Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett is pushing for a state law that would allow the suburb to ban all roadside solicitation without a permit.
“At many intersections throughout the county, individuals can be found selling goods, panhandling or soliciting for charity from the medians,” Leggett wrote in a memo to County Council President Valerie Ervin. “Frequently, individuals who are soliciting step off the median or adjacent sidewalk and into the road to collect money, putting themselves and motorists at risk.”
Though many of the panhandlers are homeless, Leggett said numerous county services are in place to help that population.
Under the bill, solicitation from a median strip or sidewalk adjacent to a roadway would be prohibited. State law already bans such activity in a roadway.
