City may privatize sidewalks to keep panhandlers in check UA response mixed

"The level of violence along the avenue has risen and something needs to be done about it," City Council member Steven Leal said yesterday.

The Tucson City Council voted Monday to investigate leasing the sidewalks along Fourth Avenue to the Fourth Avenue Merchants Association for $1 per year, essentially making them private property. The council did not set a deadline for reporting on the findings.

The council is reacting to a Sept. 1 incident in which a Caruso's restaurant patron was attacked after refusing to give his leftover food to panhandlers.

Leasing the sidewalks would make it much easier to prosecute panhandlers for trespassing, said Sgt. Michael Allen, of the Tucson Police Department.

"The problem of panhandlers has gotten worse, with the attitude changing so that now they're expecting somebody to give them something," Allen said.

There is a city ordinance in place that prohibits aggressive panhandling and sitting or lying on the sidewalk.

"While the city ordinance has been a deterrent, it has not helped that much," said Josh Levine, owner of Mutt's bar on Fourth Avenue. "There need to be more aggressive steps taken to take care of the problem."

If the merchants association decides to lease the sidewalks, it will not affect any patrons of the stores, Levine said. It will only affect people who are being a nuisance.

The association is trying to create an awareness that people on the streets can't bother shoppers, said Betty Lockhart, executive director of the association.

"We want people to feel safe here," Lockhart said.

Some University of Arizona students said they are bothered by the Fourth Avenue panhandlers who harass them for food and money.

"They make me not want to go there," said Josh Winston, a psychology junior.

Journalism junior Damian Areyan said the panhandlers are not a nuisance for passers-by.

"They don't bother me because it's part of the culture of the area," Areyan said.

But Josh Ratliff, a 20-year-old who lives on Tucson's streets, said he does not think there's any aggressive panhandling going on.

"We don't do anything wrong," Ratliff said. "They (city officials) make us look like drunk barbarians."

He said making the sidewalks private property is not going to solve anything - least of all the problem of homelessness.

"I've been on the streets for four years and for four years they've been trying to kick us off," he said. "We will just keep coming back."

Angela Romano can be reached via e-mail at Angela.Romano@wildcat.arizona.edu.