RFP Staff
♦ Among the most frequently asked questions arriving at the Rowan Free Press are: Why are there are so many panhandlers afoot in Salisbury’s Downtown area and sign toting beggars requesting alms in the parking lot entrances at Tinseltown, K-Mart, and Walmart? Does Salisbury have any ordinances protecting the public from panhandlers?
Great questions demanding answers! Panhandling next to random street beatings (simple assaults), smashing windows, and street stickups is among the almost daily nuisances encountered in Salisbury.
We turned these panhandler questions over to our research team and here is there response:
From the City’s Code Enforcement website, it shows what their code enforcement priorities are:
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Want pack 8 to 10 men into a two story, single family residence in the heart of the historic district, and call it a “treatment center”? That’s okay, so long as you mow the grass, don’t park a car in the front yard, or let an inoperable vehicle collect too much dirt to cause ire among neighbors.
Sure there’s a Salisbury City ordinance on alms-begging, which has been in place in some form, since 1977:
Sec. 15-13. – Soliciting alms. It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of soliciting alms, or begging charity, for his own livelihood, upon the streets or sidewalks of the city, or any other public place within the corporate limits of the city. It shall also be unlawful for a person to sell or offer for sale anything as an indirect method of soliciting alms.
(Code 1977, § 17-2; Ord. No. 1990-20, § 13-1, 6-5-90)State law reference— Authority of city to regulate begging, G.S. 160A-179.
Also, under definitions, there is a “nuisance” alms-begging prohibition, which seems a bit redundant:
Sec. 11-1. – Definitions.
Soliciting alms or begging charity for a livelihood as nuisance:
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of soliciting alms, or begging charity, for his or her own livelihood, upon the streets or sidewalks of the city or any other public place, within the corporate limits of the city.
(Ord. No. 2001-10, § 1, 2-6-01)
The City of Salisbury’s financial resources are tapped so severely by Fibrant that most departments are functioning with limited staffing relative to where they were prior to Fibrant draining their resources. The violent crime rate has climbed so high, that alms-begging takes a back-seat to investigating everyday robberies, burglaries, and random assaults conducted as gang initiation. Another problem that Salisbury Police report to their peers in other agencies is their Chief’s requirement that officers answer to Wal-Mart’s every beck and call to arrest the super-store’s shoplifters, instead of requiring their loss prevention officers to take out Magistrate’s warrants, as most local governments tell Walmart they are expected to do if the officer is not an eyewitness to the crime. Salisbury’s misguided catering to Walmart, even though its the number one retailer in Salisbury, is leaving the city’s streets, even the Walmart’s parking lot, unguarded and dangerous.
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