By Josephine E. Moore, The Register-Herald
BECKLEY, W.Va. — The Beckley Common Council is considering ways to discourage panhandling in the city, including making it illegal for drivers to give money to panhandlers.
Another proposal was presented to the Beckley Council by the United Way of Southern West Virginia. Under its proposal, the city would create signage to discourage people from donating to panhandlers and instead give to a local fund designated to aid people in critical need of housing, food or health care.
The proposed ordinance, which says “draft only” on each page, was presented to the Beckley Common Council on Thursday during a workshop and states that it would be unlawful for pedestrians to have any “physical interaction,” including the “transfer of any product or material” with people in a vehicle on a roadway.
It also states that it would be unlawful for people in a vehicle to “reach out of or attempt to reach out of a vehicle to interact with or exchange items with another occupant of a vehicle or any person within a road or highway.”
Violating the ordinance would result first in two successive warnings. Upon a third and subsequent offense, a person would face a fine of $100 for each infraction.
