The Asheville City Council’s Public Safety Committee advanced a motion to alter the public solicitation ordinance and expand the areas in which panhandling is restricted.
The committee — Chairman Bo Hess, Vice Mayor Antanette Mosley and Council member Sheneika Smith — voted unanimously for the motion.
Asheville’s ordinance defines public solicitation as asking for a contribution of some kind “by use of gestures or spoken words.” (The ordinance is available here: avl.mx/f0h.) It’s prohibited in two areas of Asheville — downtown and Biltmore Village — which are designated as “high-traffic zones” in the city ordinance…