The Merced City Council took a step toward squashing panhandling by focusing on some median islands Monday. “This problem is very visual,” Mayor Stan Thurston said. “It makes our city look bad.” In a unanimous vote, council made it a misdemeanor to use the medians for anything other than a place to wait while crossing the street. The ordinance applies to the medians of Auto Center Drive, Olive and Yosemite avenues, as well as G, M, R and V streets. The city added Martin Luther King Jr. Way north of Highway 99 to that list. City Attorney Greg Diaz said being specific about which streets fall under the ordinance would likely help it withstand legal challenge because putting all Merced streets under the ordinance would too strictly restrain free speech. “This would leave open the sidewalks, the street corners all of the traditional sort of forums (such as) city parks,” Diaz said. Read more here: mercedsunstar/2013/11/18/3342713/asking-for-cash-on-some-merced.html#storylink=cpy
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 20:31:16 +0000
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