Passing money from your window could draw new fine

Kelowna drivers latest target to prevent begging in the streets

Giving change to a panhandler at an intersection will draw a $250 fine under proposed bylaw changes to be considered today by Kelowna city council.

And anyone who gives away bottles or cans near a recycling station could also be fined $250.

The proposed changes, which target both those giving away money and panhandlers who cadge for change, are said by city officials to be safety measures.

“Panhandling activity has increasingly been observed to take place on (medians), at busy intersections and highway junctions, as well as with cars stopping on the road to hand over bottles to panhandlers around bottle depots,” reads part of a staff report to council.

“This poses a safety risk to the person panhandling, and to motorists,” the report states.

Council will consider the idea of folding a panhandling bylaw that dates back to 1998 into the Good Neighbour bylaw, which has already superseded ordinances on littering, noise, unsightly premises, and residential nuisances.

The draft regulations are an attempt to balance the court-recognized right to beg with the right of citizens not to be unduly put-upon by those who are panhandling.

“The proposed panhandling section of the Good Neighbour bylaw recognizes that panhandling is an allowable activity, but regulates the conditions under which the activity can take place,” the report states. Some of the proposed changes: — reduce the panhandler exclusion zone around banks, ATMs, and liquor stores from 10 metres to five metres

— allow panhandling at the entrance to a movie theatre

— prohibit panhandling at a tax stand

— prohibit panhandling within five metres of someone seated in an outdoor patio

— prohibit panhandlers from obstructing the passage of someone on the street, and prohibit them from walking beside the person they’re asking for money

— prohibit panhandling before 8 a.m. and after 8 p.m.