The Federal Way City Council is expected to take action on an amendment to the city’s begging ordinance on Feb. 3, after an increase of complaints on the matter.

The amendment to FWRC 6.35.030 will redefine, strike and add legal and illegal forms of begging, or panhandling, in Federal Way, if adopted.

“I know we don’t have numbers on this but from my own experience, almost all of the neighborhood connection meetings, this was an issue that came up,” said city spokesman Chris Carrel. “Folks were reflecting on seeing an increase on a number of people begging.”

Carrel said citizens have complained through 911, the non-emergency police line, emails to the city, phone calls to the police chief and other avenues.

Federal Way police Deputy Chief Kyle Sumpter estimated the department gets about one complaint a day, on average, and even more in the summer, Carrel said.

But the city cannot ban panhandling because, according to the U.S. Supreme Court, it is considered a First Amendment right — free speech.

“We do get the question of banning panhandling outright, but this is an area where the courts have spoken very clearly,” Carrel said. “There are pretty clear ‘shalls and shall nots’ on how local governments can enforce statutes on panhandling.”

Having looked at how other cities have regulated the matter, city staff developed a list of violations that can be enforced. Many of the codes already existed but were redefined, such as it is illegal to intentionally block traffic on a sidewalk or street by laying, sitting or placing an obstacle in the right of way; a person may not persist in begging after a refusal; they cannot follow a person that has already refused to give money; they cannot use violent gestures or threats while begging; nor touch a person or use language that is likely to intimidate or provoke a reaction from a reasonable person. Also, a panhandler must be 15 feet away from an ATM.

The title of the ordinance “aggressive begging” would also be changed to “pedestrian interference.”

But the amendment calls for a new violation: standing on a median in the road to beg.

City staff said this violation is included because it becomes a public safety issue if people are jaywalking to street medians without crosswalks.

The ordinance does permit begging in a public place and stepping off the curb to retrieve money from occupants of a vehicle.

Public place is redefined as “an area generally visible to public view and includes alleys, bridges, buildings, driveways, parking lots, parks, plazas, sidewalks and streets open to the general public, including those that serve food or drink or provide entertainment, and the doorways and entrances to buildings or dwellings and the grounds enclosing them.”

If passed, police would be given a pamphlet or flyer to hand out to panhandlers or complainers explaining that it is legal to panhandle but only under these criteria. The flyer will also have a list of human services, such as where a homeless person could get help for housing, information on local food banks, clothing assistance and more.

“We’re really trying to get both sides of the issue,” Carrel said. “There’s obviously a public safety side and the other side is trying to address the social service needs involved.”

After Council was briefed on the ordinance at the Jan. 20 Council meeting, Deputy Mayor Jeanne Burbidge said she appreciated the discussion and thinks the flyers or pamphlets of informative services would be “extremely useful” and she believes residents and business people would appreciate them being available as well.

Aggressive beggars who interfere with pedestrians could be convicted of a misdemeanor, which has a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. However, Carrel said, “Realistically, a conviction would likely result in much less — jail is unlikely, for instance.”

The amendment also strikes a rather unusual section from the original ordinance.

“Exploiting children” would no longer be considered a violation when begging.

The original definition explains that it is illegal to beg “while associating with children when the funds will not benefit the children or where the children are not cooperating voluntarily.”

Carrel said the intent of the amendment was to streamline the ordinance, and a reason for taking this section out is because there are already “several laws that deal with the situation where somebody is injuring or abusing the child,” and city staff felt this section was redundant. However, if a panhandler was standing with a child and holding a sign that hypothetically read “Help me feed my child,” that is considered free speech and is legal, Carrel said. While it is unknown what prompted the “exploiting children” section in the aggressive begging ordinance, Carrel said it was created several years ago and this is the opportunity to clean it up.

“One of the reasons you do see folks asking for money in this way is because people are giving them money,” Carrel said. “There’s one side of people who don’t like to see panhandling but there are folks, out of the kindness of their heart, who are providing money to folks who are panhandling.”

He said if people directed their good intentions and gave money to the social services and nonprofits instead, there would be more certainty that “the money is going to folks who need those services and it would remove the incentive for people who are panhandling.”

Provide feedback on this ordinance to council@cityoffederalway.com or speak during the Feb. 3 Council meeting.