CHARLESTON W.Va. (WVDN) – The city of Charleston is considering an ordinance that would prohibit interactions between people in vehicles and pedestrians in roadway medians and along streets within certain parts of the city.
Should it be passed, the bill would prohibit panhandling as well as fundraisers in those areas, said Councilman Chad Robinson, chairman of council’s Rules and Ordinance Committee, which first proposed the bill at its meeting Nov. 18.
It was formally introduced to the council Monday evening and referred to the Rules and Ordinance and Public Safety committees for further work.
Robinson, who represents a ward in the city’s Kanawha City area, said the bill is meant to address safety concerns, not criminalize homelessness.
“We have people panhandling all over Kanawha City,” he said. “During the construction [of MacCorkle Avenue] we had people standing in the construction zone, walking outside the cones in medians when people are stopping cars and handing money.
“I’ve told people before, try to find a bill that I voted against our [Coordinated Addiction Response Effort] team or trying to help the homeless,” Robinson said. “It’s not about that. It is about safety. Coming off the interstate bridge in Kanawha City, we have people stopping at green lights to hand out money to individuals when the lights are green and people are coming. They fly off an interstate and it’s dangerous. We’ve got to do something about it.”
The language in the bill is based on a law the city of Wheeling recently passed, Robinson said. Monongalia County passed a similar ordinance in October 2023.
According to the version of the legislation introduced Monday, within “areas of concern” in the city, it would be illegal to use the public right-of-way in a way that interferes with the movement of people and property from place in a public roadway, highway or right-of-way, for a person to stop, stand or otherwise occupy or remain in a median on any public roadway except to cross, and for a pedestrian to have a physical interaction or transfer a product with the occupant of a motor vehicle while the vehicle is not legally parked.
The bill defines “areas of concerns” as having any or all of the following characteristics: roadways or highways with a speed limit of at least 30 miles per hour; medians, roadways or highways less than 10 feet wide; roadways with poor or no lighting; roadways during inclement weather that limits visibility; and roadways or streets under construction or repair.
The law would require the city to post a list of areas of concern on its website.
Robinson said he’s mainly concerned with the interstates entrances and exits in the city.
“That’s the main areas where we have accidents. That’s the main thoroughfares in and out of the cities,” he said. “And that’s where a lot of people are staying and holding signs, panhandling, everything.
“But again, I don’t know where we’ll end up. I don’t know that we’ll get something passed, but we’re going to have the discussion,” Robinson said. “I’m going to have my committee discuss it, even if it’s a couple months.”
Violating the law would be a misdemeanor. Drivers and pedestrians who are convicted face a $100 fine or community service, at the discretion of municipal court. The bill encourages police to offer warnings for violations unless the person is known to have repeatedly violated the law.
According to the National Homelessness Law Center, an organization that advocates for policies that prevent and end homelessness, anti-panhandling laws fail to address the causes of homelessness and poverty and they make it more difficult for people because they put arrest records, fines and fees in the way of people trying to get into housing.
This is at least the third time in recent years that Charleston City Council has considered a law that would restrict panhandling. In 2017, a proposed bill would have required people soliciting to obtain a permit prior to doing so.
The consideration of that bill coincided with a city campaign that encouraged people to give to a fund for homeless service providers through the United Way of Central West Virginia instead of directly to panhandlers. Signs around the city directed people to “give where it belongs.” The campaign raised $0.
In 2021, a city council committee considered a bill that would have restricted people from standing or congregating in high speed intersections and near bridges or highways.
The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia raised concerns with both bills, calling them unconstitutional. Neither bill went to full council for a vote.
In an email, Billy Wolfe, communications director of ACLU-WV, said the organization is following both Charleston’s latest panhandling bill and the enforcement of Wheeling’s recent ban.
“We’re watching Wheeling’s enforcement of its new ordinance closely, and we’re very concerned about the overly broad language in Charleston’s bill,” Wolfe said. “Whether or not these ordinances are constitutional could ultimately come down to how they’re enforced, but one thing is certain: cities will never fine or arrest their way out of poverty.”
Amy Wolfe, director of Manna Meal, Charleston’s only soup kitchen, said she only knows a little about Charleston’s latest proposal to limit panhandling, but said the city should be careful not to criminalize an already marginalized group of people.
“I believe that as a society, we’re getting less empathetic, and I believe that’s a very dangerous road to go down, that we need to continually take care of our neighbors that need our help,” she said.
Robinson said last week it’s too early for criticisms that the proposed ordinance may be unconstitutional.
“We don’t even have an introduced version of a bill,” he said last week. “We haven’t discussed it. We haven’t had questions. We haven’t amended it, and we haven’t passed it. So there’s nothing unconstitutional about anything right now, because we’re just in the beginning phases of this discussion.”
City Council President Becky Ceperley, a council member-at-large who was part of the council during the previous efforts to ban panhandling, said the bill applies to everyone, even people standing in the street to raise funds for a high school event, for instance. The proposed bill is specific and its goal is safety, she said.
“Safety, one, for the people standing in the medians and asking for money, and two, for people who will just stop really quickly and cause a car accident,” Ceperley said. “If you’ll notice, a lot of places, like in Kanawha city, where they stand are high traffic areas, obviously, and it is often where cars are then coming off the ramps and their speed is up. So it can be very dangerous, both to the individual and to the cars.”
Ceperley said it would be helpful for people to understand better ways for people to help those in need.
“I think to the extent that we’re able to craft [a bill], I think that having something that protects everybody is a good idea,” she said. But passing it will be tough, she said.
“If it were easy to do, every city in the world would have it,” Ceperley said. “So I think it will be [tough], and I know that there’s concern, but I can’t imagine that there wouldn’t be some pushback from various organizations about doing it.”
This article first appeared on West Virginia Watch.
West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com. Follow West Virginia Watch on Facebook and X.
