The time of year when tourists take refuge from winter and watch their favorite baseball team play a spring-training game. Tempe is a favorite among tourists because of its central location between ballparks, and because of the historic feel of Mill Avenue mixed with its modern shops and restaurants. The reason is an ordinance approved in January by the Tempe City Council that bans sitting and lying down on Tempe public rights of way, such as streets, sidewalks, alleys and highways. A 1999 Tempe ordinance that made it a misdemeanor to sit on a sidewalk downtown spurred a sit-in protest on Mill by advocates and people living on the streets. State law is narrower than Tempe's ordinance and makes it a misdemeanor to "recklessly" interfere with passage on a highway or public thoroughfare by creating an "unreasonable inconvenience or hazard." After the meeting in January, Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville, who voted against the ordinance, posted on his Facebook page that passage of the ordinance means it is illegal in Tempe to sit on your neighborhood sidewalk. At the meeting, council members said they were not worried, because they were confident Tempe police would use common sense when enforcing the law. Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said the city has laws for extreme circumstances but prefers alternatives because citations are not going to help people who need human services to get back on their feet and into permanent housing.
Reported by SeattlePI.com 8 hours ago.
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