LOITERING ORDINANCE

What is loitering, anyway?

Woe is the poor bureaucrat whose job it is to write this chapter of the municipal code. Not quite all loitering definitions are as comically tautological as New York's ("A person is guilty of loitering when he: loiters"), but almost all of definitions evidence a considerable amount of struggle and provoke a very basic question: how can such vague language be enforceable? (To say nothing of the murky First Amendment issues in play here.) 

Here is a sampling of some of our favorite loitering definitions, taken from ordinances around the country:

-"'loiter' means to delay or linger without a lawful purpose for being on the property and for the purpose of committing a crime as opportunity may be discovered."

--California Laws, Penal Code

http://law.onecle.com/california/penal/647.html

" a person commits the defense of loitering or prowling when he is in a place at a time or in a manner not usual for law-abiding individuals under circumstances that warrant a justifiable and reasonable or immediate concern for the safety of persons or property in the vicinity."

--Legal definition of loitering in Georgia

http://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-16/chapter-11/article-2/16-11-36/

"Loitering--remaining idle in essentially one location, and includes the concept of spending time idly, to be dilatory, to linger, to stay, to saunter, to delay, to stand around and shall also include the colloquial expression "hanging around."

--Township committee of the Township of Barnegat, Ocean County, New Jersey

http://www.barnegat.net/GeneralCodes/Loitering.pdf

"If a person is said to be loitering, it means that he/she is standing around idly, delaying, wandering around, remaining, or tarrying in a public place."

--Colorado state's definition of loitering  

http://www.courts.state.co.us/Courts/Education/Youth/Laws.cfm

“Loiter: to idle, stand, remain, tarry or collect, gather or be a member of a group or crowd of people who are gathered together on any commercial or public premises (a) without conducting any lawful business or communication with the owner or operator thereof or (b) having completed such business or commencement, to remain on such premises an unreasonable length of time where prohibited by signs or after having been directed to leave by such owner, operator or authorized agent or a police officer."

--City of District Heights, Maryland's definition of loitering

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze2zdg7/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/dhordinance07-02.pdf

"Loitering defined...F. Returns, for no apparent lawful business or purpose, to the same public or private property from which the person was asked to leave within the previous 24 hours."

--City of Glenarden, Maryland's definition of loitering

http://ecode360.com/11473692

"Loiter- To sit, stand, loaf, lounge, wander or stroll in an aimless manner or to stop, pause or remain in an area for no obvious reason."

--Village of Albany's definition of loitering

http://www.albanywi.org/uploads/images/chapter_173.pdf

PRIVATE PROPERTY

Seen in the sidewalk this morning in Brooklyn Heights:

CONTRACT BUYER

Here's a great website about the Contract Buyers League, a collective of African American Chicago homeowners originating in North Lawndale on Chicago's West Side, who, in the late 1960s protested the exploitative sale of homes to blacks through contract selling. It has a lot of great information and links, including a really high-resolution residential security map of Chicago, and a cool documentary we had never seen called Blacks and Jews that examines the relationships and conflicts between Black and Jewish activists. Check it out!

BOULDER

Ah the land use battles of the very rich. . . To add to our list of benign objects reappropriated as parking deterrents, which includes FIRE ZONES, FAKE SIGNS, FIRE HYDRANTS, DUNES, and over-zealous RESIDENTIAL PARKING PERMIT PROGRAMS, we can, thanks to Steven Segal and his HOA battle, add BOULDERS.

PARK

Like the woman in this article who runs the nonprofit organization that advocates for the rights of those convicted of sex crimes, we acknowledge that sex offenders are not a popular part of society. But building pocket parks for the explicit purpose of driving registered sex offenders out of a neighborhood is kind of messed up. As the article reports, State law prohibits sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a park or school: by building the park, a community could effectively force sex offenders to leave. Los Angeles is building three - two of them in the community of Wilmington, which apparently has become something of a dumping ground for sex offenders thanks to its lack of parks and schools. 

In fairness, the core of the problem is the State law itself, whose restrictions have "resulted in a proliferation of group homes in acceptable areas that house large numbers of them." But it's important to  remember that sex offenders 1) have to live somewhere, and 2) have certain constitutional rights. 

Where will they live? The article quotes Councilman Joe Buscaino, who, in classic NIMBY spirit, said that he isn't sure, but that he would like them to leave his district. 

CURB CUT

Here's one more arsenal-related observation about Florida's The Villages: interestingly, most residential neighborhoods in The Villages lack curbs:

In fact, with the exception of the gravel patch in the foreground (which has a fire hydrant placed strategically on it) there is not an inch of road frontage on this street that is not a curb cut for a driveway. It's actually quite ingenious, in a Dr. Evil kind of way. We have seen how FIRE HYDRANTS, FIRE ZONES, and RESIDENTIAL PARKING PERMITS can be used to keep non-residents out of a residential neighborhood by restricting parking, but not building curbs is actually a much simpler, much more straightforward weapon for this. Not only is there no place to park - there is no place to even pull over and rest. It's bound to make any visitor feel like a 21st century Flying Dutchman.