New rules will expand Asheville’s panhandling restrictions to encompass more of the central business district and around around the Haywood Road and Patton Avenue areas.
The updated panhandling ordinance was passed by Asheville City Council in late August. It previously applied only to portions of downtown and Biltmore Village — deemed so-called “high traffic zones” with a large volume of pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
The city added new zones to the “high traffic” designation, thereby expanding the panhandling ordinance into those areas. Public safety was a driving impetus…