning efforts along both corridors and summarized work by multiple agencies, but several commissioners said the written update understates current problems on the ground. “I’m feeling more on the disappointed side,” Vice Chair Kristin Caban said, criticizing the report for relying on planning work from 2004–05 and not addressing recent changes in the corridor or recent incidents affecting businesses and pedestrians.

Why it matters: Pensacola Street runs through neighborhoods with concentrated social services, student housing and transit connections; commissioners said the mix of uses and growing density has changed the corridor in ways that the 2005 sector plan did not anticipate. That has placed local concerns — pedestrian safety, concentration of unsheltered people and business losses — squarely before the county even though parts of the street are state- or city-jurisdiction roads.

Most of the discussion focused on three topics: the limits of county authority, ongoing planning and transportation projects, and responses to homelessness.

- Jurisdiction and projects: Planning staff explained that Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) controls Pensacola Street as a state road and is conducting a PD&E (project development and environment) study between Appleyard Drive and Capitol Circle Southeast; staff said the county is coordinating to widen sidewalks and add multimodal facilities where DOT’s classification permits. Planning staff reported more than 1,000 rezonings in the sector since the 2005 plan and said 68% of recent site-assistance work in the area has occurred since 2020, evidence of recent development pressure.

- Homelessness and enforcement: Commissioners and county staff described a multiagency approach that includes host deputies, county-funded day services, funded bus routes to encourage use of day centers, camera installations tied to a real-time center, and outreach from the Continuum of Care. County staff said these efforts aim to reduce unsheltered encampments and connect people with shelter beds and services, but several commissioners said progress has been too slow and called for clearer, faster action.

- Panhandling in medians: Several members of the public gave examples of people soliciting in roadway medians and intersections, saying the practice creates hazards for drivers and pedestrians. After extended debate about legal limits, the board voted to ask the county attorney to draft ordinance language that would prohibit solicitation in roadway medians (the county attorney had previously advised the board that any restriction should be defensible under court precedent and supported by safety data). The board’s direction asks staff and counsel to prepare draft language for future consideration; commissioners emphasized they expect public hearings and additional debate before any ordinance would be adopted.

What the county said: Planning staff emphasized that many transportation and land-use decisions on the corridor require coordination with FDOT and the City of Tallahassee, and that some projects (resurfacing, PD&E) are underway but will take time. Staff and sheriff’s office representatives said the county is funding outreach, day services and camera infrastructure to help address crime and quality-of-life concerns.

What commissioners asked for next: Commissioners asked staff to (1) request an update from the City of Tallahassee on the corridor master plan, (2) continue coordination with FDOT on the PD&E and resurfacing projects, (3) provide a public engagement schedule (charrettes/workshops) focused on homelessness and business impacts, and (4) return draft ordinance language (prohibiting solicitation in medians) and supporting legal/safety analysis for board review.

Ending: Commissioners and staff agreed the corridor is a high priority and the board will revisit the issue after staff returns with the requested materials and draft language; any ordinance would follow normal public-notice and hearing requirements before adoption.