Fort Collins Pulls Back On Panhandling Ordinance
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4)- An emergency meeting is scheduled for Friday afternoon in Fort Collins to discuss pulling back on the city's ban on panhandling. This latest move comes after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit.
The City of Fort Collins hopes that by repealing parts of the ordinance the ACLU objects to, it will make the lawsuit questionable.
The Fort Collins City Council will discuss repealing the seven parts of its panhandling law the ACLU calls unconstitutional. The city is hoping to avoid spending time and money in federal court.
According to the lawsuit, the ACLU objects to restrictions on when and where people can ask for money or hold signs.
RELATED: ACLU Challenges Fort Collins' Panhandling Crackdown
"We're trying to make sure we take a look at the ordinance, we're going to repeal the parts in question to begin with and then we're going to take a look with a legislative review, a hearing, talk to folks, talk to homeless people, have anyone come in who wants to talk, the downtown businesses, and then back those sections which we feel are constitutional," said Fort Collins Mayor Pro Tem Gerry Horak.
Even if the city repeals the parts of the law that the ACLU claims unfairly limits peoples' rights to peacefully seek charity, the city could one day reinstate those rules.
The city council meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday.
