Sec. 20-73. — Sleeping, lying or reclining on the rights-of-way during daylight hours.
(a) Notice.
(1) If a person is found to be sleeping, lying, or reclining in a right-of-way during daylight hours in the prohibited zone as defined in subsection (b) of this section, a Law Enforcement Officer shall request the person to move to an area where sleeping, lying, or reclining is not prohibited. The person shall not be charged with a violation of this section if the person voluntarily moves from and does not return to sleep, lie or recline on any part of any right-of-way in the prohibited zone during daylight hours.
(2) No person shall be cited under subsection (b) of this section unless the person engages in conduct prohibited by said section after having been notified by a Law Enforcement Officer that the conduct violates subsection (b) of this section.
(3) Except in places provided therefor or where reasonably necessary, sleeping, lying, or reclining on public streets, sidewalks and walkways interferes with the primary purposes of the public street, sidewalk or walkway, threatens public safety and damages public welfare.
(b) Prohibitions. It shall be unlawful and a violation of the Code for any person to sleep, lie, or recline in or on any part of the right-of-way, which shall include any public sidewalk in the area from the northern right-of-way of Fifth Avenue North to the southern right-of-way of Fifth Avenue South and the western right-of-way of Sixteenth Street east to Tampa Bay and from the northern right-of-way of First Avenue North to the southern right-of-way of First Avenue South between Thirty-First Street and Sixteenth Street (prohibited zone) during daylight hours. As used herein, “daylight hours” shall mean from sunrise to sunset.
(c) Notice.
(1) If a person is found to be sleeping, lying, or reclining in a right-of-way during daylight hours in the prohibited zone as defined in subsection (b) of this section, a Law Enforcement Officer shall request the person to move to an area where sleeping, lying, or reclining is not prohibited. The person shall not be charged with a violation of this section if the person voluntarily moves from and does not return to sleep, lie or recline on any part of any right-of-way in the prohibited zone during daylight hours.
(2) No person shall be cited under subsection (b) of this section unless the person engages in conduct prohibited by said section after having been notified by a Law Enforcement Officer that the conduct violates subsection (b) of this section.
(d) Exceptions. The prohibition in subsection (b) of this section shall not apply under the following circumstances:
(1) To any person lying down on a public sidewalk due to a medical emergency;
(2) To any person utilizing an object, placed on the sidewalk by the City or other public agency, in the manner in which it was intended, such as sitting on a bus stop or downtown City benches waiting for transportation;
(3) Any conduct which is in conformity with the conditions of any permit pursuant to the Code;
(4) Any passenger asleep while traveling in the right-of-way if they are being transported by another in or on any device or by any method otherwise legally permitted in the part of the right-of-way being used for such travel.
Shall be amended as follows:
Sections 20-73 (a), (b) and (c) shall be eliminated completely, as their sole purpose is to provide the rationale for harassment of the homeless.
Section 20-73 (d) shall be eliminated, as it is rendered moot by the removal of the above-cited sections.
