The Santa Cruz City Council Tuesday banned people from loitering in traffic medians and roundabouts in a move that supporters saw as an important step toward cutting down on unsightly and dangerous panhandling and opponents saw as an impingement on free speech.
It also voted to ban disorderly conduct in city parks, such as interfering with a park or beach worker or using profanity or interfering with use of a public beach by anyone. Both of these were raised to misdemeanors from citations, which have often been torn up and ignored and violations can mean being evicted from the beach or park for 24 hours.
The council passed the median ordinance 5-2 with Don Lane and Micah Posner objecting.
Responses were immediately posted in social media.
"Very pleased to see that both agenda items passed - medians and parks," wrote one woman on Facebook. "Score plus 2 for public safety. Now we're cooking with gas!"
Activist Brent Adams, who spoke against the ordinances, saw it far differently.
"We just sat through a city council meeting that was so profoundly depressing that I'm not sure I belong on this planet with people who are so classist and cruel."
The "Traffic Medians and Roundabouts Safety Ordinance" drafted by the city staff and approved 5-2 by its public safety commission, said that in 2012 eight drivers crashed into signs or medians. "This demonstrates the danger posed by individuals remaining on traffic medians (of all types) and roundabouts."
The ordinance forbids using the medians for solicitation of money, prostitution, consumption of alcohol "or other activity not related to crossing the street." The last two are already banned around the city.
Cities including Berkeley and Union City have similar ordinances. In parts of Florida, however, there are panhandlers at almost every median, as well as people enlisting support for nonprofits or political causes.
"There are lots of other places where pedestrians are close to vehicles around the community and in the end we can't really prevent that," Lane was quoted by the Santa Cruz Sentinel as saying. "I think the fundamental motivation behind this is they don't want to see people panhandling."
The council unanimously agreed to fine those who break the laws on the beach or in parks and ban them for 24 hours.
Some of the city's correspondence leading up to the median prohibition included a letter from Westside resident Jim Langley, who said that people standing on the medians "catches your attention as you are driving through the intersection on a green, you may take your eyes off the road and have an accident..."
He said he and his family have been "distracted and afraid" of the panhandlers.
Writer Tom Kuechle added: "The median is not a sidewalk, it is not safe to stand on because accidents do happen."
On the other side, writer Drew Lewis said: "I do not support more ordinances to micromanage public behavior... Since the corporate owned media has shut out most avenues of pubic free expression I feel that it is essential to protect every possible option for free and public expression."
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