Graham is moving toward allowing subdivisions to crack down on door-to-door soliciting by allowing them to erect signs in their neighborhoods advising against solicitation.
The council adopted a new ordinance allowing signs as large as four square feet to be erected to announce the “no soliciting” policy.
Mayor Jennifer Talley joked that some neighbors might want “billboard-sized signs,” prompting council member Bonnie Whitaker, who has served as homeowners’ association president in her Valleyfield neighborhood, to observe, “They ignore the smaller ones.”
[Story continues below photo.]
Whitaker also noted that she had recently threatened to tase a particularly aggressive solicitor who came to her house.
The council adopted the new “no soliciting” sign ordinance unanimously, 5-0.
Mayor pro tem Ricky Hall also brought up the subject of whether the city could impose time limits on solicitations, urging a 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. limit.
City attorney Bob Ward was asked to look into the possibility and bring the subject back before the council.
Also in the council’s sights are panhandlers, who have become “more aggressive” on downtown streets, according to mayor Talley.
She told fellow council members that she receives repeated complaints from residents about being accosted on downtown streets by those asking for a hand-out. “They just won’t take ‘no’ for an answer,” she said is the frequent complaint of residents.
She wondered if the city’s part-time parking enforcement attendant’s duties could be expanded to full time in order to “handle panhandling” downtown.
It was noted that while the parking enforcement officer works for the city’s police department, he is not a sworn officer and thus has no arrest authority. “But he can call a sworn officer,” Talley said.
Talley requested that city manager Megan Garner return with a recommendation and potential budget amendment to expand the parking officer’s duties. Council members Whitaker and Joey Parsons asked that Garner’s report next month include a “best solution” for addressing the panhandling issue, if expanding the position to full time is not the most effective means to handle the panhandling complaints.
Talley also asked what the city could do to oversee Airbnbs in the city. Talley reported that one such rental on North Main Street is offering a rate of merely $30 a night; she added that the location has no stove, no refrigerator.
“I want to be sure we’re protecting homeowners,” Talley said.
Assistant city manager Aaron Holland was given the task of reporting back next month about what options the city might have to regulate Airbnbs.
