CC Minutes - 11/10/03 Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Brink called the council's attention to the pictures that demonstrated the proposed permitted newspaper dispenser placements. Mr. Brink conveyed the support of DE1 and EIC for the ordinance and submitted his testimony in writing into the record. Beth Little, 1560 Grant Street, general manager of the Saturday Market, felt it essential that the people who come to the Saturday Market both as vendors and customers feel the downtown area is a destination. She commented that the process to renew the administrative rules without a mall was a constructive one which included businesses, the library, EPD, the City Manager's Office, Planning and Development, and the Lane Transit District (LTD). She noted the membership of the market numbered 780 and called the market a ~precious" part of the community, adding that the market had now been running for 34 years. She conveyed the market's support for the ordinance. Angus James, 200 West Broadway Street, said he came before the council to encourage acceptance of the ordinance. He did not support completely overturning the prohibition on sleeping and lying down in the downtown area. He felt his employees did not have a way to deal with the potential conflict ~lying on the sidewalk" in front of his business could create. He noted he had been a member of the business community of Eugene for 18 years. He called the activities in the downtown area unique and felt the downtown area needed all the help it could get to ~keep things moving." He expressed concern that a lack of concrete prohibitions put his employees at a disadvantage when trying to enforce behavioral rules in the outdoor area of his downtown business. Polly Nelson, PO Box 50426, representing the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), conveyed legal concerns that there were no protections for speech or protections for signature gatherers. She questioned whether a musician who put out a guitar case to collect money would be considered to be fundraising and whether, should a crowd of 25 or more people gather to listen, the musician would be required to obtain a permit. She wondered if fundraising could really have been intended to mean panhandling. Ms. Nelson cited the bottom of page 4 of the ordinance, which talked about conduct within 20 feet of authorized activity that prevented reasonable people with normal sensitivities from participating in the properly authorized activity from carrying on a normal conversation. She asked whose sensitivities would be considered. She suggested the establishment of decibel limits as a solution to the vagueness of this language. Ms. Nelson relayed the willingness of the ACLU to work with the City to alleviate problems before implementation. She stated that free speech could be protected, noting that there was much talk of commerce in the ordinance, and that it was difficult to differentiate between commerce and all other kinds of speech without being concerned about constitutional limitations. David Hinkley, 1350 Lawrence Street, Apartment 6, said his biggest fear was that the ordinance would work and move ~the problem" from the downtown area to his neighborhood. He stated there were already problems in Monroe Park, Charnel-Mulligan Park, and around the Lane County Fairgrounds. He felt there were enough problems in his neighborhood. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 10, 2003 Page 6 Regular Meeting