Fort Collins puts final touches on sit-lie rules

Despite requests from local business owners, Fort Collins will not prohibit people from lying on downtown sidewalks and plazas.

The City Council on Tuesday approved on second reading an ordinance that would prohibit kneeling or lying down within 10 feet of a restroom and leaving personal belongings unattended in public areas.

It also bans sitting or lying on facilities not meant for those purposes, such as decorative planters, at transit facilities.

After a long discussion, including a proposal from Councilmember Gino Campana that would have put prohibitions on lying sidewalks back in the ordinance after council removed it two weeks ago, the council approved the ordinance on 6-1 vote, with Councilmember Bob Overbeck opposed.

Campana said he rethought the sidewalk issue after speaking with residents and business owners.

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Critics of the proposal repeated their concerns that the ordinance targeted homeless people who have no place to go.

Downtown business owners urged the council to put a ban on lying on sidewalks and plazas back into the ordinance.

Jim Hewitt, owner of the Cupboard, said sidewalks and passageways are not meant for lying down.

“This is not an issue of homelessness, it’s an issue of behavior and what’s appropriate …,” he said. “If something is not done, the problem will continue to get worse.”

Originally, city officials floated the idea of setting time limits on how long people may sit on a public bench. But concerns from residents and council members caused the proposal to be dropped.

Council members said they would be interested in looking at existing ordinances, such as a prohibition on obstructing sidewalks, to improve enforcement.

Mayor Wade Troxell said the ordinance was “a half of a loaf” that doesn’t address the issue of being able to safely get around downtown.

“At the end of the day, I think we need to be concerned about the right of way in Old Town,” he said.

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Councilmember Ross Cunniff said the ordinance may not be perfect, but it represents a compromise. More work needs to be done regarding issues downtown, he said.

“I think doing nothing is not an option,” he said.

Kevin Duggan is a Coloradoan senior reporter covering local government. Follow him on Twitter, @coloradoan_dugg, and on Facebook at Coloradoan Kevin Duggan.

In other action

The Fort Collins City Council on Tuesday:

Postponed until May a decision on implementing new development fees for the impact of projects on service areas such as transportation, police and fire, community parks, and electricity capacity.