There’s no doubt that Wilmington drivers have seen people standing on medians at particularly busy intersections. It’s also likely that those driving along city streets have seen new signs on some medians prohibiting people from standing on them — an idea brought forward by former City Councilman Neil Anderson.
Under state law, stopping or standing on prohibited medians is classified as a class-two misdemeanor. Under Wilmington’s city code, however, standing on prohibited medians owned by the city has been classified as an infraction only for the past three years, according to assistant city attorney Daniel Thurston.
Before that, the violation was considered a misdemeanor.
“We’re essentially trying to go back three years in time and make it a misdemeanor again,” Thurston said at a recent city council meeting.
To align city law with state law, the city of Wilmington recently approved updating its city code so that now a person unlawfully stopping or standing on medians less than 6 feet wide (on city roads) can be charged with a misdemeanor.