‘Not the impression we want.’ Kennewick bans lying on sidewalks in downtown district

The main business area of downtown Kennewick was designated a “no sit, no lie” zone this week by the Kennewick City Council.

Sitting or lying in the entrance of a business at any time will be a misdemeanor, and from 6 a.m. to midnight sitting or lying on a sidewalk or in a nearby right of way will be a misdemeanor in most instances.

The new city law allows police to take action without having a complaint made by a business owner or member of the public.

It is expected to be enforced as it is in Kennewick’s three other “no sit, no lie” zones.

Typically, police ask people to move. They may make multiple verbal warnings, which can escalate to an arrest and being taken to jail, said Kennewick Police Chief Chris Guerrero.

The city has had complaints from small downtown businesses and their customers on people sleeping on benches and defecating in planters.

“We understand this ordinance is not a solution, but we do see it as a useful tool to help us with the revitalization effort, the investment and the sense of vibrancy that we have been working so hard to achieve in downtown Kennewick these last several decades,” Stephanie Button, executive director of the Historical Downtown Kennewick Partnership, told the council.

Another woman who addressed the council said she has previously been at risk of being homeless and found the “no sit, no lie” zones in Kennewick “very unwelcoming and off putting and disturbing.”

“We are spending a lot of energy moving people around,” she said.

City officials and council members said their goal was to temper help to small businesses with compassion.

Help for homeless

Guerrero said officers team up with service providers every Thursday to approach people who appear to be homeless to offer them help. That can include offering opportunities for housing, food and other resources.

The last weekly report to the council said of the 22 people contacted one day, 17 of them had been contacted before, said Councilman Chuck Torelli.

Five of the 22 contacted that week signed up for assistance from the Housing Resource Center, he said.

The city is showing compassion, but there are boundaries, he said.

There are shelter beds and other resources that are going unused, said Councilwoman Gretl Crawford.

Council members also are representing small businesses that say homeless and vagrant people are deterring customers, she said. Customers don’t want children with them exposed to some behaviors, including the use of drugs and drug paraphernalia, she said.

Councilman Jim Millbauer voted in favor of the new law, but said the council needs to do more to address homelessness.

“I don’t think any of those homeless individuals woke up this morning and said, ‘I want to be homeless’,” Millbauer said. “They all have a situation that affected them.”

Other cities have found ways to reduce homelessness in partnership with local, state and federal agencies and groups, he said.

“There’s no reason Kennewick can’t do that either,” he said.

Kennewick ‘no sit’ zones

Of the three other “no sit, no lie” zones in Kennewick, the one that the police find themselves doing the most enforcement in is in the area of Highway 395 at Kennewick and Clearwater avenues, Guerrero said.

Councilman Brad Beauchamp said he was dismayed to see five men sleeping on the sidewalk near the Taco Bell in that area on a recent morning.

It was the day of a major high school tournament that brought busloads of students to Kennewick. Some of the buses parked at that corner to let students buy fast food, some using the sidewalk where he saw the men sleeping, he said.

He also pointed out that Highway 395 is a major corridor through the city for travelers and people sleeping on the sidewalk is not the impression he wants visitors to have.

Other Kennewick “no sit, no lie” zones are from 24th to 28th avenues between Tweedt and Olson streets and Canal Drive between Young and Kellogg streets.

The city is adding downtown as another no zone with restriction on sitting and lying based on the number of complaints received from that area and what police see there.

The new zone is between First Avenue and Canal Drive and between Dayton and Washington streets.

Other cities in the Northwest, including in Washington, have tried similar restrictions across most or all of their cities only to lose court cases, including on the grounds they are too restrictive and target the homeless without giving them options, according to Kennewick officials.

Kennewick does have other laws to address problems citywide, including restrictions on trespassing; urinating or defecating in public; public use of drugs; and disorderly conduct, such as interfering with pedestrian or traffic movement.

Kennewick zone restrictions

City officials said they are open to designating other “no sit, no lie” zones if the need can be shown. Among considerations is how many complaints are made about a specific area.

The restrictions of the ordinance for certain Kennewick areas include:

▪ From 6 a.m. to midnight the zone would ban sitting or lying on the sidewalk or in a right-of-way or on a blanket, chair or stool placed there.

▪ At no time are people allowed to sit or lie at the entrance to a building or parking lot or in a loading zone.

▪ People may not sit at any time on structures not meant for sitting such as trash containers and bicycle racks.

There are exceptions, including for medical emergencies and people with disabilities, and during events such as parades, festivals, rallies and demonstrations.