The Southampton Town Board approved a resolution at its regular meeting on November 14, sponsored by Hampton Bays Councilman Rick Martel, that prohibits peddling and solicitation on public roadways.
The resolution, which was the subject of a public hearing prior to the vote, notes that an increase in volume in vehicular traffic on the South Fork has been met with an increase in peddling and solicitation, “coinciding with the growing population of the Town of Southampton.”
Peddling and solicitation are considered constitutionally protected free speech under the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, which the town acknowledged in the resolution, as it noted that “the town seeks to restrict such activity in a narrowly tailored fashion” in which such activities “are only restricted within lanes of vehicular travel, and center median areas, in order to reduce motor vehicle accidents involving pedestrians engaged in, or walking around those engaged in peddling, and solicitation.”
One popular panhandling spot in Hampton Bays appears to be one of the intended targets of the resolution: The spot where Flanders Road runs into Montauk Highway often finds persons panhandling at the traffic light there, in the median between the northbound and southbound lanes.
The resolution notes that the board “implemented the least restrictive means of prohibiting peddling, and solicitation within lanes of vehicular travel, and within center median areas of roadways, as no other regulation would serve to reduce risk of motor vehicle accidents that are resultant from these activities within roadways, and many alternative areas exist for this type of speech, including shoulder areas of streets, sidewalks, open space areas, beaches, parks, and parking lot areas.”
Hampton Bays community activist Ray D’Angelo said the resolution “strikes a balance on panhandling,“ by delineating a difference between aggressive and passive solicitation.
Martel said that drivers were veering out of the way on the roadways “to avoid these people, because they have been getting aggressive.”
The town said it was concerned that peddling and solicitation on roadways and in center median areas “has led to an increase in motor vehicle accidents,” but offered no evidence of that in the resolution.
In passing the resolution, the board did include language that said violators would be fined between $250 and $500 for a first offense, with repeat offenders facing fines of up to $1,000 and 15 days in jail. Anyone convicted of the violation would also have to pay a mandatory blight-mitigation surcharge of $100.
That seemed excessive to Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, who pointed out that panhandlers weren’t likely to be able to pay those fines and that nobody wanted to see people thrown in jail for panhandling. Community service is an option, too.
