Fort Collins council might repeal panhandling rules

The Fort Collins City Council is planning a special meeting Friday afternoon to consider repealing all or parts of the city's panhandling ordinance.

Details of what action the council might consider were not immediately available. An emergency ordinance that the council would consider is expected to be available to the public at least 24 hours in advance of the 4 p.m. meeting, said City Clerk Wanda Nelson.

The city is being sued in federal court over its panhandling ordinance and its enforcement by Fort Collins police by the Colorado branch of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The class action suit filed on behalf of four homeless people and Greenpeace Inc. claims police have infringed on the free-speech rights of the individuals by warning them about solicitation or citing others for some forms of panhandling.

Council members went behind closed doors Tuesday night following a three-hour work session on a variety of subjects to discuss possible litigation.

Mark Silverstein, legal director for the Colorado ACLU, said he was not aware the council had called an emergency meeting. A preliminary injunction hearing on the case is scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday in Denver.

Silverstein said he could not delve into "hypotheticals" about how the hearing might be affected by whatever action the council takes.

"We'll have to see what the council does," he said. "Certainly our clients asked for charity in a peaceful, nonaggressive manner and the current ordinance and the way it's enforced unconstitutionally abridges their ability to pursue their peaceful and constitutionally protected communications."

The city has said its ordinance "does not regulate or attempt to regulate the content of any speech."

Kevin Duggan is a Coloradoan senior reporter covering local government. Follow him on Twitter, @coloradoan_dugg.