Wauwatosa Passes Ordinance To Cite Panhandlers On Medians

WAUWATOSA, WI — The Wauwatosa Common Council passed an ordinance to cite people for occupying medians on arterial city streets.

The council voted 11-3 Tuesday to create ordinance Section 11.20.100, which would impose fines on people for occupying medians for reasons other than crossing. The new ordinance is also directed at pedestrians who approach cars.

The ordinance is meant to decrease safety hazards by restricting such activity, it said. Citations for violating the ordinance range from $25 to $500.

The ordinance also prohibits drivers who stop, park or leave their car on one of the listed streets to respond to someone standing on a median.

The Community Affairs Committee passed the proposed ordinance to the Common Council in late July after the Wauwatosa Police Department said it responded to almost 400 panhandler complaints, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

A 24-year-old woman was hit by a drunken driver and critically injured while asking for money near Mayfair Mall, the Journal Sentinel reported.

Before the ordinance passed, Alderman Matt Stippich suggested postponing a vote until the city discussed it further with the Wauwatosa Police Department.

"This is one of those issues where we don't like what we see on the intersection, and we're asking the police to take care of it," he said. "As opposed to us finding a way to handle what may be a mental health issue, a poverty issue, whatever the case may be."

Alderman Jim Moldenhauer, the vice chair on the Community Affairs Committee, said that the ordinance was a copy of a similar ordinance passed in Madison in 2017.

“Those of us who have actively engaged with this, both with citizens and the police and the city attorney’s office, have vetted this very well,” he said. “This is a safety issue.”

Wauwatosa police Chief James MacGillis said that police were taking a multidisciplinary approach to panhandling at busy intersections, such as addressing substance abuse and mental health issues.

“Those things are already in the works," he said. "But we also need to have that tool in our toolbox, an ordinance we can take enforcement action should those other methods not work.”

Police would issue citations to people for people who occupy medians in violation of the ordinance, but not as a first step, MacGillis said.

Not everyone agreed that the ordinance was the best way to deal with the issue.

Giving people citations for violating the ordinance would add to the burden of housing insecurity, Eric Collins-Dyke, a Milwaukee County administrator for homeless services, said in a statement. “As a community, we must explore humane resources that focus on solutions which address the complexities and trauma often associated with homelessness.”

Following are the streets where the new ordinance will be enforced.

• North Mayfair Road.
• West Bluemound Road.
• West North Avenue.
• Watertown Plank Road.
• West Burleigh Street.
• West Capitol Drive.
• North 124th Street.
• North 68th Street.
• West State Street.
• Wauwatosa Avenue.
• North 92nd Street.
• Harwood Avenue.