Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Council To Consider Reviving Sidewalk Law

Suzi Rosenberg

The City of Chico is expected to re-instate a controversial law that critics have labeled both anti-homeless and ineffective.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rule, dubbed the sit and lie ordinance, expired more than two and a half years ago. It made those caught sitting down on a sidewalk in a commercial area subject to a $100 fine. Homeless advocates say the rule criminalizes poverty. In earlier hearings some critics alleged that enforcement pushed panhandlers out of downtown and into residential neighborhoods, shopping centers and parks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to statistics presented by Police Chief Michael O’Brien, police issued 56 tickets for violations during the two years and one month the ban was in place. Another 247 verbal warnings were issued.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the election looming, Chico’s conservative council majority has been pushing to reinstitute the ban. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

City Attorney Vince Ewing, in a report prepared for the council said the ordinance is different enough from a similar rule in Boise, Idaho that was ruled unconstitutional by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Boise’s rule prohibited sleeping outdoors anywhere within the city at any time. Chico’s Sit and Lie ordinance would only apply in commercial zones between 7 in the morning and 11 at night. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also on the docket, a review of the city’s long range growth plans and approval of a storm water resource plan