Log In


Reset Password
News Education Local News Nation & World New Mexico

Homeless people motivate businesses to move benches

Panhandlers are a motivation
From left to right, Lance Logan, Selena Acosta, Shaley Murphy and Finn Campbell sit Thursday in front of the Irish Embassy Pub. Benches along Main Avenue are getting moved around this spring at the request of local merchants.

Benches are being shuffled around this spring on Main Avenue, in part, to help discourage panhandlers from loitering in front of businesses.

Until recently, Durango law prevented anyone from loitering to ask for help. But after receiving a letter last fall from the American Civil Liberties Union, the city stopped enforcing the law. Since then, panhandlers have become more visible along Main Avenue and other parts of the city.

Justine Hall, an employee with the Durango Antique Market, requested a city bench be removed from the storefront in early May. It was gone before she opened shop the next day.

Panhandlers would loiter on the bench for hours, blocking the store window and deterring potential customers from window shopping, she said.

“We had a couple confrontations with people out there, so we just eliminated the problem,” she said.

The owner of Durango Toy Depot, Betty Heuss, said she is talking with her downtown neighbor, the owner of Fuzziwig’s Candy Factory, about alternatives to the bench in front of the candy store.

Most people who use the bench are customers or downtown patrons. So she is looking into bistro-style seating that would serve customers.

“I think the bistro seating would add to the ambiance of downtown,” she said.

Bistro tables are the property of the establishment that received a permit to place them on the sidewalk, said Greg Hoch, the city’s director of community development.

This gives merchants the ability to ask anyone to leave the bistro seating, he said.

Heuss has noticed other benches being moved downtown, and she approves of the effort to prevent panhandlers from loitering.

“Even on my travels walking downtown, I’ve seen the benches that have been moved. I think deterrent is a good thing,” she said.

A few people selling their wares on the sidewalk Thursday in front of the Irish Embassy Pub have noticed the benches moving, as well.

Lance Logan said he was rudely asked to leave the bench in front of Del Sol Durango earlier this week, and later the bench was moved.

He said some members of the panhandling community give everyone a bad name.

“The few ruin it for the many,” he said.

A longtime homeless resident, Shaley Murphy, who was sitting with Logan, said attitudes toward the homeless have changed. She said she has seen more aggression between the homeless and the police recently.

“People just need to stand their ground,” she said of her fellow homeless residents.

Mary Beth Miles, assistant to the city manager, said benches are frequently moved at the request of business owners. The city does document when and where benches are moved. They can be moved at the request of merchants to reduce noise, panhandling and a variety of other reasons.

“The merchant who requests the bench be moved is typically appreciative. However, sometimes, this just moves the problem to a new location,” she said.

mshinn@durangoherald.com

May 26, 2016
Panhandling inspires ambassadors to help downtown tourists


Reader Comments