Hillsborough County Commissioners Vote 6-1 To Extend Ban on Roadside Solicitations

The Hillsborough County Commissioners voted 6-1 to extend its ban on solicitation and distribution on county roads to include state roads as well.

The plight of people living on the edge or in the throes of economic distress was front and center at the public hearing that preceded the March 2 vote.

“I, too, have been a victim of the economy,” said Sonya Long, on the record as a King High School graduate, the holder of a bachelor’s degree and a supervisor of newspaper sellers for both the Tampa Tribune and the St. Petersburg Times.

“I have a right to earn a living,” she added. “I am a single parent with three girls and I have a brain and an ability to work. I choose not to accept welfare."

The vote to extend the solicitation ban, she added, would put “the nail on the coffin for people” in her line of work.

Terry Flott, a community activist from the Greater Brandon community of Seffner, said she too, like Long, understood the hardships of a trying economy, but unlike Long, she was in support of the extended ban.

“I have the dubious honor of living between two state roads, with cross sections of many county roads,” said Flott, who noted that her husband closed his business after 25 years as a result of the bad economy.

“I do believe there is a safety issue,” Flott added, noting that she has “seen it with my own eyes.” Instituting some exceptions might be an answer, she said, “but I would rely on our safety officials to make that decision."

Commissioner Mark Brown had made a motion to allow for solicitation on Sundays, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., primarily to account for newspaper sales

He later withdrew that amendment, however, after:

• Commissioner Lesley “Les" Miller Jr. — who cast the sole vote against the ban extension — asked for two weekday exceptions as well, to allow for the sale of the Florida Sentinel;
• County Attorney Renee Lee said a second hearing would be required because the amendment called for a “material change,” and
• Col. Greg Brown with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office noted that such exceptions would cloud an already murky situation even further.

Brown noted that enforcement already is underway on all roads in Hillsborough County to keep roads free of solicitors and panhandlers, either through the existing ban on county roads or with the Florida Department of Transportation directive to issuing trespassing citations.

Moreover, Brown said, some roads have both a state and county designation — such as State Road 60 and Brandon Boulevard — and throwing in day and time exceptions would make the confusion even greater.

In other public hearing testimony:

• Gary Steel, single-copy manager for the Tampa Tribune, said both papers sell some 20,000 newspapers on Sunday through roadside solicitations and that instituting an extended ban more than “200  hawkers would lose  most of their sales."
• Darren Terry, with the St. Petersburg Times, said after a similar ordinance was passed in Pinellas County, circulation dropped from 7,000 to 3,500 papers sold through roadside sales. He pushed for a Sunday exception, noting that traffic counts are lower and people are “going to church, taking it easier."