Beavercreek planning crackdown on panhandling

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Staff Photo by Jim Witmer At an exit ramp from US 35, Mark Augusta panhandles in this June 17, 2011. Augusta calls himself the "Homeless Poet" and has been in the Dayton area for many years. Sometimes he sells his poems for cash, he said. Beavercreek is crafting legislation to curb panhandling, which police say has increased since Dayton toughened its regulations in July.

Police say panhandling is up at exit ramps and around stores.

By Mark Gokavi, Staff Writer Updated 9:23 AM Monday, October 31, 2011

BEAVERCREEK — Beavercreek is crafting legislation to curb panhandling, which police say has increased since Dayton toughened its regulations in July.

“What this is addressing is the individuals standing at the off-ramps for I-675 and North Fairfield with their signs basically soliciting moneys,” Beavercreek police Chief Dennis Evers said at a recent City Council work session. “We’re also getting the ones, and it’s getting more aggressive, where they’re approaching people who are entering and exiting their vehicles at retail establishments.”

Evers said it’s difficult to determine the exact numbers of panhandlers because they are entered into various current call categories, but that “there’s been a definite increase. We’ve seen a spike since June or July.”

Dayton’s ordinance went into effect July 22. It allows police to arrest individuals holding signs asking for money near roadways where they could be distracting drivers.

“The biggest change is that they can’t solicit from any vehicle that’s in the (road) right-of-way,” Dayton City Prosecutor Stephanie Cook said this past summer. “Even if they’re standing on the sidewalk, if the sign is directed at vehicles, that’s a violation.”

The Dayton ordinance seems to have affected Greene County more than Montgomery County cities.

Officials in Oakwood, Kettering, Centerville and Washington Twp. had not seen any increase in panhandling.

None of those municipalities is planning to introduce any legislation in response to Dayton’s actions.

Beavercreek city attorney Stephen McHugh said the potential Beavercreek ordinance is in its first draft and subject to revision. Unlike Dayton’s, Beavercreek’s ordinance would not require panhandlers to register. But it would restrict when, where and how panhandlers could legally operate.

Those asking for money could only do so during daylight hours and not on private property, if there is written notice prohibiting panhandling or solicitation.

Maintaining distance

The distances between a panhandler and pedestrians range from 20 feet for those in line or at a banking institution or automated-teller machine to 15 feet from public facilities to 10 feet from building or parking lot entrances.

Panhandlers would not be allowed to follow a person who walks away or to get within 3 feet of a person who already has declined to give a donation. Panhandling would not be allowed at any bus stops. Beavercreek turned down a request for three Greater Dayton RTA bus stops earlier this year and is in a six-month moratorium on bus stop applications.

A coalition of local churches, called Leadership for Equality and Action in Dayton or LEAD, has filed a complaint to federal agencies alleging the council violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by denying an application to install the bus stops near the Mall at Fairfield Commons.

Fairborn police Capt. Terry Bennington said a couple of months ago that beggars holding signs had occasionally been seen at the ramp from Interstate 675 to Dayton-Yellow Springs Road.

Fairborn City Manager Deborah McDonnell said the city has received calls about panhandling but that no legislation was in the works.

The potential Beavercreek ordinance includes language excluding solicitations from charitable or civic organizations. That lack of language in Dayton’s ordinance led to firefighters being banned from their traditional Labor Day “Fill the Boot” fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Beavercreek city officials likely would review the proposed ordinance in at least one more work session before multiple readings in regular council meetings.

Currently, Beavercreek police can arrest panhandlers only if they are breaking a traffic law or do not heed a trespassing warning. “We need to have some effective tool to deal with this, because it is becoming more prevalent,” Evers said.

“And as we enter the holiday season, it’s probably going to become even more prevalent.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-6951 or mgokavi@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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