Kelowna's mayor says a new bylaw cracking down on people sitting, lying or sleeping on city sidewalks is not a crackdown on the homeless.

City council gave initial approval Monday to the bylaw, which extends the hours in which such activity is forbidden. Previously, the practice was only enforceable during business hours. Now, under the new bylaw, it's 24/7.

"Yes, in isolation, it might look like, boy that cruel city council is kicking a person while they're down," says Mayor Colin Basran.

"Not recognizing we have hired a social issues manager to come up with a strategy, in partnership with social agencies and committed organizations in our community. Enforcement is one aspect of a multi-faceted strategy to deal with homeless issues."

Basran says the bylaw, which updates a 20 or 30-year-old statute, gives bylaw officers more tools to work with.

When they do get a complaint, he said, they have the tools to deal with it throughout the day and night.

In explaining the change, bylaw manager Greg Wise says, since the original bylaw was written, the city has grown from a small orchard community to a larger mid-sized city.

"With revitalization of the downtown core, and busy evening cabaret and restaurant district, we recommend removing the time restriction for sitting and lying on sidewalks from the old definition allowing individuals to do so in a commercial or industrial one outside of regular business hours," said Wise.

"This will help us address incidents we are having and some of the concerns in the downtown core around the restaurant and cabaret district."

Coun. Brad Sieben says the overarching issue is one that's on council's mind consistently

"This isn't council working without a heart," he says.

They also changed the definition of chattel. It now excludes soiled clothing, bedding, perishable food and personal hygiene items, among other things.

Wise says it's a change to what will, and will not, be impounded under chattel.

The length of impoundment was also changed from 60 days to 30 days for vehicles and trailers and 14 days for items of chattel.

"We have had a significant increase in the impoundment of encampments in and around back alleyways and laneways. Approximately one per cent is being reclaimed."

Several other parking and traffic bylaws were also amended or changed.