North Carolina tourist town weighing options to crack down on growing panhandling as tourism dips

A city in North Carolina is reportedly taking steps to crack down on panhandling amid public concern in the mountain town that relies heavily on tourism.

The Asheville City Council Safety Committee, which is a subcommittee of the city council, has been weighing options to reduce the growing rate of panhandling by tweaking current laws and better enforcing the ones already on the books, according to local WLOS.

Officials in the city of approximately 90,000 people in the Blue Ridge Mountains are reportedly considering updating a city ordinance to ban panhandling at outdoor dining areas, as well as potentially expanding the current six-foot distance ban to 10 feet, the local outlet reported.

“We haven’t updated this ordinance in 20 years,” Asheville City Councilwoman Maggie Ullman, who chairs the subcommittee, said during a meeting on Tuesday, according to WLOS.

“And we need as a community to discuss what we think about panhandling. You’re going to have people say never do it, it’s bad for the panhandler, it’s giving handouts, and you’re going to have people who say they’re human, I have some spare change I want to give. On city council, we’re opening it up to have that conversation,” she added.

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Asheville city attorney Brad Branham told the council that while federal law protects asking for money from a sidewalk, city law prohibits persistent harassing solicitation. He also noted that while holding signs asking for money is allowed, repeated verbal begging is not.

“You can solicit, roadside solicitation, from the sidewalks, if you are not violating other laws,” Branham said, according to the local outlet. “Sidewalks were made for pedestrians. And, due to First Amendment considerations, there’s a limitation – both in our case law and state statute – that says cities cannot prohibit someone from a roadside if they are on a sidewalk.”

Among the solutions Branham floated to city council involved banning drivers from giving money to panhandlers on the medians where they congregate.

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Chris Gatchek, who has panhandled in various parts of the Asheville area, told WLOS that he believes the city is starting to crack down on the practice because it’s hurting tourism, which has dropped off 11% in recent months compared to years past, according to the outlet.

“They’re worried about their money coming in; that’s what they’re worried about,” he said.

The Asheville City Council did not respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital.

The panhandling discussion comes as violent crime in Asheville has surged in recent years. Aggravated assaults rose by 21.8%, and armed robberies increased by 20% from 2021 to 2022, according to APD statistics.

The APD has meanwhile suffered a marked decline in the number of officers, with Asheville Police Chief David Zack telling Fox News Digital last fall that his force is down more than 40% since May 2020. The city rolled out a 60-day initiative in May to improve conditions in its downtown district amid the crisis in police staffing.