Ocoee considers new rules to address panhandling

Panhandlers in Ocoee will be required to register with police and won’t be able to ask for money near ATMs, bus stops or liquor stores if commissioners pass an ordinance introduced Tuesday.

The new rules also forbid them from holding a cardboard sign claiming to be homeless if they aren’t.

Deputy chief Steve McCosker said the city needs guidelines for roadside solicitors who impede traffic at busy intersections and annoy merchants by begging at their stores without permission.

“It’s not a ban,” McCosker said. “It’ll just clean it up ... so everyone knows exactly what the rules are.”

He said the proposed regulations would apply to any person or group soliciting donations — including the Salvation Army and youth sports teams.

Registering to beg for money is free but a person who wants to solicit donations must have a photo ID.

A person without identification must agree to be fingerprinted and photographed by Ocoee police.

The ordinance, patterned after similar rules in Orlando and Winter Garden, was prompted by citizen complaints and what police called an “increase in aggressive panhandling” at some stores.

Authorities identified Silver Star and Clarke roads and Maguire Road and Colonial Drive as two intersections where panhandling is often a problem in late afternoons when traffic is heavy.

Neither location had panhandlers Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, though two corners were occupied by sign-spinners, one hawking mobile phones and another trying to drum up afterschool business for a nearby ice cream shop.

Shoppers at the Silver Crossing Publix said they have seen a woman panhandling with a child in a stroller near the intersection, but not this week.

Commissioner John Grogan, who proposed the ordinance, said he is concerned the problem will worsen as the city grows and its roads get busier.

“When they get squeezed out of other places, they come here. They know we don’t have rules,” he said of the roadside solicitors. “What our busiest intersections don’t need is more distractions.”

Orlando’s ordinance allows solicitation in designated “blue box” areas, but does not have a registration requirement as Ocoee is proposing, city spokeswoman Cassandra Lafser said.

Neighboring Winter Garden rarely enforces its panhandling rule, City Manager Mike Bollhoefer said.

“We take a different approach,” he said.

Bollhoefer said police try to direct people who are begging for money to area churches and other organizations which can provide meals and shelter.

Seminole County commissioners cracked down on “aggressive” roadside solicitors in January 2015, enacting an ordinance in response to calls and emails from residents, some of whom had questioned whether the panhandlers were truly homeless and needy.

Maximum penalties are 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Deputies made 19 arrests for aggressive panhandling in 2016 and two so far this year, sheriff’s spokeswoman Kim Cannaday said.

“We understand there may be underlying issues such as homelessness,” she said, saying deputies try to work with community partners to provide assistance and services to those in need.

Seminole’s rule defines aggressive panhandling as blocking the path of a vehicle or pedestrian, tapping on a car window, touching or following a pedestrian or repeatedly asking for money after being turned down.

Ocoee’s rule includes that definition, too.

But the proposed ordinance also forbids panhandlers from coming closer than 3 feet from someone to ask for money unless “that person has indicated that he or she does wish to make a donation.”

Ocoee also would forbid panhandlers from wearing a military uniform or claiming veteran status if they never served in the armed services.

Ocoee Commissioner Rosemary Wilsen, who works for a nonprofit agency that assists homeless, hungry and needy persons, said she worries about people who stand in roadway medians to appeal to motorists for spare change.

“What I look at is safety,” she said. “It’s dangerous and we have services available in our community.”

Violations of the proposed Ocoee panhandling ordinance would carry maximum penalties of $1,000 fine and a year in jail.

Ocoee commissioners did not discuss the proposed ordinance Tuesday, but the board is slated to vote on it March 21.