By: Sharon Aron Baron
The City of Lauderhill has tentatively passed an ordinance that regulates solicitors, vendors, peddlers or canvassers at certain intersections in the city after a federal judge ruled that a South Florida city may enforce an ordinance that prohibits people from soliciting donations in or near major public roads.
Mayor Richard Kaplan, who has been working to put something in place for years has been waiting for this ruling. “I regularly drive Commercial Blvd and have seen so many near misses just this last year with solicitors in the street. They don’t move out of the street until the light is green and traffic is trying to move…very dangerous.”
After passing on the first reading, the ordinance only prohibits specific locations in the city in which data supports that there is a danger to the solicitor, peddler or canvasser.
Coral Springs just passed the ordinance on the first reading last week and Tamarac started discussions on Monday at their workshop meeting.
“After Commercial and University, the next worse [intersection] I have seen is Commercial and Rock Island which is entirely in Tamarac.”
Kaplan hopes that Tamarac passes their ordinance because half of the intersection of Commercial and University, which is one of the streets that they are prohibiting vendors, lies on the city border.
“If they pass the ordinance, we would hope that intersection would be included. Without it, we will only be able to address half the problem.”
Here is a list of the prohibited roadways, according to the City of Lauderhill Ordinance, it shall be unlawful for any person to act as a right-of-way solicitor, peddler, or canvasser: (i) anywhere on or at any intersection along University Drive; and also (ii) within 200 feet from the lateral curb or boundary line of the following specific intersections:
1. Oakland Park Boulevard and Rock Island Road.
2. Oakland Park Boulevard and Inverrary Boulevard/56th Ave.
3. Sunrise Boulevard and N.W. 31st Avenue.
4. State Road 7 (U.S. 441) and 12th Street.
5. State Road 7 (U.S. 441) and 16th Street.
State Road 7 (U.S. 441) and 19th Street.
