- December 16, 2025
When stopped at a red light, sometimes a person on the sidewalk will ask for a donation. Do you stare forward and ignore them? Roll down the window and hand them money?
This will be an illegal activity near the intersection of State Road 40 and Interstate 95, if the city passes an ordinance proposed by the city legal staff.
There has been an increase in panhandling and soliciting in the city, particularly in that area, and it is becoming dangerous and disruptive, according to Ann-Margret Emery, deputy city attorney.
She said the police department has been getting a lot of calls about solicitors in that area, and sees them as a traffic hazard.
Emery said the ordinance would apply to all, including those soliciting money for a charity.
The proposal would place a 25-foot nonsolicitation buffer along Granada Boulevard from Williamson Boulevard to Interchange Boulevard.
Other buffer zones in the proposed amendment include public transportation vehicles or facilities, around public bathrooms and near ATM machines where citizens may feel threatened.
Aggressive panhandling can be prohibited anywhere, but passive panhandling, which may be asking for money or holding a sign, is protected by the First Amendment. Any regulation of passive panhandling must be narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest. The city legal staff says panhandling can be prohibited at the intersection because of the traffic hazard.
At the Sept. 29 City Commission meeting, the commissioners gave legal staff the go-ahead to write an ordinance for future consideration.
Current ordinances prohibit anyone from walking into any road or standing on any median to solicit to vehicles anywhere in the city.
City escapes damage during latest rainstorm
City Manager Joyce Shanahan reported at the Sept. 29 meeting that there was no structural damage to any dwelling in the city as a result of the torrential rains of last week. There was standing water in the some streets, and one report of water on a porch.
She said the sent the city spent millions of dollars, mostly from grants, in storm water improvements after the 2009 floods, particularly in the Hand Avenue area.
Commissioner Bill Partington pointed out that other areas had flooding, but Ormond Beach did not in spite of eight inches in rain.
“My phone didn’t ring. There were no emails,” he said. “It was a stark difference from 2009.”
Commissioner Troy Kent said that after 150 homes were flooded in 2009, the city reached out to state government and FEMA for help in solving the problem.
Mayor Ed Kelley said work is continuing on drainage issues.
“If we have 24 inches of rain, something will happen,” he said. “But we’ve made good headway.”
