Panhandlers Fighting Law Sitting Down Debate Continues Over Seattle’s Law Against Sitting On Sidewalks

Some people still won’t stand for it. Others say it’s a success.

A year and a half after the City Council adopted a law to crack down on panhandlers blocking sidewalks and urinating in public, debate still rages over the effectiveness of the measure.

Supporters say the law - which bars sitting on sidewalks during certain hours in the city’s commercial centers - has reduced public begging and kept sidewalks clear for pedestrians, although there are no statistics to back up the claims.

Between July 12, 1994, and June 9, 33 citations were issued for sitting on the sidewalk, according to Seattle Municipal Court records.

Three lawsuits have challenged the law, and on Wednesday, a homeless advocacy group filed at least 129 applications with the city on behalf of 37 people for permission to sit on sidewalks.

Merchants, advocates for the homeless and down-and-out residents are split over the law’s effectiveness.

“I think it’s worked out quite well,” said Martin Paup, who owns an apartment building that houses mostly low-income people. “We see fewer people lounging on the sidewalk. You very seldom see someone with their feet out, lying against an office building.

“It’s just made it a lot nicer downtown.”

But Tyrone Tarver, sitting on a bench in City Hall Park, had a different view.

Authorities “mess with the same people over and over all the time,” said Tarver, who said he formerly was homeless. “We’re used to the dirt, you know. We’re homeless people. We’ll sit over here on the sidewalk, and that’ll leave a seat open on a bench for you.”

And Tina Bueche, president of the Pioneer Square Community Council, said the law’s deterrent effect is waning.

“As the population changes and you get further away from the campaign (to pass the ordinance), the law is less and less and less effective, because people are less aware of it and it’s not enforced,” she said.

The Seattle Displacement Coalition contends that recent court rulings support a person’s right to sit anywhere, any time, if he or she is sitting as a protest - for example, by wearing a button that says, “I am protesting the ‘no-sitting’ law.”

But City Attorney Mark Sidran discounted that argument.

“The notion that you can protest the law by sitting down is not one that’s going to stand up,” Sidran said.

Sidran said the law has had its intended result, with citizens believing fewer people are obstructing sidewalks, creating the impression of a more inviting city.

“I think panhandlers still are panhandling,” he said. “I think they’re basically managing to panhandle without sitting down or lying down.”

Some downtown advocates for the homeless say the law has been enforced unevenly.

Meanwhile, the homeless continue to sit when they can, including two men who recently sat in a doorway while the sidewalk nearby was crowded with diners at the Pioneer Square Saloon.

“They can go out here and have tables, and it’s hard to walk by,” said Jim, one of the men. “But I don’t have a right to sit here. Explain it to me.”