Durango: busted for sitting on a cloudy day
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Durango City Council supported a new ordinance during a work session Tuesday night that would prohibit sitting or lying on sidewalks or in alleys downtown.
https://durangoherald.com/articles/220347
The proposal has been controversial recently, but the council was united in its support. The four councilors present said they want to improve safety downtown.
“I think this is a step that is reasonable for us to take,” Councilor Dick White said. But it will also require enforcement and education, he said.
“I’m not excessively hopeful this ordinance will make a sea change,” he said.
Councilor Melissa Youssef said the new ordinance would give police a tool to keep streets safe and to ensure downtown Durango is welcoming to tourists.
“I am under the assumption it would protect our economic viability,” she said.
Mayor Sweetie Marbury encouraged staff members to accelerate the process for adopting the ordinance, and the group discussed a schedule that would allow the new law to take effect in June. She said she was particularly concerned about the obstruction those sitting or lying on the sidewalk pose to seniors and people with baby strollers.
Councilors also provided City Attorney Dirk Nelson direction on some details they would like in the ordinance.
Sitting and lying on the sidewalk could be prohibited from the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad depot to 14th Street and from Narrow Gauge Avenue to the alley east of Main Avenue. It could also be prohibited on East Second Avenue from Seventh to Ninth streets.
Councilors agreed, if passed, the ordinance would be in effect from 7 a.m. until 2:30 a.m. to help protect those who work late downtown.
Nelson encouraged councilors to narrow a ban on sitting and lying so it would address sidewalk congestion.
“I think it’s hard to support a real safety issue 24/7,” he said.
Councilors also supported exceptions for those with medical issues, children in strollers and those watching parades or attending other public events, such as Taste of Durango. Another exception would be sitting at outdoor bistros and public benches.
The law would be modeled on ordinances in effect in Tempe, Arizona, and Seattle that have held up in federal court because they apply to everyone, Nelson said.
Mark Silverstein, legal director of the Colorado American Civil Liberties Union, said Durango’s proposed law mirrors efforts in other cities to clear out panhandlers, and he questioned whether the ordinance would address a true safety issue.
“Sitting is a harmless behavior. It is not a crime,” he said in an interview last week. Panhandling is also protected by the First Amendment.
The ACLU sent a letter to the city in 2014 informing it that an ordinance prohibiting loitering for purposes of begging violated freedom of speech rights. After that, panhandling became more visible downtown.
Since then, the city has adopted an ordinance prohibiting aggressive panhandling. For example, panhandlers are prohibited from touching anyone, following anyone, speaking fighting words and blocking someone’s way. The city also forbids obstructing the sidewalk, Nelson said.
City Council may hold a public hearing on the sit-lie ordinance on May 15.
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Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: jonaspond
Not sure about you but I don
Not sure about you but I don't want to step over someone lying on the sidewalk nor do I want to own a store that no ones wants to come to because they constantly get hit up.
I applaud the ACLU for their efforts but we can't grant someone rights by taking rights away from another.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: 19.5 Degrees
I applaud the ACLU for their
I applaud the ACLU for their efforts but we can't grant someone rights by taking rights away from another. <<<
Even if you had to walk around people who were sprawled out, what rights would have been taken away from you?
Likewise, if it had been a crowd of people standing; forcing you to walk around, would you also have had the same rights taken from you?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Fly
I think I would get right in
I think I would get right in a cops face for hassling me for sitting in a public spot. f that. If they wanted to arrest me, I'd thank them for wasting tax payers dollars while the judge threw it out. signs signs everywhere a sign
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lucky Day
>>>>>>I think I would get
>>>>>>I think I would get right in a cops face for hassling me for sitting in a public spot. f that. If they wanted to arrest me, I'd thank them for wasting tax payers dollars while the judge threw it out.
I’m guessing you're a white guy.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Def. High
In 1969 I and number of
In 1970 I and number of others were demonstrating against the war and the draft by sitting on the sidewalk in a large group in front of the entrance to the draft board office in Portland OR. We were arrested for blocking the sidewalk. The judge didn't throw it out. We were all white.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Ken D.
Speaking of Portland, the
Speaking of Portland, the City passed a controversial "sit and lie" ordinance which prevented people from sitting on the sidewalk. It was designed to deal with complaints by downtown businesses about the hordes of folks milling around, doing drugs, panhandling, etc. (if you been to downtown PDX, you know what I am talking about).
It was declared unconstitutional by a federal court in 2009.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lucky Day
>>>>>>>We were all white.
>>>>>>>We were all white.
Duh. It was Oregon in 1970. Of course you were all white.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Def. High
Lol. Actually we were all
Lol. Actually we were all college students from various parts of the country, but, yeah, our school was at least 95% haole.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sycamore Slough
In the 60's, 70's, 80's and
In the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's Portland OR had Black neighborhoods, North PDX for one.
Rich White Honkies have been buying up North PDX houses last couple decades, so I've seen.
Anyway, I've witnessed the downtown Portland junkie street-grifters and don't really think that they are a positive influence upon the local businesses.
They don't ever buy anything (from the stores) and tend to scare off "The Normal People" who(m) maybe want to stroll downtown and purchase something from the shoppes.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: TommyGutt
Sitting and lying are what
Sitting and lying are what Parks are for.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sycamore Slough
Portland OR actually has a
Portland OR actually has a pretty nice batch of parks.
Early 2000's they "discovered" some dude who had built a stealth home waaay in the bushes at a PDX forested park. He had been there for years, and fed + clothed his kid who was attending public school on a daily basis.
The guy had bookshelves and a kitchen space, kid did well in school, I forget how he eventually drew attention, but he was not bothering anybody.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lucky Day
https://www.theatlantic.com
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/07/racist-history-port...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Fly
Zactly Gutt. I don't even no
Zactly Gutt. I don't even no why race factors into this. Acts of protest are from every type person. I have been "profiled" as a longhair and literally chased out of 2 states. Once for sitting at a rest area with friends. Another time for "looking different" at a convenience store. Move along freaks was the message.
hoov, polite suggestion, maybe you can stop being so contrarian and try to contribute more than divisive sarcasm in an attempt at humor. Also, don't assume too much about me. Words on screen.
Fight the power ACLU.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lucky Day
I’m pointing out a white guy
I’m pointing out a white guy getting up in a cops face usually ends different than it does for a POC. Plus I also kind of call bullshit and believe you would probably buzz offf when a cop told you too.
Also pointing out that you’re not really a fly.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lucky Day
>>>>> I have been "profiled"
>>>>> I have been "profiled" as a longhair and literally chased out of 2 states. Once for sitting at a rest area with friends. Another time for "looking different" at a convenience store. Move along freaks was the message.
lol
sounds like a tough life.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: 19.5 Degrees
divisive sarcasm?
divisive sarcasm
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Ken D.
Its no secret that hippies
Its no secret that hippies have been historically profiled and harassed by cops for as long as there have been hippies. Lord knows that back when I had dreads and drove around in car covered in GD stickers, I would get pulled over and hassled all the time. In that respect, you got a peek into what it might be like to be black.
However, the worst that generally happens when hippies get profiled and hassled is an arrest. Cops generally saw hippies as easy marks and not really a threat. Guns usually didn't get pulled and the hippies could get away with some amount of lip to the cops without worrying much about their physical safety.
With black people, by contrast, the cops approach harassment much differently and more aggressively. Any interaction with the cops could turn deadly if the victim of the harassment made the wrong move or didn't immediately comply with the cops orders.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Oaksterdam Dan
This is the Norcal/Oregon
This is the Norcal/Oregon zone NOT the Colorado zone. Bunch of weed thieving hippies.
What happened to brochacho?? Haven't been trolled by him in a minute.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Oaksterdam Dan
if you drive a shitty old
if you drive a shitty old vehicle in suburban america you will be PROFILED and pulled over
Berkeley/Oakland riots which I got caught in the middle of was mostly white teenage skateboard punks doing the damage.
Early 2000's Massachusetts State Police pulled me over for speeding (85mph) and upon seeing my California license plate sticker that said Dead Head. He says, slow down asshole your lucky I'm getting off shift in 5 minutes otherwise I would shake you down for everything you got and I know you don't want that deadhead. Next car didn't get stickers.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: TommyGutt
Under the figue tree
Under the figue tree
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: le hammer
>>>>Sitting and lying are
>>>>Sitting and lying are what Parks are for.<<<<
At the city park in my town, disc golf took all the sitting and lying places.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Oaksterdam Dan
>>>>Sitting and lying are
>>>>Sitting and lying are what Parks are for.<<<<
Maybe in suburbs and the country but not in urban area's unless there white people like SF
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ImusDeadCo
Where does Phil stand on
Where does Phil stand on sidewalk sitting?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: jeff
He would tell the spanger
He would probably roll the window down and tell the spanger that change comes from within, and then peel out in his silver Ferrari.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: El Nino
This is why we need a
This is why we need a guaranteed basic income. Liberals get to take care of the homeless, and conservatives get to make laws about where and when you can hang out since you won't be criminalizing homelessness anymore.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Hitchhiker awaiting "true call"
https://www.huffingtonpost
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ben-carson-wants-to-raise-the-rent-...