Lexington's full council will consider an ordinance intended to keep panhandlers out of busy streets and improve pedestrian safety.
It would also expand restrictions on jaywalking.
Last year ten pedestrians were killed in Lexington, tying the most deadly year which was 2008. The proposed law seeks to lower that number by extending limits on jaywalking to all streets and keeping people from standing on medians dividing major roads.
Keith Horn with the city law department says street-side panhandlers would be restricted to sidewalks. “It prohibits or proposing prohibiting being in a roadway and approaching cars on Lexington’s most trafficked roads,” said Horn.
Following the state Supreme Court ruling that rejected the city’s ban on begging, panhandling along many Lexington streets increased. Council member Kevin Stinnett says this law would not outlaw panhandling on sidewalks. “We’re not prohibiting anyone from being on our sidewalks or holding signs on our sidewalks. That was obviously ruled by the Supreme Court of Kentucky,” explained Stinnett. “This is a pedestrian issue that we’re addressing today.”
The current draft ordinance also furthers jaywalking restrictions to all Lexington streets. That provision concerns council member Fred Brown. “People cross to talk to their neighbor anytime. And if you call that jaywalking, then we might as well forget about neighborhoods,” noted Brown.
Police Chief Mark Barnard says an officer must still witness the violation and enforcement will likely be complaint-driven.
If adopted by the full council, there will be a two-month education period before enforcement would begin.
