Evanston aldermen voted to introduce an ordinance cracking down on door-to-door soliciting this week, and sent it back to staff to consider restricting such activity to daylight hours only.
Tighter restrictions on panhandlers and solicitors drew overwhelming support in a recent Evanston Now poll, with nearly 85 percent of readers who voted saying they favor the idea.
Alderman Ann Rainey, 8th Ward, asked Monday for the daylight hours limit — saying the restrictions proposed by city staff weren’t tight enough.
Those proposed limits were 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays, with soliciting banned at all times on Sundays and holidays.
The city currently restricts panhandling, or begging, in business districts. It also requires licenses for peddlers — people who sell merchandise or services from carts or other vehicles. And it even limits tag days by charitable groups.
But it lacks restrictions on people who come to your door with a hard-luck story or a pitch for magazine subscriptions or contributions to a real or imaginary charity.
The new ordinance would close that gap, and would also require that solicitors respect “no soliciting” signs posted by residents.
However it would not go as far as ordinances in communities like Highland Park — where solicitors are required to get a license from the police chief.
Assistant City Attorney Michelle Masoncup asked the aldermen to not amend the ordinance immediately to include the daylight hours restriction.
She said she’d need to do research on whether that would pass constitutioonal muster as being reasonable, given the free speech implications involved in restricting soliciting.
Panhandling and door to door
I agree with banning the door-to-door solicitations. BUT….How can we add another 'rule' and be effective when we continue to have panhandlers consistently in their 'regular' places on sidewalks? i.e. outside of CVS on Sherman? Why isn't that actively prohibited?
Panhandling and the First Amendment
Evanston, and other communities, can't completely ban panhandling because begging is considered by the courts to be a type of speech that's deserving of First Amendment protection.
You can find cases challenging restrictions on panhandling in Chicago and other cities if you search for panhandling and First Amendment.
Some "time, place and manner" restrictions will be upheld by the courts, but — as suggested in the comment from the city attorney in our story — they can't be too restrictive.
— Bill