Council members voted on the ordinances during a Sept. 16 meeting. The aggressive panhandling ordinance, which applies citywide, prohibits soliciting or panhandling in an aggressive manner by using violent or threatening gestures, or intentionally blocking the free passage of pedestrians or vehicles.
The setup
The remaining ordinances were tabled until the council’s Oct. 21 meeting after discussion among council members. One ordinance would make it unlawful to sleep outdoors, sit in a public street or lie down on a public sidewalk, street, median, parkway or pedestrian right of way. A person would be allowed to sit on a chair, bench or architectural feature supplied by the city or private property owner.
Exceptions are included in the ordinance for emergencies, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance and common public activities, according to a staff presentation. People would still be able to sit at public parks and special events.
The ordinance was scaled back since it was discussed during a council work session in August, Assistant City Manager Jennifer Arnold said. If approved by council, it would apply to the downtown area in McKinney.
The second ordinance would clarify that camping is prohibited in any publicly accessible outdoor area that’s not designated for camping. The ordinance expands the definition of camping to include staying or sleeping in a vehicle overnight.
Arnold presented information on the downtown sit-lie ordinance before council members began discussion. The ordinance was tabled with a vote of 6-0 followed by the camping ordinance that was also tabled with a vote of 6-0.
Council member Patrick Cloutier was not present for the meeting.
What council members are saying
Council member Justin Beller said he did not disagree with the enforcement ordinances but unless people have a place to go, they’re being put between “a rock and a hard place.”
“I want to make it clear to people,” he said. “This is a failure of policy by the federal government, the state government and our county government, and we are left with the remnants of that failure.”
The city’s historic role in addressing homelessness has been enforcement but it is stuck with that failure, Beller said. The city has to figure out a way to overcome that, he said.
“We can’t enforce our way out of this,” he said.
Instead, Beller suggested a need for a two-pronged approach by working with nonprofits in the area to provide resources for homeless people.
“We’ve got to do better than that,” he said. “We’ve got to balance resource with enforcement. I’m going to ask that we delay at least the first two until we have a better plan in place to help the individuals.”
Council member Geré Feltus said the city has to be thoughtful about finding a solution. She said she would feel more comfortable passing the ordinances if she knew that there was a plan in place to address the issue.
“I like that we have something in place that helps to offer some solutions for, not just the business owners, but the residents that are really close to the square,” she said. “I like that part of it. What I don’t like is that we don’t have a plan.”
Feltus said she was concerned that the ordinances would be implemented and would affect people in the downtown area without a plan in place.
“We’re leaving zero time to really make a plan that is a sustainable plan that does not criminalize people,” she said.
Council member Rick Franklin said he was in favor of tabling the items but it was “kicking the can down the road.”
“We need a real plan,” Franklin said. “If we can’t come up with one, then we need to follow through with these ordinance changes.”
Franklin said he understands what Feltus and Beller are saying and he shares their concerns. He said the council has to do something though because it’s a problem that’s not going away and it's affecting a lot of people including homeless people.
Looking ahead
Beller initially made a motion to table the downtown ordinance for an extended period of time until city staff makes a recommendation on how the city can provide resources to the affected population. City Manager Paul Grimes said staff won’t be able to bring that forward in 60 to 90 days.
“I’ve spoken with all of you informally about a plan to move forward with bringing on a consultant to work with the city on coming up to help navigate the city through this issue,” Grimes said.
It’s going to take time to put that proposal together and solicit the right consultants to work with McKinney, he said. City officials have already had several conversations with community stakeholders about moving forward with this process, he said.
“The consultant is not going to write down a bunch of stuff and just give it to us,” Grimes said. “They’re going to guide the process. Their job is to facilitate and guide us through. You could almost consider it a social impact navigator. Somebody’s going to help us navigate a very, very difficult issue for our community.”
After further discussion between council members, Beller’s motion died without a second and another motion was delayed to reconsider the ordinance Oct. 21.
“I think it’s prudent that we not adopt these ordinances tonight,” Franklin said. “But I’d like to put it back on the agenda fairly quickly, [Oct. 21], and hopefully we’ll have some more information from staff and [Cloutier] will be back. I would like to hear his voice on this issue.”
