LR plan bans soliciting gifts in, near roads

City cites safety concerns for motorists, hat-passers

It will be illegal to solicit donations along roadways and at intersections in the capital city if the Little Rock Board of Directors approves an ordinance Tuesday banning the practice.

City Attorney Tom Carpenter proposed the ordinance to prohibit anyone from entering a roadway, median or portion of a public street for the purpose of distributing anything or soliciting anything from vehicle occupants.

The city said it has had some problems with groups' fundraising activities at busy intersections.

When police stopped one group from distributing fliers near a roadway earlier this year, group members complained that officers had violated their constitutional First Amendment rights, and the city stopped enforcing its solicitation ordinance in order to investigate the matter, according to the proposed ordinance.

"We've been trying for some period of time to create an ordinance that allows some distribution materials from medians within roadways. We had groups mention a particular desire to do that. It has just been almost impossible to find something that will justify a ban, but then turn around and let certain groups do it when the ban is based on public safety," Carpenter told the city board last week. "This would be an absolute ban on solicitation within medians or streets."

The ordinance would not prohibit people who remain on sidewalks or in other public areas from distributing items to non-moving vehicles if the vehicle occupants voluntarily accept what's being distributed.

Carpenter said the city could ban all solicitation and continue researching legal ways to provide some exemptions to the ban.

"I am not convinced that it is impossible to figure out a way that perhaps some groups can actively do some solicitation. However, I am convinced that there is no way we are going to get that figured out right now," he said. "This takes care of a very immediate problem we've had. ... This is a complete ban, but that doesn't mean that the city can't revisit the issue at some point in the future, and we are continuing to work on it."

Ward 4 Director Brad Cazort said he supports the ban and asked that a penalty section be added to the ordinance.

Ward 3 Director Kathy Webb said she won't be at Tuesday's board meeting to vote, but she indicated her support for the ordinance.

"I have had incredible discussion on Facebook, and via email and phone with a lot of people -- more than I think almost any issue we've ever had -- on this," she said.

The city has received complaints specifically about solicitations at Bowman Road and Chenal Parkway; where Asher Avenue and Colonel Glenn Road intersect with University Avenue; and along Chenal Parkway.

The main reason for the ban, as cited in the proposed ordinance, is to protect drivers, as well as the people who are doing the soliciting along the roadways. Carpenter said courts have upheld bans instituted for safety reasons. He said the city could run into some legal problems if it partially bans solicitation and cites reasons other than public safety.

Little Rock resident Russ Racop has written to city officials several times complaining about peddlers, solicitors and canvassers on city streets.

"These individuals stand in the road, in traffic and are very aggressive. The board should pass an ordinance that prohibits this type of fundraising effort, no matter what organization is involved," he wrote in a June 26 email to the city board.

The board is to meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in City Hall at 501 W. Markham St. in the second-floor boardroom to vote on the solicitation ban. Public comment will be allowed if the speaker submits a comment card before the meeting.

Metro on 07/06/2015

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