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Colorado Springs City Council approves expansion of sit-lie ordinance

KRDO

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Tuesday night, the Colorado Springs City Council approved an expansion of an ordinance that prohibits anyone from sitting, lying, kneeling, or reclining in the right of way.

The Pedestrian Access Act was first put in place six years ago.

The new boundary for the so-called sit-lie ordinance is pushed north to Cache La Poudre Street to include parts of Colorado College's campus and south to I-25 to include South Nevada.

"Sitting kneeling, lying down in those areas creates a safety hazard for individuals trying to use that right of way and businesses that are in the area," said Commander John Koch with the Colorado Springs Police Department.

The new area includes the west side of South Nevada, but not the Southern Cross Shopping Center, which poses a concern for the owners.

John Kim says he and his family have spent between $70,000 and $80,000 for trash removal, security, and clean-up.

"Usually the issue that we face in respect to this matter is that folks are publicly intoxicated and when they lie on the sidewalk or sit on the curb it's usually due to some sort of intoxication," said Kim,

The request to expand the area came from the CSPD because of the growth of the city in these areas. Police say that's where they receive calls for service including camping and trespassing.  

In the past six years, they've handed out 90 citations.

"It is a tool to allow to address very significant and dangerous conduct that is occurring as a result of these types of activities," said Koch.

Tuesday night, many residents expressed their concerns about expanding the boundary, calling it an issue of homelessness.

"I’m concerned that if the enforcement area is only really on the west side that what will happen is it will increase the issues that we currently already face on our side of Nevada," said Kim.   

The Colorado Springs Police Department says this issue isn't about homelessness but addressing dangerous conduct.

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