MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — The Martinsburg City Council is looking at eliminating panhandling within the city limits.
Summertime is always a popular time to see people asking for money on the sides of streets and even highways, but councilman Kevin Knowles says it’s been a problem for years.
“When I first came on the council, the Mayor asked me what were some of the things I was looking for. One of them was a Panhandling Ordinance. I’ve since presented 2 ordinances within the state of West Virginia that are in place – one from Parkersburg and an aggressive one from Morgantown – along with some backup ones from out of state,” he explained after the meeting.
The ordinance was proposed by County Councilman Dan Dullyea, and features 6 sections that detail different aspects of panhandling, from its definition, to the types of violations, and a controversial section on Panhandling Permits.
Martinsburg Police Chief Maury Richards was present to speak on behalf of the permitting process, and said that it could be a way to regulate the situation.
He also warned that it could be problematic because some wording may clash with an individual’s first amendment rights – a situation that happened in Parkersburg that ended up costing the city money in legal fees.
Knowles said he agrees there could possibly be a benefit to permitting if the MPD if cooperative.
“The Chief has assured that that’s a better way to go about it because it’s more control and it can handle the ones that are out of hand.”
Most of the City Council members, and even Mayor Karos, agreed that something needs to be done soon, as the situation in downtown Martinsburg has gotten worse over the years.
Despite the council agreeing on most of Dullyea’s ordinance, the topic of permitting still needs to be discussed in full before a decision is made.