North Charleston to ban street sales
Also plans to eliminate charity drives at intersections
Firefighters, charities and even newspaper salesmen will be banned from soliciting donations or selling their products in the streets of North Charleston under a proposal City Council unanimously adopted Wednesday.
"It puts us in an unfair position to decide who to allow and who not to allow to do it," Mayor Keith Summey said. "The safest way is not to allow solicitation on the streets of North Charleston."
The issue arose in June after Charles Murrell with African American Socio-Economic Development Inc. failed, on a 6-5 council vote, to win a permit to solicit funds. He wanted to stand at International Boulevard and Montague Avenue to raise $2,000.
Council rejected the request after several members said the intersection was dangerous and others opposed fundraising at intersections altogether, even for firefighters.
Murrell resubmitted his request and asked if he could shake buckets at the intersections of North Rhett Avenue and Remount Road and Rivers and Cosgrove avenues.
City Council almost voted on Murrell's request in late June but delayed action until it could take up the greater solicitation issue in a roundtable discussion.
The city has tried to curb the practice in the past but was successfully challenged on constitutional grounds by The Post and Courier, whose vendors sell newspapers at busy intersections.
Because newspapers could be sold, the mayor said it was not right not to allow others to use the streets, too.
Solicitors had to request permission from the city, though several council members cited recent incidents in which out-of-town groups stood at busy intersections asking for money without a permit.
"Nobody should be standing in the streets," Councilman Kurt Taylor said. "That's where cars should be."
Both Taylor and Mayor Pro Tem Bob King called it a safety issue. "The first one that gets killed, we are going to be responsible for it," King said. "If we do it for one, we have to do it all."
Summey said not all people are honest either. "For every five good causes, there's a scam artist out there, too," he said.
The mayor cited a recent example of a man at North Rhett Avenue and the Mark Clark Expressway holding up a sign that read, "Will work for food."
Because people stopped to give him money, traffic backed up and a police officer asked him to move along. The man told the officer he made $75,000 a year with his sign and would go elsewhere.
Councilwoman Rhonda Jerome was concerned that forcing firefighters off the streets and into malls or shopping centers to collect money for charity could cut their collections in half.
Summey said it would be up to city leaders to help firefighters find alternative ways to raise money.
The city's attorneys are expected to draft an ordinance and present it to City Council in coming weeks before the ban can take effect.
Reach Warren Wise at 745-5850 or wwise@postandcourier.com.
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Comments
This article has 12 comment(s)
Posted by charleston on August 16, 2007 at 1:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Super!
Posted by billtom on August 16, 2007 at 7:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It is a dangerous thing to do, standing in the middle of a busy intersection and makes traffic backups even worse than they are. It also causes people who have been sitting there to go through the red light. Besides, who or what are these people collecting for? I can't see what, if anything, is on the bucket to tell me who/what I am donating to. There has to be a better/safer way!
Posted by CADguy on August 16, 2007 at 7:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think they should continue allowing sales. But make the requestor pick up trash along the road sides for 2 days prior them selling anything. Make it beneficial to the city, lord knows they need help keeping it clean.
Posted by kaylee on August 16, 2007 at 8:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think it should be against the law for people to be in the highway trying to get money. I hate it when they walk up to the car for money. I don't know who these people are. They are not in uniform. They have a 5 gallon bucket with a print out off of the computer of whom they are collecting for. Never heard of it. They are out there at lease 9 months out of the year. It's crazy.
Posted by Edwin435 on August 16, 2007 at 8:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Will work for food = 70,000 a year? I guess he got a marketing degree and put ot to good use. Wow.
Posted by exorcist_pencocky on August 16, 2007 at 8:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well Done, City of North Charleston. At least one city in the region has a backbone and understands how to lead.
Posted by ElvisSuxs on August 16, 2007 at 8:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I have to agree! I have even seen them standing in the intersection while the light was green and traffic moving.
I have been in an accident where i was waiting at a green light for some yokel to buy a newpaper and then was rear ended by someone who saw green and figured traffic was moving. The yokel got his paper and took off. Even the newspaper guy packed up and left!!!! So in the end i was at fault for being in the road and not moving. The "officer" said since he didn't see a paperboy i should have been moving. What a crock!!!!!
Posted by hawneena on August 16, 2007 at 9:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It is not only dangerous for the one's standing in the road, but for the people in the cars. I'm not opening my window for any of these "unoffial" characters. My best defense has always been doors locked, windows up, and eyes straight ahead until traffic starts to move again.
Posted by hawneena on August 16, 2007 at 9:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Sorry, "unofficial"
Posted by DCartisan on August 16, 2007 at 10:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Sucks for the Firefighters and honest people who try raising money for the many charities needing money. I hope the Council find an alternative for them.
Posted by hawneena on August 16, 2007 at 11:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
DCartisan, you can probably partially thank councilwoman Williams for keeping the firefighters from collecting. She was the one screaming that if Mr. Murrell couldn't collect for his so called organization then the firemen shouldn't be allowed to either. The problem is that we know they are legitimate but what about the others?
Posted by hawneena on August 16, 2007 at 5:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Harpo, do you think that we could convince everyone to flag the above individual, and then maybe the P&C people would take notice and possibly remove all of the unnecessary CAP comments.