City-County Council balks at panhandling crackdown, citing performer impact

After nearly a year of debate and rewrites, a bid to toughen Indianapolis’ panhandling rules has hit a new snag.

This time, it’s a surge of opposition from street musicians and others who argue the new rules would squelch the vibrancy of Downtown streets.

The City-County Council on Monday night unanimously sent the panhandling proposal back to a committee for a new hearing next month. It’s aimed at reducing the impact on street performers, though some members hope to kill the proposal entirely.

Proposed restrictions would bar passive solicitations in most of Downtown. And they would lump together performers who seek tips or donations with the cup-shakers and sign-holders who ask non-verbally for handouts.

That doesn’t sit well with organizers of the Indianapolis Acoustic Music Meetup group. Several attended the meeting to make sure the council reconsidered the proposal.

“This is a major embarrassment to the city of Indianapolis — that we would run the arts off our streets,” said Phillip Christopher, 59, an Indianapolis guitarist who performs as “Philadelphia Phil.”

The group’s members include professional musicians who sometimes play on sidewalks for tips or to raise money for the annual Playing for Change fundraiser to build music schools around the world.

“We all love to play on the street because the dynamic between street performer and audience is a special thing,” Christopher said.

The panhandling delay was the latest setback for Mayor Greg Ballard and Visit Indy, which promotes the city for conventions and tourism.

They say the presence of panhandlers and passive solicitors Downtown is hurting convention business, with organizers of 14 conventions citing the issue as a key reason for rejecting Indianapolis in the past two years.

But the council’s effort to keep the proposal from running afoul of the First Amendment right to free speech is what has threatened to ensnare street performers.

Sponsor Jeff Miller, a Republican whose district includes Fountain Square, said simply exempting the artists would only encourage lawsuits on beggars’ behalf for playing favorites.

But he’s aware that making the rules apply to the street performers also could invite challenges.

“We were all ready to sue,” confirmed Ken Falk, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, citing the street performer issue.

Miller says he decided to pull back on the proposal last week, before a protest Downtown on Saturday afternoon by street performers and their supporters.

The Arts Council of Indianapolis is among the groups that expressed concerns.

By Monday afternoon, an online petition created by the Indianapolis Acoustic Music Meetup — titled “Stop Prop 143 From Banishing Performers” — had attracted support from 1,487 signers.

Ballard disputed in an interview last week that the city has many street performers who need protecting — at least, not to the extent that buskers draw crowds in some cities.

“We don’t have any street performers. We’ve got one guy who plays a bad rendition of ‘The Flintstones,’ ” Ballard said. “That’s all we’ve got. We don’t have street performers like in Europe. Human statues — those were all over Barcelona.”

The current proposal would ban all requests for money within 50 feet of areas where transactions often occur, including ATMs, bank entrances and exits, parking meters and kiosks that accept money; and also near bus stops, sidewalk cafes, marked crosswalks, trails and underpasses.

Indianapolis Downtown Inc. estimated that those rules would apply to 60 percent or more of Downtown’s Mile Square, including the entire Cultural Trail. Another provision would ban passive solicitations and street performances anywhere in the city from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.

The proposal, modeled on an ordinance in San Antonio, Texas, still falls short of the Republican mayor’s request for a complete no-solicitation zone covering the Mile Square and sports venues.

The council’s majority Democrats long have been skeptical of the need for stronger panhandling rules, with some saying a 2009 panhandling measure hasn’t been enforced.

And among the supporters of tougher rules, there are conflicting interests.

Visit Indy, while supporting a stronger panhandling and solicitation ban, gives a nod to the value of encouraging street performance.

“A vibrant city includes a certain amount of street performing, adding character and entertainment,” said Chris Gahl, a spokesman for the convention and tourism group.

Visit Indy is seeking common ground, and so is Miller.

He concedes the 50-foot restrictions might be confusing. An alternative, he suggested, could be to carve out zones where solicitation and performance are allowed, perhaps in arts districts and on Monument Circle.

But the way Falk sees it, a solution that protects everyone’s rights is unattainable.

“I think you are hard-pressed to regulate passive solicitation,” he said, without making questionable and arbitrary distinctions. “I really question how the city can prohibit people standing quietly.”

Council Vice President John Barth, who made the motion to send the proposal back to committee, said the potential effect on street performers had troubled him from the start.

“It’s a struggle to support the convention industry and to be absolutely clear that you’re also supporting street performers,” the Democrat told The Star. “It’s a tricky balance, and the proposal just isn’t there yet.”

The city long has restricted active panhandling, but Ballard and the Democrats have clashed over another expansion of the rules since he called for a crackdown in his State of the City address last March.

“I have no idea what’s going to come out of this,” the mayor said. “If it’s stronger, I’ll go there. But will it be strong enough? I don’t know.

“We have to get a handle on (solicitation), because this is hurting our economy.”

The Rules and Public Policy Committee is expected to discuss the proposal Jan. 21.

Smoke-detector ordinance delayed

The City-County Council also delayed a vote on a proposal that would require all battery-operated smoke detectors in residences to be tamper-proof devices with non-removable batteries that last at least 10 years. The rule, which would take effect July 1, is aimed at saving lives in fires by preventing people from disabling smoke detectors by removing their batteries.

But Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard and some council members have questioned aspects of the measure. Republicans asked to send it back to a committee for more discussion Dec. 18.

Call Star reporter Jon Murray at (317) 444-2752. Follow him on Twitter: @IndyJonMurray.