Some say panhandling is hurting downtown Lawrence businesses; city may study issue

City leaders could soon be considering whether panhandling is becoming a problem downtown and whether the city should do anything about it.

At the Lawrence City Commission meeting Tuesday, Downtown Lawrence Inc. Executive Director Sally Zogry asked the city to create a stricter ordinance to restrict panhandling downtown. Zogry said that in the last several years, she’s heard from downtown business owners and visitors that an increasing number of transients and aggressive panhandlers are negatively affecting the downtown.
“(Visitors) are solicited regularly by panhandlers, sometimes multiple times in a one-block stretch,” Zogry said. “I myself am witness to a multitude of inappropriate and aggressive behaviors each day among the individuals and groups that are panhandling. These include public drunkenness and intoxication, verbal and physical fights, and threatening behavior.”