MONROE - A new restriction to Monroe's loitering law has been approved.
The Common Council Oct. 19 unanimously passed a change to city code to specifically ban loitering on city property.
The new code states that no person shall be allowed to "loaf or loiter" in waiting rooms, lobbies or any other portion of a city building, nor is a person allowed to stay in such buildings for any period longer than it takes to transact business there.
A "city building" is defined as a property the city owns, leases or operates.
The law takes effect Oct. 29 - a day after it is officially published.
The change was prompted by an incident last month, in which a suspected homeless woman was found sleeping on a bench in the front entry of Behring Senior Center. The two benches in the entryway are for those waiting for cabs and other rides, officials said.
According to the center's director, Tammy Derrickson, the woman was reclining across the length of the bench and sleeping for a couple hours. The woman also had numerous bags and belongings with her, according to Derrickson.
The woman had visited the center previously, arriving about mid-morning and staying to eat lunch at the facility, said Derrickson. But several visitors to the center reported being uncomfortable with the woman's slumbering presence.
Derrickson called police for help when the woman refused to move when asked. "She wouldn't even respond to me," Derrickson said.
Police Chief Fred Kelley explained that nothing in the city codes, at the time, allowed his officers to arrest or remove the woman from the center.
"She wasn't hurting anybody; she wasn't doing anything wrong," Kelley said.
The new code will include city buildings with streets, alleys, bridges, sidewalks and crossings that are off-limits to loitering.
City code makes it unlawful for a person "to loiter or prowl in a place, at a time or in a manner not usual for law abiding individuals under circumstances that warrant alarm for the safety of persons or property in the vicinity."
The Common Council Oct. 19 unanimously passed a change to city code to specifically ban loitering on city property.
The new code states that no person shall be allowed to "loaf or loiter" in waiting rooms, lobbies or any other portion of a city building, nor is a person allowed to stay in such buildings for any period longer than it takes to transact business there.
A "city building" is defined as a property the city owns, leases or operates.
The law takes effect Oct. 29 - a day after it is officially published.
The change was prompted by an incident last month, in which a suspected homeless woman was found sleeping on a bench in the front entry of Behring Senior Center. The two benches in the entryway are for those waiting for cabs and other rides, officials said.
According to the center's director, Tammy Derrickson, the woman was reclining across the length of the bench and sleeping for a couple hours. The woman also had numerous bags and belongings with her, according to Derrickson.
The woman had visited the center previously, arriving about mid-morning and staying to eat lunch at the facility, said Derrickson. But several visitors to the center reported being uncomfortable with the woman's slumbering presence.
Derrickson called police for help when the woman refused to move when asked. "She wouldn't even respond to me," Derrickson said.
Police Chief Fred Kelley explained that nothing in the city codes, at the time, allowed his officers to arrest or remove the woman from the center.
"She wasn't hurting anybody; she wasn't doing anything wrong," Kelley said.
The new code will include city buildings with streets, alleys, bridges, sidewalks and crossings that are off-limits to loitering.
City code makes it unlawful for a person "to loiter or prowl in a place, at a time or in a manner not usual for law abiding individuals under circumstances that warrant alarm for the safety of persons or property in the vicinity."