COLUMBUS – After two years of meetings and hearings, Columbus City Council Monday night approved a package of amendments to ordinances tightening up restrictions on aggressive panhandling.
The new rules do not make it illegal to ask passers-by or motorists for asking for money but require panhandlers to stay out of the street; the new rules also prohibit blocking sidewalks, entrance to buildings or other public rights-of-way; unwanted touching or grabbing, following someone who has said they don’t want to give, and standing within three feet of someone while they are operating an ATM machine.
Council members have met with the administration and neighborhood community groups over the past two years and, earlier this year, held two public hearings with testimony from outreach workers, business leaders and community members before drafting the amendments.
But some groups say the changes miss the mark.
“’Aggressive panhandling’ is not the problem, and criminalization is not the solution,” said Madeline Stocker, communications coordinator for Yes We Can Columbus, who says the city is facing a housing crisis. “If Council is truly committed to making measurable progress on our affordable housing crisis, they’ll stop handing out million dollar tax breaks to billionaire developers.”
“This is not an attack on poverty or homelessness, but a measure to provide protections for those who give and those who receive,” said Council member Mitchell Brown.
City Council members pointed out more than $14 million’ worth of support included in the city budget for agencies and organizations that assist the homeless population, such as more than $12 million to the Community Shelter Board, which helps provide stable housing; more than $1.2 million to Maryhaven, which provides behavioral health and addiction services, and more than $850,000to Alvis, which provides mental health and addiction services, and Netcare, which provides crisis response services.