Ventura Adopts 2 Laws Aimed at Downtown Panhandling : Commerce: Merchants say the homeless drive away business. Police believe the measures will help them better handle complaints.

The Ventura City Council adopted two laws Monday night aimed at weeding out loitering and aggressive panhandling in response to complaints by downtown merchants that homeless people were driving away customers.

Panhandlers who seek donations too aggressively or block pedestrians could be prosecuted under one of the new laws, which will not take effect for at least 30 days.

The laws also prohibit panhandling in areas such as restaurants, bus and train depots and within 50 feet of automated teller machines.

Council members said the new laws are needed to stimulate tourism and business in the city’s commercial core, and to give police the authority to do something about bold and chronic beggars.

“The bottom line is if we’re going to have a downtown storefront, I want to make sure the police have some ordinances they can use,” Councilman Steve Bennett said before Monday’s meeting.

People “avoid situations where they get aggressively panhandled,” Bennett said. “We have some people downtown that are getting very aggressive.”

Under the new law, aggressive panhandling is defined as intimidating people while asking for money.

Ventura police officials said they need the laws to allow them to better do their job.

“It would just give officers an additional tool to handle some of the panhandling complaints we get,” Lt. Pat Miller said. “We get complaints from merchants on a regular basis that the homeless are badgering people on the street and driving away business.”

The new laws were adopted unanimously, with Councilman Gary Tuttle absent.

*

During a public hearing on the issue Monday evening, several merchants urged council members to adopt the stricter ordinances.

Dee Frisbie, the owner of a downtown pizza parlor, said he gets verbally abused when he denies free food or spare change to beggars wandering into his restaurant.

“This is being cursed at, you name it,” he told the council. “It’s just extremely frustrating.”

Added Diane Neveu, who owns the Book Mall of Ventura: “I don’t want them intruding and keeping people away from my business. They smell . . . they’re a problem and we need to do something about it.”

The law against aggressive panhandling was adopted with another ordinance that regulates behavior on public property in the downtown area, along Ventura Avenue and in designated tourist destinations.

That ordinance allows police to cite people who are sitting or lying on sidewalks or curbs in those areas. It also makes it illegal to block a pedestrian or motorist using public streets and sidewalks. The law includes exemptions for parades and other special events.

Police officials said Monday they would first warn violators of the new laws before issuing citations.

Violations of either of the new laws are considered misdemeanors, and are punishable by fines of up to $1,000 and six months in jail, said Carol Green, an assistant to City Manager Donna Landeros.

“It would be up to the discretion of the judge to set the penalty,” Green said.

The council approved the ordinances two months after similar laws were first proposed by city officials.

Since February, City Atty. Peter Bulens deleted two sections of the panhandling ordinance he said could not be adequately enforced or could have been challenged in court, Green said.

The first two proposals would have outlawed panhandling after sunset and before sunrise.

*

They also would have made it illegal to make false promises, such as holding signs that say a person will work for food when that person has no intention of doing any work.

Councilman Gregory L. Carson said he was not convinced the laws would work. But he said they are worth a try.

“It’s a much more watered-down version than the prior ordinances,” Carson said. “It’s a compromise between what the downtown wants and what the police were looking for.

“The merchants definitely say that it’s something that is needed.”