WINTER GARDEN, Fla. – Winter Garden is set to vote to tighten its rules on solicitation.
According to the updated ordinance that the city commission is set to vote on Thursday, it is designed to enhance safety and welfare for residents. However, those who rely on small donations say the changes will make life harder.
Anne, who lives in Winter Garden and is experiencing homelessness, worries the crackdown will only create more problems.
“You can’t just get rid of it by sweeping it under the rug or forcing it out,” she said. “You force it out, they get desperate, and then do things you definitely didn’t want them to do.”
The changes would redefine “solicitor” to include people asking for cash or charitable contributions. The ordinance would also ban solicitors, agents, or peddlers from public rights-of-way, calling such activity “hazardous” and a “public nuisance.”
Jesse James, another Winter Garden resident experiencing homelessness, said asking for help should not be a crime.
“That’s not fair at all,” he said. “That’s their choice. You’re not forcing anybody to give anything to you.”
James said pushing people like him and Anne aside is not the solution.
“This is my community, I live here too,” he said.
The ordinance would also create a “no solicitations list” for residents and businesses. The police department would provide that list to anyone applying for a solicitor permit to ensure they do not go to those properties.
The meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. at Winter Garden City Hall on Plant Street.
[WATCH: Orange City considers panhandling crackdown]
Winter Garden is not the only city looking to tighten rules against soliciting for small donations.
This week, Orange City approved an ordinance against panhandling at certain intersections, saying the action was a public safety hazard.
The city said it had written its ordinance to get around a similar issue Daytona Beach had when it banned panhandling a few years ago.
Last year, a federal judge permanently blocked that city’s ordinance, saying it went against the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
You can read the ordinance in the media player below.