(A) Definitions. For the purposes of this section the following definition shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
RIGHT-OF-WAY CANVASSER OR SOLICITOR. Any person who sells or offers for sale any thing or service of any kind, or who seeks any donation of any kind, or who personally hands to or seeks to transmit by hand or receive by hand any thing or service of any kind, whether or not payment in exchange is reguired or requested, to any person who operates or occupies a motor vehicle of any kind, which vehicle is engaged in travel on or within any portion of any of the streets or roadways in the city, whether or not such vehicle is temporarily stopped in the travel lanes of the road. The term shall not apply to any person who merely holds or displays a sign lawfully permitted to be displayed by a person as long as there is no entry by such person or sign into any portion of the roadway or its median. Further, this term shall not apply to official citations or notices provided pursuant to governmental authority.
(B) Prohibition of right-of-way canvassers and solicitors .
(1) Findings; purpose; intent.
(a) The City Commission of the City of Pembroke Pines desires to adopt an ordinance restricting right-of-way canvassers and solicitors to certain streets and roadways located in the city because such canvassers and solicitors pose a danger to themselves and the public at large by interfering with the safe movement of normal vehicular traffic; and
(b) According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 2007 Florida Traffic Crash Statistics Report, 530 pedestrians were killed on Florida roadways in 2007; 65 of those pedestrians were killed on roadways in Broward County; and
(c) As reported in the USDOT National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's June 2008 National Pedestrian Crash Report, the City of Pembroke Pines experienced two pedestrian crash deaths in 2006 alone;
(d) Based upon statistics collected by the Surface Transportation Policy Project, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area is one of the most dangerous areas in the United States for pedestrians; and
(e) Numerous types of right-of-way canvassers and solicitors may seek to operate within the City of Pembroke Pines, including, but not limited to, children, adolescents and adults who seek to collect money for school and community activities; vendors who sell flowers, newspapers and other products; and people who seek donations or distribute written information; and
(f) Right-of-way canvassers and solicitors approach motorists and passengers in motor vehicles engaged in travel on roads, and are particularly susceptible and vulnerable to serious injury, or death due to the speed and number of motorists who operate vehicles on busy roads within the city; and
(g) Roads are primarily designed for vehicular traffic and are not suited to safely accommodate right-of way canvassers and solicitors; and
(h) According to a local newspaper article published in 2003, 29 right-of-way canvassers/solicitors have been seriously injured and at least 14 more have been killed by motor vehicles during a 15-year period; many of those deaths occurred while the canvasser/solicitor was sitting or standing in a median or on the side of the street (including a Sun-Sentinel newspaper vendor who was struck by a car while carrying papers on U.S. 1 and Broward Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale on July 30, 2000; a Miami Herald newspaper vendor who was standing on the median at Federal Highway and Stirling Road on May 23. 2002; and a Miami Herald newspaper vendor who was selling papers on the side of the street at Stirling Road and U.S. 441 on August 7, 2002); and
(i) The presence of right-of-way canvassers and solicitors interferes with the safe movement of normal vehicular traffic; and
(j) The road network in the city is substantially burdened by a high volume of traffic, and road design frequently includes complex vehicle turn movements that demand a driver's strict attention; and
(k) It is the intention of the City Commission to use the least restrictive means to advance the significant governmental interests of traffic safety and public safety and, consequently, the city staff analyzed each of the major roads within the city and determined that the roads listed in division (C) below present an increased and significant danger for use by distracted drivers, pedestrians and right-of-way canvassers and solicitors and pose the greatest threat to traffic and public safety in reference to activities and use by right-of-way canvassers and solicitors, and therefore the City Commission has determined that such activities and use by right-of way vendors and solicitors shall be prohibited on the roads listed in division (C) below; and
(l) It is the finding of the City Commission that many other alternative channels of communication (other than right-of-way canvassing and solicitation on the prohibited roadways) exist for persons who seek to exercise their First Amendment freedoms, such as, but by no means limited to, solicitation of funds or distribution of literature through the mail or at alternate locations (such as houses of worship, shopping areas and special events); the sale and/or distribution of newspapers through home or office delivery, vending machines and retail stores; and the sale of goods and services at retail stores, through the internet and from vending machines; and
(m) The City Commission desires to preserve and protect the personal safety and quality of life of its residents and of those who use streets within the city, both pedestrians and motorists alike; and
(n) The City Commission has reviewed the proposed regulations provided by this section and finds that such regulations accomplish the purposes intended while utilizing the least restrictive means; and
(o) The City Commission finds that it is in the best interests of the residents of the city to adopt this section.
(C) Prohibited roadways. It shall be unlawful for any person to act as a right-of-way canvasser or solicitor on Pines Boulevard, Pembroke Road, University Drive, Sheridan Street, Dykes Road and Flamingo Road or within 200 feet from the lateral curb or boundary line of any intersection located on the roadways identified in this division.
(D) F.S. Chapter 316. The enforcement of this section shall not, in any way, preclude the enforcement of F.S. § 316.130(5), as applicable.
(E) Enforcement and penalties.
(1) It shall be the duty of any police officer of the city to require any person seen soliciting or canvassing and who is not known by the officer to be duly permitted, to produce his solicitor's or canvasser's permit, and to enforce the provisions of this chapter against any person found in violation thereof.
(2) Except for violations of § 94.49 of the City Code, any person who violates any terms or provisions of this section shall be prosecuted before a court of competent jurisdiction and, upon conviction of such violation before the judge of the county court, shall be subject to the penalties prescribed by the county judge. Each day of violation of any term or provision of this article shall constitute a separate and distinct violation.
(3) Any person who violates § 94.49 of the City Code shall be subject to the code enforcement provisions of Chapter 32 of the City Code, and the penalties set forth in § 32.066 of the City Code.
(Ord. 1734, passed 9-5-12)