(a) Except as otherwise provided in this code of ordinances, or as otherwise authorized by law, no person shall beg or solicit for the immediate payment of money or goods from another person under any of the following circumstances:
(1) Within twenty feet of a bank or automated teller (ATM) machine.
(2) By soliciting a patron at a sidewalk café without first having obtained the permission of the operator of the café.
(3) By knowingly making a false and misleading representation in the course of a solicitation.
(4) In a manner that would constitute aggressive begging, which shall mean the following:
A. Touching the solicited person without that person's consent.
B. Blocking the path of the person being solicited, or the entrance to any building or vehicle.
C. Engaging in repeated requests after a refusal by the person being solicited.
D. Following behind, alongside or ahead of a person who walks away from the solicitor after having been solicited.
E. Using abusive language, either during the solicitation or following the refusal to donate, and making any statement, gesture, or other communication that would cause a reasonable person to be fearful or feel compelled to make a donation.
(b) This provision is intended to protect persons from threatening, intimidating, or harassing behavior; to keep public places safe for use by all members of the community; and to maintain and preserve public places as places where all of the community can interact in a peaceful manner. This provision is also intended to facilitate the free flow of pedestrian and vehicular traffic on streets and sidewalks within the City. While the City finds that aggressive acts associated with solicitation and begging can interfere with the free flow of traffic and intimidate persons in public places, it is not the intent of the City to limit persons from exercising their constitutional right to solicit funds or engage in other constitutionally-protected activities. The provision is intended to protect First Amendment rights of all people within the City, as well as the rights of non-participating people and their property, and to ensure they will be free from duress and or fraud to the extent possible.
(Ord. 21-1019. Passed 7-7-21.)