After more than a year of consultations, the City of Edmonton has drafted a new Public Spaces Bylaw and it includes proposed bans on panhandling and loud speakers.
The new bylaw will consolidate and replace the current Parkland, Conduct of Transit Passengers and Public Places bylaws.
City administration said the idea is to make the rules more clear and easier to follow.
The city said 6,425 people completed an online survey giving input on the changes. The city also held interviews with Homeward Trust, Bissell Centre, Edmonton 2Spirit Society, Alberta Public Interest Research Group (API!RG), and the Edmonton Downtown Business Association.
Bylaw 20700 will be presented to city council on Feb. 2.
The public will also have an opportunity to have a say at that time.
If council passes the changes during that meeting, the changes could be in place by May 13.
Amplification systems
Currently, the use of amplification systems like megaphones is not regulated in the city unless it results in significant and inappropriate noise.
The new bylaw would ban amplification systems in all public spaces. Breaking the bylaw could result in a $250 fine.
Pride Corner on Whyte Avenue and Calgary Trail started when a group routinely showed up to protest a street preacher who was using a loud speaker to make anti-LGBTQ comments.
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“It is pretty loud and obnoxious, so we wanted to do something about it,” said Erynn Christie with Pride Corner. “So we started it. Pride Corner’s on board to see this bylaw go through.”
“There’s so much need in so many ways in the community, so were still going to be present, we’re still going to be here,” added Pride Corner’s Erica Posteraro.
Exceptions could be made for certain events.
Panhandling
The City of Edmonton does not regulate panhandling unless it becomes aggressive.
Feedback on the Public Safety Bylaw found there is a desire for penalties for doing so.
The bylaw would ban panhandling in or along roads, on medians or boulevards.
Panhandling could result in a $250 fine.
Water safety
Currently, there is a federal requirement to have life-jackets available for all passengers in water vessels.
Bylaw 20700 would require those life-jackets to actually be worn in any vessel on the North Saskatchewan River. The river boat would be exempt.
Anyone caught not wearing a life-jacket could be subject to a $250 fine.
Skating on the North Saskatchewan River would also be prohibited. Doing so would come with a $500 fine.
“Anything that will help to support water safety any time of year,” Madison Lalonde with the Lifesaving Society told Global News. “So river safety, ice safety, anything like that, I myself and the Lifesaving Society would absolutely advocate for that.”
Transit
The new bylaw would alter and clarify rules surrounding the use of transit spaces.
It would ban people from staying in transit spaces without actively using transit services and would crackdown on people riding transit or staying in stations to stay warm.
People would not be allowed to stay on a transit vehicle while the vehicle passes the same destination more than once.
They could also not stay in a station while a bus or train offering the same route passed more than once.
Performers would be allowed to stay in transit spaces without a permit but would have to stay in designated areas.
“I’ve certainly heard concerns about crime, about loitering, about folks who are not using transit for intended purpose,” Ward papastew Coun. Michael Janz said.
“But I’m also mindful that we do have winter warming concerns, air quality concerns in the summer.”
He said he would like more information and public input on the entire bylaw.
Extras
Food trucks and food carts would be allowed to operate in parks and on roads without requiring a specific permit. They would still need to follow parking rules and carry the necessary food health and safety permits.
Drug use would be prohibited in all public spaces. Before it was only banned in transit spaces.
People would not be allowed to set off fireworks or firecrackers in any location unless they have a permit.
The bylaw would add bear spray and similar liquids, brass knuckles and electrical current devices like Tasers to the list of weapons banned in public places.
A new $250 fine would be introduced for consuming liquor in public.
A $500 fine would be introduced for having restricted dogs in off-leash areas.
There are no proposed changes to rules around encampments on public land.
The weird ones
Bylaw 20700 would specifically ban people from offering or staging a live musical or other performance in a transit vehicle.
It would also clarify a ban on the scattering of ashes in any public space although the North Saskatchewan River, ravines or any other open water would be allowed.
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